Mary was more than aware of the stares she was getting from the bar as everyone wondered who the stranger was and why he had zeroed in on her. She was wondering the same thing. Most men didn’t give her a second glance, and never one as good-looking as this.
Her smile faded as she realized it probably wasn’t for any good reason. The man had obviously been drinking, and logic suggested he had targeted her because any woman pathetic enough to be sitting alone with a book on New Year’s Eve would be easy pickings.
She closed her book and slipped it into her purse, then drew out a couple of bills and placed them on the table. Tommy routinely refused her money, telling her that it was no good in his place, but her conscience made her leave something anyway.
“You’re not leaving, are you?” Aidan frowned.
“Yes.”
Aidan squinted at the expensive-looking gold watch around his wrist as if he was having trouble focusing. “It’s not even midnight yet.”
“I know.”
“Who will kiss you when the clock strikes twelve?”
Mary gaped at him. Did this gorgeous stranger just say what she thought he did? “I’m sorry,” she said, clearly flustered, and just a tiny bit thrilled. “I have to go. Happy New Year.”
Then she made a beeline for the exit.
*
Aidan watched the woman leave, stunned. He’d never had a woman run away from him like that. Even without his two-thousand dollar suit, he’d been turning them down as one after another sidled up to him and either offered to buy him a drink or asked him to buy one for them. Sadly, none of them stirred his interest. Then he’d spotted her, sitting in the corner all alone, a look of such longing on her face that he felt instantly drawn to her.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have given her a second glance. There was absolutely nothing remarkable about her. Of average height, average build, she had chestnut brown hair and warm brown eyes, lighter in the middle with darker rings on the outside. Soft, feminine features, but nothing striking. Nothing like the high-maintenance types he was used to. This woman had a softness about her, a gentleness one rarely found in women in a bar. Instead of clearly defined lines of hair and makeup and clothing, it looked as if someone had used the tip of their finger to just smudge around the edges a little.
It had awakened something inside of him, something that had compelled him to join her. For a brief moment or two, he thought he recognized a similar lost soul, but apparently, that had been the Scotch.
It was just as well. She looked too soft for the kinds of games he liked to play, anyway.
He sat there for a few minutes more before finishing off his drink and deciding the evening had been a total bust. Feeling oddly disappointed he wouldn’t be ringing in the New Year with the quiet brunette, he no longer had any desire to wait until midnight either. He settled his tab and slipped out the back.
His leather jacket hung open as he walked toward the outer edge of the lot, the slow burn of alcohol rendering him impervious to the cold. He stopped beside an old Honda that had definitely seen better days, and pulled a set of keys from his pocket. He studied them carefully, dropping them once, then twice into the now snow-covered asphalt before he managed to get the door open.
“Hey,” a quiet female voice said. “You okay?”
He turned around to find the brunette from the bar peering up at him with big brown eyes, concern etched in her delicate features. He managed what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Peachy.”
“How much did you have to drink tonight?”
He shrugged. He’d stopped counting much earlier.
“I don’t think you should be driving. Is there anyone you can call?”
He considered her, bemused by her concern when she had been in such a hurry to part company. There were any number of people who would come, but then he’d be ruining their night, too. It would also be a red flag for those who did care (namely Lexi and Rebecca) that something was wrong in Aidan’s perfect world and they would worry and try to help. That was the last thing he wanted.
“No,” he answered.
The woman – Mary – stuffed her hands into the pockets of her fluffy coat and shifted from one foot to the other. Aidan looked down into her face, rosy from the frigid air, with tiny snowflakes sticking to her long, dark lashes. “You’re cold.”
“It’s snowing,” she said reasonably.
Aidan forced his golden eyes away from her and looked up. “So it is.”
She worried her lower lip with her teeth, drawing his eyes to it. It was slightly fuller than the top, a lovely shade of dark pink. Kissable, he thought for no logical reason, once again feeling a pang of regret that he would not get the chance to find out.
“Aidan, would you let me give you a ride home?” she asked unexpectedly.