Loneliness and I had grown quite close over the years. We shared a bond that I had never shared with anyone else. When everything in life was spiraling out of control, loneliness was the one thing I could always count on.
Loneliness was my best fri...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Welcome to Luciana, Ms. Emerson." His voice was rough, gravelly, and deep— like he had lived a hundred lives already. I tried to tear my own eyes away from his, but found myself locked in his gaze.
"How do you know my name?" I asked confidently, Killian leaned away from the stranger, giving him more space. The stranger leaned over the bar, studying me closer. His eyes finally moved from mine and he let them wander over my body slowly. This made my body shiver slightly, I could only hope he hadn't noticed. I took this moment to glance at the leather vest he had on over his plain black t shirt. It was adorned with patches, but the one that stood out to me first said Vice President.
So he did exude power just as I had thought. He was clearly pretty important. And how had I not noticed until just now that he and Killian had similar patches on their vests?
"It's a small town, sunshine. Word travels fast." He said with a shrug, slumping down into the barstool available next to Killian. I rolled my eyes.
"Right, just what I wanted..." I mumbled under my breath before meeting his gaze again. "Whatcha drinkin?" I asked, placing a hand on my hip as I waited for his answer.
"Double whiskey, neat." He announced, turning his head from me to face Killian.
"We've got an early start in the morning." I heard him say as I poured his whiskey a bit slower than normal. "I've gotta go meet with Callahan to discuss the shipment we're meant to get tomorrow night." He continued as I finished pouring his drink. I turned back to him and placed his drink on the bar.
"Here's your whiskey.....?" I asked, leaving the end of my sentence open so he could finish it by telling me his name.
"Gideon." He said dryly, taking a sip of his drink before giving me a wink. Oh, great. Another playboy.
"Right, have a good night." I told him, rolling my eyes and walking away. I needed to be sure I distanced myself from him, he was sure to bring nothing but trouble.
Guys like him didn't do girls like me any favors, even though I would never ask for any.
The next hour went by quickly, I was making drinks and clearing tables, dancing along to the live band that was still on stage. I pushed an empty chair into one of the tables when I felt a presence behind me.
I wheeled around quickly, fists balled up at my side.
"Calm down, sunshine I just wanted to talk." Gideon was smiling down at me, his hands raised as though to let me know he wasn't dangerous. Although I didn't quite believe that.
"I'm working, plus, I'm not really interested in talking to a guy like you." I told him simply, shrugging my shoulders and trying to step around him.
"A guy like me, huh? And what kind of a guy am I, actually?" He asked, his eyebrows raising out of curiosity.
"Guys like you think they're one of a kind. That they're the only bad boy in the whole world to use and abuse women, tossing us to the side once you get what you want. You butter us up with your charming words only to tell us to fuck off when you're done with us." I was getting a little irritated, it was pretty clear in the tone I was using. Couldn't he just move? I needed to work.
