Текст книги "Taken By Him"

Just seeing Declan’s name there, in black and white, filled me with a calmness I hadn’t experienced in a long time.

I closed my eyes.

Declan.

Finally.

Finally, I knew where he was.

“I’m going to see him tonight,” I declared.  “Can you… can we write this down?”

Colt took the phone out my hands and shoved it back into his pocket.  “I’ll print you out a copy when we get to the office.”

I nodded.  I wanted to say ‘thank you’, but then I thought, screw that.  He’d been teasing me, messing with my mind, getting off on playing with my mind.

I hated that my body responded to his touch, his presence, his body.  I couldn’t wait to get away from him.  I would never tell Colt this, but I was hoping Declan would offer to let me to stay with him.  And if not, all I had to do was buy my time until I got my first paycheck from Colt.

And then I could stay far away from him.

I had to.

He was making me feel things.

Uncomfortable things.

Things I couldn’t afford to feel.

Things that would only lead to pain.

**

When we got into the office, Colt immediately went into business mode, all traces of teasing and cockiness wiped from his voice.

“Here,” he said, placing a cell phone down and a ten dollar bill down on the desk in front of me.

I picked it up.  “What’s this?”

“Your phone.”

“My phone?”

“Yes.  You need a phone if you’re going to be working here.  So that I can reach you.”

“Why can’t you just reach me on the office phone?”  I picked up the cell and felt its lightness in my hand.  It was a shiny new iPhone, gun-metal grey and beautiful.  I’d never had a phone so nice.  I’d had cell phones before  – tracphones and flip phones, the kind of phones that didn’t take pictures and charged for each text message, the kind of phones you had to buy prepaid cards in order to use, the kind of phones that would get broken if you so much as jostled them.

“I might need to get in touch with you after hours,” Colt said.

“Oh.”  I ran my fingers over the smooth surface of the phone.  “Okay.  Well, thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” he said, making it clear that he wasn’t doing me any favors.  “It’s a company phone.”

I nodded.  “And the ten dollars?”

“In case you want lunch.”

He sat me down at the computer and showed me how to start entering figures from vendor receipts into spreadsheets.  I’d had computer classes in my group home that had taught me how to use all kinds of different programs – Microsoft Office, Word, Powerpoint, even Quickbooks and Photoshop.

I caught on quickly, and after a few minutes, Colt left me to my own devices.  I found the work soothing, the monotony of tapping away on the computer providing my normally racing mind with something to focus on.

Colt was out of the office most of the morning.  Every so often I would hear him talking to Jessa as they passed by in the hallway outside, his voice low and gruff, hers loud and flirty.

It was around lunchtime when a man knocked on the open door of the office.

“Oh,” he said when he saw me.  “I’m sorry, I’m looking for Colt.”

“I’m not sure where he is,” I said.  “I can try to find him if you want.”  I started to get up, but the man motioned for me to stay seated.

“That’s okay,” he said, wandering into the office and plopping down in one of the chairs sitting in front of the desk.  “I can talk to him later.”

He was about thirty, attractive, with dark blonde hair and a perfectly cut suit.

“Oh,” I said.  “Um, okay.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Olivia,” I said.  “I’m Colt’s secretary.”

He grinned.  “Secretary, eh?  Is that what Colt’s calling them these days?”

Before I could figure out a response, Colt appeared in the doorway.  He took in the scene, his eyes darkening into a black storm.

“Joseph,” he said.  “What are you doing here?”

“I brought you an offer,” Joseph said, making no move to get up from his chair.

“Not interested,” Colt said, not even bothering to try and hide his annoyance.  “Is there anything else?”

Joseph rolled his eyes and then winked at me.  “This guy,” he said, pointing at Colt.  “Olivia, can you let him know that selling this place could be a cash windfall?”

I frowned and looked at Colt.  “You’re thinking of selling the club?”

“No,” Colt said at the same time Joseph said,  “He should be.”

Joseph shook his head, then pulled out a briefcase and popped it open.  He pulled out a crisp sheet of paper and set it down on the desk.

I couldn’t help but notice the number on the front of the page.

Three million dollars.

Holy shit.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” Colt asked, his tone making it clear he didn’t want to do anything else for Joseph and definitely wouldn’t even if Joseph were to ask.

“Mr. Personality this guy, huh, Olivia?” Joseph asked me.

I laughed.  “Tell me about it.”

I saw the annoyance flash on Colt’s face.

Joseph stood up and grabbed his briefcase.  “Let me know if you change your mind, Colt.”

“I won’t change my mind.”

“It was nice to meet you, Olivia,” Joseph said.  “I hope to see you again.”

“Yeah, you too,” I said, giving him a smile.

As soon as he was gone, Colt turned to me.  “I don’t want you talking to him.”

“What?”

“You heard me.  I don’t want you talking to him.”

“I don’t even know him.”

“I don’t care.  If he comes back, call me immediately.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because he’s a dick.”

“What did he do?”

“Did he try to hit on you?”

“No, he didn’t try to hit on me,” I said.  “I hardly even know the guy, he came in and asked for you.  He was only here for like two minutes before you got here.  He seems nice.”

“Yeah, well, he’s not.”

“Oh my God,” I said, swiveling around in my chair so I could face him straight-on.  “Are you… are you jealous?”

“I don’t get jealous,” he said.

“You seem jealous.”

“I’m not,” he growled.  “If I want something, I take it.”  He crossed the room and picked up the piece of paper Joseph had left sitting on the desk.

“Three million dollars is a lot of money,” I said.  “How much is still left on the mortgage?”

“It’s paid off.”

“Wow.”  I shook my head and stood up, made my way to the mini-fridge in the corner of the room and pulled out a can of Diet Coke.  I cracked open the can and took a sip.  “If you sold, you’d be a millionaire.”

“I’m already a millionaire.”

He said it so cavalier, so casual that it made my heart ache.  What would that be like, I wondered, to have the money to be able to do whatever you wanted, to be able to create whatever life you desired?

“Yeah, but this way you could do whatever you wanted,” I pressed.

“I already do whatever I want.”

“Oh, really?” I pressed him.  “This is what you want?  To be working in some strip club?”

He laughed, tipping his head back.  “That’s what you think I do?  That I just work in some strip club?”  He slammed his fist down on the desk again, the way I’d seen him do yesterday after he’d been in here with his uncle. “You have no idea what goes on here, Olivia.  You have no idea what it takes to run this place.”

Anger poured into my veins.  How dare he talk to me like that?  “I know that I saw some girl here yesterday, with her face black and blue and her hair cut.  I know that your uncle said something to you that made you so angry you punched the desk.  I know that last night some guys almost assaulted me.  So if the last twenty-four hours are any indication, then yeah, Colt, I think I have a pretty good indication of what goes on here.”

“So what?  After just one day, you think you know me?  You think you know anything about me?”

“I know you’re better than this,” I said quietly.

He turned on me then, his eyes blazing fury.  “Don’t you dare judge me, Olivia.  I’ve never done that to you.”

“I’m not judging you,” I said.  “I just think that if you keep this up, you’ll – ”

“Enough!” he raged.  “Stop!  You can sit there and give your opinions all you want, but you had no problem staying at my place last night, had no problem using me for the things this club bought.”

My mouth dropped open.  “Using you?  Is that what you think I’m doing?  Using you?  If I remember correctly, I wanted to get the hell out of here last night.   It was you who made me go home with you, it was you who wouldn’t let me go.”

“What the hell was I supposed to do, Olivia?  You cut the shit out of your arms, you almost had sex with me after knowing me for one day!  You were obviously confused and lost.  What was I supposed to do?  I felt sor – ”  He cut himself off before he could say it.

But it was too late.

I’d known what he was about to say.

I felt sorry for you.

It hit me like a sucker punch, right in the gut.

In that moment, I hated him with a fiery passion.

I didn’t want anyone’s pity.

“Fuck you,” I spat and then I headed for the door.  I didn’t need him.  He was just a guy I’d met yesterday, a guy who I’d somehow allowed to work himself into my brain, to invade my mind with his good looks and his cocky attitude.  But he was nothing to me.  He’d served his purpose.  He’d given me Declan’s address.

I had Declan now.

I didn’t need Colt, had never needed him.

He was nothing to me.

My brain laid out the logic in front of me, but my heart argued.  I was angry and hurt, the two emotions colliding together and creating a hurricane that threated to sweep me up in its wake.

I needed to get out of there.

I needed to cut.

“Olivia,” Colt said.  “Olivia, wait.”

I was closer to the door than he was, but he was faster.  He got there first, blocking my way.

“Move,” I said.

“Olivia, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then how did you mean it?”

He stayed silent.

“Out of my way,” I said.  I pushed by him, but he grabbed my shoulders.

“Where are you going?” he demanded.

“I’m leaving.”

“To go where?”

“Away from you.”

“No.” He shook his head and then his hands were on my face.  “You’re not going.  I won’t let you.”

I looked up at him, and I couldn’t figure out what the hell was burning inside of me, what this was that I was feeling.  He was so confusing, hot and cold, one minute teasing me, the next minute looking like he wanted to kiss me, the next acting like such an asshole that I couldn’t even stand to be around him.

And yet, the whole time, ever since I’d met him, had been this need, simmering beneath the surface.  Lust, desire, the need for him to take my body and use it for whatever he wanted.

I took in a breath and my hands balled into fists at my side.

“I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” Colt said.  “If you hurt yourself because of me, it would kill me.”

“Then stop pushing me,” I said.  “Stop tormenting me, stop teasing me.  You’re causing all these things inside of me, Colt, and the only way I know how to handle it, to stop from feeling it, is to cut.”

“Then don’t fight it.  Feel it.”

“I can’t.  I need to…. I need a release from it.”

His eyes blazed and he reached out and shut the door behind him.  He turned the lock, the clicking noise echoing through the room.

   “Then let me be your release,” he breathed, and suddenly his body was pressed against mine, turning me around so that my back was up against the door, trapping me.

He took my hands in his, pushed them up over my head and then his mouth collided with mine.  His tongue pushed past my lips, claiming me, and I had that familiar feeling I had whenever he was close to me, the feeling of being pushed over an edge, of losing control of everything, of soaring through the air.  My legs went weak as he kissed me, my heart thrumming against my ribs.

His hand slid down the side of my body, his fingers skimming over the side of my breast.  He found the bottom of my shirt and slipped his hand up under it, his fingers blazing a searing trail over the small of my back.

His pelvis ground against mine, and I could feel him, hard through the jeans he was wearing, and as his hard dick pushed against my pussy, a tiny little moan escaped my lips.

“You like that, Princess?” he asked huskily.

“Yes,” I said, my voice weak with desire.

He grabbed my ass and picked me up off the floor, and I wrapped my legs around him as he took me over to the couch in the corner.  He set me down again and then sat down on the couch so that I was standing in front of him.

“God, Princess, you are so fucking sexy,” he said, his eyes raking up my body.  “Put your arms up.”  I did as he said, and reached up and pulled my shirt off me, tossed it onto the floor and then unbuttoned my jeans and slid them down over my hips and off my ankles, leaving me in just my bra and panties.

I’d never been this naked in front of a man before, and my skin prickled with hot goose bumps.

Colt was still sitting on the couch, and he pulled my hips toward him, his tongue sliding down over my belly button, continuing lower and lower until he reached the top of my panties.  He tugged them down the tiniest bit so that just the very top of my mound was exposed to him.

“I wanted to fuck you the first second I saw you,” he said, reaching up and unhooking my bra.  My breasts spilled from the lacey cups and he pulled me down onto the couch, sucking my nipples into his mouth, mauling me with his hands.He ripped his shirt off and pulled me to him, my nipples brushing against the taut, tan skin of his pecs as he kissed me, the two of us groaning into each other’s mouths.  My body was on fire, his mouth and hands stoking the flames hotter and hotter, making me feel as if I was going to explode.  His big hands slid down and cupped my ass, drawing me to him before flipping me over in one fluid motion and laying his body on top of mine.

He placed his palm flat on my stomach, then slid it down my body and over the front of my panties.

“You wet for me, baby?” he asked, his dark eyes locked on mine.

I nodded, my breath coming in short gasps.

“Tell me.”

“I’m wet.”

“Look how wet you are.”

I looked down at myself, naked except for my panties. I could see the dampness on the sheer fabric, so sticky and wet that they clung to my skin, clearly outlining the lips of my pussy.

I felt his finger slip inside of me, and I closed my eyes and moaned with pleasure.

 “Look at me, baby,” he said.  “I want to see your pretty face while I finger you.”

I opened my eyes and fell into his.

He was so beautiful he took my breath away.

Our gazes locked as he pushed another finger inside of me, and I gasped as I felt myself stretch out around him.

“You’re so tight, Princess,” he groaned.

I took in a shuddering breath as he began moving his fingers in and out of me slowly.

He lowered his mouth to my neck, kissing across my collarbone, before taking my tit back into his mouth and sucking on it hungrily, his tongue swirling around the tip of my nipple.

“I bet your pussy tastes so good,” he breathed in my ear, that familiar cocky tone back in his voice.

He pulled his fingers out from between my legs and brought them to his mouth, sucking on them hungrily.  “You taste like honey, Princess,” he said.  “I’m gonna need another taste.”

My legs immediately pushed together as he moved down my body.  He kneeled in front of me on the couch and pushed my legs straight up into the air, then brought his hand down and smacked it against my ass.

I moaned as he grabbed my panties and slid them over my hips, down my thighs, over my knees and off my ankles.

He put his hands on my knees and began to spread my legs apart, but I felt a blush starting in my face and moving down my body, leaving me hot and self-conscious.

“Wait,” I said.  “I’m not… No one’s ever…”

Colt grinned wickedly, and then pushed my legs apart slowly.  “Don’t worry,” he said.  “I’ll be gentle.  Just relax, baby.”

And then he was down there, his fingers spreading my pussy open as he licked me, down there, on my slit, his tongue sliding up and down in one smooth, controlled motion.  I gasped in ecstasy.  I had never felt such pleasure before, had never known something could feel so good.

He sucked my clit into his mouth, then gazed up at me.  “You taste sweet, baby,” he said, his thumb flicking against my clit.  “So fucking sweet.”

And then he was back down there, eating me out, kissing me open mouthed on my bare pussy.  I felt my toes curl and I gripped the couch cushion underneath me, twisting the fabric in my hands.

He sucked my clit and licked my pussy, sliding his tongue inside of me, flicking it against me like a hot switch.

Then he started using his fingers again, this time sliding two inside of me without any problem.

“Look at me,” he demanded.

I looked down at him, watched his fingers disappearing inside of me, and the sensation of him finger fucking me coupled with watching him do it was almost unbearably intense.

“Colt,” I said, grabbing his hand.

“Yes?” he asked in that teasing little voice of his.

“I think I’m going to…”

“You think you’re going to what, baby?”

“If you keep doing that I think I’m going to come.”  The words were foreign on my tongue.  I’d never had an orgasm before, but I could feel my body building toward something, the pleasure rocking me to my core.

“Not until I fuck you,” he said.  He stood up and began unbuckling his pants  and I gazed up at him, marveling at the beauty that was his body, every muscle and tendon defined and edged.  And then before I knew it, he was back on top of me, his hard dick poised outside my opening, sliding against me, making me even wetter than I was.

“I wanted to fuck you since the moment I saw you,” he said.  His forehead was pressed against mine, his big hands on my body, one holding my hip, the other on the back of my neck.  “I want to be inside of you baby, I want to feel that little virgin pussy wrapped around my cock.”

I groaned again, loving the feeling of the head of his dick rubbing on me, getting me wet and slick, my juices mixing with his precum.

“Tell me,” he whispered.  “Say it.”

“Fuck me.”  The words were exciting and thrilling, the anticipation of what we were about to do, that he was going to take my virginity right here, right now, on this couch, mixing together with the feel of his body on top of mine, his dick against my pussy, his hands and mouth all over me.

I was hot and cold at the same time, shivering and bursting into flames, out of my mind and completely clear.  It was like he was awakening every good feeling I’d ever had, every hope I’d ever given up on, every need I’d ever been afraid to admit, every desire I’d ever denied myself.

The way he was playing with my body and the feelings he was stirring inside of me physically, were too primal, too strong to be tamped down. For the first time in my whole life, I felt alive.

Colt stared into my eyes, pushing my hair back from my face.

 ‘“Olivia,” he breathed, and ran his hand up the side of my body, his fingers intertwining with mine as he crushed his mouth against mine, his stubble rubbing against my chin, his tongue slipping past my lips, gentle this time.  “Are you sure?” he whispered, his eyes filled with want.

I nodded and a second later I felt him press inside of me in one gentle stroke, pushing past my resistance.  There was a sharp sting of pain and I cried out in surprise, but he silenced me with another kiss, keeping his mouth on mine, his tongue moving rhythmically in my mouth as he began moving inside of me slowly, getting me used to his cock.

His breathing deepened, and mine did too as our bodies fell into a rhythm as he fucked me.  He was so slow, so gentle, so tender as he broke me in.

The stinging pain began to fade to a dull throb, and then the dull throb began to be replaced with a deep pleasure, one that seemed to start in my pussy and move through my body, spreading out from my belly into my limbs.

He began to quicken his pace, to pump his hips into me faster, and he took his lips from mine and propped himself above me.

I looked down to see him disappearing inside of me, his cock buried inside of me as our bodies became one.  He was so big, so thick and hard, and I was shocked that I was seemingly able to take all of him.

“You.  Are.  So. Fucking.  Tight,” Colt groaned as he pumped into me, faster and faster.

I could feel that same feeling coming over me, the same unstoppable feeling I’d had when he was kissing me on my pussy, and when he lowered his mouth to my nipple, sucking my tit into his mouth with an audible suckling sound, I felt my body get pushed over the edge.

I came, the sensation indescribable, the pleasure so exhilarating and unbelievable that I almost felt as if I couldn’t be happening to me.

“Look at me,” Colt groaned.  “Let me see you when you come.”

I moved my eyes to his, and just when I thought the waves of pleasure were done rolling through me, they started again, twisting through my body, radiating from my core, taking over my body, shattering me into a million pieces.

“Shit,” Colt said.  “I’m going to come inside you, baby.  You’re so fucking tight.  I can’t help it.”

He pumped harder and harder, his hands skimming down my sides, over my hips until he cupped my ass and pulled me into him so he could get deeper inside of me.

I felt him convulse on top of me, and then I felt him explode in my pussy, warming me with his come, filling me, making me his.

When he was done he collapsed on top of me.  I ran my hands up his back, enjoying the feel of him still inside of me as I ran my hands over the chiseled muscles of his back, up the back of his neck and through his hair.

He pulled out of me slowly, then laid next to me on the couch.

I swallowed, the adrenaline slowly dissipating, the intensity and meaning of what I’d done finally beginning to hit me.

Colt turned over and propped himself up on his elbow.

He reached out and grabbed a strand of my hair, began absent-mindedly turning it over in his fingers.  I couldn’t tell from his expression what he was thinking.  Had he liked it?  Had it been as good for him as it was for me?  Had I been enough for him.

I wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but I was afraid.

 “Are you okay?” he asked softly.

I nodded.  “Yes.”

“Did I hurt you?”

I shook my head.  “No.  Not too much.”

We lay there for a long moment, not saying anything, our legs tangled in each other, Colt’s fingertips brushing softly over my lower belly.

There was knock on the door, and Colt jumped off of the couch, rushing to put his clothes on.

I followed suit.

“Colt,” Jessa called from the other side of the door.  “The door’s locked.”

“Yeah,” he said.  “I’m coming.”

He turned and left, whatever had burned between us, whatever connection we’d had, disappearing into a puff of smoke.

**

I went back to my computer.

I didn’t know what else to do.

It was impossible to concentrate.

I couldn’t believe I’d slept with him, right there on the couch.  I kept glancing over there, like it was the scene of a crime.

I wondered how many girls he’d slept with on that couch.  Probably dozens.

The thought filled me with a sick jealousy.

How could I feel this way about someone I hardly knew?

As the hours went by, the panic began to build in my chest.

I’d slept with him.

Kissing him was one thing.

But sleeping with him?

I was supposed to go see Declan tonight.  How could I tell him what had happened?  Did I even have to tell him what had happened?  We’d promised each other that we’d never be with anyone else, that we’d be each other’s first everything.  But we couldn’t cross that line when we were in the system – if we’d gotten caught hooking up in our foster home, we’d be separated forever.

Declan had been willing to risk it.

But I knew that if he was caught with me, they’d blame him.  Sure, it would be bad for me – I’d be moved, and it would always be in my file that I had a sexual history with another foster kid.  ‘Sexually acting out’ they called it, as if two teenagers hooking up was something nefarious and not completely normal.

But it would be worse for him.

It was always worse for the boy.

I typed his address into the computer, searching for clues as to what his life might be like.

His apartment building seemed to be in a nice area of town, and it made me glad.  I wondered if he lived alone, if he had a roommate, what kind of job he had.

When I googled his name, nothing came up, and I wondered again how Colt had found him.

“You still going?” a voice asked.

I turned to see Colt standing behind me, his voice low and dark.

“Oh,” I said.  “What?”

“Deacon,” he said.  “You’re still going to see him?”

“Declan,” I said.

Colt rolled his eyes.  “Whatever.  Are you going to see him or not?”

“I’m not sure.”  For the first time in my life, something was stronger than my desire to see Declan.  It was my desire for Colt.  He stood there in front of me, in his t-shirt and jeans, sexy and gorgeous and beautiful, and the need to be close to him pulsed inside of me, pushing everything else out.

I wanted to kiss him, wanted to feel his hands on me and his body on mine.  It was a pull stronger than anything I’d ever felt before, more intense than my need for Declan, more intense than my need to cut.

Tell me not to go, I pleaded silently.  Tell me to stay here, with you.  Tell me you don’t want me to see him, that you don’t want me to be with anyone but you.

Colt turned.  “You can take my car.”

“What?”

He shrugged, then moved to the other side of the office, pulled a file folder out of the cabinet and began looking through it.  “I’m staying late,” he said.  “I can get a ride home with Ava.”

I felt the sharp sting of tears against my eyes.

Disappointment filled my belly.

But I should have known better.

I should have known better than to fall for Colt’s act, his ‘Olivia, are you okay’ act, the way he’d been gentle with me, how he’d taken care of me last night, how he’d acted like he cared.

The truth was, he didn’t care.

He didn’t care about anything except that he’d gotten to fuck me.

He was like any other man I’d known in my life.  They didn’t care about anything but their dicks, and as soon as they got what they wanted, they were just on to the next, ready to cast you aside like you were nothing.

So I did what I’d always done when something horrible happened to me, when something was so painful that I didn’t want to deal with it.  I stuffed it down as far as I could, further and further, to a place where it would lie in wait until it would inevitably resurface at some point and make me want to cut myself.

“That’s okay,” I said.  “I can get there on my own.”

He shrugged.  “Fine.”

He turned and walked out of the room, and I felt myself start to fall apart.

Stop being weak, I told myself.  Stop.  This is your own fault.  You shouldn’t have had sex with him, what is wrong with you?

I’d ruined everything, for a guy who didn’t even care about me.

I needed to get out of there.

 I needed to get away from him.

I would go see Declan.

He would take care of me, and if he wouldn’t, well, then I could go back to the Walnut Street shelter.

Anything was better than this.

I grabbed the ten dollars that was sitting on the desk, the money Colt had given me this morning for lunch.

I picked up the iPhone and hesitated, wondering if I should I take it.

It would be stealing.

I would take it just until I got to Declan’s, I decided.  Then I would mail it back to Colt.

I grabbed my bag and headed down the hallway.

The club was still dead at this time of day, and I didn’t run into Colt or pass anyone else.

When I got outside, I had that same feeling of relief that I’d had last night, like I’d escaped a bad place that was trying to pull me under.

A tiny shiver of anxiety slid up my spine when I remembered what had happened to me the last time I was alone in this neighborhood, when those two men had attacked me.

But the streets were busier now, with people going in and out of the stores and restaurants that lined the street.

I pulled up the bus schedule on my phone, studying it until I figured out which bus would take me to Declan’s neighborhood.  There was a bus stop two blocks away, and the bus I needed was coming in about twenty minutes.

I ducked into a drug store to kill some time.

I picked out a bottle of water and then moved to the cosmetics aisle and browsed the nail polishes, sliding my hand over the row of bright colors, wondering which one Declan would like.   I couldn’t believe I was going to be at his apartment soon.

 I tried to conjure up the desperation I usually felt when I thought of Declan.

But I couldn’t think of anything but Colt.

Flashes of him pulsed through my body.

His kiss.

His hands.

His cock.

All of me, tangled up with him, the feeling of him buried inside of me, our bodies moving in perfect rhythm on that couch.

Longing and desire slid through me.

It was so strong it almost took my breath away.

“Hey,” a voice said next to me, and I turned to look.  A man was standing there, giving me a friendly smile.  He looked slightly familiar, but I couldn’t place him.

“Hi,” I said, smiling back and then trying to move away.

“Olivia, right?”

I turned around.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.  Caleb, from last night.  My friends were being raucous assholes?”  He looked sheepish.

“Oh,” I said, remembering him from the club, the guy I’d served drinks to, the one who’d given me a big tip to make up for his friends being rowdy.  “Oh, right.  How are you?”

“I’m good.”  He ran his hand through his hair.  “How are you?”

“Good,” I said, and then stood there awkwardly.  I wasn’t sure how friendly I was supposed to be with a guy who’d come into Loose Cannons.

“Listen,” he said,  “this might be a little weird, but do you want to grab lunch or something?”