“Alright, time to stop stalling. Get off your ass and pick up that tall, dark, he-can-have-my-panties-any-day seximist,” Tressa said pointedly, looking at the stranger we’d been eyeing for the last fifteen minutes.
“Maybe I should do something else on my list,” I said, pulling a rumpled slip of paper out of my bag while desperately trying to ignore the butterflies that had suddenly decided to hang out in my stomach. I gently smoothed out the creases as I contemplated the items scrawled on the paper.
“You’re kidding, right? This town has a population of like negative ten, and he’s the hottest thing to walk in here in forever. When are you going to have the opportunity to have one night of hot wild sex with a stranger like that again?”
“That’s my point. Don’t you find it a little weird that we don’t know this guy? This town is pretty much off the beaten path. He could be some mass murder. How do you know he wouldn’t put my head in his freezer or something?”
“Sweetheart, after a night with him, you’ll want a freezer to cool you off,” Tressa said, eyeing him with open admiration. “Besides, if you don’t make your move, I’m totally claiming him,” she added, adjusting her shirt so the tops of her ample breasts peaked out from the thin camisole she was wearing under her button-up see-through shirt.
“So, you wouldn’t mind that you don’t know him and that he could very well chop up your body into a million pieces? Not to mention what Jackson would say if he found out,” I said, reminding her of her boyfriend.
“Wow, seriously, chill, Ash. She’s just trying to give you a spark. Besides, you were a stranger here once too, and you didn’t show your true crazy for a couple days,” Brittni teased. “Now get up there and sex that possible serial killer up.”
“You two are a riot,” I said, choking down the last of my beer that tasted like elephant piss, or at least what I would assume elephant pee would taste like. “Alright, wish me luck,” I added, finally sliding out of the booth. “If he chops me up into little pieces, neither of you get those boots of mine you want so bad,” I threatened. I made my way up to the counter where the object of our interest was perched. Considering my shaky legs, I wasn’t exactly as subtle as a prowling jungle cat. Tressa was right. Finding a perfect candidate for a one-night stand was slim to none in a town the size of Woodfalls. Strangers were far and few between. Couple that with the fact that he was drop-dead gorgeous and his sudden appearance was like a gift from god. Not that good-looking was a prerequisite. The only requirement I had set was that he know nothing about me or my past. I wanted one night where someone wanted me for me, not because they felt sorry for me.
“Hey, Joe, can I get a shot?” I asked, sliding onto the barstool next to the tall-dark-panty-dropping-worthy hunk.
“Sure thing, Ashton. How’d you like your beer?” Joe asked, drying a small shot glass with a cotton towel he had tucked into his apron.
“It tasted like pee,” I confessed.
Joe threw his head back as a loud roar of laughter erupted out of him. “Drink a lot of pee, do you?” he asked.
I opened my mouth to answer him sarcastically when the object of my fascination let out a low rumble of laughter. Seizing my opportunity, I gulped down the bourbon Joe had placed in front of me and swiveled around to face the stranger next to me. The liquor burned its way down my throat, leaving a fiery trail all the way to my belly, but it was eclipsed by the liquid fire that burned through me when my eyes finally met his.
“Can I get you another?” he asked softly in a radio DJ-like voice that you would hear on a lonely Saturday night, encouraging listeners to call in with their favorite weepy love songs.
“Sure.” I eyed my empty glass as my body responded to his sexier-than-sin voice. I was a sucker for a deep voice—or an accent, especially British or Australian accents. Neither though, could compare to his rich deep voice that seemed to vibrate through me. I realized in that instant I had left a crucial item off my bucket list. Having an intimate conversation with someone with a voice like his should have topped my