STEP BROTHER DEAREST

Arielle

"Happy sixth married life!" I raised my glass in the air, and toasted to nobody.

Beside me, my best friend burst into laughter, "Layla is my role model. I can't even get my crush to call me back and she's getting married for the second time this year. I need to start studying her romance diary like a holy book."

I rolled my eyes, "She changes men faster than I change toothbrushes. It's gross."

Annie's mouth curved into a sly smile, "speak for yourself, darling. Layla is getting some of that good di_"

I slammed my glass of beer down on the countertop of the bar and turned to my blonde bestfriend with narrowed eyes, "Don't you dare complete that sentence, Annie. What the hell? You can't use the d word and my mother in the same sentence in front of me. Eww, I don't even want to think about that."

She threw her head back and let out a loud roar of laughter, "You're such a prude sweetie."

"You're gross."

"I need to go pee, and who knows, maybe I'll find myself a six feet three, dark haired, tattooed hottie on my way to the bathroom," she wagged her eyebrows at me.

Annie and i were so different that sometimes I wondered how we had become and stayed friends for years. She was the leggy blonde who wore size zero to two dresses while I was the red head with curves who preferred the safety of my bed to anything outside of it.

I glanced around the bar, "I doubt you will see anything like that in this dumpster bar. Why did I even let you bring me here?"

"Because you wanted to drown your sorrows in cheap beer and in a place where no one could see you and report to mommy dearest," she pointed out.

I rolled my eyes at her, "Have fun finding your six feet demi god in there."

Annie blew me a kiss and disappeared through one of the side hallways leading to the bathroom. It was true that I had come here to drown my sorrows about my mother going through the mess of another marriage, but the thing was, I had never gotten drunk before.

In fact, I was still sipping the tiny cup the bartender had poured me three hours ago.

Beer tasted horrible though, I wondered why people drank it.

"If you're just going to stare at it like it personally offended you, you shouldn't have bought it," a smooth, deep voice suddenly said from beside me.

My head snapped to the side as a man in all black slipped into the bar stool next to mine. And oh Lord, what a man he was. My jaw dropped open as I trailed my gaze over every dark inch of him, from the tips of his shoes, to his muscular legs encased in tailored pants, and the black shirt he had on, the sleeves rolled up to his forearms to reveal a smattering of tattoo and a heavy Rolex watch.

By the time my gaze settled on his face, all the oxygen in my body seemed to have deserted me.

Dark hair tumbled into a sculpted, chiselled face, and cerulean blue eyes stared at me through thick lashes. Had the three sips of beer I had drank gone to my head, or had Annie manifested the six feet three Adonis she had been talking about.

"Are you going to reply me in this lifetime or should I wait for the next?" A small smirk curled his lips, and I finally snapped out of my daze.

"Uh, h-hello," I stammered, feeling like the world's biggest moron.

He chuckled, "Bartender, can I get a glass of bourbon and a Macallan for the lady?"

A moment later, a glass slid in front of me. The man picked up his own drink and raised it in a toast, "Cheers."

"What are we celebrating?" I picked mine up.

"Meeting a pretty woman at a bar," he replied, eyes twinkling.

Heat climbed up my face, and I ducked my head immediately, "Flattery will get you everywhere."

"I have a feeling it won't get me anywhere with you."

I raised one eyebrow, "And why is that?"

The man stared at me like I was being intentionally obtuse, "Look around you, every man in here wants to take you back to his bed, and I'm sure you've noticed."

Wait, what? I glanced around and found lots of eyes on us, "They're looking at you."

"And why would they do that?" He teased.

I licked my lips and his ocean eyes dropped down to follow the movement of my tongue. A curl of heat raced through me and I clenched my thighs together, wishing I had worn jeans instead of the tiny black dress Annie had convinced me to wear.

"Because you're unfairly gorgeous," I blurted out.

He shrugged, "Be that as it may, you're the one who has these people's attention. But that's not the most interesting part."

"What is?" I leaned forward, curious.

Swirling the amber liquid in his glass, he took a small sip and then leaned forward too, so close that his cologne filled my lungs, and made me feel like I was drunk.

"There's no surprise on my part that a striking woman would grab the attention of an entire room," he told me, "It's a given. But what I'm surprised about, is the fact that I don't like their eyes on you."

"Y-you don't?"

"No," he was so close now that our breaths tangled together, so close that if I slipped an inch forward my mouth would be on his, "No man in this bar is worthy to look at you."

I giggled, "Does that include you?"

"Darling, on a list of men who aren't worthy of you, I'm at the top."

The only thing on my mind was the thought of what he tasted like. Feeling extremely naughty, I stuck out my tongue and swiped it over his.

"Oops," I smirked.

His eyes darkened into pools of lust, "Don't say you weren't warned."