Chapter 3 Blue-Eyed Stranger

I took a deep breath. I was riding in the back of a luxury SUV, feeling the stoic presence of a certain blue-eyed stranger beside me. I had a feeling from our conversation that Jensen was well-off—but his own private driver?

Damn. This was the kind of wealth you didn''t stumble across at some random bar every day.

"Dante," he said to the driver. "Take us to the usual place."

I frowned. "Oh no no. A bus stop will do just fine. I''m going home."

"Sure. After one drink."

"You''re not asking," I said, clicking my tongue.

"Consider it an opportunity to actually get to know the man you''re supposed to be having a one-night stand with."

He smirked, and I looked away, feeling my body tense up. Just hearing him talk about hypothetical sex was enough to get me wet. I tried to play it cool.

"That goes against the rules," I said.

"Is that so? Tell me more about these…rules."

I thought of Megan''s drunk ass. She''d kill me right now if she knew I was spilling this much about our secret game. Always the strictest one.

"Well," I said. "The game is simple. Catch and release. No personal details. No attachments. No texting each other ever again afterward."

"Don''t you think those rules are silly?" he purred. "Haven''t you heard of just letting go and seeing what happens? Besides, you seem a bit inexperienced in the department of one-night stands, Kyla."

Am I that obvious?

I shook my head, laughing.

"You''re right. I''m not. This is my first attempt at a one-night stand."

"And yet you''re actively trying to sabotage it. Why?"

The way he looked at me then wasn''t with amusement, or charm, or flirtatiousness. It was with pure and honest curiosity. He actually wanted to know me.

"I don''t know," I said. "I guess I''m still processing a breakup, and…"

"Say no more," he said, nodding.

I found myself surprised by how understanding he was. Alden had never so much as asked me about my feelings once in our three-year relationship. He just assumed I was always "okay," even when I was crying out for help.

And here was this stranger, probing me, pushing me to reveal secrets. Who was Jensen really?

"Dante," he said. "Will you make sure the VIP room is cleared out and the bar is stocked?"

"Of course, sir."

"Whoa," I said, laughing. "No need to pull out the big guns. A normal bar is fine for me."

"Is that what you think?" he asked. "No, Kyla, if I were to ''pull out the big guns,'' we''d be halfway around the world by now."

I wasn''t sure whether he was joking or showing off. He didn''t say it in a way that struck me as bragging. More like stating a fact.

He was just that rich. What did this man do for a living?

No, Kyla, I chided myself. That''s one rule you are not going to break. No getting to know him.

When we finally pulled up to an elegant restaurant and Dante opened the car door for us, I frowned, turning to Jensen.

"You realize this is a four-star restaurant, not a pub, right?" I whispered.

"I''m aware." We stepped out, and he placed my hand on his arm.

I blinked in wonder and let him escort me inside. The maître d'' greeted us the moment we stepped in. Without asking our names, he ushered us toward a private room across the open dining area. Many eyes followed us as we passed.

When we got to the private room, I was stunned at how spacious it was. With only one table set for two, I wondered how the hell he''d managed to arrange this so quickly.

"And here I thought we were having a casual drink," I said.

He shrugged—maybe this was casual for him.

Then we took a seat and ordered our drinks. He was on a first-name basis with the bartender, Robbie. A regular, clearly.

"I''m not the first girl you''ve taken here…trying to impress, I presume," I said when Robbie walked off.

"No," he said, that poker face as unreadable as ever. "You''re not."

I appreciated his honesty. It made my spine tingle, imagining just how experienced this man was with women. What could he do with me?

"So, humor me," I said. "What do you do after this to keep the girls interested?"

"Do you really want to know that?" he asked, surprised.

"I''m asking, aren''t I?"

He waited, blue eyes flicking back and forth between mine, trying to read me, to find some hidden meaning in my words. What was it with this man and breaking me down?

As Robbie returned with our drinks, Jensen gave him a knowing nod. Robbie quickly retreated, leaving us alone. What was going on?

Then the lights dimmed, and soft music filled the room. Jensen took a sip of his drink, then offered his hand with a flirty grin.

"May I?"

"You''ve got to be kidding me." I laughed as I quickly took a swig of the cocktail and accepted his hand. "This is your move?"

"What can I say? I''m old-fashioned."

We stood up and moved closer to each other. He skillfully twirled me, his hand placed on the small of my back. Then we swayed slowly to the soft tune. I couldn''t believe how well it was working.

I giggled into his shoulder.

"Am I amusing you?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Most girls would have swooned by now. You''re the first to laugh in my face."

I stepped back, eyeing him, afraid I''d hurt his pride somehow. But he looked even more intrigued than before. I figured I''d double down on the sass, in that case.

"It''s a funny-looking face," I teased.

He laughed, shaking his head. "Are you always so biting?"

"Depends on the situation."

"So you think a man like me likes to be insulted?"

"It''s an educated guess, that''s all. Don''t take it to heart."

Now I worried I''d overstepped. There was a storm in his eyes that I couldn''t understand. It made the ocean less blue and more turbulent.

"You know, Kyla," he said, swaying with me but staring off. "When people hand you everything on a silver platter, they stop seeing you as a real person. Which is why meeting someone who''s real…who sees you…it''s…exhilarating."

And now I realized that storm in his eyes wasn''t anger. It was lust.

"Don''t get too excited," I joked, taking a small step back to control my own impulses. "Like I said, I''m not really playing the game tonight."

"I''m not so sure, Kyla," he said, pulling me a bit closer. "What your mouth says and what your body says are two separate things."

I felt his fingers trace up my spine and resisted the urge to moan.

"I…I…" I stammered. "I need—"

"What do you need?"

"The bathroom," I blurted out.

And now the spell was broken. He let me go, nodding toward a door in the distance.

I nodded too politely and hurried to the bathroom. I needed to get control, and fast. This was not the way the evening was supposed to go. I was supposed to be in bed by now.

As soon as I stepped through the door, I pulled out my phone.

Coleen had a point. What was stopping me, exactly? Maybe it was fear of intimacy. After Alden, I didn''t know how to be with another person. Period.

But this guy, Jensen, wasn''t interested in anything more than a one-night stand as far as I could tell.

There was something dangerous about him, no doubt. But my body didn''t care. My body wasn''t afraid at all.

After one night of passion, I would never have to see him again. I stared into the mirror, into my own eyes, and for the first time in three months, I felt sexy. I felt a carnal desire I didn''t even know I was capable of.

I felt alive.

Without giving it a second thought, I stormed out of the bathroom and walked toward Jensen. He stood at the bar, his back turned, but when he swiveled to see me, it was like he could read my mind.

I stepped closer to him. "I want you," I whispered.

"I know, Kyla," he said. "I want you too."

And with that, he brought his lips to mine and kissed me. Nothing in my wildest fantasies could have prepared me for the way his lips and tongue felt against mine. He gently bit my lower lip, then kissed me harder. One of his hands rested on the nape of my neck, and the other pulled my hips toward his. It felt like we were melting into one. My body lit up with every touch, the sexual electricity flowing through me, slowly waking up the parts of my body that had been dormant for months.

There were no more pretenses. No more teasing and provocations. No. Now the game was about to become very real.

His ocean blue eyes burned with hunger as he slowly pulled back and read my mind once more.

"Should we go somewhere a little more private?"