Down Range. Lindsay McKenna
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she approach a man? Sarah smoothed her dress and finger-combed her hair. She could do this. Or at least try. A little liquid courage and the idea of growing a year older alone spurred her to action. Her first step was to talk to a man. She could always flee the conversation if it was too awkward. It was a bar. Bars were filled with awkward conversations. “I’ll start by trying to talk to someone.”
Krista squealed and clapped her hands.
Looking around the room, Sarah tried to pick someone. As her eyes landed on the men around the room, she dismissed them one by one. Too young. Too old. Not alone. Drunk. Sarah sighed. This wasn’t easy. She was about to tell her friends to forget it when her gaze dropped on a dark-haired man sitting at the corner of the bar. He had a drink—it looked like coffee, perhaps of the Irish variety, on his right. His back was to the wall. He was talking to two men standing to his side. His posture was relaxed and he was immaculately groomed. His pressed suit was a far cry from how Alec dressed during their marriage. She couldn’t make out the details of the man’s face in the darkened room, but he was handsome and seemed familiar somehow.
A woman in a short red dress strutted in his direction and blocked her view of Mr. Gorgeous. Sarah’s heart fell. Another woman had beaten her to the punch. No way would he turn away the thin blonde with the curves. Though she had only just spotted him, disappointment streamed through her. Sarah would have to pick someone else. Looking around the room, Sarah was about to call off her plan when the woman in the red dress stalked away from the man Sarah had zeroed in on a few moments before. Red Miniskirt looked disappointed and a touch annoyed. Had she been rejected?
After witnessing that, Sarah knew she couldn’t approach him. If he’d said no to Red Miniskirt, he’d shoot her down and she didn’t need that tonight. As if sensing her watching him, he met her gaze. She turned away before he realized she had been staring.
After looking around the room twice more, she returned to Mr. Gorgeous. Not only was he exceptionally handsome, but something about him was compelling and mysterious, too. If she was going to make a fool of herself, she may as well do it for someone sexy. He wasn’t looking her way and she took the opportunity to stare at him a little longer. She made up her mind. If he rejected her, at least she would have been turned down by someone like him.
“I’m going to talk to him,” she said pointing.
Her friends followed her extended finger.
“Oh, yes. Good pick. Delicious,” Molly said, nodding her approval.
Krista gestured for Sarah to go. “You can do this.”
Taking another sip of her wine, Sarah strode across the room to him and tried to mimic his relaxed posture pressing her shoulders down, tilting her chin up and adding a swagger to her walk.
Three feet away, his gaze met hers. His eyes never left her face and something came into them, something dark, deep and sensual. The look was so heated, she stopped, stumbled and grabbed on to a nearby stool to steady herself.
Thanks to her clumsiness, he would think she was drunk. Wonderful. She righted herself and straightened, hoped her cheeks weren’t too red with embarrassment and continued forward, undeterred. He was watching her, his friends were eying her and she felt her friends’ stares at her back. She couldn’t turn away now. His buddies turned toward her, staying close to Mr. Gorgeous.
Sarah’s gut told her she was missing a key piece of information. Something about him, about his midnight eyes, his patrician nose and his perfectly shaped mouth was familiar. An actor? Musician? Politician? Someone she should have recognized?
It felt like minutes had passed while she stood gawking, though it had likely been milliseconds.
She couldn’t be too aggressive, yet caginess would come across as unwelcoming and she was the one approaching him. Sarah stopped in front of the three men and gave them a small smile.
“Hello. I’m Sarah.”
Would he introduce himself? Mr. Gorgeous stood and extended his hand. “I’m Barr. It’s nice to meet you.”
He was handsome. Too handsome. Dark hair and polished good looks. Strong and confident. Oh, she was not prepared for this. First impressions were everything. Would she blow it her first time hitting on a man post-divorce? Making a fool of herself was always a possibility, but this colossal screw-up could send her back into social seclusion for another few months.
But he was speaking to her. This gorgeous man was speaking to her. Sarah focused. What had he said? Why were his friends staring at her? She realized she was shaking his hand, clinging to it entirely too long. His clasp was firm, his skin cool and soft, and she pictured his hands running over her. It would feel amazing to have him touch her.
She shivered and pulled her hand away before she let her imagination run further. “I’m sorry, with the noise of the bar I couldn’t hear you.” She waited for him to repeat himself.
“Sarah, it is a pleasure to meet you. May I buy you a drink?”
He had a beautiful accent. Sarah had already had enough to drink, but she felt silly asking for an iced tea. “A glass of red wine would be great.”
He motioned to the bartender who practically raced to serve him. The man had presence. He requested a specific year and vintage, one that she recognized as expensive, though not from personal experience, only through catering lavish affairs. Barr wouldn’t do that if he had no interest in her, right?
Her confidence ticked up a notch.
He held out his hand. “Please join me.” The cadence in his voice weakened her knees and his words cut through her anxiety.
He was sweet and that surprised her. Men who were too attractive for their own good didn’t need to be kind to seduce a woman. But she was getting ahead of herself. Buying her an expensive glass of wine didn’t mean he wanted to sleep with her. Her worries about pursuing a man and remembering what to do and say melted away with every word he spoke. Something clicked into place and she felt a thrill she’d been missing for years. A simple conversation had awakened a long-slumbering part of her libido.
“My birthday is today,” she said, feeling like she needed to explain why she was in a bar. What if he thought she routinely came here trolling for men? She re-questioned her approach and wished she had thought this through. What else could she talk about now that she had his attention? If she didn’t keep the conversation going, he would walk away. Red Miniskirt had been a good example of the other options available to him. On the heels of those thoughts, she wondered why it was so important to her to keep his attention. The bar was filled with other men yet it was this man who’d captivated her.
“Happy birthday, Sarah,” Barr said. He smiled, his teeth flawlessly white and his lips full.
“I’m not here alone.”
“I noticed you were with your friends,” he said.
Had he been assessing her the way she’d been assessing him? “They told me to talk to you,” she said.
“Why’s that?” he asked, not unkindly.
She wouldn’t slam the truth down on him. Her drug-abuser ex and her divorce were among the least sexy topics of conversation she could think of. “It’s my birthday and I wanted to meet someone new.”
Barr smiled. “Would you like to invite your friends over? I’ve been traveling all day and haven’t eaten yet. The restaurant is preparing a private table for us to enjoy a late meal.”
Sarah looked at him and then his friends. They were quiet. Why hadn’t they said anything? They were looking around the bar, but if they wanted to give their friend pseudo-privacy to speak with her, why not take a few steps away?
She made the decision that she would invite her friends. It wasn’t safe to leave the bar—even to move to a table—without letting her friends know her plans. “I’ll ask them. Please give me a few minutes.”
“Of course.”