Part 3 (1/2)
No wonder Seth was always so naturally high. Music did something to people. It moved them beyond the norm and opened their hearts and minds, even their souls. It was why Bella had navigated her way back to dancing after a five-year absence.
The smell of alcohol, something fruity like green apples, reminded her that she did have a goal. Dancing her way through the crowd, Bella spied an empty s.p.a.ce at the bar and slid onto the slick silver plastic seat.
She knew the bartender and smiled at him. He shot her an acknowledging wink and set about making her ”usual.”
This club served the best cosmopolitans, and no, Bella did not have s.e.x and the City dreams of landing Mr. Big and wearing designer shoes. She was happy with her job as a Web site designer. And while she liked s.e.xy spike heels, she'd take a healthy relations.h.i.+p with a stable man over Manolos any day.
The bartender slid a s.h.i.+mmery pink drink into her grasp and shook his hand at the dollar bills she laid on the counter. ”First one's free for you, Bella.”
Cool. She'd take a free drink any day.
The cosmo was sweet with a bite of sour. Crossing her legs and twisting to watch the dancers, she s.h.i.+fted her shoulders to the rhythm.
Behind a Plexiglas barrier, Seth danced and pumped his fist to the tunes he delivered to the ma.s.ses. He spiked his hair on the nights he DJ'd, and it went a long way in transforming his usual emo look.
Dating a vampire?
You're not going to think about it, Bella. Have another drink.
She was about to signal the bartender when he placed another pink drink before her. Pleased he was keeping an eye on her needs, Bella tossed him a wink. But when she dug in her purse for cash, a thickly veined, dark-haired hand slid a five-dollar bill onto the bar.
Heat p.r.i.c.kled the back of Bella's neck.
A husky male voice whispered, ”Told you I'd find you.”
Chapter 4.
H e had found her. In seconds her heart reached Mach speed, and she choked on her drink. The bartender spun a look at her, and she gave him a silly smile and a shrug.
Though she didn't dare turn to look at the man, she recognized his familiar scent. That deep, earthy odor that was also sweet. What kind of kook had she become that now she was scenting out people like some kind of...No, he can't be.
The person next to her vacated her stool, much to Bella's dread. The man didn't slide onto it but inserted himself between the empty stool and her body. A strong, muscled thigh pulsed against her bare thigh. The spangles on her skirt pressed into her flesh.
”How did you find me?” she a.s.serted.
”I followed you. From your home.”
”From my-” He knew where she lived? ”Please leave, or I'll get a bouncer and tell him you were threatening me.”
”You won't do that.” He reached for her drink and sniffed it. ”That's how you smelled last night. Vodka and cranberries. You women and your pretty pink drinks. But your scent is different today. Lots of perfume.” He sniffed at the air before her. ”Cloves.
Did you think to hide your natural scent from me?”
”Yes. No.” Bella grasped her throat, so aware of her low-cut neckline. He'd noticed, as well. ”I'm not comfortable talking to you.”
”Good. I like a woman who is honest. And I'd hate it if you were one of those who hung on any man who will give you the time of day.”
She pressed her hand on the c.o.c.ktail napkin and inched up the wet edge. She was supposed to be safe here.
Bella looked aside. Seth was so close. Was he keeping an eye on her? A trio of scantily clad women danced before the DJ's box.
Seth's mind was probably not on his best friend.
”Look at me,” prompted the man who was sort of her rescuer. ”Let me look at you. I could only imagine how gorgeous you were last night in the darkness.”
She glanced at him and found his warm brown eyes. They were dark yet softer than they'd been in the moonlight. Not threatening.
Even attractive.
”Your eyes are bright,” he said.
Bella s.h.i.+fted her glance away.
To look into the man's eyes felt like complying with a request. And she didn't want to give him that boon.
You're in control of your own life, remember?
”You're not shy.” Even amid the din she heard his low voice perfectly, as if they stood in a column of air set apart from the crowd.
”Talk to me.”
Hold conversation with a man who frightened her? Never. But she had to know...
”So are you really a-”
”A what?”
Still unwilling to meet his gaze, she toyed with the stem of her goblet. ”My friend told me about vampires and how they really exist.
And then he guessed you might be a werewolf.” She whispered the word, as if she were swearing in church.
”Very clever, your friend. Is he the one in the box that you waved to when you first came in?”
”Have you been watching me?” ”Yes.” The bartender stopped before the man. ”Budweiser,” he ordered. ”So, you've recovered from your jogging adventure, I see. Wearing s.e.xy sequins and flirting with men out on the dance floor? One would think you weren't so much traumatized by being chased as perhaps aroused.”
”Bug off, creep.”
She slid off the stool to find an escape, and as luck would have it, a path parted on the dance floor. The beat picked up and the entire crowd bounced, raising their hands over their heads.
Bella turned. Through the sea of waving arms, she saw no sign of the man. Or werewolf. Or whatever he was. Had she imagined speaking to him?
No, she could still feel the intrusion of his thigh against hers. Hot, solid, powerful. He'd marked her with his heat.
”Don't be stupid, Bella,” she told herself.
She shuffled her way through the dance floor, intent on reaching the hallway that led to the back door and her escape.