Page 3 of Spark

His gaze did not leave her. It moved over her face like he was cataloging her features as well. He swallowed, and his Adam’s apple slid up and down his thick neck.

The barman put her drink down beside her, breaking the spell, and she jumped, taking an abrupt step back. She would have collided with the wooden bar if the big man in front of her hadn’t quickly grabbed her elbow, holding her firmly with his strong fingers.

“Careful,” he rumbled.

She shivered, a full body quiver rocking her at the sound of that canyon-deep, gravel-rough voice. It moved through her, lighting up her nerve endings, sending that same electricity she’d felt across the room through her lower belly.

“Thank you,” she said again, keenly aware of where he touched her.

He grunted and reached around her, pulling out a stool and motioning to it, silently asking her to sit. She did, barely able to take her eyes off him as he took the one beside her.

“Beer,” he said to the guy behind the bar, then his gaze slid back to her. “Dex.”

Dex, she assumed, was his name. It suited him.

“Hattie.”

His lips curled up ever so slightly on one side, and hot damn, things started clenching and throbbing between her thighs just from that whisper of a smile.

“Drinking on your own, Hattie?” he asked.

She liked the way he said her name in that earth-shattering voice of his, and she really liked the way every time he spoke it set off more of those electric belly zaps. “I’m just killing time, really.”

One of his brows slid up.

“I moved here two weeks ago. My apartment was a little too quiet.”

He nodded like he understood. “You like it here?”

She did her best to relax, but it was hard when her body seemed to vibrate like a tuning fork struck around This man. “Yes, very much.” Hattie motioned to the person closest and their shopping bags. “Have you been Christmas shopping tonight as well?”

He frowned. “I don’t do Christmas.” His jaw tightened for a split second before he took a sip of his beer.

“I was hoping to avoid it myself. My best friend has other ideas.” She took a sip of her own drink and found herself leaning closer. He was like a massive magnet, but it was the heat and comfort radiating from him that was drawing her close. Comfort was a weird word to use to describe how she felt around this guy. He was a complete stranger and obviously a man of few words.

“You and me both,” he said.

“Family?” she said, taking a wild guess. Though it wasn’t that wild. Family at this time of year could be difficult, or more difficult. She knew that all too well.

“Not their fault. I’d just rather skip it.”

“Sorry. I know the feeling,” Hattie said, taking in the way his brow had scrunched as he looked into his glass, like it could offer up a solution.

He turned to her and his gaze moved over her face again, down to her mouth and back up to her eyes. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

Hattie froze, her lips parting in surprise.

She flushed and shook her head, not sure what to say to this man, this stranger she was intensely, inexplicably drawn to. He couldn’t have meant it, of course, but still, it was a nice thing to say, even if it was just some line. How long had it been since someone had flirted with her, complimented her? She couldn’t remember. “You don’t have to say—”

“Not feeding you a line, Hattie,” he said like he’d read her thoughts. “You walked in, snatched my attention. Haven’t been able to look away.”

No one had ever said anything like that to her in her life. And the way he was looking at her, the way his gaze did not falter, she thought she might actually believe him.

Her default reaction in any situation with guys who made her nervous or took her from her comfort zone was to flee. But Hattie didn’t want to flee from Dex. No, she wanted to get closer. So instead of retreating, she gathered all her courage and gave him the truth as well.

“I saw you, too. I was disappointed when I thought you’d left.”

His gaze stayed steady on her, but his body moved, turning on his stool so all of him was facing her. So she had every bit of his attention. “Yeah?”