I feel a sudden rush of energy. I’m not going to just sit around tonight and wallow alone, I’m going to go out and enjoy this town—just the way she would have wanted.
Quickly, I get up and go grab a sweater. I’m still dressed in my cut-offs and an old T-shirt from the drive, but I know the bar will be casual. I pull my unruly hair back into a braid, grab my purse, and head out, locking up behind me with the key I find hidden under an old flowerpot on the porch and start walking the short distance towards town.
Sure enough, Jimmy’s is easy to find: the sound of music and laughter drifts along the beach-front, leading me right to it. I push the door open and take a look around. It’s still the same dive bar I remember, but now there’s a new stage area over to one side, and the large room is packed with a crowd of people: drinking beer, playing pool, and spilling out onto the back terrace to enjoy the summer night.
“You made it!” Juliet appears, and pulls me into a hug. “I’m so glad.”
I have to leap back as a group of women hustle past. “Wow, I’ve never seen it so busy.”
“That’s because we’ve got a star event,” Juliet grins. “Dex Callahan is going to do a couple of numbers tonight, he always brings in the crowds.”
“The rock star?” I blink in surprise.
“Also known as my future brother-in-law’s brother, or something like that.” Juliet gives a careless shrug. “Anyway, what matters is that he’s great.”
I see a spot at the bar open up. “I’m going to grab a drink, do you want anything?”
Juliet shakes her head. “I’m good. We’re over in the booth by the stage,” she adds, pointing.
“Great, I’ll be right over.”
As I fight my way through the crowd, I feel my stomach let out a rumble. Pie is pretty much all I’ve eaten today; pie, and gas station snacks. I’m hoping they serve food here, when the crowd shifts, and I go stumbling into someone.
“Sorry!” I put my hands out to keep from falling, and a pair of strong arms grip me tightly, keeping me on my feet. “I didn’t see you—”
I look up, and the words fade on my lips. The room disappears—all the noise and jostling crowd blurring into background static.
It’s him.
3.
Ash. The man from the masquerade party. The one who led me on a wild night of adventure—and never called me the next morning. He should be five hundred miles away, but he’s here, in the middle of the crowded bar in this small town, looking at me like I’m a ghost.I know how he feels. It’s impossible, it has to be. But I can feel his hands, gripping me tightly; feel the warm, solid muscle of his body against mine.
I know those hands. I’ve explored that body. There would be no mistaking them, even if I wasn’t gazing into his piercing dark eyes, the ones branded on my memory.
Oh my God.
The moment stretches, electric. Then someone slams into me again, and Ash yanks me back. Suddenly, the world rushes in again.
“What are you…?” I whisper, still not able to believe it. “I mean…”
I fight to collect myself, but before I can form a coherent sentence, Ash grabs my hand and pulls me across the room. He’s moving so fast, I can barely keep up: I hurry after him, through the crowd and down a back hallway.
“Where are we going?” I gulp, my heart racing. “Slow down. Ash!”
He ignores me, pulling me after him, up a flight of stairs, and through another door. We emerge on the rooftop, a flat expanse decorated with string lights and a view of the whole bay. I barely have time to catch my breath before Ash brings his hands to my face, pushes me back against the wall and kisses me so hard I forget my own name.
Yes.
Just like before, the chemical reaction is instant: a flare of heat surging through me, so bright it blots the world, like staring straight into the sun. I part my lips, greedy for the taste of him, loving the sensual caress of his tongue as he slides it deep into my mouth.
Ash groans against me, and I arch up, wrapping my arms around his neck to pull him closer. He’s gripping me so tightly, my body is crushed against him; my back hard against the wall. He threads the fingers on one hand roughly through my hair, pinning me in place as his mouth continues its devastating exploration.
There’s no way to explain it, how my body responds to his touch. Touch-paper to a flame; igniting like never before. I run my hands through his dark hair, slide across the muscular contours of his back, gripping at his shirt and kissing him with everything I have. I can’t think, I can’t breathe, I just fall deeper into the kiss, our passion obliterating every last thought from my mind.
It’s a rush of glitter in my veins, of soaring fever and a low, aching need. Desire consumes me, hot and demanding, until suddenly, Ash wrenches free.
I gasp for air, sinking back against the wall. My legs go weak as his eyes rake over me, blazing darkly with lust. “What are you doing here?” he whispers harshly.
“I…” I can’t find the words, I’m still reeling with shock—and desire.
A shadow crosses his face. He shakes his head, looking dazed. “No,” he mutters, cutting me off. “This isn’t happening.”
Before I can say another word, he turns and strides away from me, slamming the exit door with a crash. I’m left alone on the rooftop with nothing but the sound of my own beating heart.
I’m frozen for a moment, still caught up in the heat of his body, and the slow, deep fever of his kiss. Then I realize: he’s leaving. I lunge towards the stairwell, almost tripping over myself as I hurry down the stairs and back into the bar.