Restless (Relentless Series Book 2) (2 page)

BOOK: Restless (Relentless Series Book 2)
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The sun dipped down over the horizon and my heart pounded in my chest. It had felt this way since I left. After I ran from the only real relationship I’d had. Fear had taken over, and it was fight or flight time. My reaction is always flight. Going back was out of the question. Stephen might be the best thing that has ever happened to me, but there’s no way in hell I wanted to get married right now. Just the thought of slipping a ring on my finger felt like a noose around my neck. Weren’t men supposed to think this way, not women?

I slammed my fist down on the steering wheel. The anger and fear all mixed together, and I didn’t know what the fuck I felt anymore. Maybe I should have gone to Violet’s house and talked to her, but I took the coward’s way out and left after I knew Stephen would be gone for a few days for work.

Why didn’t I go talk to her after I found that stupid ring?

It really was gorgeous, a four-carat, cushion cut diamond set in a delicate gold band. Any woman would be lucky to put it on her finger. Hell, any woman would be lucky to have Stephen Davenport be the one to put it there, but I’m not ready. I thought he understood that. It was huge for me to even accept that Stephen and I were in a relationship.

My mother showed me firsthand how bad marriage could be. It wasn’t just her though. Every person I knew that had ever gotten married ended up divorced or had been cheated on by their significant other. My sister ended her first marriage after he cheated on her, my dad
should
have left my mom after she cheated on him, even my best friend Emmy had her decade long relationship end ten days after they got married.

Stephen might always be the love of my life, but I can't be with him if he expects more from me than I can give him. It's not fair to either one of us. Losing him after truly being with him would ruin me worse than I already was, but he deserved better than a broken woman. I wanted him to be happy and he wouldn’t ever find that with me.

             

 

The air felt heavy, and it was smoky and dark. The bar definitely fit my mood for the night. I walked further in and saw one of the most gorgeous men I had ever seen behind the bar. Jet black hair and ice blue eyes, he was dark and brooding and looked like exactly the kind of trouble I wanted to get into tonight. His shirt fit him perfectly and I could imagine how his abs would ripple under my fingertips. A shiver went down my spine as his lips parted when his eyes met mine.

“Whiskey neat, please.” My husky voice sounded weird to my own ears.

The sexy bartender raised an eyebrow. Apparently, I didn’t look like the type of girl that drank straight whiskey. I should have stuck with beer, but tonight I felt desperate. It was reckless leaving the man I love more than life itself, but that wasn’t what I wanted to think about right now. Shaking my head a little to clear it, the bartender looked confused.

“Did you change your mind, darlin’?

“No, sorry. Just trying to clear my thoughts, hence the whiskey.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he said with a wink.

I flipped my long chestnut hair over my shoulder and pinned him with my coffee colored eyes. He passed the glass over and as our fingers touched the electricity between us shocked me. My gaze shot up to his, and he had the same shell shocked look on his face that I did. Whatever this was between us, it wasn’t one sided. Smirking, I sipped at the drink. It felt good to flirt with someone other than Stephen. At the very least I planned to convince myself that flirting with this stranger was the best damn time I’ve ever had. The ache in my chest might go away once I drank enough of the fiery liquid.

“Let me know when you need another one of those, darlin'.”

“Yes, sir,” I said with a mock salute.

I looked around and realized the bar was having an open mike night. Once I had a few more glasses of the strong liquor, I wouldn’t be able to stay off that stage. I hid the secret that I sang well under normal circumstances, but tonight singing was all I wanted to do. Maybe if I did, the knot in my chest would loosen up enough for me to take a breath. I knocked back my drink and within a few seconds another one was sitting next to the glass I placed on the bar top. I shot hot bartender boy a grateful smile and vowed to myself this would be a good night.

My hands shook as I grabbed the mike to adjust the height. I racked my brain for a song. It needed to be something easy, but sultry and sexy. As I opened my mouth, one of my favorites came belting out before I realized what was happening. The Pistol Annies song “I Feel A Sin Comin’ On” was one of the first songs I ever sang live.

My voice came out throaty and low, filling every crevice of the dingy room. Sexy bartender boy looked up as I sang, ‘
Tall, dark, and handsome, mix it up with something strong’
. This man was definitely tall, dark, and handsome. I wouldn’t mind doing some sinning with him. His blue eyes met mine and another shiver of awareness went through me. Everyone else faded into the background and we were the only two people in the bar. The roar of applause snapped me out of our bubble and brought me back down to reality.

I made my way back to the barstool I had been sitting on before, but this time I barely sat down before I had a few visitors. Men always bothered me after I sang. No one expected the sweet little girl in front of them to belt out something dark and sexy. Part of the reason I enjoyed singing to strangers was because of the shock factor. Ignoring the man standing next to me, I looked up at the bartender. He handed me my third whiskey of the night.

“I get off in an hour.”

“Sounds good.”

“What's your name?”

“You'll get it when you earn it, sugar.”

He grabbed at his heart as if I had shot him. I lifted the drink to take a sip, hiding my smile behind the glass. My plan, if you could call it that, was to get incredibly drunk and have a one night stand. If nothing else it would help me get my mind off everything going on back home. The bartender seemed like a good prospect.

The sooner I tried to move on from Stephen the better. He would never forgive me for leaving, and as much as I regretted my decision, I wasn’t ready to get married. If that’s what he wanted, our relationship was doomed anyway. Self-preservation at its best.     

The smoke and the whiskey had lulled me into a drugged state. I wanted to forget everything, and with each drink I relaxed a little more. Regrets and self-loathing would come later, but right now none of that mattered. The hour went by quickly as I waited. Sexy bartender boy kept serving me shots, which helped keep the other men at bay. If their pickup line was to buy me a drink, they never got a chance to use it.

When he walked around the bar, I downed my whiskey and grabbed my purse. I stumbled off the barstool, and he caught me before I face planted into the floor.

“Easy there, darlin’. You okay?”

“Yeah, I stood up too quick. It’s Taylor.”

“I earned your name just by making sure you didn’t hit the floor?”

“Well, it’s a start,” I winked. “You have a name?”

The husky chuckle that met my ears was sexy as hell. “Rhys.”

“Nice to meet you, Rhys.”

His hand found its way to my lower back as he guided me out of the bar. I was surprised when he led me to a set of stairs on the side of the building.

“I’m watching the place for one of my buddies. Is this okay?”

“It’s just fine with me, sugar.”

Except now I had to drunkenly climb those fucking stairs. I closed my eyes as I braced myself. My foot never hit the first step because Rhys picked me up and carried me. I giggled and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“What is this? You don’t trust me to walk on my own?”

“Darlin’, you almost fell on your face from a barstool. You probably shouldn’t be attempting stairs. This was my easy solution, plus it got you in my arms.”

He shot me a sexy grin, and my panties were embarrassingly damp as I stared at the dimple in his left cheek.
Holy shit
. His blue eyes looked electric and there was something behind them shimmering. Crashing. Churning. My hands ran over the muscles in his back as I grabbed on tighter to keep my balance. Oh man, I was so out of my league right now. Sure, I was cute, but this man was pure sex on a stick.

"Did anyone ever tell you your eyes are the color of cinnamon and dark chocolate mixed together? They have beautiful golden flecks in them that are so expressive." He kissed the tip of my nose before sitting me down on the landing to fish the keys out of his pocket. I gripped the railing so I wouldn’t go rolling down the stairs he’d so thoughtfully carried me up. Fuck me, I was making a great first impression. A smirk crossed his lips as he noticed my white knuckles on the banister. He grabbed my hand and tugged me into the small apartment.

His hands were tangled in my hair before the door even shut behind us. My lips met his eagerly, but all I could think of was how different he felt against my fingers and he tasted like cinnamon versus mint. I didn’t need to be comparing how he kissed. Things were over with Stephen, and I needed to move on.

Running my hands up over the strong muscles of his back, I deepened the kiss trying to shove away the memories that tore at me. His lips trailed down the column of my neck and I focused on the sensations Rhys was creating in me. I rocked my body against his, and Rhys moaned low in his throat. The sexy sound should have made me want to rip off his clothes, but instead I pulled back. When his lust filled gaze met mine he realized something was wrong.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do this.”

Instead of the anger I expected, compassion showed in his soulful, blue eyes. I was surprised, but grateful. He released me and took a step back, running his hands through his hair. 

“Tell me about it. I can tell you want this. Do you have a boyfriend?”

I shook my head. “Not anymore. I fucked it up.” Realizing how that sounded, I said, “I did that before all this.” I gestured between the two of us. God, I was such a fucking idiot. “I left because he wanted more than I could give him.”

“As much as I want this,” he said smiling and motioning between us, teasing me. “I get it. Tell me though; did I imagine the spark between us?”

I shook my head again. “Nope, I definitely felt it too. I really am sorry, Rhys. Any other time and I would be—” I trailed off. “I’ll head out.”

He took my hand and led me over to the couch. “You can’t drive like this and talking about it might help.” The blank look I gave him must have shocked him because he barked out a laugh. “What, a guy can’t be willing to help a girl? I could tell by the way you sang tonight there was something pretty deep going on.”

I shrugged. “Singing is my way of dealing with things. Although, I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone that. My friends and family don’t even know I can sing.”

“The ex didn’t even know? Why not?”

“Unless he heard me singing in the shower, no. I never wanted to be compared to my amazing, perfect sister. If I could do something, she could do it better. So why bother showing my talent if it doesn’t compare to hers. Plus my mom was the stage mom from hell.”

“I’d be astounded if she sang better than you. I’ve never heard anything like it before. It was incredible.” A blush covered my cheeks as he continued. “You shouldn’t keep your gift hidden, but if you want to you can sing just for me; my own personal little radio.”

The laugh that bubbled out shocked me. I hadn’t laughed since I had concocted my plan to leave California. To leave Stephen, Violet, all my friends, and my amazing niece, Harper. Rhys noticed my change in mood. “Tell me.”

BOOK: Restless (Relentless Series Book 2)
7.18Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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