Chapter 1
She noticed him the moment he walked into the wine bar. He wasn't particularly handsome but there was something about him that pulled her eyes to him and wouldn't let go.
"Hey!" Mirei yelled over the noise. The place was busy. "Hey, calling all space cadets."
She finally switched her attention to her friend.
"He's sort of nice, something really male about him, you know? But why the long stare?"
She realized she had been staring at him. And he'd noticed, briefly fixing his eyes on her from across the crowded room, then moving on to something else. She'd been lost in a sudden fantasy: she imagined that she was walking over to him and standing right in from of him, not aggressive, just moving into his personal space. And she was putting that special smile on her face and fluffing her blondish hair and when those amazing eyes of his locked onto hers she was sinking down to her knees in front of him, sliding her hands down his chest to his thighs, right there in front of the whole establishment, and tilting her head up showing him her attractive face and mouthing the words she wanted only him to--
"Hey?" Her friend caught her. She'd been so lost in her imagination that she'd started taking a step but almost lost her balance. She shook her head, as much to rip her eyes off him as to regain her poise.
"You okay? Drink not agreeing with you?"
"No no, it's just... I was thinking..." But no way was she going to tell Mirei what she'd been thinking. Her crotch was wet, instantly, soaking really. "Give me a minute." She headed for the ladies room.
Of course that tall guy who'd been eyeing her the whole evening moved to intercept her, trying get her attention. She took out her phone and pretended to take a call. In the bathroom she stood for a moment, wondering why she was there, then found a compartment and sat down.
Guy did a thing to me,
she texted Mirei. She cleaned herself up as much as she could, brushed her hair and put on some lip gloss. She straightened her top, peach colored, her tight black pants, and returned to the bar.
Mirei wasn't there and neither were their drinks. Looking around she found a thin Asian brunette, her friend, standing at a table of guys, talking to them. He was one of them. Mirei beckoned her over. She crossed the room tentatively, which was very unlike her. She knew how good looking she was; she was inured to enduring the attention of everyone in sight, both men and women, whenever she moved. But this was more like walking on stage to give a performance, a similar excitement and trepidation, like the times she'd made presentations at conferences. She made herself breathe.
She smiled and nodded at the other three men while Mirei introduced her. She didn't nod at him. Somehow she didn't want to react to him the same way. Their eyes met again. Her scalp prickled. Tingles ran down her spine. More wetness. She wished she'd put on a pad.
Mirei, being Mirei, had simply gone over and introduced herself and started a conversation. Mirei was very good looking also, a classic Japanese beauty, though not, Mirei herself had said, in her class. Four healthy men weren't going to resist the intrusion. Mirei ran her own business, interior design, so knew how to introduce herself and how to engage people, a skill she admired but found impossible to imitate.
He stood and offered Mirei his seat, then pulled a chair over for her and one for himself. He seemed to be the leader. So there she was, right next to him. She didn't dare look at him. That would be way too revealing, not to mention embarrassing. Playing aloof and hard to get was a technique that came naturally to her and that she'd perfected from long experience. They made small talk, lame jokes, whatever. She drank. Her mind kept floating away.
"... and don't even ask her what she's doing there. You wouldn't understand." Mirei was bragging again about her and her new position at the Institute. The three amigos gave her looks with varying mixtures of disbelief and trepidation.
There followed the inevitable feeble science jokes, which she did her best to tune out. She had to concentrate on keeping her hands on her lap. They seemed to want to drift over to him, touch his arm, slide in to his--
"I said," the voice was smooth and strong, "Did you want another drink?" His hand was on her shoulder. Heat flowed from it and spread through her body. She could only nod. And had to do that briefly. Her head wanted to dive into his lap, a crazy idea she immediately pushed away. She always played the nice girl, gorgeous but distant. But sometimes crazy ideas came to her, urges to drop all her masks and let herself go. This was just another one and she knew how to deal with it.
He stood to go to the bar. She stood with him, not knowing why. "Uh, let me help." That was lame but they were together now, on the way. She didn't want to be separated from him. At the bar he got the barkeep's attention, ordered the drinks, started a tab, then turned to face her again. And those eyes. Captivating. Not a special effect from one of those stupid adolescent vampire romances. Real.
She expected him to start a conversation with some line, like guys usually did with her, trying to be clever. But he just looked at her. Didn't stare, just looked.
"I, um." She never had to work at talking with guys. They were always so nervous, hyped that they'd finally gotten up the courage to meet her, blathering on while she assessed them, always finding a lack. He wasn't a guy. He was something else. Something new. "Um." She took out her phone, just to waste time while she got her act together. "I... there's something about you." Lame. Now she knew how all those guys felt. So maybe act like a guy? "If I said you had a hot body," she finally blurted out, "Would you hold it against me?"
He laughed out loud. She smiled her special smile. She felt better, more awake. The drinks arrived. Time to take the bull by the--
horns
, she told herself firmly. "Can I get your number?" she asked.