It Started With... Collection. Miranda Lee

the blonde, a drily amused expression on his face.

      ‘Sweetheart, I think you’ve picked the wrong guy to share a drink with. I’m sorry if I’ve given you the wrong impression, but I’m not in the market for what you’re looking for tonight.’

      Jessie almost fell off her stool. What was this? A man with some honour? Had Dora been right about Mr Marshall after all?

      ‘You sure?’ the blonde persisted with a sultry smile playing on her red-painted mouth.

      ‘Positive.’

      ‘Your loss, lover,’ she said and, taking her glass of champagne, slid off her stool and sashayed over to sit at a table close to the band. She wasn’t by herself for more than ten seconds, before a guy who’d been sitting further down the bar had taken his beer with him to join her.

      Jessie glanced back into the mirror to find that her target had finally noticed her presence, and was staring at her. When their eyes connected in the glass her heart reacted in a way which it hadn’t in years. It actually jumped, then fluttered, then flipped right over.

      Her eyes remained locked with his for longer than was wise, her brain screaming at her to look away, but her body took absolutely no notice.

      Suddenly a man plonked himself down on the vacant stool that separated them, snapping her back to reality.

      ‘Haven’t seen you in here before, gorgeous,’ the interloper said in slurred tones, his beery breath wafting over her. ‘Can I buy you a drink?’

      He was about forty, a very short, very drunk weasel of a man in a cheap, ill-fitting business suit that bore no resemblance to the magnificently tailored Italian number the target was wearing.

      ‘No, thanks,’ Jessie said stiffly. ‘I like to buy my own drinks.’

      ‘One of them feminists, eh? That’s all right by me. Cheaper this way.’

      ‘I also like to drink alone,’ she added sharply.

      The drunk laughed. ‘A sexy piece like you shouldn’t be doing anything alone. What’s the matter, honey? Last guy do you wrong? Or ain’t I young enough for you? Trust me. I’ve still got it where it counts. Here, let me show you…’

      He was actually fumbling with his fly when two big hands grabbed him and literally lifted him off the stool.

      ‘Let me show you something, buster,’ the target said. ‘The door!’

      Jessie watched, open-mouthed, as her unexpected knight in shining armour carried the drunk over to where the bouncer was frowning at them both. Words were exchanged after which the bouncer escorted the weasel up the stairs personally whilst Jessie’s champion headed back for the bar.

      She found herself admiring more than his handsome face this time.

      There was the way his broad shoulders filled out his expensive suit. The way he’d just handled the situation. And the way he was smiling at her.

      That smile was pure dynamite. As well as something else that wasn’t at all pure.

      Suddenly, Jessie was catapulted back to earlier that evening when she’d been thinking about how pleasurable it would be to be in some gorgeous man’s arms.

      She started thinking about how pleasurable it would be to be in this man’s arms. He was definitely gorgeous.

      But he was also married. And sitting back down, she realised breathlessly, not on his old stool but the one right next to hers, the one the drunk had occupied.

      Dora’s words came back to haunt her, the ones that she’d said about how it wasn’t fair to send someone like her to flirt; that she might tempt her target tonight to do something he might regret.

      But logic argued against this concern. That blonde had been very attractive. If he was going to be tempted, then why hadn’t she tempted him?

      Maybe he doesn’t go for blondes, came back another voice, just as logical. Maybe he likes leggy women with wild black hair. Maybe he likes women who aren’t quite so obvious.

      There were many reasons why men were attracted to one woman over another.

      And he was attracted to her. She could see it in his eyes. And in that heart-stopping smile.

      ‘Th…thank you,’ she stammered.

      ‘You can buy me another Scotch and soda in gratitude if you like,’ he said, and downed what was left of his drink. ‘Unless you really meant what you said about preferring to drink alone.’ And he smiled at her again.

      Jessie’s heart ground to a shuddering halt.

      Get out of here now, girl, her conscience warned. This guy is not just dynamite, he’s downright dangerous!

      ‘I was just trying to get rid of him,’ she heard herself saying.

      ‘I was hoping that might be the case. So what can I get you? After all, a gentleman doesn’t really expect a lady to buy his drinks for him.’

      Jessie swallowed. What are you doing, girl? Stop looking at him that way. Stop it right now!

      I’m just doing my job, she tried telling herself. This is what I get paid for. Flirting with my target. Seeing what kind of man he is.

      Yes, but you’re not supposed to be enjoying it!

      ‘Just a diet cola, thanks.’

      His straight brows lifted in the middle. ‘You come into a bar for a diet cola? Now, that’s a strange thing to do. You can get one of those from a vending machine.’

      ‘Maybe I came in looking for some company,’ she said leadingly, and hoped like hell he’d put his foot in his mouth right away so she could get out of there.

      ‘I can’t imagine a girl like you would have to do that too often. You must have men asking you out all the time.’

      Actually, she did. But no one she’d give the time of day to. The men who asked her out had her tagged as one of two types: waitressing slut or single-mother-and-desperate, depending on when and where they met her.

      Either way, Jessie always knew exactly what they wanted from her, and it wasn’t witty conversation.

      She always said no to their invitations.

      One-night stands held no appeal for her. Sex of any kind had held no appeal for her.

      Till tonight…

      ‘Give me another Scotch and soda,’ the target directed to the barman. ‘And get the lady a Bacardi and cola. Diet cola,’ he added with a quick grin her way.

      She swallowed. ‘What if I don’t like Bacardi and cola?’

      ‘Come, now, you and I both know that the amount of Bacardi they put in drinks in places like this is barely detectable. All you’ll taste is the cola.’

      ‘True,’ she agreed.

      ‘So was that other chap right?’ he went on whilst the barman busied himself with their drinks. ‘Did your last boyfriend do you wrong? Is that why you’re all alone tonight?’

      She shrugged. ‘Something like that.’

      ‘Aah. A woman of mystery and intrigue. I like that. It makes for a change.’

      ‘A change from what?’

      ‘From women who launch into their life story as soon as you meet them.’

      ‘Does that happen to you often?’

      ‘Too often.’

      ‘Did the blonde over there do that?’

      ‘Actually, no. But then, she had other things on her mind tonight. Looks as if she finally hit the jackpot.’

      Jessie flicked a glance over at where the blonde was now leaving with the man who’d joined