Chapter 1
"Finally, " Tina sighed as she reached the bar. It had been a harrowing day and all she wanted to do was just have a drink and relax.
Her sister's wedding had gone off without a glitch, but she was happy the day was almost over. Weddings always made her feel like she should also be settling down and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that yet. It is the fact that Rachel was two years younger than her and had married Finn, her boyfriend since college, exacerbated that feeling.
She enjoyed her job as a freelance journalist, but she wasn't in one place long enough to really make a connection with anyone, not even mentioning settle down with anyone. The last time she'd had a steady boyfriend was in college, and even then she hadn't liked the restrictions being committed to one person only put on her. She had always been a wild one and had wanted to explore and experience everything. Being in a relationship had restricted her in a way that had put her off the whole institute. She didn't like asking for permission.
Weddings, however, woke up that secret part of her that longed to share her life with someone. To wake up in the morning next to a person you loved and knew that no matter what happened, he would be there with you to support you and cherish you. Nobody could truly say they never wanted that.
Shaking the nostalgia, she caught the barman's eye and called him over with a smile, admiring his stylishly messy blonde hair and his strong jaw line.
"What can I do for you gorgeous?" he asked when he reached her, and she had to stifle a laugh at his obvious flirting. She was wearing a knee-length and strapless sky-blue bridesmaid dress that complimented her golden-brown skin. Her long black hair was clipped together at the top, leaving the bottom half of her hair flowing over her bare shoulders. Her make-up was subtle and focused on her brown eyes. All-in-all she had been happy with the result that morning, and she had been beyond grateful to Rachel for choosing a dress that wasn't awful.
"I'll have a white wine, please," she replied, batting her eyelashes a bit.
As he moved away to comply her request, she took a moment to admire his ass before turning and scanning the crowd behind her. The rest of the wedding guests were chatting at tables placed around the dance floor or standing and talking in groups. Some of them she knew, like her family and old family friends, but mostly she didn't have a clue that they were. There were a couple of guys sitting at the bar as well, but she didn't know any of them either.
She had only returned from England the day before and had missed the rehearsal dinner, further adding to the fact that she was quite clueless as to whom the rest of the guests were. Luckily she had never been the type of person to worry about the amount of friends she had, and just watching the people mill around was enough entertainment for her.
The barman returned with a glass of chilled white wine and as she took the first sip, she felt her muscles slowly relaxing. This was exactly what she needed to stop thinking her stupid thoughts of settling down and sharing her life with someone. That path isn't for me, she thought, with only a twinge of sadness.
She turned around and leaned her back to the bar, crossing her legs as she watched the milling guests again. She was trying to name all the familiar faces when she saw him.
He was sitting at a table directly across from her, and he was watching her, his smoldering eyes roving over her body and leaving a tingling path over her skin in its wake.
She had no trouble naming him. It was Mike.
She finally managed to break her gaze away from him and she turned around again, grabbing her wine and almost downing the full glass.
She hadn't seen him in ten years, but there was no mistaking those intensely dark eyes or that impossibly sensual and strong mouth. She knew that if he smiled, both his cheeks would dimple and his eyes would narrow in humor.
What was he doing here? She didn't even know that Rachel knew him. Was he a friend of Finn's? And what did it matter who he knew, he couldn't be here!
Ten years ago, when she had been seventeen, Mike had been her boyfriend. He had been her first and the only guy to ever make her feel like settling down wouldn't be such a bad thing. Until he cheated on her. Her heart had been broken and she'd felt as if the world was ending. When she had confronted him about it, he hadn't said a word. He just left and she hadn't seen him again.
Until today.
She had finished school in a daze and left for the farthest university that would take her. She eventually started dating again, but she never felt the same passion that he could elicit with only a breath with anyone else. When she finished her degree, she had said goodbye to everything that would tie her down, her boyfriend at the time included, and started traveling the world, only returning every now and then to visit her family.
And now he was here, looking at her like he wanted to strip her clothes off and ravish her on the dance floor. Why would he do that? He had made it abundantly clear that she was nothing more than a good way to waste some time. Someone easily replaceable by another.
Maybe he just wants to unnerve me, she rationalized. Well he was doing a pretty good job of it. Flashes of memory kept popping into her head, making her cheeks warm and liquid fire run through her veins. She remembered how his hands used to run over her body when he used massage oils on her. So sensual that sometimes he didn't even have to go close to her erogenous areas for her to become more aroused than ever. And when he had taken her that first time and her body had opened up for him, she had felt more pleasure than ever in her life.
"Are you okay lady?"
The question startled her out of her vivid memories and she focused on the barman who was looking at her questioningly.
"Yeah, yes I'm fine. I'm sorry; I must have spaced out a bit there." She smiled winningly and he seemed to relax a bit.
"That's okay, it happens to me as well. Sometimes your brain can come up with better scenarios than what you're currently in. I'm Sam, by the way."
"Tina, I'm the bride's sister," Tina said as she took the hand he offered.
"Ash," he said as he studied her again, "so you're the elusive Tina. I know your sister quite well and she's always talking about you and everything you've done. I must say, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
His green eyes crinkled as he smiled and Tina felt herself relax again. So what if Mike was here, she didn't have to talk to him. She didn't even have to acknowledge him if she didn't want to.
"I wouldn't believe everything you hear," she said with a smile.
"Well the rumors of your beauty seem to be true…"
Tina could feel a blush creeping up her neck. Sam definitely knew how to be a charmer. Usually that would raise a red flag, but for now, she was content just chatting to him and trying to get her equilibrium back after seeing Mike again.
"How do you know Rachel," she asked, trying to steer the subject to safer waters. She had a feeling he realized it as he flasher her that dashing smile again. He really was quite attractive and she could tell his body would be amazing to look at once he got rid of his clothes.
"I moved here a couple of years ago and bought that bar next to the petrol station. Rachel came in there one night with a couple of friends and we got to chatting. I told her about my mobile bar service and she sometimes recommends me to her catering clients. I go out with her and Finn sometimes."
As they talked some more, Tina relaxed and almost managed to fool herself into forgetting that Mike was in the same room as her. Sam was an excellent conversationalist and had her choking on her drink a couple of times with laughter as he told her about his bar and the eccentric patrons.
Tina was on her third glass of wine when Sam moved off to help another patron. She was sipping at the drink when she felt the air around her change and a heavy feeling settle in her stomach. She immediately knew what was happening. Looking to her left, she had to gulp as she saw who was leaning on the bar counter next to her.
Mike.
In ten years, he hadn't aged much. He still had that rugged good looks and his sandy brown hair was still long and worn in a half ponytail. Sure, there were signs of aging in the lines around his eyes and corners of his mouth, but she might as well have been looking at a ghost.
"So the jet-setting Tina returns to her humble origins," he said with a smirk while his eyes once again made trip over her body.
Tina narrowed her eyes at his tone of voice, but was determined not to let him see how much he affected her. She could see Sam watching them out the corner of her eyes and that gave her a bit more confidence.
"You don't think I would miss my own sister's wedding do you?" She said raising one of her eyebrows. It was an interviewing trick she had picked up a while ago and she knew it made her look aloof.
"I guess not, although it was interesting to find out that my cousin is marrying my ex-girlfriends sister. I didn't see that one coming."
That bit of information, while explaining why Mike was here, also threw her for a second. Finn was Mike's cousin? For some reason that just sounded so unreal. Tina had known Finn for a while now and they were absolutely nothing alike.
"Rachel never mentioned that you were related to Finn. But I guess she wouldn't have a reason to as practically no one ever knew we were dating, did they," Tina asked with a bitterness to her voice.
Their relationship had always been secret because of their age difference. She had been seventeen to his twenty-two and her parents would have freaked out had they known. That was part of the attraction she guessed, the thrill of defying her parent's wishes.
An emotion flashed across his features and he turned away for a second. Tina didn't know if the emotion was anger or something else, but it was interesting to wonder how he would remember those times now.
"Well, it's good to see you again. You're just as delectable as you were ten years ago."
Tina had almost thought he was giving her a compliment, but after that last bit she felt her temper rising again.
"And you're just as arrogant as you always were," she said with a huff.
"I seem to remember you loved my arrogance"
Her heart was pounding in her chest and as she looked into his eyes, she could feel a tingling feeling spreading through her most sensitive area. Suddenly she wanted him to touch her, her body almost crying out for it and the sensations in her nether regions intensifying. He kept her gaze and she could see that he wanted the same thing.
Why not, her body seemed to ask. How can you resist when you know what he can do with you, how he can tune your body that it sings?
An image of the last time she saw him came to her mind and she forcefully steered her mind away from the direction it was heading into.
He hadn't even said sorry when she confronted him, and that above everything else had haunted her. She had begged him to explain, but he had refused, turning away and driving off.
"I might have liked it back then," she said, turning away to regain some of her composure, "but I've learned to appreciate the finer things in life since then."
Anger flashed in his eyes when she looked back at him and the bottom of her stomach seemed to tighten.
"What do you want Mike," she asked.
He didn't say anything while those chocolate eyes studied her, his gaze dropping to her breasts and then back up to her eyes.
"I think it's pretty obvious what I want, Tina. The question is, are you going to admit that you want the same thing?"
Her heart seemed to stop as she tried to process what he had just said. Had he really just propositioned her? Her mind conjured an image of the two of them, naked and sweating, writhing on a bed and growling and moaning their pleasure. Her heart immediately started up again, beating quicker than it had before as it pumped blood south, flooding her with wetness.
She tried in vain to push the erotic image from her head, but it was difficult to do while her eyes were locked to his. She could see the promise in his deep brown eyes and as she stared into his eyes, she saw him lift his hand and softly trace his fingers down her bare arms, sending a shudder through her body and finally allowing her to wrench her gaze away from him.
She turned away from him even as she felt him move closer to her, his musky smell enveloping her and teasing her senses.
Come on Tina, she scolded herself, pull yourself together. This is Mike, remember?
Taking a deep, steadying breath, Tina turned back to him and put her hand on his chest. The contact sent a bolt of energy through her arm, but she ignored it and gently pushed him back.
Thankfully he didn't resist and moved away just enough to not crowd her personal space anymore, giving her more room to breathe without his heady scent surrounding her.
"I'm flattered," she said, trying not to sound like he was affecting her at all, even though she knew that he had noticed her reaction to his words, "but I'm afraid it's not that easy. You see, unfortunately for you, I know you're a bastard. And while that might work for you in other, situations, I won't let myself be used by you. So please, do me a favor and leave me alone. I really wouldn't want to make a scene at my little sister's wedding."
As she was talking, she could feel the old anger welling up in her again, making her words carry that anger with them. She could also see the lust in Mike's eyes disappear and a scowl take its place, his eyebrows drawing down and shadowing it's chocolate depths, causing her heart to stutter for a couple of beats before picking up its pace again.
"Do not talk to me like you're better than me, little Tina. You, unlike me, don't know all the facts of everything that happened."
His voice was low and dangerous, sending a tingle of fear down her spine.
Swallowing down her apprehension, she leveled her best condescending look at him.
"I doubt that's true, Mike. The fact is you, unlike me, were too coward to tell me how you really felt and decided that fucking somebody else would get your point across just as good. Don't come to me now when according to you I wasn't enough for you back then. You had your chance."
She was proud of herself for keeping the level of her voice down, even though the anger and left over hurt still churned inside her and roared to be let out. She wished she could slap him and appease of some of the feelings.
Even though his eyes were shadowed, she could still see some emotions burning in its depths. When he spoke, his voice shook with the effort of controlling those emotions from bursting forth.
"I never thought you weren't enough for me. Maybe I didn't deal with a couple of things in the right way, but that was NEVER the issue."
Tina felt like she'd been gut-punched. The emotion in his voice and words struck her core, and for the first time, she thought she might not have all the facts.
She was staring into his eyes again, trying to read the emotions hidden there when she suddenly became aware of her surroundings again as she heard Sam speak up.
"Tina?"
She wrenched her eyes away from Mike's and looked over the counter at the sexy barman.
"Yeah," she replied, her voice breathy and uneven.
"You okay," he asked, his eyes seeming to read hers.
Tina looked back at Mike. The emotion she had seen there was gone now and he was looking at Sam with a challenge in his eyes. Sam didn't back down and stared back at him. Tina could see the muscles in his right hand bunching.
"Yes, I'm fine. This is Mike," she said, trying to diffuse the tension. "He just came over to say hello. He was just about to go back to his table."
At her words, Mike turned to her again, his eyes hardening. He looked at her for a second before replying.
"Yes, my date is probably wondering where I got off to."
These words shocked Tina more than anything else he had said that night.
His date?
Anger welled up in her and she had to work to not show it on her face. She couldn't believe she had almost believed his impassioned words. He was here with a date, but he had been propositioning her. How dare he tell her she didn't have all the facts when he had just made it abundantly clear that he was definitely the type of guy who couldn't settle for one woman?
She watched, speechless, as he turned and walked away. Sure enough, when he got to his table, there was a blond woman sitting next to him. She immediately leaned over and started talking to him, her low-cut red dress almost spilling her generous breasts into his lap.
Anger boiled in her and she turned her back on him in disgust. Sam was still standing there, looking at her with worried eyes.
"Was he bothering you? You look upset."
"Not at all," she replied, trying to force the anger to subside. "He was just being a jerk. I knew him a long time ago and we didn't get along very well."
That wasn't an entire lie, at least. Their parting could definitely be classified as two people who didn't get along well.
"Well, don't worry about him, you're here to celebrate, remember?" His eyes twinkled as he smiled and even as she smiled back at him, Tina knew that she wouldn't be able to relax again the rest of the night.
A/N: READ & REVIEW
Disclaimer: NOT MINE.
ORIGINAL STORY: Choosing Love by Vernice Brown.