Page 19 of The Forsaken Vampire

I pushed her hand off. “Psh, I don’t care if he knows I’m looking.” I swiveled in the stool and followed Brianna’s gaze. “I want to take a look at this hot motherfucker.” My eyes found him right away, broad shoulders stretching the fabric of his shirt, pronounced cords up his neck, eyes as dark as coal. It only took me a second to recognize him, seeing his eyes meet mine across the room.

I turned back to Brianna and covered my unease with a drink of my beer.

“Told you.”

“I’ve met him before.”

“You know him?” she asked in surprise.

“Well,metmight not be the right word. I bumped into him once. He was kinda an asshole. A hot asshole.”

“Those are the best kind.”

“They are…”

“Are you going to talk to him?”

“Is he still sitting alone?”

“Yes—and he’s staring at you.”

“Are you sure he’s not staring at you?” I asked.

“Yep,” she said. “Hundred percent. Gonna go for it?”

“What if you pay Ethan a visit, and I dig my claws into this guy?”

“Oooh, that sounds like a plan. Then we’ll have breakfast and spill the tea.”

“Perfect.”

She finished off the rest of her beer then left the stool. “Hope you get some.”

“You too.” I watched her walk out before I swiveled in the stool to face forward. Instead of walking over to him right away, I decided to sit there and take my time, give him a chance to come to me first. I didn’t mind making the first move, but I preferred to be chased.

“Is this seat taken?”

Nooooooo.

A man appeared at my side, his beer already on the bar because he intended to occupy the stool whether I agreed or not. He wasn’t bad to look at, but compared to the hot motherfucker, he was plain. “Uh…”

He took a seat. “Jacob. What’s your name?”

Some people knew who I was on sight, but not all. My father was recognizable to all, however. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but—”

“Hey, baby.” Hot motherfucker appeared, his eyes on me for a moment before they shifted to the man who was trying to pick me up. He didn’t say another word, but his hostility was as loud as a scream.

“My apologies.” Jacob grabbed his beer and returned to wherever he’d come from.

He dropped onto the stool that was reserved for him, tapped his fingers on the counter to get the barmaiden’s attention, and ordered another beer. She abandoned everything she was doing and gave it to him right away, like she’d noticed him the way Brianna had.

He took a drink before he pivoted in the stool slightly so our eyes met.

I stared, my fingers around my glass. My heart raced. My hands suddenly felt clammy. I hadn’t had butterflies in my stomach since I was sixteen, but now they were back in full force.

His dark eyes stared at me with calmness, like this meeting didn’t provoke him nearly as much as it did me. Confident and suave, he wasn’t fazed by a pretty girl the way his sexiness fazed me.

I forced a poker face and feigned my usual confidence. “How did you know I wasn’t interested? Maybe I was.”