A/N: I love this word, too. Mostly because it fits our couple, unlike Jisbon, who are relatively smooth. Once again, I'm thankin' veras333 for this entry.
Unvarnished
A heartbreaker sat at the bar, her fingers twirling the swizzle stick in her Bloody Mary. Her red hair fell wildly down her bare back and shoulders. Her skin-tight tank top and jeans clung to every curve and sent out 'Hey, Sailor' signals to every man in the dimly lit club. She was gorgeous. She was bored.
He was late.
But a redheaded heartbreaker never stays lonely for long.
"Hey. Buy you a drink?" A tall, dark haired man greeted her with a charming, hopeful smile.
She turned to him, her dark eyes slowly rising up to his slate blue gaze. She smiled back and rattled the stick against the ice in her glass. "Already taken care of," she teased loftily.
He snapped his fingers, looking crestfallen. "Story of my life. A beautiful woman is all alone at the bar and if I'd been five minutes earlier, I would have had an opener." He gave her a playful wink.
"An opener," she dragged out in slow syllables. "Sounds like you're on the prowl."
The man's eyes went wide and theatrical. "Never, my lady. No, I'm on a quest. A noble quest."
"Is that so?" she played along, taking a sip of her blood red drink. "Pray tell, good sir, what is your quest?"
He reached out with confident grace and took her hand, holding it chastely in his. He leaned closer, his knowing eyes sparkling with enjoyment. "The only quest worth joining. I'm on a mission to find the perfect woman."
She laughed lightly, allowing his impertinent touch. "My goodness, that sounds challenging. Tell me, how do you measure the perfect woman? How will you know when you've found her?"
He released her hand, but kept their close range.
He flashed her a boyish smile and his voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "She must be beautiful. She must be smart. She's brave enough to sit in a bar alone, but clever enough to spare with a man's shameless flirting." His eyes dropped with strategic shyness. "She's dazzling. And when I hear her name, it'll be the most lovely name in all the world."
He stared her down for a moment, waiting for her reaction. The heartbreaker did nothing, merely returned his gaze with cool composure.
"So," he dropped his whisper even lower, moving another uninvited inch into her space. "Since you have all of those things in abundance, the only thing I need to end my quest is hear your name."
She didn't back away from his advance. Her gaze, still calm and cool, lifted above his head to the door at the front. Suddenly a warmth spread into her face and a smile bloomed more lovely than any the man had ever seen. Her soulful eyes fell back to his.
"I wish you luck on your quest," she offered kindly, reaching out and squeezing the sleeve of his $3,000 suit and patting his manicured hand.
She left her drink on the bar and slid past him. He turned in his stool and watched her snake through the light crowd, eagerness guiding each step. She didn't stop until she reached the door and threw herself into the arms of a tall, plainly dressed guy with spiky, dark hair.
He'd looked lost until the redhead appeared before him. His guileless eyes nervously darting everywhere, searching earnestly like a puppy lost in a park. But then she emerged. Suddenly a huge smile burst onto his lips and his arms slipped happily around her.
His grin didn't pull back one inch. The man at the bar cringed slightly. It was the kind of grin he'd call 'goofy'.
The heartbreaker pulled back from his artless hug and cupped his heavy jaw in her slim hands, bringing him down for a kiss that knocked that goofy grin right off his face. Oblivious to their surroundings, the man returned it, pulling her up and pushing harshly against her smaller body, nuzzling her polished skin with his coarser lips and cheeks. She melted into him, both of them uncaring of the social stigma of making out in a crowded bar.
The man at the bar sighed and ordered a dirty martini. The ornate signet ring on his pinky clinked against the glass as he raised it to his lips. Sometimes with women, there was just no accounting for taste.