Page 12 of Open To Negotiation

As I pulled the door open, I heard Theo say something to his friends, but his voice was too low for me to catch the words.

5

Theo

Shooting back the last of my whisky I put my glass back on the bar and nodded at the bar tender, turning to face the room. Normally the music and the bodies didn’t irritate me too much, but tonight was a different story.

I’m sure it had nothing to do with the redhead who I couldn’t get out of my fucking head.

I had made it to my meeting on time but in the end it didn’t matter. I hadn’t really paid much attention. The rest of the day after that lunch was pretty much a crap shoot honestly. Why I thought coming out tonight would help, I had no idea. I could feel myself getting more agitated by the minute, annoyed about the day and annoyed that I was so fixated on a woman who I had one measly lunch with.

She rambled when she was nervous, smiled freely and didn’t back down to me when I pushed. Which was new for me.

I watched and listened to her instead of answering emails like I pretended to. She was nice to the waiters, which said something about a person, at least that’s what my mum would always say on the rare occasion we went out for dinner. Quinn smiled every time someone would come to clear a plate or fill up her water.

Not once did they go unnoticed by her, getting a bright thank you and a sunshiny smile that had a few standing there, mesmerized. I even had to clear my throat to get one of them to stop staring at her, she didn’t seem to notice.

Which was irritating, she should be more aware of her surroundings. She was basically out with strangers after all.

But it was also charming.

There was something about the sound of her voice, how she talked with her hands the more animated she got about a topic, or how she tilted her head back and laughed when one of the men said something stupid.

Then there was the lingering scent of vanilla and jasmine that clung to her, it really suited her. But I think there might have been some kind of addictive quality in the stuff because I’d never been one to notice scents, but this went straight to my head, and I wanted to be surrounded by it.

“Hey handsome.”

I suppressed my eyeroll and looked at the women who had slinked up beside me. I could smell the alcohol on her, her friends were nearby watching with excited looks. She had straight blonde hair, a tight short black dress. Honestly couldn’t have picked her out of a line up. I had zero interest.

“Hello.” Even with my brisk tone the woman’s eyes lit up. I was used to it.

Being six-three means I always get attention. Between my height, muscles, tattoos, dark hair, and blue-grey eyes, I never had a problem finding a woman when I wanted one.

“Can I buy you a drink?” She licked her lips and ran a finger down my arm, which I leaned away from. “Or we could get out of here and go have some fun.”

It wouldn’t be abnormal for me to pick up a woman here, take her to my apartment and kick her out as soon as we both got off. But tonight, that wasn’t appealing at all, and I was getting a little disgusted with myself for being so caught up in a woman I had one lunch with.

But I already knew I wouldn’t take the blonde home. I was in a piss poor mood and not up for company.

What the fuck was my problem? Maybe I was just tired.

After I answered the call from my father, I ignored any ringing until I was sure that Dustin had it under control and stayed in a mood the rest of the day. The lunch hadn’t been what I expected. And I’d just gotten back from London. That’s all it was.

“I’m on my way out. Have a nice night.” I didn’t look back at her, walking to the front doors and taking a full breath of fresh air as I stepped out of the club.

I didn’t bother calling Arthur since I was within walking distance, plus the man was already home and I wasn’t going to call him for a short trip.

Ten minutes later I was walking in the door, throwing my keys and wallet on the front table as I went to my bar, pouring myself another drink.

Quinn had flat out rejected me and it didn’t help my annoyance tonight to think that she was out with someone else. It’s not something I had a reason to be pissed about, never something I had been before.

I was a possessive man but not over women. No reason to care when the sex was done and you never saw her again. Yet here I was with my hands clenched on my drink, something very close to jealousy growing in my chest.

The image of her in a sexy dress laughing at a man had fire burning through me. Especially because her bright smile was so enchanting, the idea that someone else was getting to experience that right now was pissing me off.

It was late, but I was too wound up to sleep so I changed, heading to the gym I had set up in one of the rooms in my apartment. I spent a good hour and a half exhausting myself before showering and crawling in bed.

I was not a stalker.