One Night With Her Read Free Page A

to mend
his broken heart? Makes you just want to nab that man even
more.
    He rolled his eyes, and replied, The
depth of their insight never fails to astound me.
    He turned the damn thing to silent. He could
do without the reminders tonight. Reminders of anything. Of the
woman he’d lost, of the fascination the gossip rags seemed to have
with his dating or non-dating status—as the case had been for the
last year—and of the claws some women wanted to sink into him,
thanks to the growth trajectory Joy Delivered had been on. While at
dinner with Casey last week, he’d been propositioned by a young
woman who’d said she was on the hunt for an eligible bachelor
businessman.
    Call him old-fashioned, but the next time he
got involved, he’d like it to be with someone who actually gave a
shit about him, rather than what he did for a living, the company
he ran, or his prior love life.
    Or with the absolutely stunning brunette who
was walking past him and—hello, lucky stars—was now sitting at the
other end of the bar. The same one who’d caught his eye when she’d
stepped into the elevator earlier in the evening. Her hair was in a
twist that showed off her neck. She had a fantastic pair of legs,
strong and muscular, a nice trim waist, and she was rocking some
kind of buttoned-up-on-the outside vibe with her blouse and pencil
skirt that made him wonder if she was buttoned up on the inside
too.
    * * *
    Michelle hadn’t been expecting the barrage
of questions, but what an eager bunch of counselors she’d
encountered after her talk. She’d never felt so popular ‘til
tonight, when she was nearly mobbed by fellow psychotherapists as
she attempted to walk away from the lectern. They fired off
questions for her on treatment and guidance for love and sex
addicts, and she happily answered all of them to the best of her
ability. Then she gathered up her notes, and made her way down to
the lobby. She adjusted her purse strap, and sighed deeply, pleased
with her work for the evening. Sharing insights and learning was a
true passion of hers, and she’d had the opportunity to do so
tonight with colleagues.
    Tonight. The word reverberated
through her, and she felt the slightest pang when she stepped off
the elevator and remembered it was a Thursday. She and Clay had
often had drinks on a Thursday night. While they still did from
time to time, along with her brother, Davis, the get-togethers had
been curtailed since Julia moved in with him. Understandable; the
man was committed, and now he was married. Julia hadn’t cut them
off; in fact, the redhead was lovely, and Michelle had visited
Julia’s bar a few times. But it was simply too hard for Michelle to
see them together that often, so she’d kept them in her life, but
put herself on a restricted Clay-and-Julia diet.
    Keeping a distance was a necessity, but she
missed those Thursday nights. And she missed the drinks, truth be
told. She could certainly go for a little nightcap to finish
off the day. She’d always been comfortable in her own skin and with
her own company, so a quick solo stop at the bar was no big
deal.
    She followed the music and sat down at the
tall, sleek metal bar, ordering a vodka tonic that arrived quickly,
and taking out her iPad. There was a new Tumblr feed she wanted to
peruse, but that would only happen from the privacy of home and bed
since it was a terribly naughty one. She had an article she wanted
to finish, and then a novel to dive into about a con artist, and
she’d even downloaded a new app for practicing Spanish phrases,
partly because the male voice on the app was so deliciously sexy.
Perhaps better to listen to that in her apartment, she reasoned, as
she lifted the cool glass to her lips and took the first sip.
Raising her eyes, she noticed that same man she’d seen earlier. He
was seated at the end of the bar, drinking what looked to be a
vodka tonic too. The glass hit his lips at the exact same moment,
his moves mirroring hers. His blue eyes