I sound so hokey! The only thing that could make this worse was putting on a terrible grin that advertised what a dork she was. When she gathered the courage to look at the man again, all she saw was a twitch at the corner of his mouth and a tap of his fingers against the counter.
“Business,” he muttered, a voice cool and firm echoing in his throat. Jasmine shivered. Could’ve been the martini, but she was pretty sure it was this damned good looking stranger.
Jasmine waited for him to say something else, but the man was too preoccupied with his phone to care about her. There should be a law about being attached to those stupid things. “In town for much longer?”
Now he looked up, that chiseled jaw and those piercing eyes shooting daggers into Jasmine’s chest. Shit, I picked a doozy! He could destroy women with a look like that. “Only another day. Why? Do I know you?”
Jasmine sat up straight, her sweater slipping off her shoulder as she pushed her chest out and tossed her dark hair behind her. Think sexy. Think glamorous. Think… I dunno, unzipping those pants and taking him for a spin. Think it! Jasmine didn’t believe in psychic connections, but if they were possible, she was going to make sure Mr. Stranger picked up on every image projecting from her mind. The first one was her hand reaching between his legs to find out how big he was. Oh, and those taut lips nibbling on her ear. “My name’s Jasmine.” She held out her hand, weakly, showcasing how delicate she was. Men liked the idea of going at a dainty gal, right? Think about fucking me. You know you want to. Boy, she was bolder in her brain than she usually gave herself credit for!
The handsome stranger finally put down his phone and gripped the tips of her fingers. “Ethan,” he said with the confidence of a successful businessman. Got him. Or so Jasmine thought until the man picked up his phone again, Email. Internet. Solitaire. Even solitaire was more interesting than talking to her. At least he touched me. Jasmine resituated herself in her seat and flicked her finger against her martini glass.
“You alone, Ethan?” What the hell. She had little to lose in this situation. Just her pride. It wasn’t worth much anyway.
His finger continued to tap his cell phone screen. “Nobody is really alone these days. Big Brother, and all that.”
“He finding anything good on that phone of yours?”
At last, she got a laugh out of him. Adorable. Jasmine would bet a paycheck that Ethan’s genuine laughter was a sight to behold. “Afraid not. I’m terribly boring.”
Jasmine had to make some quick decisions regarding how to take this one-sided flirtation to the next level. I’m determined. She came to that bar to find her a man for the night. She came to Ethan because he was the biggest stud in the room. Now unzip your pants and show me what you got. Patience, patience. “I’m not boring.”
Tension mounted between them. Hopefully, it was sexual. Either way, Jasmine finally had his full attention, and the man in a suit gazed at her with nothing but intrigue swirling in his eyes. Thinking about me, eh? Jasmine slipped forward, allowing her chest to prominently display on the counter. Oh ho ho. Somebody’s eyes went right to her breasts. At the end of the day, they were both animals.
Ethan flagged down the bartender and ordered another drink. “Get her another one of those. My tab.” About damn time. A girl shouldn’t have to work so hard to get a free drink.
At this point Jasmine had no idea what she was doing. In truth, she rarely approached men like this. She was safe, disinterested. Her dating life usually amounted to men approaching and asking her out. Sometimes she went on blind dates set up by friends and family. But she rarely, rarely approached a guy on her own. She was much more likely to ignore them, admire them from far away but do nothing, or become startled when they approached her. Taking the initiative was something beyond her comfort zone.
Yet she woke up that day with the determination to make it happen. She would do it. She would go out that evening and find a man worth seducing. Sometimes a woman needed to prove to herself that she had the power. Men always had the power. Just for one night Jasmine wanted to make the decisions and take hold of her sexual fate.
Her fantasies, however, usually included not knowing the man’s name. Now she knew Ethan’s name, so there was that.
The bartender returned with their drinks and made himself scarce again. How many hookups did he see happen in this hotel lounge? Did he ever get jealous? Why did Jasmine care? Because he’s probably judging me. “Thanks for the drink,” she said, swirling her fingertip in her glass before tasting it. “It’s been a long week.”