An Excerpt From: Just Another Night

© Copyright Elisa Adams, 2002.  

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave, Inc.

Chapter 1

       “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Erica said to the image reflected in the mirror in front of her. “Because if you aren’t careful, you could get yourself into a lot of trouble.”

She nervously tucked a strand of sleek blond hair behind her ear, swiped a third coat of double black mascara over her lashes, and blotted her deep red lipstick with a tissue from the box tucked under the vanity counter.

What she saw in the mirror scared her. She didn’t even recognize herself. Her eyes, normally a clear blue, appeared almost navy with the dark eyeliner and glittery shadow she’d caked around them. She’d rouged her cheeks with red to accentuate her barely-there cheekbones, but she had a feeling she might have gone a little overboard.

The lips were the kicker. She had full lips to begin with, something she wasn’t exactly crazy about showing off. But with the notice-me lipstick, she looked like she’d gotten collagen injections. According to the salesgirl at the makeup counter, this look was sure to attract some attention.

“This could be the best night of my life,” she said to her reflection, testing a small smile, “Or the absolute worst.”

     Giving herself a final once-over, Erica decided she was as ready as she would ever be. She snapped off the bathroom light and walked into her hotel room on shaking legs. She’d barely made it to the bed when she found she had to sit down and get her bearings. This just wouldn’t do. If she was going to pull this off tonight, she was going to have to get control of her raging insecurities. Other women did this sort of thing all the time. Why was she having so much trouble?

“Come on,” Erica prodded herself, standing up and self-consciously tugging on the hem of her too-short red dress. She had the sudden urge to change into a pair of jeans and her favorite sweatshirt. Maybe then her body might relax.

This dress simply wasn’t comfortable. It was sexy as hell, even she could tell that much, but comfort had obviously not been in the designer’s mind when he created the fiery velvet concoction. But what choice did she have? She needed a come-hither dress tonight—it was the only way this was going to work. Men simply did not look at Erica Blake as a sexy siren. They never had, and they never would; at least not without a lot of help. Tonight she was going to do something about that.

The dress hugged Erica’s curves in all the right places. The salesgirl at the boutique had told her she would have every male with a pulse beating a path to her door when she wore it. That was exactly what Erica was counting on. Only she didn’t need every man on the planet. One would do just fine. Tall, dark, and sexy as all get out. Just for tonight, those were her only criteria.

She rubbed her hands up and down her arms vigorously, trying in vain to warm her chilled body. She’d come too far to chicken out now. She’d bought the dress, bathed in jasmine scented water, spent an hour on her hair and makeup, and even rented a pricey hotel room, one she could barely afford. She was bound and determined to do this, and it was going to happen tonight. Her friends thought she needed more excitement in her life, and she was going to get it, even if it killed her.

She needed sex. Dirty, anonymous sex with someone she’d never met before and would never see again. Incredible sex that she’d never forget. Tonight, she was going to get exactly what she needed.

The only thing missing from her plan was a ready and willing man, preferably an irresistibly sexy one. She hoped one of those would be easy to come by in the bar across the street. From what she’d heard about the place, finding a good man willing to spend the night with a woman was never a problem. Erica intended to put that theory to the test, if she could convince herself to actually take a step out of her hotel room, that is.

She wanted to do this. She really did. It had nothing to do with the fact that everyone thought she was dull. It had nothing to do with the fact that her first serious boyfriend had played her for a total fool. It had nothing to do with the fact that she’d never experienced good sex, not really.

Tonight was about Erica Blake figuring out who she was as a woman, who she could be if she let go of her silly inhibitions and tried something, or someone, new. Tonight was all about Erica. No one else mattered. She could be whoever she wanted to be, and who she wanted to be was a woman who actually felt alive. She would finally bury the aching emptiness she’d felt ever since Carl left, at least for tonight.

“It’s now or never,” Erica said. She felt a sudden rush of excitement. She grabbed her handbag and keys and hurried out the door before she could change her mind. Tonight would be a night to remember, she would make sure of it. Erica Blake was finally going to know what it meant to live.

* * * * *

Erica closed her eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath before she pulled open the heavy wooden door of the bar and stepped inside. The loud music, chatter of the customers, and cigarette smoke that hung in the air overwhelmed her, caused her nerve to slip more than a little.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She could do this. It wasn’t that hard. Millions of women did it all the time. She walked over to the bar and took a seat on one of the few empty stools.

Almost as soon as she sat down a short, balding man slid onto the seat next to her.

“Can I buy you a drink?”

“No, thank you.” Erica forced herself to unclench her fists, which she had made into tight balls the second she heard his grating voice.

“Just one drink?”

He was definitely not the type of man she was interested in. Not tonight. Erica sighed and looked away. “I don’t think so.”

“Maybe we could dance, then.” He took her hand in his sweaty one and tried to get her to stand up. She pulled her hand away and wiped her palm on her thigh. “Look, I’m not interested.”

Maybe this wasn’t the right kind of place to find the man of her fantasies. Maybe she should try somewhere a little less, well, busy, like the library or the grocery store. Maybe she’d be better off just turning around and going home.

“Why not?” He had the gall to look genuinely confused. “Are you waiting for someone?”

            “Yes. I am.” Erica couldn’t have thought of a better excuse on her own. “Now if you’ll pardon me…”

            “I think I’ll just stick around until he gets here.” The man made himself comfortable on the stool next to Erica’s. “Then if he doesn’t show up you won’t have to sit here alone.”

            “How kind of you.” Erica rolled her eyes.

            “My name’s Trent.” He held out his hand, which Erica absolutely refused to touch again.

            “That’s nice.” Erica turned her head in the opposite direction and drummed her nails against the bar.

            “What’s your name?” He just couldn’t take a hint.

            “I’m involved with somebody.”

            “Well, he’s not here now, is he?” Trent’s oily smile gave her the creeps.

She was seriously considering scrapping her plan altogether when she saw him. She knew he was the right man by the way her heart thumped loudly against the wall of her chest and her pulse kicked into overdrive. He was sitting at the other end of the bar, toying with the label on the bottle of beer in front of him. He had to be the best looking man Erica had ever seen, and he seemed to be alone. Erica had found her perfect man. Now she just had to convince him they were destined to spend an incredible evening together in each other’s arms.

“Actually, he is.” She pointed to where her dream guy was sitting. “Thanks for keeping me company.”

She flashed the jerk her biggest smile and walked across the room.

Absorbed only in the drink in front of him, he didn’t look like he was waiting for anyone. That was a good sign. Mustering all the courage she could manage, Erica sauntered her way to the bar, or at least did the best she could on her four-inch heels, and slid onto the stool next to him. She ordered a red wine from the bartender, stealing sidelong glances at the Greek God on the next stool.

The man was sheer physical perfection. Just sitting next to him, Erica could feel electricity humming in the air around him. Her fingers itched to get tangled in his thick black hair, and she could just imagine what his strong hands would feel like running all over her body. His broad shoulders and muscled physique suggested someone who knew how to take care of himself. Erica liked that in a man. Now she just needed to get up the courage to talk to him.

“So what’s a pretty lady like you doing in a place like this?” the man asked, catching her off guard. Lost in her own fantasies, she hadn’t noticed that he’d been looking at her until he spoke.

“E-excuse me?” Erica fumbled for a sexy reply but unable to think of anything. When his dark gaze met hers, all thoughts were erased from her mind. She mentally berated herself for acting so inexperienced. This was not the way to catch a man.

“This just doesn’t seem like your kind of place,” he continued slowly, his piercing green eyes never leaving hers.

God, he just smoldered. Just a few sentences and the man had her damn near hypnotized.

“I come here all the time,” she lied, hoping that he didn’t notice. Fat chance. She was fumbling this whole thing badly, but she couldn’t seem to help it. She was way out of her league, and she had the sinking feeling he knew it.

“Yeah, sure you do,” the man said, his voice so deep and sexy Erica’s legs turned to jelly. She was glad she was sitting down, or she might have embarrassed herself further by fainting at his feet.

“What’s your name, sweetheart?” he asked. His fingers snaked out and brushed against the back of her hand. His touch sent little jolts of electricity through Erica’s entire body.

“Carolyn.” She recited the first name that popped into her head. It figured that it would be Carolyn. Her best friend, the woman who had convinced her to do this tonight. Carolyn would get a month’s worth of laughs when she heard this story, and if Erica was ever brave enough to fess up about her embarrassing failure.

“Carolyn,” the man echoed huskily, and Erica thought she caught a glimpse of humor in his voice. Could he tell she wasn’t being truthful? Was she really that obvious? She looked down at her drink, unable to meet his knowing gaze any longer.

“What are you doing here, Carolyn? Are you looking for something in particular?” He hooked a finger under her chin and lifted her eyes back to his.

The heat, the blatant longing she found in his eyes bolstered her confidence.

“Yes, you,” Erica said before she could stop herself.

The second the words were out of her mouth, she wished she could take them back. She just wasn’t cut out to be a modern woman. Instead of sounding sexy and desirable, she’d only sounded pitifully ridiculous.

The man stared at her, mouth slightly agape, for what seemed like an eternity before he spoke again.

“Me?” he asked, looking genuinely surprised. “I don’t know you, do I? I think I would have remembered a lady as beautiful as you.”

Beautiful? No one had called Erica that before besides her own father. She’d been called conservative, classy, even pretty on the rare occasions that she took the time to dress up. She knew she wasn’t hideous, but she certainly wasn’t a fashion model, either. She couldn’t describe herself as tall or short, fat or thin. She pretty much fell somewhere in the middle with everything. She was average, and on any other night she’d be happy to keep it that way.

But he thought she was beautiful. A slow smile crept across her lips at this man’s words. Maybe this night would be all she imagined, after all.

“You don’t know me.” Erica wondered where her newfound courage had come from. “But do you want to?”

“Hell, yes,” he answered, his hand making slow circles up Erica’s arm. “Can I buy you another drink?”

“No, thanks,” Erica said softly. She didn’t want an alcohol-induced haze to ruin her memories of the evening. “One’s enough for me.”

He chuckled softly as Erica lifted the glass to her lips. She grimaced at the taste of the dark red liquid—she’d never been much of a drinker. After a few attempts at looking sophisticated, Erica finally gave up and gulped down the contents of the entire glass. Eyes watering, she set the glass on the bar in front of her and tried to look like she did this sort of thing all the time.

“You don’t like wine, do you?” Her stranger picked up the wine glass and swirled the last drop of liquid around in the bottom. He lifted the glass to his own lips, right on Erica’s lipstick mark, and drank the last bit. “That’s too bad. It’s a good wine. Definitely worth savoring.”

“Really?” She hoped she didn’t sound as clueless as she felt. Her experience with wine was limited to the jug grocery store variety.

“Really.” He stared at the glass. “Definitely not what I expected here.”

Erica couldn’t help but wonder if he was talking about her or the wine.

“Well, Carolyn,” he said smoothly. He raised her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently. “You don’t seem comfortable here. You want to go somewhere else?”

       “I thought you’d never ask...”

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