In the Rain (3 page)

Risking
what I hoped wasn't an obvious glance in his direction, I noted his longer
hair, but everything else about him was the same. I dropped my gaze and turned
away before he could get the chance to notice me noticing him. From the look of
it, he was having a pretty intense conversation with one of the other guys, so
he probably hadn't seen me, but that didn't
help the fact I'd seen him.

Dark
brown hair, six or so feet of toned muscle with a side of intense blue eyes?
Sign me up! Taking a breath, I made my way toward the bar, but not before
tossing a cautious glance in his direction, and he was looking right at me. The
hint of a smile lit his eyes, but that was
as much as I saw, for in the next moment, I was sitting. He may have been the
odd crush for me at some point, but an old flame he was not, and I came here to
get away from recognition, not to return it.

And
like most
nights, I ordered a club soda I almost never
had the chance to drink. No doubt tonight would be much of the same. Slime
balls with groping hands and way-too aggressive lips. I hoped this time one of
them would get it right. I liked my hair being pulled
during
sex, not before. Not when I was pressed against a freezing cold
wall or on my knees choking on some jerk’s cock.

I
kept my gaze down when a man took a stool beside mine, and at first, he didn't
say anything. In fact, I wasn't sure if he was breathing.
Great, he's one of
those guys.
The kind who sizes up his prey along with how likely they are
to get her in the sack. Not that I
had experience with them or anything, but I had noticed a few the couple of
times I'd come here. Fortunately for me, their sights were on other women, but
I guess this guy figured he had a chance or was only interested
in an extra notch in his belt.

"You
come here often?" he asked, reaching across the small expanse of space between
us to set his hand on mine.

I
jerked my hand free and glanced at him from under my lashes. He wasn't a sore
sight in the least, but with a pickup line like that,
he clearly had no common sense.

"You
do," he continued. "I've seen you come in here and leave with a
different man a few times in the last month. Why not take a man home who's
worth your time?"

Oh,
like you,
Big Shot?
"I think I'll pass, thanks." I reached for
my drink, and was glad when he didn't offer to buy me another. Anyone who put that much
thought into getting into bed with me wasn't someone I was interested in. He
probably figured if I was here, it was a problem with the selection, which I
guess was partially true, but that didn't mean he was going on my 'please hit
me' list. So far, only one
man I'd seen could even be
considered for the list.

Mr.
Big Shot reached for me again, but this time, someone stopped him.

Another
voice, also male said, "This guy bothering you?"

Oh
great, another Casonova.
And no doubt as bad as the last.
Smiling, I turned to face him and stopped mid-turn. He may have had bad
pickups, but at least he was one to look at. Bleach blond hair, dark eyes and—
is
that a
tattoo under his collar?

My
mouth watered at the thought of this new stranger's body ink, and I immediately
started to wonder how far down his neck the design went. Dumb pickup line or
not, I decided right then he was the one I wanted to join for the evening, if only to
see what was under his shirt!

I
coughed to clear my throat. "Bothering me?" I asked, eying Mr.
Bigshot who, by the look on his face, was somewhere between being territorial
and saying he saw me first or bolting out the door. I smiled when he excused
himself, but not before glaring at my newest suitor. "I don't think he'll
be a problem." I watched the first man leave, then extended my hand to the
second.
Karie. Rachel. Bree.
I'd use all of them before.
Tera—
that one
was new. "Tera."

"Pleasure
to meet you, Tera. I'm Jack." He smiled then, and dammit if his eyes
didn't soften as he did. No cheesy, forced smiles here. He took a seat beside
me. "What're you drinking?"

At
the moment? You.
I may not have wanted a serious
relationship, but this guy was nothing like the
others. I watched as he set a hand on the bar, and quickly checked it for a
ring. No ring, but there was definitely a tan line of where one must've been.
Recently
divorced maybe.

"A
club soda for me, please," I said, turning to face him. His strong jaw
line held my attention long enough for him to place our drink order before he
looked back at me. "Thanks."

"No
problem. So, what's with him?" He shifted on his stool, then continued. "Saw
how you took your hand from him. Figured you could use a way out."

Helping
a damsel in distress?
Hell, at this point I'd take that over
groping hands and being a
territorial jerk. "Thank you, by the way. Let's just say
he was a little too
strong for my tastes."

Jack
bobbed his head then accepted his beer and took a quick swig while I stirred
the ice in my soda. "So, how should we play this out?"

I
set my glass on the bar. "I'm sorry. I don't think I understand what you
mean."

He
lifted his shoulder in a partial shrug. "You know. This dance folks seem
to do when they're looking around, which is what you're doing, isn't it?"

I'm
not sure why, but his pointed look forced some heat into my cheeks. "Maybe
a little.
Is it safe to bet I'm not the only one?"

"Not
in the least. But knowing that,
we still have the issue of where things go from here. We could go back and
forth, talking about some small pleasantries, our work, family life or..."
He lifted his eyebrows.

Man,
you're a quick one, aren't you?
But not desperate. In
fact, he hadn't reached for my hand, whereas most other guys would've had one
on my hip by now.
Boundaries.
And apparently ones Jack respected. And I
did
want to see how far his tattoo went.

I
gestured to my drink. "I should really finish this first. It wouldn't be
nice of me to accept your offer and not finish it."

He
took another sip of his beer, then set the bottle beside my soda. "It
doesn't bother me, so I don't see why it should bother you. Now, if you'd
ordered an expensive wine, then I'd suggest we stay but seeing as it's not, I
think we're okay."

He
stood, and to my surprise, so did I. Usually I gave myself at least half an
hour to get to know a guy, even if
it was for a one night stand.
Not tonight.
In fact, the sooner we got
out of the bar and to wherever Jack lived, the better.

Neither
of us spoke until we'd gotten outside away from the alcohol and cigarette smoke,
right into the drizzling rain. I considered taking him to my place to get out
of the colder weather until it passed, but he beat me to it.

Jack
stopped at the curb and nodded to the other side of the road. "Parked a
few lots down. Damn parallel parking is close to impossible in this town."

Hugging
my coat around myself, I tried to keep my clothes as dry as possible, but I had
to laugh about the parking. Either the spots were already taken, or what
could've passed as a parking space had no meter or one of those no parking
signs. It was one of the main reasons I preferred to walk whenever possible,
and unless I needed to make the trek clear across town in the snow, I rarely
took the car.

But
for now, I was happy for the ride.

The
drive to Jack's was pretty uneventful. Aside from him reaching over the console
to, very gently, squeeze my knee, he was entirely focused on the road. Not
nervous just gentlemanly
I guess. And by the time we reached his place on the other side of town, a fair
drizzle had changed to an all-out torrential downpour.

"I
hope you have a garage," I said, wincing when one of the windshield wipers
scraped against the glass.

"Shit."
Jack's bitter tone surprised me, and as I looked at him I realized his posture
had stiffened. Then, after parking in a driveway which I assumed was his, he
turned to me and said, "You have to get out."

What?
No opening my door?
I wanted to ask, but the serious
expression on his face stopped me. I glanced out the window at Jack's house.
Lights were on. I rechecked the hand that had
shown a bit of tan line in the bar.

"You're
married?" I asked, wincing when my voice cracked.

Just
my luck. I finally find a guy who doesn't throw his hands all over me, and he's
fucking married.
A quick fling or not, there was no way
in hell I was about to help some ass cheat on his wife.

To
hell with this life. I would've had more luck trying for a new Dom, and trust
me, I was starting to consider it, no matter how bad past experiences may have
been.

"She
wasn't supposed to be home," Jack said in a thin whisper, thrusting me
from my thoughts. Then, with a sympathetic look, he added, "I'm really
sorry."

"Forget
it," I said, unbuckling my seatbelt.

And
with that,
I got out of the car and into the pouring rain. Holding my arms around myself,
I did my best to keep under the few trees lining the side of the street, but
they weren't much help. At this point, I could've walked home and it wouldn't
have made a difference, but the menacing clouds above me promised a lot more
than rain.

It
was still cold enough for snow, so instead, I headed for the nearest bus stop.
At least the waiting area was covered. Not like I
planned on taking the bus to Philly, but sitting next to the full ashtrays, out
of the rain, was a lot better than the alternative. 

I
sat on the bench and shivered as a drop of water trickled under my hair and
down the nape of my neck. I regretted not pulling my hair up before I left the
house. It would be tattered mess by the time I got home.
So much for that.
Not
to mention my entire night. Here it was, not even nine
o'clock, and I was stuck in the rain, on the other side of town.

Sure,
I could've probably hopped into another bar, but who the hell would hit on me
when I'm soaking wet? If it were summer, I probably could've gotten away with a
wet t-shirt joke, but not when there were so many layers between myself and the
elements.

The
sound of footsteps crunching against gravel and sloshing through puddles forced
me to lift my head and shift over on the bench so the newcomer could sit. I
froze when I came face to face with the same man I'd been ogling at the bar.
Thayre.

I'm
not sure how long I sat there staring at him before he settled beside me. And
seeing him under the gentle lamplight, outside of the bar, caused my blood
pressure to go up a notch.

He
shook off his umbrella in front of us, closed it and then grinned at me. "Beautiful
night, isn't it?"

I
forced a smile. "If you don't count the rain, sure."

Small
talk.
After so long, I couldn't really expect much else.
Not that I
wouldn't have liked to fall into easy conversation with him, but we hadn't
spoken in years.

"You
do realize the buses don't run this late, right?" he asked, shrugging out
of his coat before gesturing for me to sit away from the bench.

"It's
okay. I'm fine," I said, my teeth chattering around the words.

"Liar."
Thayre's expression softened, and he closed his coat around me. "You're
shivering."

I
shuddered and hugged the extra layer around myself. "Thanks."

"So
what are you doing out here anyway?" He licked his bottom lip and opened
his mouth to say something, but thought better of it.

I
sighed and looked out at the rain to keep my mind on how cold I was instead of
how badly I wanted to kiss him. In high school we'd purely been platonic, but that didn't
mean there hadn't been some chemistry between us. The main reason we kept each
other at arm's length was either because one of us was dating someone else or
to honor the friendship we already had.

And
while I may have been single, there was no way for me to know if he was as
well, so I kept to myself.

"I
assume you saw me at the bar earlier?" I asked, already knowing the
answer.

"I
did. But didn't you leave with someone?"

I
frowned and glanced in his direction. "I did, but turns out he wasn't my
type."

"So
you figured sitting at the bus stop until morning was a good idea?"

I
shrugged. "It got me out of the rain, didn't it?"

"Yeah,
but at least going into a restaurant or something would've meant you were dry
and
warm. Or well, you'd get dry."

"Looking
like this?
No respectable restaurant would've let me in, and all the fast food joints are
on the other side of town."

"Then
why not come with me?" He patted down the air. "Relax, I'm honestly
not trying to hit on you. But you might want to get out of the rain and into
something warm before going home. Besides, this isn't supposed to let up until
tomorrow morning sometime."

I
exhaled and eyed the cloud of breath that passed
through my lips. "Of course it isn't."

He
passed me a reassuring smile, stood, then opened his umbrella. "Come on.
My place isn't far from here."

A
fter
taking a generously warm shower changing into an orchestra t-shirt along with a
pair of sweatpants Thayre had let me borrow, I joined him in his living room.
He was sitting on the sofa and nonchalantly patted the cushion beside him.

"No
strings. I promise," he said as he leaned forward to pick a mug off the
coffee table. "You still like hot
chocolate I hope."