Free Sweet Seduction Shadow by Nicola Claire Page A

keep them occupied, and that the group was completely comprised of men. No girlfriends to get in the way tonight. But what really made the difference, and made this man my giant of choice tonight, was the fact that he clearly obtained his muscles in a gym. Not on the farm, or working a roadside gang. Not swinging an axe in the forests or hauling heavy equipment at the quarry nearby. This guy had buffed up the cheat's way, and that made him perfect for me tonight.
    I watched them play for forty minutes, as the pub filled up with the end-of-working-day crowd. The place was popular, exactly why my father had taught me to come to the local pub in a small town. What else are the locals gonna do, but socialise over a pint or two? With this sort of number I was just one of many in the throng.
    Even my panic from the Baldy and Goatee incident had passed. Not necessarily my paranoia though.
    I moved my perch to over by the door to the toilets, waiting for my mark to slip from the bachelor group and head my way. Another thirty minutes and two more pitchers of beer and I had him. It was only just gone seven, the pub wouldn't close 'til about one. I had six hours to hide behind his muscles and figure out where I was heading to next.
    He walked with purpose through the standing room only mass of pub-goers, dodging sloshed pitchers of beer and lethal high heeled spikes. At this stage of the night he was still sober, but clearly gearing up for some fun. I let him pass, with a show of appreciation from my upturned eyes. Caught the grin as he sauntered by and waited for his return.
    Eyes pealed on my surroundings and ears tuned into the sound of the toilet door opening back up, I was ready for him when he'd done his business and timed my moment well. It's not that hard to appear sloshed; a little bit tipsy. It just takes confidence and practice to make it seem real. I was all about making the lie real. It was who I was, whether I wanted to be that girl or not.
    I stood up and watched as my satchel fell to the floor, then bent over at the waist to fetch it, the exact same moment my mark went to push past the narrow passageway I was blocking. My butt came into contact with his groin, his big hands wrapped around my waist at my hips to stop me tipping over sideways, and I enjoyed the sudden sharp inhale of air he made as I slowly stood upright again.
    I twisted in his grip to throw him a smile over my shoulder, the one I think Shirley had seen, but in this context it meant something else.
    "Well, hello," he said, voice deep and husky.
    I used to enjoy this, back when I first ran away from the Compound. This being the only interaction I allowed myself to have with the opposite sex. I knew in that instant, of watching his eyes drift down to my tight fitting singlet, stay locked on my breasts and not move anywhere else, that I was so far past the pretence now, that I almost shoved the guy back and stormed out of the bar.
    "Hey!" I said brightly and watched his eyes finally lift from my chest to my face.
    "Hey yourself," he shot back. "Haven't seen you around here before. What's your name?"
    "Chrissie. Yours?"
    "Carl."
    "Thanks for catching me, Carl," I said, returning my satchel to the seat at my side. "That deserves a drink," I offered, reaching into my bag for my purse.
    "I could go a drink," Carl said, eyes back down on my breasts. Great. This was going to be a long night.
    Three glasses of beer later, a few friendly ribs from his mates, and I finally had Carl on the tequila. We'd made it to eight-thirty and I already had his car keys, a description of his vehicle and where it was, in my little hot hands and head. Carl was none the wiser, the breasts seemed to lower his IQ, at a guess.
    The joy of small towns like this, is even though Carl wasn't planning on driving home drunk tonight, his car was parked just around the corner and wouldn't be collected until he slept his hangover off by tomorrow afternoon. I would be in Hamilton or further,