‘You here on your own?’ he continued, and I looked back up at him, unaware I’d actually broken the stare, but I must have done at some point. ‘I’m here with friends. We work in a tattoo studio back home in the UK.’ There really was something about this stranger that made me feel as if I’d known him for years. Or that I’d, at least, seen him somewhere before. And I just couldn’t shake that feeling.
He leant back against the counter beside me, folding his arms as he looked out ahead of him, and I followed his gaze, watching the crowds as they flitted from stand to stand, doing whatever it was people did at events like this, because I really had no idea. This was all still quite new to me. It had a good vibe, though, I knew that much.
‘So, you’re here for the convention, then?’ he asked.
I nodded, then remembered he wasn’t actually looking at me, so he wouldn’t have been able to see my response. ‘Yeah. Yeah, we are.’
He turned to face me. ‘You in Vegas for long, Lana?’
Oh, dear God! The way he said my name! How did he do that?
‘A couple of days.’
My fingers tightened around the beer bottles I’d suddenly realised I was still holding, as his eyes once more met mine.
‘You’re not hanging around, then.’ It was more of a statement than a question.
‘No. No, we’re not.’
I finally broke the stare, looking down at my boots.
‘Okay, so, if you’re not gonna be around for long… How do you fancy a night to remember, sweetheart?’
I almost dropped the beers, my head shooting straight back up. ‘I’m sorry?’
‘Come out with me. Tonight. What d’you say, darlin’?’
3 (#ud31a29dd-8e55-5344-ba90-2a90e7210692)
That had thrown me. Somewhat. ‘I… I don’t know…’ Why didn’t I know?
Just say yes, Lana. Just say yes!
‘I know we’ve only just met, but…’ He shrugged. ‘Does that really matter?’ He raised an eyebrow, his mouth twisting up into a slight smirk. How could anybody manage to make that look so incredibly sexy? And even though there was a part of me that wanted to scream, Do you know what? We might have only just met, but what the hell! Yes, I’ll go out with you! there was another part of me – remnants of the old, more reserved and cautious Lana, maybe – that was holding back. A part of me that was slightly wary of accepting his invitation.
‘No. It doesn’t really matter, but…’ That cautious part had won. ‘Look, I… I really should go and find my friends…’
He pushed a hand through his hair, and I watched as his expression changed, his eyes dipping briefly before he looked back at me. ‘I’m sorry. I really didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable, in any way, it’s just that, when I saw you last night…’
‘You saw me last night?’ My voice appeared to have gone up an octave, and I gave a little cough in the hope it would return to normal next time I opened my mouth. ‘Where?’ Thankfully, it had.
‘In the bar, downstairs. You staying here?’
I nodded, and then I suddenly realised where I’d seen him before – or, at least, where I thought I’d seen him before. ‘Were you with a group of bikers?’
He smiled, and I kind of liked the way his eyes crinkled up at the edges when he did that. ‘You saw us?’
‘Yeah. Yeah, I saw you.’
‘You were with a tall, tattooed guy,’ Eddie went on. ‘Boyfriend?’
‘Brother,’ I corrected, pleased my voice appeared to be behaving itself now.
‘Do you have a boyfriend?’
My eyes were fixed on his as I spoke, my voice still steady as a rock, despite my insides misbehaving in a way they hadn’t done in a long, long time. ‘Is that any of your business?’
He laughed quietly, raking a hand through his hair. ‘There’s something about you, Lana.’
I continued to stare at him, right at him. That weird feeling I’d experienced last night, as I’d left the bar – was that down to him?
‘You stood out, from everybody else in that room last night.I don’t know why, I just… My eyes, they went straight to you, the second I walked in. And that incredible sleeve tattoo you’ve got, that might’ve had something to do with it. That’s some pretty eye-catching ink there, darlin’.’
I looked at my arm, absentmindedly running my hand up and down it.
‘You seem like the kind of woman I…’ He trailed off, his eyes dropping to the floor. ‘Anyway, seeing you here…’He raised his gaze, looking straight at me. ‘Do you believe in fate?’
I narrowed my eyes slightly. ‘About as much as I believe in the tooth fairy.’ I wasn’t sure I’d meant that to sound quite as cynical as it had come out.
He raised that eyebrow again, and I was beginning to wish he’d stop doing that because it was really messing with my head. ‘You’ve never believed in the tooth fairy?’
I shrugged. ‘I was a cynical child.’
‘And…are you still cynical?’
I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. He kind of made me want to smile. ‘Not as much.’
He smiled too, and I found myself relaxing that little bit more, a strange yet comforting warmth flooding through me. I was actually starting to enjoy myself now.
‘That’s a shame. Because you don’t look like a cynical woman to me.’
‘And what does a cynical woman look like, exactly?’
His head dropped again, and I couldn’t help noticing the way his hair fell forward; the way he quickly pushed it back off his face as he turned to look at me again. ‘About tonight…’
His eyes almost burned into mine, my skin breaking out in goose bumps as a warm shiver ran right up my back. And for a few seconds – a few glorious, almost unreal, seconds – it was like we were the only two people in the room. ‘I… Eddie, I can’t. I can’t.’ Reality – and my over-cautious side – returned. And the moment was gone.
‘Okay.’ He shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets. ‘I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but… You take care now, darlin’, you hear?’
I nodded, giving him one more smile before I turned and started to walk away, bumping straight into Finn, who was quite obviously on his way to find me.
‘Where the hell have you been?’ he asked, taking a beer from me. ‘Thought you were brewing the stuff yourself… What?’
I took a quick glance behind me, and Finn’s gaze followed mine.
‘What am I supposed to be looking at?’
My eyes were still on Eddie as he disappeared back into the mass of people. ‘That guy over there. The one in the black-leather biker jacket… He’s pushing a hand through his hair now, look! Him.’
