Chapter 2

[Cassidy’s POV]

“And that bastard actually asked me to join them!”

My voice rings out, bringing all eyes of those nearby toward me as I spill my fucking guts to the handsome stranger beside me.

When I decided to join him for a drink, it was to forget everything and drown my sorrows in alcohol, but after four or maybe five drinks, my mouth was running.

“Shit,” I hiss, downing the glass in front of me. “What the hell did I even see in him?”

As I speak, the man beside me just listens quietly.

He doesn’t say anything to comfort me, but he also doesn’t say anything that could make my mood worse.

He’s like a therapist, but I’m not paying him to listen to me so intently.

“Sorry,” I sigh, lifting a hand to draw the bartender's attention to me. “I didn’t mean to lay all that out on you.”

I was certain that this handsome stranger wanted to get away from me after all my ranting and raving, but even then he was humoring me, and I appreciated it.

“Here, let me pay for our drinks at least.”

It was the most I could do for openly flirting and then drunkenly rambling, and when he doesn’t stop me, I find myself wondering just what kind of man he was.

Of course, I shouldn’t even be offended that he was offering to pay, but I was annoyed he wasn’t at least offering.

Frowning, I let my gaze slowly travel along his body, noting his crisp white button-up shirt that was rolled to his elbows and his black trousers that hug everything perfectly. Giving anyone who dared a glance the perfect view of the monster he was clearly hiding in his pants.

He didn’t look like someone without money, but he also didn’t scream CEO or anything either.

Usually, to get into this club, you had to have some connections so he wasn’t living in poverty, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t sneak in some other way.

“Tell me,” I say now, my curiosity piqued.

“Tell you what?” He asks, his plump lips twisting into a smirk. “What exactly is it that you want to know?”

“Well,” I say slowly, leaning in a bit closer. “What’s your story?”

I told him my ridiculous sob story, so wasn’t it fair that he tell me a little about himself, right?

“My story,” he drawls, his voice deep and alluring. “I don’t think that there is much to know.”

Not much to know.

Didn’t he realize when he said something like that it just made someone want to know even more?

Well, I was certain he knew that, and that was the reason he was saying such things.

“Are you saying you aren’t all that interesting?” I push. “There’s got to be something to you aside from your handsomeness, right?”

“Are you saying I’m handsome?” He asks, and my cheeks flush pink.

“Well, I mean…” I trail off, my gaze taking in his face, his eyes, his mouth, and the dimples in his cheeks. “You aren’t bad-looking.”

At my words, a loud laugh escapes the man, and it sends shivers of delight through me.

It was a nice laugh. A deep one that drew you in and made you feel warm and cozy.

His laugh reminded me a bit of my father’s, but where the sound of that laugh didn’t bring me ease, this one did.

“Come on,” I purr, leaning ever closer until my hand can touch his arm flirtatiously. “Are you really going to make me beg you to tell me about yourself?”

What was I doing?

Why was I so intrigued by this practical stranger beside me?

Was it because I wanted a way to fully forget the betrayal that I just experienced, or was there something more to this feeling?

Honestly, I didn’t know, and with my head buzzing pleasantly and my body feeling light from the alcohol flowing through me, I didn’t want to think too hard about it.

“Careful,” the man murmurs as I push my chest against his arm. “You’re going to start something you can’t finish.”

“Am I?” I challenge, feeling my core throb with need. “I don’t think that is what I’m doing at all. I assure you, when I start something, I always finish it.”

“Mmmm.”

His response is just a rumble that vibrates through his body, and when the bartender arrives, he pulls out his wallet and immediately pays.

“Hey!” I gasp, watching what is happening. “I said I would pay for the drinks.”

“I can’t possibly let a lady pay.” The man smiles. “But if you want to pay me back, I can think of a way for you to do it.”

I didn’t need to ask him what it was he was suggesting.

It was clear from the need in his eyes and the way that beautiful blue gaze traveled along my body.

“Should we go somewhere a bit more private?” I ask, slowly rising to my feet. “There’s a VIP lounge just up those stairs.”

As I speak, I nod toward the spiraling staircase in the middle of the club.

I was being bold.

I knew that and I knew that some men didn’t appreciate such a thing, but all I could think about was using this man to completely erase the small pangs of pain that still moved through me.

I wait while the man stares at me, his gaze unreadable, his jaw ticking as he clearly thinks about whether or not he should take me up on my offer, and when he finally rises and wraps a large hand around mine, I know that he has decided to come with me.

“You won’t regret what you’re doing once we’ve started, right?” He asks while I lead him toward the stairs and then up to VIP. “Because once I start I don’t intend to stop.”

“I never regret anything,” I respond, handing my ID to the bouncer that waits at the top of the stairs. “Anyway, weren’t you the one that said I could call you my destiny?”

It was still a ridiculous pick-up line and one that I couldn’t believe I was repeating, but maybe, just maybe, he was the one destined to make me forget everything.