Violet stared. Hard. This man was…hard! All over!
And huge! She’d never seen a man so tall or with shoulders that wide. Even his long sleeved shirt was having trouble stretching across those shoulders and expanding enough to accommodate his bulging biceps. She would feel pity for the material but…well, she was too fascinated by all of those muscles.
Her fingers clenched more tightly around the handles of the beer mugs and her brain repeated over and over, “Don’t touch! Don’t touch!” It would be rude to run her fingers over his muscular chest.
Wouldn’t it?
She felt a burning sensation as he poured the beer into the pitcher and realized that she was holding her breath. Unfortunately, there was no way she could breathe in. She’d just have to do without oxygen. Forever. Because this man smelled perfect. The woodsy, spicy scent was making even her fingernails ache to breathe in the scent of him. But she couldn’t. Her sweater was too thin, and her confidence too small. Men like this guy didn’t look at her twice so she needed to just keep it under wraps.
My, oh my! He was every woman’s dream man, she thought. Tall, dark hair and eyes that seemed to notice everything. He was looking down at her with a strange light in his eyes, and all she wanted to do was step closer, breathe in all that woodsy scent, and maybe bury her nose in the warm skin of his neck. And breathe in again!
She was being a pervert, she thought and backed up a step. All those creepy, stalker movies where the woman had a knife and the guy couldn’t convince the woman that he wasn’t interested…yeah, those movie scenes were flashing around in her mind.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to invade your space,” she croaked out. “I just…”
His smile made her stomach muscles clench with excitement. Oh my! This was dangerous! “No problem. I was distracted, and you needed to start…,” he glanced to the back of the bar, then down to her again. “What are you celebrating?” he asked.
“Um…” she looked to the back where her friends were sitting. Unfortunately, with this man looking down at her with those hard, sexy brown eyes, all she could think about was him. His broad shoulders, the muscles flexing in his forearms where he’d rolled up his sleeves, and everything else about this man.
When she glanced back again, she realized what was going on. “Oh! Yeah. Um…my friend is getting married!” She smiled, feeling like a prized idiot, but unable to stop herself.
He’d filled the pitcher with beer and turned to face her, looking down at her with a look that almost seemed…expectant. She’d thought she might be able to escape, but as she looked up at him, he didn’t seem inclined to move.
That sexy smile widened and her stomach flipped again. He really needed to stop doing that! “Ah. Well, then, you’re in luck tonight.”
Violet’s heart skipped a beat. Several beats in fact. Then roared to life, pounding in her chest. She was fairly certain that he could see the pounding. Wasn’t her chest moving back and forth like in the cartoons?
“I am?” she asked softly, unaware of how she was hugging the beer mugs against her chest as she stared up at him. Nor was she aware of the longing in her blue eyes, or the anticipation in her body language. All she knew was that this man was possibly the most handsome man she’d ever seen in her life. And she wanted to move closer.
Violet felt foolish because he probably had women standing in line outside his bedroom door, wanting their turn. Good grief, if she could find the line, she’d wait her turn as well!
And besides, he was a bartender. He charmed the ladies every night in order to get better tips. In an area like Winthrop, Alaska, he couldn’t be making a whole lot of money.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t the kind of woman that this man would genuinely find interesting. She was mousy and more than a little boring. She rarely dated and the men who normally asked her out were the nerdy ones with the big glasses and braces.
Not the he-man, gorgeous, sexy, god-like men, who had rippling muscles and granite hard jawlines that made a woman want to run her fingers over his warm skin.
“Yeah. Tonight only is free drinks for all bachelorette parties,” Creek told her. His reward was her smile brightening, and he couldn’t believe how badly he wanted to toss her over his shoulder and carry her into the storage room. He wanted to have his wicked way with her just as much as he wanted to just stare at her beautiful smile. Everything about this woman was enticing, right down to her boot-covered toes.
“You’re kidding,” she came right back, her eyes showing her disbelief.
“No joke,” he replied immediately. “All drinks, on the house. Bachelorette parties only though.”