Addicted (Addicted Trilogy Book 1) (5 page)

“It’s really only been a half hour; you’ll be
fine.”
Is he irritated with me?
Smoothing
down my skirt even more, I proceeded to walk around him, trying my best to put
distance between us. As I hurried away, I heard him say, “I meant it about your
clothes before. You shouldn’t choose something so revealing next time.”

I stopped short and wheeled around so I was facing
him again, almost tripping over my own feet in the process. “I’ll continue to
wear whatever I want. You can’t dictate my wardrobe, not that you’ll ever see
me again anyway.” His rudeness instantly put my guard back up, which was a good
thing because I found myself being very careless around him.

“We’ll see about that, sweetheart,” he said as he
brushed past me on his way to the bar.

Yeah, we
will
see about that
. I mumbled
to myself all the way back to join my friends. When I finally reached them, I
saw three guys crowding around my dear roommate and a couple girls trying to
swoop in on Matt.

Alexa was in her glory, as usual, but I felt bad
for Matt because he looked a little uncomfortable. He was trying to be polite,
but the girls weren’t picking up on the hints he wasn’t interested.
How dense can they be?
He was trying to
avoid all physical contact with them, even going so far as shrugging away from
them as they tried to possessively grab his upper arm.

 
I knew what
I had to do to save my friend. “Honey, there you are. I’ve been looking everywhere
for you.” Making my way past the pushy women, I sat right down on Matt’s lap,
wrapping my arms around his neck. He was trying to contain his laughter as I leaned
in to whisper in his ear. “I thought you could use the help.”

“Thanks
.”
It was all he needed to say. Even though I was in the moment,
trying to help a friend, I couldn’t help but search the crowd around me, hoping
to catch a glimpse of the sexy stranger I was entangled with not five minutes before.

My eyes locked with his almost instantly, the snarl
on his face suddenly confusing me.
What
the hell is his problem?
It was then I caught him glancing from me to Matt
then back again.
Oh, okay. Now I understand
why he’s mad.
Or did I? He didn’t even know me well enough to appear to be that
pissed off. Yeah, we were pretty intimate a few moments ago, but he couldn’t
lay claim to me.

I grabbed my watered-down drink from the table and
tried to ignore him, brooding glances and all.

I wonder how
well the rest of the night will go.

Alek

Present Day

I should have never walked into that damn flower
shop, and I sure as hell shouldn’t have bumped into her at the club, ending
back up at her place at the end of the night. It took everything in me not to
scold her for being so careless, drunk enough to go home with a stranger, even
if that stranger was me. But I didn’t have a choice. I had to make sure she arrived
home safe and sound.

What the hell was I thinking? Distance was the main
objective, but I certainly messed that one up.

My one rule.

Never get too close.

Now I’m truly
fucked.

Sara was like the sweetest temptation. I knew I
should stay away, should engage all of my controls, but in the end, I just needed
to have a taste. A taste which would surely undo me.

“Alek. Did you hear me?”
Jacinda
asked as she raked her finger up and down my arm. She was going on and on about
her newest visit to Paris, a trip I couldn’t give two shits about. I knew I was
being rude, but the woman was forever boring me with her tales. Yeah, I admit
it. I slept with her. Any guy would have; she was beautiful. But because she
didn’t stimulate me, other than in my pants, we only had sex once. And she’d been
trying to get with me ever since.

“What?” I distractedly asked, already busy thinking
of an excuse to leave.

Instead of taking my subtle hint of annoyance, she
decided the best course of action was to try and kiss me. She leaned in and
placed her lips on mine. Before she could try and attack me further, I pulled
away and took two steps back. “
Jacinda
,” I said,
irritation evident in my tone. “I told you, I’m not going there again.
We’re
not going there.”

“You’ll change your mind eventually, baby,” she
cooed, batting her long lashes at me as she leaned in close again, her breasts
rubbing against my arm. “We run in the same circles. I’ll wear you down soon
enough.” She laughed, pecked me on the lips before I could move away and
disappeared from my office.

Although I was never going to give her what she
wanted, I had to admire her persistence. There were worse things in life than
being pursued by a beautiful woman.

It had been three days since I’d left Sara lying in
bed, dazed and confused. I’d almost made the mistake of telling her I’d contact
her later that day. Thankfully, I’d held my tongue. I couldn’t get too close
too fast.

I could ruin everything.

Later that night, as I leaned against the shower
tile, the hot water cascading over my sore muscles after an intense workout,
all I could think about was the woman I’d woken up next to earlier in the week.
Her innocence was breathtaking, even more so when she revealed no other man had
been inside her.
What can I say? It was a
major turn-on.

Gripping my thick length, I pictured her face when
I’d helped her to her feet. Her full, pink lips just about had me marking her
right then and there. Beautiful amber eyes stared back at me, full of desire
and surprise, but never fear. She stood in front of me in nothing but a damn
T-shirt and panties, both doing a shit job of hiding the body underneath. Those
memories of her took me to completion, my desire washing away with the water
circling the drain.

I knew, right in that moment, Sara Hawthorne was
going to be my undoing.

Sara

It’d been a week since I woke up next to Mr.
Gorgeous, aka Alek
Devera
. An array of emotions
conflicted me, streaming through me and confusing me at every turn. I was oddly
excited, daydreaming of when I would see him again. If ever. Nervousness raced
through me at how much I liked him. I hardly knew the man, yet I felt an
unexplainable connection toward him.

His face was the one thing I kept picturing. His
voice was constantly ringing in my ears. I didn’t like feeling that way, slowly
being wrapped up completely in a man. A virtual stranger.

When I finally rushed into our apartment, dropping
my keys a few times in my excitement, I threw my things on the couch and called
for my best friend. “Lex!” I shouted. “Are you home? Alexa!”

“What the hell are you yelling for? I’m right
here.” She came barreling out of the bathroom, half-assed wrapped in a towel
thinking something bad had happened. That was until she saw my face.

 
“I got it! My loan was approved for the shop!”
I screeched, throwing my hands in the air like a crazy person.

 
I was beyond words, beaming from ear to ear. It
meant more to me than merely owning my own business, which was a huge deal in
and of itself. After what I’d been through, I needed this to feel somewhat
normal again.
I’ll take all of the
mundane day to day dealings with owning and operating my own business, the debt
which has to be repaid, the long hours to get me started and everything else
if it means I have a chance at a regular life for once. Well…in
a very long time, anyway.

I had a normal life once upon a time…before I met
him.
But I won’t dwell on the past. It
was a happy time for me, and I refused to let anyone ruin it, even myself.

Alexa rushed over and embraced me in a huge hug. “I’m
so happy for you, Sara; I truly am. I know how much you wanted this. How many
twenty-six-year-old women do you know who own their very own business?” She was
smiling right along with me. “I know one. You. When did you find out?”

“I called today on a whim, it being Saturday and
all, and actually talked to Mr.
Hemsworth
, the loan
officer I’ve been dealing with. He was about to leave for the weekend when I
caught him.”

My cheek muscles started to ache, the stupid grin
never once disappearing from my face.

“Did you call Katherine yet and let her know she
can officially retire?” she asked as she made her way toward the kitchen to
grab a drink. Alexa liked Katherine almost as much as I did, viewing her as the
mother figure, just like everyone else.

“No. I thought I would sign the paperwork on
Monday, make it legit, and then bring them to work with me. She won’t be too
shocked, though.”

I was excited the plan I’d had for myself was
actually going to be my new reality. But to have someone near and dear to my
heart express the same type of happiness for my new circumstance was amazing. I
truly didn’t know what I’d do without Alexa by my side. The gratitude I’d felt
toward her was so overwhelming I’d almost been reduced to tears. Thankfully,
she hadn’t noticed, all too consumed with thoughts of going out that evening
and having a great time.

“We have to celebrate. A girls’ night out,” Alexa
sang, dancing around the kitchen island like a woman possessed. “Let’s get
crazy tonight. I’m sure it’ll be the last one for a while since you’ll be
working like mad in the weeks to come.”

She was right. I’d have to buckle down even more
and learn the business inside and out. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin
all of Katherine’s hard work. “Sounds like a plan, but where should we go?”

“There’s a small bar called Carlson’s about a half
hour from here. Some of my co-workers were talking about it the other day. They
really like it.”

“Okay, we’ll head out around seven for an early
start to our celebration.”

“Sounds good.” I’d be able to take a quick nap, run
some errands and decide on what to wear. Donning jeans and a nice sweater would
be all I’d worry about. Maybe kicking it up a notch with some nice heels.

We arrived at Carlson’s closer to eight, a bit later
than we had anticipated, but it was okay because we still had the whole night
ahead of us.

Although it was nothing more than a corner bar, it
seemed cozy and inviting. It was the kind of place you went with some friends
to unwind after a hard day of work. A place I could definitely imagine going
after a long but rewarding day at the shop.

On either side of the bar, there were numerous high
tables, placed a few feet from each other, giving the customers plenty of room.

I liked that not everyone was crowded and squished
in like sardines.

“Let’s sit over here for now,” I said, pointing
toward the left corner of the bar which was presently empty.

Once we were situated, my gaze wandered around,
checking out the types of people sharing the same space with us.

 
“What do you
want to drink, Sara?” Alexa already had her money out, waiting for my order.

“I guess I’ll have a rum and Coke for now. I’ll
keep it simple.”

“Simple? Rum? We’ll see how simple that is after a
few of them.”

Alexa knew me all too well. I was a lightweight
when it came to alcohol.

 
It was ten o’clock before the
bar really started to pick up. Before I knew it, it was standing room only. There
was a pretty uneven ratio of men to women, men making up about seventy percent.
I couldn’t care less since I wasn’t interested in anyone there, but for Alexa,
it was a dream come true. There were plenty from which she could choose. In
fact, I think she already had her eye on someone in particular, an attractive blond
guy with tattoos running up and down both arms. As he leaned over the jukebox,
making his selections, he had no idea he’d just been targeted by my dear
friend.

“I’ll be right back. You
gonna
be okay for a couple minutes?” she asked, eyeing me up and secretly pleading
with me to say yes.

I laughed. “Go, go talk to him.” She hopped off the
barstool faster than the words left my lips. She was in full seductive gear:
her usual tight, low-cut top and short skirt, paired with the highest heels I’d
ever seen. Honestly, I didn’t even know how she managed to walk in those things.
Her outfit was a bit over the top for a local bar, but that was Alexa. Over the
top.

“What’s so funny, gorgeous?”
Who the hell said that?
I didn’t have to wait long to find out as
someone grabbed my arm, whipping me around on my barstool so fast I almost fell
off. As I caught myself, I came face to face with a young, dark-haired man, who
happened to be very drunk. He was the type of guy you could tell peaked in high
school, the popular jock who never went anywhere after graduation. It was
probably because those were truly the best years of his life.

In any other situation, I would have thought he was
attractive, but not at that moment. There was something creepy and unnerving
going on behind those light brown eyes of his.

He instantly made me uneasy.

“Excuse me,” I practically shouted, trying to rein
in some of my rising temper so as not to cause an unnecessary scene. Even
though I was clearly glaring at him, shooting him the worst kind of evil eye,
he was still holding tightly. When I tried to shrug him off, his grip only intensified.

“Let go of my arm,” I said through gritted teeth.

He looked to where his hand was placed and smirked,
slowly releasing his grasp.

“Can I buy you a drink?” He leaned in closer than
was comfortable, invading every part of my personal space. The frustrating thing
was I couldn’t turn back around because his knee was blocking the way.

“No, but thanks for the offer.” I was doing my best
to remain civil with the creep, but I realized it didn’t matter. He was intent
on hitting on me, delusional to think I would fall for him in some way. “Can
you move your leg so I can turn around now?”

The look on his face was a mixture of shock and
anger, because how dare I refuse him? “Why don’t you want to talk to me?” He
was starting to piss me off the longer it took for him to get the damn hint.

“Because I have a boyfriend and I don’t think he
would appreciate you hitting on me.” It was the only thing I could think of to
hopefully placate his incessant behavior.

“Well, where’s this boyfriend of yours then? Let
him tell me himself I can’t buy you a drink.”

Is this guy
for real?

As if sensing there might be a problem, Alexa came
over to save the day. She had more balls than I did when it came to dealing
with arrogant drunk men.

“You okay, girl?” Thankfully, she didn’t say my name
in front of him. I didn’t want the creep knowing anything about me.

“This guy won’t accept I refused his offer to buy
me a drink.”
Get him, Lex
.

The dark-haired jerk looked in Alexa’s direction, was
hit with the sight of her over-exposed flesh and stepped away from me so I
could twist back around. I was never so thankful to Alexa for wearing her outfit.

“How ‘bout I buy
you
a drink, gorgeous?” Couldn’t he think of anything more
original?

“Hell no!” Alexa shouted directly in his face. “You
stand over here bothering my friend, then offer to buy
me
a drink? Like you’re not an obnoxious
asshat
?
Take a hike, creep!” Her temper was rising the more he just stood there.

“Bitches, both of you,” he grumbled, trying to
steady himself before tripping over his own two feet. He attempted to somewhat
compose himself before he walked away, bumping into Alexa’s shoulder as he
passed by her. I didn’t know if it was on purpose or if it was because he was
staggering a bit from drinking.

I was praying it was the latter.

“Thank you so much, Lex. That guy was really
starting to freak me out.”

“I was prepared to punch him if he kept giving you
a hard time.” We burst out laughing. I wouldn’t put it past her to out-and-out
deck the guy. We looked across the bar and saw him already back to his antics,
trying to chat up an unsuspecting victim. I really hoped she had a friend with
her to help her out.

“So…what happened with the
hottie
at the jukebox?” I tried to distract her enough to stop leering at
McCreepy
.

My question did the trick.

“Oh, he is quite the
hottie
indeed. You know I’m a sucker for a guy with tats. He gave me his number and
agreed to hang out. I guess I’ll call him in a couple days, you know, when I
get around to it.” She smiled and took a sip of her drink.

Shaking my head, I didn’t expect anything less from
her. Sometimes I admired her self-confidence and courage. She didn’t seem to be
afraid of anything or anyone.

I, however, was still re-building my trust in
people, forever being the overly cautious one.

It was another hour or so later when we decided to
head out and grab something to eat before going home. There was a charming little
diner which was open late two blocks away from the bar. We’d only been there a
few times, but we always enjoyed the food and appealing ambiance.

“I’m running to the ladies room real quick then we
can go,” I said as I hopped down from my barstool.

“Okay. I’ll be here.” She was a little lit-up, but
then again so was I. Not drunk, just pleasantly tipsy.

There wasn’t anyone in line for the bathroom, so I
was able to take care of business relatively quickly. I had only taken a few
steps into the hallway when I ran into someone.

To my horror, it was the guy from earlier. “Well,
well, well. Look who it is.” His hungry eyes slowly cascaded up and down my
body. Dressed in skinny jeans and a short-sleeved sweater, he made me feel exposed.
        

Sucking in a deep breath to try and calm myself
before I went into full-on panic mode, I tried to move around him. But he
blocked my escape, instead taking a few steps toward me, backing me up against
the hallway wall. His hand shot out and grabbed a lock of my hair, yanking me
closer. Pain shot through me but before I could scream, his mouth tore at my
lips, my sensitive skin pierced from the sharpness of his teeth. I tried to
push him off, but my efforts were in vain.

He wasn’t budging.

My resistance must have been a turn-on for him, a
low groan escaping from somewhere deep in his throat.

It was predatory.

It was dangerous.

Grabbing both my hands and pinning them above my
head in one of his, he positioned me right where he wanted me. His free hand
lowered until he was pawing at my sweater, trying to grope me. While his body
fought with mine, he lowered his head again and tried to kiss me. Again. I kept
turning my head from side to side, knowing if his lips touched mine again, I
would retch all over him.