“Thanks, Vivienne. You’ve been most helpful,” I said, hoping to conclude our meeting. She was a sales rep from Brentford Organics. Nothing but the best for my restaurant. I rolled my head from side to side in an effort to release some tension. That’s all I did lately—meetings, meetings, and more meetings. My hands instinctively opened and closed, restless. I wanted to be doing shit, not sitting around talking about it.

At least Vivienne was quick and to the point, not to mention fucking hilarious. The woman’s a bit old for me and she looked to be a tad high-maintenance by the looks of her fashionable clothes and chic makeup. I wasn’t going there again…but if I were a different kind of man…

“This is going to work out great, Jack.” She flashed her bright white smile at me. “I’m excited about you opening this new restaurant, and I have no doubt Brentford can supply you with the best possible produce for your masterpieces,” Vivienne said as she pulled out her phone. “Say, a thought.” She looked up at me and squinted with a hint of devilishness in her eyes. “A bunch of us are meeting over at Venue. Are you interested?” Her head tilted in flirty question.

Fuck no. I had absolutely no interest in going anywhere else tonight. I’d been up since five a.m., and all I wanted to do was sit zoned-out with a good rom-com while I fell into a trance on my couch. “Uh, I think I’ll pass, but maybe next time?” I told her. It was a lie, but a nicety all the same. I never mixed business with pleasure. Not again anyway. Once bitten, twice shy and all that.

Venue was the nightclub attached to my restaurant, The Vine. We shared a common hallway at the back entrance, but that was about all we shared. Venue was a pick up joint, but my restaurant? Fine dining at its best. Not to say I hadn’t enjoyed walking over after work on occasion or two...hundred. In my work, crazy hours were a given, and a guy needed to blow off some steam every so often. Right?

She stood and offered her hand. All class, that one. I watched her ass as she walked away, because that was one fine, voluptuous ass and it deserved to be admired. Vivienne would make some lucky son-of-a-bitch very happy one day.

Vivienne and her noteworthy ass turned the corner to Venue and I sighed. In days gone past, I would have been all over that ass. What was wrong with me?

Completely exhausted, I sat at my table for a while, contemplating the meeting and trying to find the energy to stand. I looked up and my heart stopped when I spotted the most gorgeous creature standing at the hostess station, looking helplessly lost.

Silently, I begged the universe to make her walk over to me and sit down. Perhaps right on my lap? Fuck, but she was the whole glorious package—great tits and ass, plus legs that went on for fucking miles. Damn, but I would love to run my hands and my tongue up those beauties and...yeah. Down, boy. Control yourself before you and your pants make a scene.

I adjusted myself as covertly as possible. How long had it been since I’d freed the beast? Too long, apparently.

Damn. I guess the universe still didn’t give a shit because she and her hot friend turned to walk down the hall. They were obviously going to the nightclub.

Riley and I walked into the bar, and the more I looked around, the more certain I was that this was not where we were supposed to be. Elegant white tablecloths lined the tables and a single candle sat atop each one, the flames dancing and illuminating the faces of the diners. Bold, colorful art filled the dark maroon walls. This was not a bar.

The hostess walked up and pointed us in the right direction, and off we went. I was careful not to catch my heels in between the tiles as we walked down a rather narrow hall. The farther down we got, the louder the thumping bass of the music became.

Riley took the lead and opened the door. Whoosh. We were bathed in dim light and an explosion of sound. The kind of sound that throbbed deep in your chest. I squinted a few times, and after my eyes adjusted, I noted the bar straight ahead. The room was decorated in stark, classy black and silver. To my left, the entire wall was covered in what looked like silver glitter. The wall to the right had some kind of cool water effect. Small silver tables surrounded us—some with comfy leather-looking chairs and others with a simple metal design.

I followed Riley, casually peering around to see if Audrey and Vivienne were there yet. Riley ordered something and paid. I took in a deep, calming breath and let the music soothe me and calm my nerves. It had been so long since I’d been to a place like this. Everything seemed so strange and alien to me now.

She turned, smiling with two drinks in her hands. I squeezed the cool glass against my overheated sweaty palm. “Wine. White wine,” she said overly loud, then motioned with her finger to my white dress. Good thinking.

“Thanks. Wise choice.” I thanked her, and my tight white dress thanked her, too. Tipping the glass, I took a fortifying sip and enjoyed the resulting fruity fizz traveling up my nose as I inhaled. Mmm, Moscato. I could do this. Wine would help.

Behind us I heard a familiar voice say, “Hi, hot lady. Oh man, Harper, you are a showstopper tonight, sweetie.” Of course, it was Vivienne. She reached out and gave me a quick hug, careful not to tip my drink.

“Vivienne, this is my neighbor, Riley.” They exchanged pleasantries as Vivienne grabbed my arm.

“Honey, I got us good seats. Follow me,” Vivienne said. I did as I was told and not what I wanted to do, which was run right the hell out of there.

As we walked, I cased out the other patrons. They were all dressed to the nines, so I didn’t appear out of place, thanks to Riley’s efforts. It could have been the music seeping into my soul or the wine, but I was suddenly more confident. Who was I kidding? It was the wine.

Vivienne stopped at a table where she’d bravely left her purse and scarf to save our seats. Relieved we got the comfy seats instead of the metal ones, I carefully sat down. The chairs were great, not too soft and sinky. But the tables were rather teeny, only big enough for our drinks.

My phone lit up with a text from Audrey. I’m here, but it looks like a restaurant, not a club. I think I got the wrong place?

I texted her back immediately, so she didn’t panic and leave.

Leaning over the table, I said, “I’m going to the restaurant to hunt down Audrey. She’s here, but lost. I’ll be right back.” I took one more sip of wine and got up to find Audrey.

Directions were never my strong suit, so I was a bit confused and pissed at myself for not paying closer attention when we arrived. In my defense, nerves got the best of me. The place was packed and not easily navigated.

Finally, I recognized the door we came through and hurried to it. Before I fully reached the handle, the door opened, which left me slightly airborne on my stilettos. Aw, shit. What was I thinking wearing these skyscrapers? A moment before my knee touched the floor, I crashed into a hard, muscular gray suit. Oooffff!

Somehow, the suit managed to keep me upright, thank the good Lord. I thought for sure I was going down. Making sure both my feet were indeed on the floor, I steadied myself and looked up into the face of the most handsome man I’d ever seen. He was heart-stoppingly good-looking. Dark hair, deep brown eyes you could get lost in, and a strong, square jaw you wanted to kiss and... How much wine had I drunk? Belatedly, I realized I was still grabbing this gorgeous man’s suit, making an even bigger fool of myself.

Enter full-body blush. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I’m such a klutz,” I shouted over the music, still clutching his expensive—likely custom—suit. The weave alone betrayed the cost of that sucker. The body underneath the suit wasn’t bad either—it shouted how many hours at the gym he likely spent.

A smile replaced his frown. “No, I’m the one who should be apologizing. Are you all right?” he asked in a deep, rumbly voice that made my nipples instantly hard. His cologne was a spicy blend of leather and sandalwood with overtones of…man. All man.

Was it weird that I kept leaning into him to catch another whiff? Probably. But hell if I cared. Being this close to such a perfect male specimen made me lightheaded and slightly faintish. His good looks hypnotized me like some kind of helpless snake trapped in the tune of her own personal charmer. Problem was, I had no urge for his music to ever stop.

Breathe, Harper. Stop acting like you’ve never seen a man before.

Clearing my throat, I managed to find the power of speech. “Yes, thanks for saving me. That could have been much worse.” Like, for example, I could have fallen onto someone who wasn’t you. “I thought for sure I was going down.” What the hell did I say? Oh man. My face burned from embarrassment. All I knew was that I had to stop rambling, let go of this poor, beautiful man, and scoot out of there with the last shred of dignity I owned.

Who was I kidding? Too late for that.

“Oh geez, I’ve wrinkled your suit, and I think I got some lipstick on it, too.” I tried wiping the smeared lipstick with my fingers, but all I accomplished was making a bigger mess. Shit. Well, I also accomplished stroking his hard, muscular chest under the lipstick stain. Nice and solid. Crap! Stop doing that. “Now I made it worse. I’ll pay for the dry cleaning. God, I’m so sorry.” I placed my hand over the stain, like I was trying to hide it or something. The heat radiating through his shirt awoke an arousal in me that had ceased to exist. My eyes traveled up to his and the world around us disappeared.

Belatedly, I realized he hadn’t moved away or removed his hands from my waist. That felt nice, too. It also felt a bit naughty to be this close to some guy I met five seconds earlier. Not that I had any desire to move away.

His smile mesmerized me as he looked down at me...and my cleavage. Hmm, so it was like that, was it?

“You’re not paying for my dry cleaning,” he scolded, the frown back on his handsome face. My guess was this guy did well with the ladies. The gods of hot faces were generous with this man. His rough skin showed hints of a five o’clock shadow. “Hold still for a second.” His large hand—yes, I looked—carefully wiped the side of my mouth. I gasped at the intimate contact that sent shocks down my body. Geez, had it been that long since a man touched me? Yeah, I guess it had been. “All good. You had a small lipstick malfunction.” He grinned like there was some private joke I wasn’t privy to.

Breaking me out of my reverie, the phone bleeped again, and I remembered poor lost Audrey. “I have to go. Are you sure you don’t want me to clean your suit?” I pushed away from his hotness and re-established my bearings. My body and brain protested, but common sense slowly returned.

“You’re leaving?” he asked and rubbed his strong square chin, looking almost disappointed. “It’s still early.”

“No, well, yeah, but no.” I shook my head and did my best to straighten my dress. “My friend is stuck in the restaurant part and can’t find us.” I was freaking rambling again. Stop! I looked around and panicked a bit as I thought of Audrey. “I better go find her. Sorry again about the crash. And the stain.” I spun around him and retreated down the hall to find Audrey.

No Audrey. First, I looked all around the restaurant, then decided to check outside. Still no Audrey. “Dammit, dammit, dammit,” I muttered, looking around, slightly freaked out.

“No luck?” Holy crap. That deep voice sounded even better outside, away from the loud booming music. I turned around to spot my lipstick/crash victim standing directly behind me. My pulse sped up as he walked closer.

“No, afraid not,” I said, out of breath because I was talking to a hunk of burning love all by myself on a dark street, after I fell on him, smeared lipstick on him, and proceeded to feel him up.

He twisted and looked down Vista Avenue, both hands on his waist. Covertly, I took another scan of the hot man in front of me. Could there be a man who was more out of my league? He certainly looked like he stepped right out of a magazine—what I wouldn’t give to have him remove that coat and, hell, take the shirt, too. His corded neck showed a hint of what was underneath, and that hint was hot, manly muscles. I’d bet my life that there was a six-pack hiding behind that stuffy, long-sleeved shirt. My fingers itched to undo the buttons and investigate. And his pants…oh, let’s not even go there. That ass, that tight, fit ass that I wanted to bounce a quarter off of? All right, I guess I went there.

What was I thinking? He probably followed me out here to make sure the scatterbrained woman who crashed into him was all right. Nothing more. At that thought, my heart sank to my stomach, and I wanted to curl up into a big ball and cry.

“Okay.” He raked his long fingers through his wavy hair as he scouted out the street. The motion somehow made me jealous of his hand and I had a strange desire to replace his hand with mine. “Maybe she went around to the front entrance.” He jerked his thumb down the sidewalk. “It’s confusing with the two businesses connected. Lots of people make that mistake.” Mr. Lipstick Stain lifted his eyebrow and said, “I’ll walk with you. A pretty lady like you,” I felt his gaze run up and down my long-neglected body, “shouldn’t be out alone on the street at this time of night.” Chivalry was not dead. And neither was my libido, apparently. The way he continued to look at me made me shiver, and it wasn’t from the cool night air.

I had zero idea what to say to that. Pretty lady? He must have meant me—because nobody else was here. “Umm, I guess,” I responded, unsure of the situation. He flashed his breathtaking smile at me again, and this time unveiled two drool-worthy dimples. Could he be any hotter? Images of kissing those dimples shot into my head, but I tried my best to stop them.

“Let’s go, beautiful.” He gently placed his hand on my lower back. The heat seared through the thin material of my dress as he guided me. I wrung my hands together and struggled with what to do with them. As we strolled along, I stole one quick glance up, only to find his dark, compelling eyes already on me, and his mouth curved into a devilish grin. Yikes!

Where I was freaking right out, Mr. Lipstick Stain seemed unaffected. His entire aura screamed confidence. My aura screamed, What the hell am I supposed to do?

We rounded the corner onto Montello Street and…ah, there was the bar. “See? Confusing.” He smirked. “After you.” He opened the door, and I hesitated for a second too long.

“Umm, thanks.”

I was stunned. Did guys still hold doors open for women? Gabe never did. He was always first to the door and first through the door. What an ass.

The familiar blare of music greeted us. As I regained my wits, I spied the girls at our table. All the girls...Audrey included. My shoulders sagged in relief.

“Harper, girl. Where have you been? We’ve been texting you,” Audrey yelled at me as soon as I reached the table.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I, umm, got sidetracked and you weren’t outside, so I kind of panicked.” I sensed intense heat behind me. Audrey’s eyes glanced over my head, and the expression on her face changed in record time. One guess why.

“Is everyone accounted for?” Mr. Lipstick Stain asked in a voice I wanted to listen to all night long. A sudden desire to lean into his body came over me. What the heck?

I turned around to enjoy one last glimpse—and sniff—of the handsome gent. “We’re all here and accounted for,” I said and smiled while the butterflies in my stomach danced, still assessing the situation. It had been a while since anyone flirted with me, so I was still questioning his motives. Was he flirting? Or was he being noble and making sure I found Audrey? “Thanks for your help,” I said, and for some reason, reached out and touched his arm. Oh Lord, it felt just as hard and hot as it looked. He gazed down at my hand, and I quickly removed it. What was I doing? Hadn’t I felt the poor man up enough for one night?

“Is this how you got sidetracked?” Audrey’s head inclined, and her eyes narrowed. “You made a new friend already?” She jerked her head to my dimpled companion, and her finger tapped on the table.

“No, no, no.” I shook my head to dispel her confusion. “I fell on him and smeared lipstick all over his jacket.” Vivienne and Riley looked at each other with wide eyes and tried unsuccessfully to hide their giggles. Shit.

“Oh, how nice for you.” Audrey smirked and leaned back in her chair, folding her arms.

“I’ll leave you, for now. Harper, was it? I’m Jack.” He stuck his very large, powerful hand out to shake mine. It wasn’t so much a shake as a hold. His other hand held onto my arm as he looked intently into my eyes. Oh my word, how my tiny hand disappeared in Jack’s warm, solid one. Roza would approve. He turned to the girls. “Ladies, I’m glad everyone has been found. Have fun.” And with that, he sauntered off to the bar.

“So, what exactly were you smearing all over that fine, fine man?” Audrey leaned in. “Because I can think of a few things I’d like to rub all over him, but lipstick ain’t one of them.” The table erupted in laughter. I sat down, rolled my eyes, and took their ribbing before I explained my exploits of the last ten minutes.

“Well, he keeps looking over at you, Harper. Whatever you did, you made quite an impression,” Vivienne said, as she sipped her drink and quite blatantly kept track of Jack’s whereabouts. Her messy up-do swung with her as she checked him out. The V-neck on her dress traveled low, yet not slutty. There was no possible way on God’s great earth to hide the cleavage she was given, but girlfriend liked to accentuate it.

“He’s the client I had dinner with before I came here.” She gestured her hand in Jack’s general direction as she continued to nurse her drink. “His name is Jack McCallister. Owns the restaurant we ate at next door. And he’s opening another one downtown soon.” She raised her eyebrows.

I couldn’t decipher the look on her face, but she seemed pleased with the news she told me. In the back of my mind I hoped Jack wouldn’t tell Dean about the lipstick stain. He might not be too pleased I ruined a customer’s expensive suit. Hopefully, I’d get the chance to mention it first.

As she picked up her drink, Audrey said, “Talent, money, good looks, and that smokin’ hot body? No way should one man be that blessed.” She took a long sip, then grabbed her phone to check it, being extra careful with her long red nails. I took a well-educated guess that she’d had them done after buying the new strapless dress. Murray’s Visa didn’t get a break today.

No matter how much attitude she dished out to Murray, she genuinely loved him and the boys to pieces. I’m sure she was worried sick about them. All of them.

“Well, you could do worse. He’s got quite the head for business, and I don’t think he’s seeing anyone,” Vivienne said as she crossed her legs and grinned in a rather suspicious manner, then turned and took another look around the bar. Her comment was blatant enough, like she thought I was interested in Jack. I mean, I was. Sheesh, any woman with eyes would be interested in him, but for some reason, I didn’t want her to catch on.

“I’m not doing anything, you guys.” I put extra emphasis on the word “doing.” “I fell on the poor guy. That’s it. End of story.” Except for the stabbing pain in my stomach as I imagined never seeing him again.

“Honey, he’s definitely into you. For one thing, he followed you around like a little puppy. That always means they’re into you. Secondly, in case you missed it, he said, ‘I’ll leave you, for now’. That means he has intentions of coming back,” Riley chimed in her opinion, looking cool and collected. She always noticed the finer details. Nothing got past her.

My heart had sped up when Jack said that. I was paying close attention to his every word. Shit. Maybe he was just being nice?

“Oh, you guys, men just say stuff like that.” I dismissed them and waved it off like it was nothing. “He was being polite. I’m sure he didn’t mean it.” My stomach fell again with disappointment when I said it. I couldn’t believe I was having such strong reactions to someone I’d just met. These girls were right—I needed to venture out more often.

A bubbly, petite server showed up at our table with a tray of drinks and a huge smile. She had the sweetest pixie cut I’d ever seen. Few women pulled off that kind of severe, short cut well, but she did it in spades with her shiny black hair. The girl was practically bouncing with energy.

I smiled and was about to tell her she had the wrong table when she spoke to us. “Hi, ladies, these are compliments of Jack.” She gestured toward him. Her eyes came right to me, and she smiled even wider. “But he said you,” her finger swung mere inches from my face, “have to go get your drink from him.” She shielded her face from Jack’s view with the now empty serving tray. “And he’s giving me a big tip if I can somehow convince you. Will you be a good sport?” She bounced. “Or do I need to carry you over?” Her tiny body shook as she laughed hysterically and threw her head back.

What the hell? The butterflies in my stomach suddenly gained momentum, and I sat shocked and stuck to my chair. Jack wanted me to go over and talk to him? Alone?

“If you don’t go, I will,” joked Audrey, and she stood up for effect. Everyone laughed.

“Harper, just go talk to him.” Vivienne put her hand on my wrist. “He’s a good guy. I’ve known him for a while now. Go have some fun. Heaven knows you of all people deserve it.” Riley nodded her agreement. These girls were no help whatsoever.

The butterflies invited their friends, and I was certain I’d be sick right there at the table.

“You guys, I can’t do that,” I said, my eyes wide and my heart beating faster in fear and anticipation. “Holy crap, I’m gonna be sick.” I looked down at my purse and considered crawling into it.

Riley reached over the miniscule table and captured my hand. “Honey, give him five minutes. We’re all here if he acts like an ass. Five minutes, then come back.” She put it in such a simplified way like I was going to put a load of laundry in, not go talk to some rich restaurateur. “It’ll be good for you, and she’ll get a nice big tip.” She grinned and squeezed my hand as she looked at our server. Miss Pixie Cut had the cutest—likely well-rehearsed—pleading look on her face while she hugged the life out of the poor tray. I bet she could use the money. Waiting tables even in this classy place had to suck.

“Fine.” I stood, and everyone clapped and gave me a loud “whoop.” God, how embarrassing.

I got a, “Go get ’em, tiger,” from Audrey, followed by an inappropriate “roarrrr.” Someone shoot me. Please.

“Five minutes and I’ll be back,” I reminded them as I turned toward the bar and started walking.

After a few steps, I heard Audrey’s voice say, “Famous last words.”