I Just Need You - J. Nathan Page 0,6

side at the same time I did. I laughed. We tried again, moving to the other side. I laughed again and my head tipped back. My gaze collided with the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. They were teal—the color of beautiful Caribbean waters. But their owner wasn’t laughing. He didn’t even look amused.

He grabbed my arms to keep me still and moved around me. “This is the men’s room,” he said, his deep gravelly voice sending an unexpected surge of electricity through me.

“I know,” I said, spinning to face him while trying to ignore my reaction to him. “I need to pee.”

“It’s disgusting in there,” he assured me as he ran his hands through his dirty blond hair.

My eyes moved over his dark shirt and jeans that told me he wasn’t trying too hard to look good…he just did. “Do I look like a high maintenance kind of girl to you?” I teased, hoping to get some kind of smile from him.

“High maintenance?” he asked as his eyes raked over my body, trying to decide.

His look elicited a heated path across my skin and I released a silent breath, unnerved by my unexpected reaction to him. That hadn’t happened to me since…well, ever. The guys I’d spent time with were sons of my father’s clients. Not guys who made me feel…anything.

His eyes landed on my necklace, narrowing coldly. “Oh, you’re definitely high maintenance,” he said with a chill to his voice.

“I am?”

“Not to mention completely desperate.”

My eyes widened, our conversation taking a complete one-eighty.

“If picking up guys in bars is your thing, try playing it a little subtler. Because the way you’re gawking at me is really freaking me out.”

I sucked in a sharp breath as any remaining electricity fizzled out completely. What an asshole.

He said nothing more, just turned away from me and headed back through the crowd.

My insides twisted, a knot forming in my stomach as I walked into the men’s room, locking the door behind me. Did that really just happen?

I left the men’s room a couple minutes later, still unable to believe the nerve of that guy. I’d only been in Paris for two and a half years, but was that what meeting guys in the US was like now?

I made my way back to the dance floor, joining Elodie and Alice who were still dancing in the center of the crowd. I immersed myself in the music, dancing until sweat dripped down my hairline. I would sleep tonight if it was the last thing I did.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of the guy from the men’s room staring at me from the bar. He stood with his arms crossed and his eyes locked on mine. A pretty brunette leaned into him, speaking into his ear. He reacted to her words by nodding or shaking his head, but his eyes never left mine.

I’ll show you high maintenance and desperate.

I turned my attention back to the dance floor, never again looking back at him. He may have had the prettiest eyes I’d ever seen, but I had no time for judgmental pricks.

The girls and I danced until the lights turned on at closing time. We headed to the exit, following the flow of sweaty bodies. I glanced over my shoulder and Marco followed us out. As we walked to the SUV, my eyes shifted left and right, always on guard.

Marco hit the button and the doors unlocked. He pulled open the back door, and the three of us shuffled into the backseat.

“That was so much fun,” I said once we were safely in the car and back on the road.

Elodie and Alice both turned to face me, both just as sweaty and their hair just as disheveled as mine must’ve been.

“We’re so glad you came,” they said at the same time.

We all broke into laughter.

“So, is this a good time to ask about…?” Alice lifted her chin toward Marco in the front seat.

“It’s totally fine if you don’t want to say anything,” Elodie added, shooting Alice a look.

“No, it’s okay,” I assured her. “I just ran into some trouble at my last school. Some people tried to kidnap me.”

Alice gasped.

“They shot my bodyguard and would’ve taken me if the police hadn’t shown up when they did. They took off and still haven’t been found.”

“Oh my God,” Elodie said.

“Still want to hang out with me?” I asked lightheartedly.

“That was not what I was expecting,” Alice said.

“I was hoping you were some Hollywood actress