False Pretenses

He’d have recognized her anywhere. None of the photographs or snippets of video did her justice. Even from across the street he noticed Sarah wasn’t smiling like her friends were.
Brady Travers turned off the engine of his rental car and waited until she’d gone inside the bar with two other women and one man. The glimpse of her ought to be enough but he had to see her up close, to hear her voice and look into her eyes.
Kathleen’s eyes.
His gut twisted at the memory of his wife. The darkness filled every corner of him, consumed him. No. The grief had ruled his life long enough.
He’d planned to stay in the shadows, watch Sarah from afar. But now that he was here, mere yards from her, how could he not go inside for a better look?
Glancing in his rearview, he combed his fingers through his hair. His pulse pounded as he climbed out of the car then headed across the street, driven by some unseen force within him. He pushed through the glass door and instantly felt overdressed in his Armani suit.
The jukebox played an old rock song, barely audible over the din of voices. He swept his gaze through the large room and found Sarah standing near a pool table, watching one of her friends play.
Being so near her set his nerves on edge but he couldn’t help moving even closer. He bought a bottle of beer then sat at a tall table only a few feet from her.
God, her soft curls were the color of the purest gold. In the low light, he couldn’t make out her eyes clearly, but he knew they were moss green. The sadness on her face cut through him.
She peeked over her shoulder at him and his breath caught.
I shouldn’t have let her see me.
But he couldn’t help himself.
She looked again, this time smiled at him.
He tightened his grasp on his beer bottle, took a long pull. She kept glancing at him until he could hardly get any air to his lungs. He yanked on his tie and opened his top button. When she started toward him he thought about just leaving. Only he couldn’t. His feet were rooted to the spot.
Instead of stopping at his table, Sarah continued past but her gaze lingered on his for a several seconds. She strode to the rack of pool sticks on the wall, chose one then headed back to her friends.
He should have taken the opportunity to get the hell out of there but God help him, he wanted this time with her.
With Kathleen.
Sarah bent over the pool table and took her shot, missed. She spun around and threw him an exaggerated pout.
Could she be any prettier? Any sexier? A pleasant ache settled low in his abdomen.
Danger, danger.
He closed the distance between them, stood beside her and watched her friend take a shot he knew wouldn’t work. “Can I buy you a drink?” he whispered next to Sarah’s ear. Her lavender scent intoxicated him.
“No thanks.” She smiled up at him and a powerful jolt of energy arced between them.
Her sharp intake of breath told him she’d felt it too. And the sadness disappeared from her face. She offered her hand. “Sarah.”
“Brady.” When he shook with her, desire tugged at him, electrifying his senses. Alarm stormed though him.
Get out now.
Only he could no more walk away from her than fly to the moon. He gestured toward the pool table. “I think it’s your shot.”
“Oh.” She laughed and the sound was like wind chimes, melodic, beguiling.
He strode to the table with her and watched her assess two possible shots.
Pointing to the harder one, she met his stare. “What do you think?”
“That one’s easier.” He motioned to the ball that sat only an inch from a corner pocket.
She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and narrowed her eyes in concentration. Then she looked at him. “So you think easy is the way to go.”
One of her girlfriends cleared her throat loudly. “We’re growing old here, Sarah.”
Grinning, Sarah circled the table then took the tougher shot and missed. She shook her head. “I should have taken your advice. Next time.” She threw him a flirtatious smile and shredded all his defenses.
They watched one of her friends take a turn. The woman scratched. The others groaned.
Brady took Sarah’s cue and returned it to the rack for her.
“I think she purposely let me win because she feels sorry for me.” She sat on a stool at his table. “My friends are trying to cheer me up.”
“Why would they do that?” He knew the reason, his investigator had told him.
“I was laid off from my job.” Her eyes shuttered for a moment but she quickly brightened. “But that’s life, right? One door closes and another opens.”
He lifted his beer in a toast to her. “I love optimists.”
How was he supposed to resist that smile and that sparkle in her eyes? He slid a finger along her cheek and her smile faded. She dropped her gaze to his mouth. Somehow they found their way to a dark corner.
Sarah had no idea who’d initiated that first kiss, but no man had ever kissed her like that. He crushed his mouth to hers and all rational thought evaporated from her brain. His taste was pure bliss as he stroked his tongue over hers in a possessive dance.
Something about him appealed to that part of her deep inside that she’d always kept hidden. She heaved a lusty sigh and molded her body to his. The hard wall of muscle only heightened her need. Like a thirsty soul finally taking a quenching drink, she couldn’t get enough of him.
His hands ran over her back, pressing her to him, against the thick bulge in his pants. She plunged her fingers through his silky hair. Who was this man who smelled like a pine forest and dressed like he’d stepped off the pages of a men’s fashion magazine?
Didn’t matter who he was. She needed him, needed this like air and water. “My place is only a couple blocks away,” she heard herself say. What had come over her? She’d never acted so forward before.