Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 116759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 584(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
“Cold?”
I whirled around to find a familiar-looking man grinning down at me.
He held out his jacket. “Here, put this on.”
Like magic, his Irish accent flicked the recognition switch. “You. You were my bartender a few weeks ago.”
“I was. I recognize you too. Hard to forget you in that green velvet dress. It’s imprinted on my brain.” His eyes dragged down my body, lingering on my legs. “This one is good too.” He grinned unrepentantly at my raised eyebrow. “But then you’d make a bin bag look amazing. Where’s your boyfriend tonight?”
There was that aching sharpness in my chest again. With a will of their own, my eyes found Sebastian at the edge of the rooftop. He was laughing with Candice as she rested a hand on his chest, smiling up at him with “screw me” eyes.
I felt sick. And enraged.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
Following my gaze, Bartender huffed. “He moves fast, huh?”
Ignoring that, I asked a little snippily, “What are you doing here?”
“I work with Chaz, who apparently knows one of the lads who lives here.” The Irishman smirked. “How the other half live. I’m Lorcan. You are?”
“Lily.”
His lovely eyes twinkled with overt interest. It soothed my ravaged self-esteem. Lorcan was incredibly good-looking and there were many attractive women at this party. Yet, he’d zeroed in on me.
Ugh, I replayed that thought in my head.
January was right.
I really needed to work on my self-esteem.
January would see things the opposite way around. Like, Lorcan was the lucky one for getting to breathe anywhere near her. I thought about the quote she’d inscribed in my locket. Maybe bravery meant walking away from something you wanted but knew was bad for you.
A kernel of doubt had me looking over at Sebastian again.
My heart plummeted at the sight of his lips pressed to Candice’s. Her arms were looped around his neck, her body crushed to his, and they were kissing like no one else was there.
Tears burned in my throat. I felt gutted. Like I was watching my boyfriend cheat on me.
Another one.
Even though I knew that wasn’t rational, it’s how I felt.
And once again I wondered what was so wrong with me that the guys I liked always ended up hurting me.
“Lily?”
I wrenched my eyes from the awful sight of Sebastian snogging another woman to the Irishman.
Lorcan was a sexy distraction.
And I needed to be brave enough to walk away from the thing that was bad for me for a sexy distraction that wouldn’t leave me feeling like shit in the morning. Forcing the pain from my tone and my expression, I gestured toward the street with a tip of my head. “I know it’s kind of crazy out there, but would you fancy getting out of here?”
His eyes lit up and I felt a flutter of butterflies in my belly.
That was encouraging.
It was a much better feeling than the crushing ache of seeing Sebastian all over Candice.
“You don’t want to wait for the bells up here? Watch the fireworks. Kiss at midnight.”
I chuckled at his cockiness. “How about we kiss at midnight … just not here?” Then recklessly I threw out, “My flat is empty. We could go back to my place.”
“Hell yes.” Lorcan held out his arm in a gentlemanly fashion, incongruous to his enthusiastic response and the unspoken plans between us.
I was about to embark on a one-night stand.
My first ever one-night stand.
Jittery nerves almost stopped me.
Go for it, big sis! I heard my sister’s voice in my head.
I took Lorcan’s arm and headed toward the rooftop door. Zac stood near it chatting up a pretty brunette. “Hey, Zac, can I grab my coat from your room?”
His eyes flickered over me and Lorcan and narrowed ever so slightly. But he flashed me a grin, like whatever that thought was he’d wiped it clean. “Sure. I left it unlocked before we came up. Go in and grab it. You’re leaving, then?”
I nodded. “Aye. I don’t feel like staying.”
Zac peered across the rooftop. “Good for you, Lil. Happy New Year when it comes.”
“You too.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
SEBASTIAN
Ibroke the kiss with Candice.
She stared up at me, eyes smoky, turned on. Ready for more.
I’d wanted to feel something kissing her.
Instead, I’d felt nothing.
Unlike when I woke up in bed with Lily in my arms and my whole body felt like it was on fucking fire.
I released my grip on Candice.
The woman was stunning. Yet looking at her elicited hardly any feeling. Like I was looking at a beautiful sculpture and could recognize its beauty but felt nothing about it otherwise. However, she’d made it clear upon her arrival that she was only looking for fun. That she’d broken up with her fiancé and needed a rebound. Despite the weirdness with Lily, or maybe because of it, I’d thought Why not?
It would make a statement about what was or was not between me and Lily.