Filed to story: The Vampire Prince’s Bride
He nodded in acknowledgment as he whipped up complicated cocktails for two older women on the other side of the bar.
I put my credit card away-I wouldn’t need it, since I was staying at the hotel.
As I waited, I rested an elbow on the bar, glancing at the girl out of the corner of my eye. She was even more beautiful up close. Dare I say flawless. I was stunned for a second, but quickly got a hold of myself.
“Only a water?” I asked, glancing at her drink.
For a pick up line, it wasn’t much. But I rarely had to try hard. All that mattered was getting an in.
“For now.” She spoke with a lilting accent, giving me the same knowing smile she’d used on the bartender earlier.
“Where are you from?” I asked.
“Guess.” She tilted her head, her hair falling gently down her shoulders and alongside her breasts. I wasn’t sure if she’d done it on purpose or not, but it definitely got me looking.
“I’ll need to hear you say more than that if you expect me to guess,” I said.
“Like what?” She leaned forward, looking intrigued.
“How about you tell me your name,” I started. “And your drink of choice, so I can buy one for you. You are legal drinking age, right?”
“You have no idea.” She laughed, her eyes lighting up in amusement.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” she said, serious again. “I’m nineteen, so yes, that’s legal drinking age here in Toronto. And my favorite drink is red wine. Amarone, to be precise.”
“Interesting.” Most of the girls I picked up at bars chose fruity drinks, with a beer thrown in here and there. “And your name?” I asked.
“Laila,” she answered. “I take it you’reSean?”
“How did you know?” I assumed Ryan was wrong and she was a swimming groupie, but she looked classier than that. Those girls also normally traveled in packs.
“Your friends over there were chanting it earlier.” She glanced at the table full of my teammates.
They looked away the moment she turned to them, doing a terrible job of pretending that they weren’t watching us like we were their entertainment for tonight.
“Right,” I said sheepishly, remembering how they’d chanted like a bunch of frat boys. “We won the gold today in a major competition.”
“I heard there was some big event nearby,” she said. “What sport do you play?”
I smiled, relieved that she wasn’t a groupie who’d come to our hotel to pick one of us up for the night. “Swimming,” I said.
“Nice.” She ran her eyes down my body, checking me out.
From the way the small smile remained on her lips, I assumed she liked what she saw.
“You said your team won,” she continued. “But from the way your friends were chanting, it sounded like you won the gold.”
“I won a few individual races.” I smirked and leaned closer to her. She smelled delicious-like a sweet, intoxicating flower.
Her gaze locked on mine, her eyes a stunning shade of blue that reminded me of the Pacific Ocean. Despite her proper demeanor, she leaned closer and licked her lips, as if daring me to kiss her.
“So.” The bartender smacked his hands down on the surface in front of us, pulling me out of the moment. “What’ll it be?”
I got ahold of myself, remembering that I’d come over here under the guise of grabbing a drink. “The best IPA you have on tap for me,” I said. “And an Amarone for the lady.”
“Got it.” He didn’t ID Laila, so I assumed he must have covered that when she’d sat down.
I told him my room number so he could put it on my bill.
“Want to keep the tab open?” he asked.
I glanced atLaila.
She simply raised an eyebrow, as if curious about my answer herself.
“Sure.” I slid into the seat next to her, like I was only now deciding to join her. “Let’s keep it open.”
He walked away to get our drinks, and I returned my focus to Laila, glad she looked pleased by my decision to stay.
“So.” She crossed one leg over the other, her foot nearly brushing mine. “Have you figured out where I’m from?”
She’d entranced me so much that I hadn’t given my original question another thought. But now that she mentioned it, I wracked my mind for a possible answer. Her accent sounded like she came from a place where English was the official language, but I couldn’t pinpoint the country.
“South Africa?” I guessed, since that was an English speaking country where I was less familiar with the accent.
“Nope.”
“Australia?”
“Wrong again.”
“England?”