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“I…” I began but shut my mouth immediately after realizing that he made a very valid point.
Damn it.
“Yes, I guess so. But you have ulterior motives.” My comment received another grin from him.
Ugh.
“I’m not going to give you
that
, just so we’re clear,” I deadpanned.

“I never thought otherwise,” he replied nonchalantly before looking back out towards the street. “All I’m doing is waiting patiently for a taxi, nothing else.”

I eyed him warily but he continued staring ahead of him with that irritatingly sexy grin of his, rocking silently back and forth on his heels.

“Here comes another one. Would you like
me
to hail it, my damsel in distress?” After almost five minutes of silence passed between us, I couldn’t help but laugh at his comment.

“I am far from a damsel in―” The ringing of my cell phone cut me off. It was Connor. I answered it straight away, well aware that Ryan didn’t bother hailing the oncoming cab. It picked up a group of three obviously drunk girls instead.

“
Connor?
Why are you call―”

“Evie, he’s gone.”

“
What?
”

“Dad. He’s gone. He passed away a little over ten minutes ago.”
No, this couldn’t be true.

A thick lump formed in my throat. My body felt weak. Sure, I hadn’t known the man for twelve years, but the sharp stab of pain could still be felt in my chest as Connor’s words played over and over in my mind. I should have listened. I should have gone to see him at the hospital earlier just like Connor asked, but no, I was afraid. Too
damn
afraid! I let my fear take over and now it was too late. I was never going to see the man that once tightly wrapped his arms around me. The man that used to tuck me into bed at night and sing nursery rhymes until I fell asleep. It was too late.

“I should’ve gone to see him, Con. Just like you said. I could’ve at least said goodbye to him,” I said, my voice almost breaking.

“Evie, please don’t begin to blame yourself. You’ve been through enough... Listen, if you want to stay with us tonight, you’re more than welcome, you hear me?”

I fell silent. What had I done? Instead of visiting my sick father, I chose to go out drinking instead. What sort of person did that make me? “Oh, I’m such an idiot―”

“
Evangeline
, stop it! You can’t blame yourself. No one had any idea that he was going to leave us so suddenly. After all, he was awake and talking when I left him this afternoon… Just come over, you hear? I don’t care what time it takes for you to get here.”

I nodded in agreement even though my brother couldn’t see. He repeated his comment about staying the night and then said goodbye.

I fought back the tears as I ended the call. There went another person that I loved, ripped away from me in a blink of an eye. No matter what, Rupert Montgomery was still my father and the pain of losing him still hurt like hell.

“Are you… alright?” a concerned voice beside me asked. “You look… pale.” I glanced over to my right and saw Ryan standing there.
Shit! I totally forgot about him.

I slowly turned my whole body to face him, mindful that I was on the verge of breaking down at any moment. I took a deep breath before lifting my gaze to meet his. His cautious, hazel eyes were watching me. He looked uncomfortable; I could tell he was unsure on how to approach the situation but there was concern written all over his beautiful face.

Why was I suddenly having an urge to want to spill my darkest secrets to this man? What was it about this stranger? I’d only known him a few minutes. He could quite easily find out who I am, if he didn’t already know, and sell the story to media. For God’s sake, I’d almost introduced myself to him as ‘Evie’!

Before I could do anything else stupid in front of him, I spun around quickly and made a run for it; only I didn’t get very far before a large hand grabbed me by the wrist and yanked me back. “Not so fast.”

I struggled to balance on the sky-high heels of my Christian Louboutin’s and felt myself begin to fall until strong, steady arms caught me. “Let me go!” I ordered, wriggling free and straightening myself up.

“Where do you think you’re going to go?” Ryan asked finally releasing me.

I took a deep breath before finding the courage to face him. “I… I,” I started but stopped. I could feel the tears coming; I was only mere seconds away from making a complete fool of myself. I needed to get out of here before I made the front-page headlines. “I need to leave.” I bit my bottom lip to help fight back the tears but I knew it was already too late.

“I’m not leaving you alone in the state you’re in. What happened back there?”
What?

“I don’t have to tell you anything, I don’t even know you!” I retorted.

I could’ve sworn I saw Ryan’s brow arch and a look between stunned and amused appeared on his face, but before I had time to process it, I was crying uncontrollably in his arms.
Did I throw myself on him or did he reach for me?

“Everything’s a mess. I’ve messed up,” I sobbed into his chest.

“What’s a mess?” To my surprise, he hadn’t let go; instead he held me firmly in his arms and I felt his fingers lightly caress my hair.

“
Everything
.”

I heard a sigh before Ryan pulled me away just enough to see my face, keeping his hands firmly on my shoulders so that I couldn’t escape. “Evangeline, I can’t begin to help if you don’t tell me what you mean by ‘everything’.”

I stood there silently; searching for what I’d hope would be some sort of answer in his eyes. Random tears were still falling and my mascara was probably smeared all over the place but it was the scorching feeling on my shoulders coming from his touch that was the hardest to ignore.

“My father just died,” I blurted out, bringing on fresh tears.

“Oh, babe, I’m sorry to hear that.” He pulled me back into a tight embrace and I was crying all over again.

“I never went to see him in the hospital. I never got the chance to tell him that although he wasn’t there for me, I still loved him. I just wish I got to feel the way he hugged me, one last time…the way he used too…”

Ryan remained silent. It was absurd to be crying in front of a complete stranger like this, especially a hot one. I must’ve looked like a complete crazy-person. I waited for the moment to come when he finally realized his mistake of choosing to stay with me instead of going home in the taxi, but it never came.
Maybe this made an even greater story for the media? What the hell am I doing?

“Do you work for the media?” I asked abruptly.

Ryan let out a loud snort and I felt myself bouncing against his chest. He was laughing. Wait, was he laughing at me?

“Where on earth did that come from?”

“I’m serious. Do you?” I lifted my gaze to meet his.

He was staring at me as if I’d just said the most outrageous thing. Perhaps I did? After all, the guy’s face was on almost every billboard in the city, how could be possibly work for the media? Though, stranger things have happened in my life. I had to be sure.

In my heels I was still several inches shorter than him but with his head tilted down the way it was, it felt like there was no space between us.
What am I still doing in his arms?
I tried to pull away but Ryan held me there.

A wide grin appeared, revealing that sexy dimple on his left cheek. “I could ask you the same thing.” He shrugged. I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant by that when he quickly added, “No I don’t, Evangeline. But perhaps we should get off the street, if that’s what you’re afraid of. We could possibly go grab some tequila? After all, tequila makes everybody feel better.”

I closed my mouth. He had one thing correct: we needed to get off the street. I wasn’t sure more alcohol was the right answer at a time like this, but it sure as hell beat feeling the way I did and letting the thoughts run wild inside my head. Maybe if I drank enough, I’d pass out and have a heavy dreamless sleep. I did end up having the heavy dreamless sleep…eventually.

****

Ryan led me to a hip, little Mexican bar that was still open a few blocks down from the club. It served assorted tacos, frozen margaritas, beer and some of the best tequila you could get your hands on in New York. We sat in a tiny booth that shielded us away from the rest of the crowd, which was convenient, because I really didn’t want anybody else seeing me the way I was.

Ryan sipped on beer and I drank the margaritas, but even after the fourth one, thoughts of my father still managed to sneak their way in. I needed something much stronger to wash the pain away. I needed those shots.

“Shots?”

Ryan smiled at the mention of the word. “That’s why we came here, right?”

I nodded in agreement and offered to grab the first round but Ryan shook his head, pushed me back down into a sitting position, and marched over towards the bar.

He came back moments later with a tray containing six shots, a saltshaker and a small glass filled with lemon slices.
Jeez, this is going to be interesting
.

We did three shots each, the normal way:
lick, sip and suck
, but when I returned with another full tray of six, Ryan suggested we play a new game.

“Okay, this time instead of licking the salt, you have to snort it. Then shoot the tequila and squeeze the lemon in your eye.” He laughed, sounding slightly buzzed.

I wasn’t far behind him to be honest, but the images of my father were still so clear in my head, which meant there was plenty of room for more tequila. “
Eww
!” I cringed, pulling a face. “No, I’m not doing that. What on earth is that kind of shot? You just made that up didn’t you?” I laughed a little too loudly.

“I swear I didn’t,” he replied, holding two fingers up and crossing them over each other. “It’s called a suicide shot.”

“Well, it’s definitely a suicide mission.” We both laughed at that. “Got another one?”

A predacious grin spread across that gorgeous face of his.
Oh no.
I knew that look spelled nothing but trouble, but I was still buzzing from the recent shots and didn’t care.

“Actually, I do,” he said wagging his eyebrows.

I leaned over the table to get closer to him. “Well, bring it.” I meant to say it playfully but because of the copious amount of alcohol in my system, it probably came out more like I was trying to seduce him instead. The excitement that lit up in his eyes was enough to tell me that he didn’t seem to mind at all.

“Put some salt on your neck, hold the lemon in your mouth and I’ll show you.”
Huh?

That should have sounded warning bells but I was having way too much fun and frankly he was getting hotter and hotter after each drink— not that he needed any help in that department.

I listened to his instructions, giggling as I sat there, trying to hold the piece of lemon steady with my teeth. Ryan got up and moved around so that he was kneeling in front of me. Another sly grin rose as he inched closer towards my face. “
Ready?
” His voice came out as a whisper. I nodded excitedly, not willing to take my eyes off him.

Ryan’s face hovered only inches away, his eyes locked with mine and just as I thought he was about to kiss me― even with the stupid piece of lemon sticking out of my mouth― he tilted his head towards my neck.
Holy hell!

When his soft, warm lips touched my neck my whole body went into overdrive. He opened his mouth and let his tongue trail along my skin, licking the salt I’d placed there. I just knew he was going slowly on purpose to torture me and he knew exactly how he was making me feel. I closed my eyes; unable to ignore the tingling sensation that his touch was doing to me. I wanted him. I needed him…

Before I knew it, it was all over. He’d taken his shot and pulled the lemon out with his skillful mouth, without even touching my lips. I opened my eyes and just blinked up at him. He was standing above me with that sexy grin. What a tease.

“That wasn’t so bad, now was it?”

I mirrored his cunning grin. It was
my
turn. “
Sit
,” I ordered, pointing to the seat he sat in before.

His eyes widened with surprise but he eagerly obeyed. Refusing to kneel on the floor, I hopped around to his side of the booth and after finding no available spot to sit on, I decided to straddle him. His hands were balled into fists at his sides, while his eyes remained locked with mine. I refused tear my gaze away. I didn’t even look away to fetch the salt or a new slice of lemon. I simply felt my way around the table until I found what I needed. I eventually did have to look away. I couldn’t just stare at him all night. I had a job to do.

I licked his neck and applied the salt, and then gently placed the lemon into his welcoming mouth. The heat between my legs was already unbearable and knowing there were only a few layers of material separating us didn’t help the situation. I could feel how excited he was and I knew, that he knew, I felt the same. I deliberately adjusted my hips just enough to make him close his eyes and inhale a sharp breath of air. Somehow, he still managed to hold the lemon in place and his arms remained firmly by his side. I had to admit, I was impressed by the guy’s skills.