Chapter One

“But I have to study, Ashley?” I whined through the phone, trying to convince my best friend that I was not coming to the game night. She used to live with me in my grandmother’s house but recently she moved in with her boyfriend, Jake, and wanted me to come to their traditional game nights. They have it every week and I liked hanging out with them until Jake’s friend Dan started coming to the game nights and hit on me often. I didn’t like him that much.

“You always study and I know you are smarter than the rest of the students in your class. Don’t you give me that excuse,” I could imagine her narrowing her eyes at me. She was right though. I was studying law at the University of Columbia and it was like my dream come true when I got accepted. I was always between my books nowadays and threw myself into studying to avoid thinking about the jerk who cheated on me. It didn’t hurt much as it has been almost a year now.

“Who is going to be there?” I asked hoping it was just Jake and her.

“Dan is coming as usual and Austin is also coming,” she chirped and I had a confused look on my face at the mention of a new name. I sat up straight on the bed and placed my phone on the other ear.

“Who is Austin?”

“He is another friend of Jake’s and he is a really sweet guy, Em.” Oh god, how many friends did Jake have? I wanted to ask out loud and groaned.

“I hope he isn’t like Dan,” I stated dryly.

“Well, you are pretty and guys do hit on pretty girls. I mean, I can’t believe that you are still not interested in guys. It’s almost a year. What happened to you, girl?” she laughed and I rolled my eyes.

“I am happy to be single, Ash. Don’t need another heartbreak,” I sighed and started playing with the ends of my blonde hair.

“I know, Em.” She paused and continued, “Well, I got it right the second time. Who knows, maybe you need to try again to find ‘the one’,” she stated, making me chuckle.

“You have turned all lovey-dovey and mushy but I’m so happy for you and Jake. You guys deserve all the happiness, babe.” I smiled at the thought of them. They were so cute together and made me feel jealous that I was single sometimes.

“Enough about me. Now get your ass here by 6 pm,” she said in a stern voice and I agreed, knowing how stubborn she could get.

“Alright, I’ll be there. Love you,”

“Love you too,” I cut the call and stood up from my bed, making my way to the bathroom. I took a quick shower and came out in a towel, going through the clothes in my closet. I needed to go shopping as all my clothes were boring and dull. I pulled out a gray halter top and a peach skirt that stopped mid-thigh. After getting dressed, I combed my hair to get rid of the knots and applied some tinted lip balm and mascara. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I looked pretty good. I hardly went out these days and it felt nice to dress up once in a while. After collecting my phone and bag, I headed out of the door and drove my car in the direction of their house.

Once I reached their building, I got in the elevator and punched the 20th floor. After what felt like forever, the elevator dinged and I made my way to their door, typing in the passcode that Ash gave me since I visit them often. The living room was empty and it was almost 6.30 pm. Where was everyone? I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion.

“Ashley?” I called out and heard no answer.

“Can I help you?” I jumped at the unfamiliar deep voice behind me and placed a hand on my poor heart. Who the fuck was that? I turned around and my breath hitched. I saw a guy wearing a three-piece black suit with chocolate brown hair which looked so soft that I wanted to run my hands through it. He had a deep set of hazel brown eyes that looked intimidating and full lips with a perfect jawline and neatly trimmed beard. He had broad shoulders and I couldn’t help but trail my eyes all over his perfect body. Fuck, he looked like a freaking male underwear model and I wondered how he would look like without a shirt. Dirty, Emma. I lifted my eyes to his face and scrunched my eyebrows in confusion. He looked so damn familiar and I couldn’t point out where I must have seen him. Was he really a model? I must have seen him in some magazines.

“Done checking me out?” he spoke with that deep voice and had a smirk plastered on his beautiful face. My cheeks went red in embarrassment. Shit!

“I---I wasn’t checking you out. I’m here for my friend, Ashley,” I stuttered like a fool and folded my arms in front of me, trying to look confident.

“I see,” he said and looked like he was trying so hard to control his smile. What the hell so funny?

“Hey, Emma.” I heard Ashely, running down the stairs with a huge grin on her face. Jake was right behind her and she looked flushed.

“Oh my god, please don’t tell me you guys were doing it.” I groaned.

“No, we were just talking.” I could see her cheeks go red in embarrassment. She was obviously lying.

“Yeah, sure.” I rolled my eyes with a smile on my face. They honestly can’t keep their hands off each other.

“I see that you two have met each other. Austin, this is Emma Lewis, my best friend in the whole world and Emma, this is Austin Williams, Jake’s best friend.” she grinned in excitement. So this was Austin, Damn, he looked kind of hot. Who was I kidding, he was totally hot. He held out his hand for me to shake it and I took his hand while his gaze never left mine. I felt my entire body tingling at his touch and I retracted my hand immediately.

“Let’s get settled guys, Dan should be here any minute,” Jake spoke as he sat down on the couch while I went inside the kitchen to get something to drink. I could feel his burning gaze from the opposite seat when I joined them back in the living room. It made me all hot and bothered. After all, I was a woman who didn’t get any action for almost a year and there was a really hot guy sitting opposite to me. I couldn’t help but steal some glances of my own. I haven’t felt this way in a while and I found Ashley looking at me with a sly look. Oh God, I didn’t want her to assume anything. I tried to focus on the game and Dan joined us shortly.

“Hello, Emma. You look gorgeous today,” Dan spoke as he sat down beside me with a huge grin on his face. I moved a bit further from him and frowned at his closeness.

“Dan, leave her alone,” Ashley said sternly, giving me an apologetic look. I noticed Austin shooting him death glares but remained silent. At around 8 pm, I stood up to leave saying my goodbyes and Austin stood up along with me.

“I’m going to head out too, bye guys.” He patted Jake’s shoulder and nodded at both Dan and Ashley, making his way to the door along with me. We both walked side by side towards the elevator and entered inside. There was an awkward silence. I didn’t know what to say and kept licking my lips and swallowing hard at the close proximity of our bodies.

“So Emma, what do you do?” he broke the silence and I turned my head towards him.

“I’m studying law at the University of Columbia. What do you do?” I smiled as I felt his intense gaze on me. He cleared his throat before replying.

“I’m the CEO of William Enterprises. It’s a hotel company.” He stated and I nodded at him. So he was not a model. Where have I seen him? I felt like pulling my hair out in frustration.

“It must be cool, studying law. You must be really smart,” he sounded surprised and I jerked my head at his comment.

“Did you think I was some dumb blonde chick?” My nose flared in anger and I didn’t care if he was hot. I hated it when people thought I was just some pretty blonde chick with no brains.

“Woah! I didn’t say that. In fact, I do know how smart and funny you are, sweetheart,” he smirked and came closer to me. My mind went blank and all I could focus on was his captivating hazel eyes and those full lips. I licked my lips, thinking about how it would be to kiss him. I heard the elevator ding and we both turned our heads to see the door open, “See you around, stranger.” He stressed on the word ‘stranger’ and walked out casually with that stupid smirk on his gorgeous face and that’s when it struck me. Holy fuck! ‘Stranger’. That’s why he looked so damn familiar. He was the guy who gave me a ride home from the club a few months back.