Page 109 of The Arrogant One

“Because it was exactly how I’d feared it would be—boring as hell. He’s good on paper. But there was nothing about him that made me want to crawl across the dinner table and jump his bones. We lacked everything in that department. And that’s why I was afraid of saying yes to him in the first place. And now he needs to go find himself a new job … he wants date two, and I never want to see him again.”

I gave her a compassionate smile. “I’m proud of you for at least trying.”

She rolled her light-blue eyes. “It’s never happening again, FYI. One and done—work-wise. But if you’d like to give meBeck Weston on a platter to devour whenever and however I’d like, I would not turn that down.”

I laughed. “I have no control over that situation. I haven’t even met him yet.”

“Well, make it happen already, will ya?” she squealed.

I unhooked our arms and wrapped one around her shoulders. “Let’s get the Toro review behind me, and then let me come clean to Lockhart,and thenI’ll see what I can do.”

There was a vibration in my purse, and I wiggled my hand inside and took out my phone.

Lockhart

Doesn’t look like you have to endure any more of this teasing.

Me

What? Why?

Lockhart

Look behind you …

Look behind me?

I turned around, and my stomach did a full flip …

Lockhart was standing at the bar, his back against it, staring directly at me.

TWENTY-NINE

Hart

Sadie had told me she had a work thing. She told me that was why she and Bryn couldn’t come to the game tonight. She’d told me more than once that she wished she could be with me this evening.

But if all that was true, then why was she standing in the VIP section of Musik, near the balcony that overlooked the dance floor, with our signature cocktail in her hand?

Why did I have no idea she was coming here?

My text, telling her to turn around, was showing that it was delivered, and as I was slipping my phone back into my pocket, her body began to swivel toward me.

Her eyes scanned the entire bar until they locked with mine.

This was a moment that proved two things.

The first was that Sadie’s gaze sent a feeling into my stomach that told me, without question, this was the woman for me. Her presence hit me everywhere, and it wasn’t just a desireand a need I had for her. The feeling hit much harder than that. My hands had this burning desire to hold her, to slide up her face and cup her cheeks as I told her just how deep these feelings went.

And two, as she looked at me, her chest rising, her eyes bugging out, I knew I was the last person she’d expected to see tonight.

She said something to Bryn, and her best friend’s eyes darted in my direction, both women gawking at me for what felt like far too long before Sadie made her way over. I allowed myself a dip down her body, taking in her tight leather pants and a red shirt that hugged her chest and stomach, leaving her shoulders bare. A pair of heels, making her several inches taller, looked incredible on her feet.

Fuck, she was sexy.

As she reached me, with our signature drink in her hand, she wrapped her other arm around my waist and leaned up on her toes. “Hi.” She put her lips on mine and kept them there, as though she was breathing me in.

I did the same.