Falling For Us

Chapter 5

She turned, smiling with two drinks in her hands. I squeezed the cool glass against my overheated, sweaty palm. "Wine. White wine," She said, overly loud. Then she motioned with her finger to my white dress. Good thinking.

"Thanks, wise choice," I thanked her; my tight, white dress thanked her, too. Tipping the glass, I took a fortifying sip and enjoyed the resulting fruity fizz traveling up my nose as I inhaled. I can do this. Wine will help.

Behind us I heard a familiar voice say, "Hi, hot lady! Oh man, Harper, you are a show stopper tonight, sweetie!" Of course, it was Wanda. She reached out and gave me a quick hug, careful not to tip my drink.

"Wanda, this is my neighbor, Vanessa." They exchanged pleasantries as Wanda grabbed hold of my arm.

"Honey, I got us good seats, follow me." I did as I was told and not what I wanted to do; which was run right the hell out of here.

As we walked, I cased out the other patrons. They were all dressed to the nines, so I didn't appear out of place, thanks to Vanessa's efforts. It could have been the music seeping into my soul or the wine, but I was suddenly more confident. Who was I kidding? It was the wine.

Wanda stopped at a table where she'd bravely left her purse and scarf to save our seats. Relieved we got the comfy seats instead of the metal ones I carefully sat down, minding my dress and drink didn't meet. The chairs were great; not too soft and sinky. But the tables were rather teeney; only big enough for our drinks.

My phone lit up with a text from Audrey:

"I'm here, but it looks like a restaurant, not a club. I think I got the wrong place?"

I texted her back immediately, so she didn't panic and leave.

Leaning over the table, I said, "I'm going to the restaurant to hunt down Audrey. She's here, but lost. I'll be right back," I took one more sip of wine and got up to find Audrey.

Directions were never my strong suit, so I was a bit confused and pissed at myself for not paying closer attention when we arrived. In my defense, nerves got the best of me: the place was packed and not easily navigated.

Finally, I recognized the door we came through and hurried to it. But before I fully reached the door handle, the door opened... which left me slightly air borne... on my stilettos. Awww, shit! What was I thinking, wearing these sky scrapers? A moment before my knee touched the floor, I crashed into a hard, muscular, grey suit. Oooffff!

Somehow, the suit managed to keep me upright, thank the good Lord. I thought for sure I was going down. Making sure my feet were indeed both on the floor, I steadied myself and looked up into the face of the most handsome man I'd ever seen. He was heart-stoppingly good-looking; dark hair, deep brown eyes you could get lost in and a strong, square jaw you wanted to kiss and.... how much wine have I had? Belatedly, I realized I was still grabbing onto this gorgeous man's suit, making an even bigger fool of myself.

Enter full-body-blush. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I'm such a klutz," I shouted over the music, still clutching his expensive (likely custom) suit. The weave alone betrayed the cost of that sucker.

A smile replaced his frown. "No, I'm the one who should be apologizing. Are you all right?" He asked in a deep, rumbly voice that made my nipples instantly hard. His cologne was a spicy blend of leather and sandalwood with overtones of... man. All man.

Was it weird that I kept leaning into him to catch another whiff? Probably. But hell if I cared. Being this close to such a perfect, male specimen, made me light-headed and slightly fainty. His good looks hypnotized me like some kind of helpless snake trapped in the tune of her own personal charmer. Problem was, I had no urge for his music to ever stop.

Breathe, Harper. Stop acting like you've never seen a man before.

Clearing my throat, I managed to find the power of speech. "Yes, thanks for saving me. That could have been much worse." Like, for example, I could have fallen onto someone who wasn't... you. "I thought for sure I was going down." What the hell did I say? Oh man. My face burned from embarrassment. All I knew was that I had to stop rambling, let go of this poor, beautiful man, and scoot out of here with the last shred of dignity I owned.

Who was I kidding? Too late for that.

"Oh geeze, I've wrinkled your suit and I think I got some lipstick on it, too." I tried wiping the smeared lipstick with my fingers, but all I accomplished was making a bigger mess. Shit. Well, I also accomplished stroking his hard, muscular chest under the lipstick stain. Nice and solid. Crap! Stop doing that! "Now I made it worse... I'll pay for the dry cleaning. God, I'm so sorry." I placed my hand over the stain, like I was trying to hide it or something. The heat radiating through his shirt awoke an arousal in me that had ceased to exist. My eyes traveled up to his and the world around us disappeared.

Belatedly, I realized he hadn't moved away or removed his hands from my waist. That felt nice, too. It also felt a bit naughty to be this close to some guy I met five seconds ago. Not that I had any desire to move away.

His smile mesmerized me as he looked down at me... and my cleavage. Hmmm, so it's like that, is it?

"You're not paying for my dry cleaning," he scolded; the frown back. "Hold still for a second." He and his large hand (yes, I looked!) carefully wiped the side of my mouth. I gasped at the intimate contact. Jeeze, had it been that long since a man touched me? "All good. You had a small lipstick malfunction." He smiled like there was some private joke I wasn't privy to.