time for the man of the night to walk in.
“Looking for someone?” The bartender inquired while uncapping my beer when I turned around. I was surprised I hadn’t noticed him immediately upon entrance; great body, attractive face and killer blue eyes. He stood a couple inches north of six feet and had short brown hair slightly gelled up in the front. The best part was I didn’t get the impression he put more than a minute or two into his appearance. Which to me, was very sexy in a guy and a totally opposite from the men I’d dated in the past.
My eyes casually drifted down to his faded jeans hanging low on his hips then back over his toned biceps and strong neck—the man was downright mouth-watering. Honestly though, I was most impressed with the tattoos scattered across his deliciously muscular arms. It was a damn shame that black T-shirt, obscured my view from the rest of his tempting body; really, I saw no point why he needed to wear a shirt in the first place.
His full lips were fixed into a smirk, as he noticed me checking him out. “Sort of,” I said finally responding to his question, before taking a long pull of my favorite beer.
“I know just about everyone that comes in here; I could tell ya where they’d be if you’d like.” He rested his elbows onto the bar, shifting marginally closer. The scent rolling off him was a mixture of soap, cologne and another smell I imagined was just him.
I shook my head with a smile. “Unnecessary.”
Those blue orbs stared at me with a level of intensity I’ve never seen before. It probably should have made me uncomfortable, but it didn’t. In fact it had just the opposite effect, as I felt my body become warm in unexpected places.
After a minute he stopped the scrutinizing, shrugged his shoulders and backed away.
“You plan on starting a tab tonight?” He called back over his shoulder.
I fished out a twenty from my clutch and handed it to him. “Stop me before I spend more than this; if there is anything left over when I’m done—it’s yours.”
“Fair enough.” The smirk on his lips was still present and provided me with a sense of relief. Should all else fail during my search, I might have a shot with the bartender.
An older man sat down at the opposite end of the bar and waved him away from me. My eyes couldn’t resist checking out the back view when he walked away—I was definitely not disappointed. However, I wasn’t ready to simply settle on the first good-looking guy I laid eyes on tonight; I returned to scoping out the guys scattered about the bar. After another ten minutes of no success, the bartender returned with an unopened Rolling Rock in his hands.
“Want another?” With a shrug I answered, “Why not.” The cap was off in seconds and the drink rested in front of me. After tossing my empty bottle underneath the bar, he made no move to leave.
I stopped my male evaluation of the other guests when I realized he wasn’t walking away.
“Did you get stood up?”
“Oh, I’m not waiting for someone.” He raised a single eyebrow before crossing his arms over his chest.
“Sure looks like it.”
“What’s it to you?” This guy was beginning to put a serious damper on my plan to scope out the place. With my luck his incessant questioning would cause me to miss the ‘perfect’ guy walking in and another desperate chick would snatch him up.
“As I told you earlier, I know just about everyone that comes through here. So, why don’t you tell me who it is you’re looking for, and I’ll give you the run down on who might be ditching you tonight.”
With a roll of my eyes, I dodged his question and shot back another. “Spend a lot of time here?”
Once again he leaned into the counter on his arms. “I own the place.” His voice mockingly whispered.
“You?” I asked, with a disbelieving laugh.
“You don’t believe me?” His piercing blue eyes narrowed slightly at my smile.
“If your daddy bought it for you, or if it has been in your family for years, then yeah, I’d believe it.” Maybe I was being mean, but I never liked people questioning me or my ways. The whole point of the night was to not think and answering questions, usually, required thinking.
“It’s neither.” He shot back; matching the angst in my attitude.
“Well, so what? That doesn’t mean