Just then she lifted a delicate hand and brushed back her sun-kissed golden brown hair, the thick strands falling over her shoulders and hanging midway down her back. The bar was dim, but even from about twenty feet away, Tyler could see that she had light eyes, shining eyes, and her lips — damn, her lips were plump and pink, and they were calling to him.
Tyler didn’t give a flying whatever if the woman was taken. He knew for sure he wasn’t leaving this bar without her.
Chapter Four
Do you know the man who’s looking at you like you’re dessert?”
It took several moments for Elena to realize that her friend Piper had spoken to her, because, yes, she did know exactly who was looking at her. And her gaze was fully captured by the one and only Tyler Knight.
“Hello. Earth to Elena,” Piper said, and she laughed as she bumped into her.
Finally, Elena was able to break the eye contact with Tyler, and she looked back toward her friend, feeling slightly dazed.
“Yes…um…yes, I know who he is,” Elena said as she lifted her drink and took a long swallow.
“Do you care to share?” Piper asked with impatience.
Shaking off the shock of seeing the man who had once been her best friend, and then who had humiliated her almost beyond repair ten years later, Elena was consumed with anger. How dare this worthless bastard look at her now as if he wanted to devour her?
A lot had changed since the last time she’d seen Tyler. She’d gone from gangly to womanly, with more curves than she cared to have, decided she enjoyed wearing a little makeup, and really enjoyed doing her hair, but even with those changes, she was still the same person on the inside.
She was still Elena Truman, and she still had insecurity issues when it came to men.
“Okay, let me rephrase this,” Piper said, placing her hands on Elena’s shoulders and shaking her to get her friend’s attention. “You will tell me who he is!”
“He was my best friend when we were children — until he realized he was too cool to play with a mere girl anymore. Then, when I was in college and working…” She trailed off. This wasn’t something she wanted to talk about.
“You mean when you were going through your geeky phase?” Piper asked.
“Thanks for being so supportive,” Elena said through gritted teeth.
“Just tell me what happened and I’ll be nice,” Piper promised her.
“There’s no time,” Elena told her. “It looks like he’s gonna walk over. Maybe it’s my turn for a little revenge. Why should he get away with being a complete douche without suffering any consequences?” Hey. She really liked this idea. Was it just the booze talking?
“I don’t know, Elena. Revenge never ends well.” Piper swiveled around and saw that Tyler certainly looked as if he was going to walk over.
“For the loser it doesn’t,” Elena said. “It’s all a matter of perspective. Just have my back.”
“I don’t know. You’re acting a little crazy right now,” Piper told her.
“I’m fine. I just wasn’t expecting to see him ever again — that’s all,” Elena told her before taking another gulp of liquid courage.
“I think you’ve had enough to drink. Elena. I also think you should abort this mission right now.”
“I’m fine. I promise you,” Elena said. She gave her friend a determined look, but she put down the drink.
“Look, Elena, it’s been a lot of years since you’ve seen this guy, right?” Piper tried to reason. “Maybe he isn’t the monster he once was. People change,” she finished, peeking back across the bar. “But he does seem to be coming this way, so you’d better make a decision, and fast.”
“The panic in your voice isn’t helping me right now, Piper. No way. And don’t let his looks or his charm deceive you. Tyler Knight does what he wants when he wants, and he doesn’t give a damn about who gets hurt in the process.”
“What in the hell happened!”
“Stop talking about it. He’s almost here. Go to the bar and flirt with the bartender, and most importantly, have faith in your best friend,” Elena whispered frantically.
“I’ll be watching.” With that Piper walked away.
Elena only had a moment to compose her features before she felt Tyler behind her. She didn’t even need to turn to know he was there. Damn, the man had been blessed with more charisma than any one person deserved. It just wasn’t right.
He’d had it even back when they were kids, and later in life, when she’d been gangly and he’d been perfection in the back seat of a limo. She just hadn’t realized how little he thought of women. It hadn’t taken her too many years to figure it out — or to blossom from the long-legged, too skinny, dirt-faced young tomboy she’d been.
She hadn’t spoken to Tyler in eight years. This reunion was long overdue, and her dislike of him had grown fierce with time. After he had rejected her early on, his meanness hadn’t been good enough. No, he had to then come into her life once more and humiliate her, take her virginity and then treat her like a whore. In theory, she’d been a woman for two years by then, but she’d been shy and awkward, little more than a girl, really, and he’d made it so much worse. Just her luck.
Well, this time, Tyler would be the one to feel something other than smugness. He could feel what it was like to be humiliated and left with wanting something that he couldn’t have.
“Good evening.”