Free Negligee Behavior by Shelli Stevens

comfortable had the place been lit up like a grocery store.
    His lips quirked into a slight smile and he stepped forward, closing the distance between them. Her pulse jumped.
    “You know, Brandy—”
    “Hey, Marco, buddy. How you doing?”
    Relief—or disappointment—made her shoulders deflate when Marco turned away to talk to the biker man in the leather jacket and bandana who’d approached him.
    With the attention off her, she took a moment to look around the bar. Booths were set up against the walls, with some smaller tables scattered in the middle of the room. There were a couple of pool tables in the back along with dartboards on the wall. It was pretty much your average bar—well from what she’d seen on television, at least.
    Speaking of television…She noticed one was mounted up behind the bar, tuned to a station that made her freeze, her eyes widening as she stared at a flat screen. Gordon’s pretty boy face and dazzling white smile stared down at her. The volume wasn’t up, but his lips were moving as he spoke to a reporter. This was not New You , the reality show she was used to seeing him on. This appeared to be the midday local news.
    Her blood thundered in her ears. What was he saying? Please don’t let him be talking about me. Please.
    The screen split, and suddenly in the other corner there was a candid shot of her eating pizza. Sweet God! Could he have picked a worse picture? It was from a charity event for foster kids they’d gone to last month. She was eating pizza and there was a line of cheese hanging off the end and down her chin and of course her hair was frizzier than usual.
    The picture disappeared and the image switched back to Gordon. Brandy’s gaze darted around the bar, certain somebody was about to scream, “It’s her!” But the place was still pretty much empty, and Marco and the biker were still talking with their backs to her.
    She made her way to the bar and pulled herself up and onto one of the stools. Wrapping her feet around the legs, she leaned forward on her elbows and stared at the line of hard alcohol behind the bar. Oh God. She closed her eyes, laid her head on the bar and willed her stomach to settle down.
    Never. She was never going to drink again.
    “What can I get you, luv?”
    Brandy’s forehead creased with a frown at the English accent. She lifted her head and stared at the man behind the counter.
    Hmm. If she hadn’t been so darn hot over Marco, she might’ve picked this guy to lust after. He gave Marco a run for his money, but in a different way.
    Marco was dark featured, rugged and tattooed. This guy had curly blond hair cropped close to his head—curls on a guy had never been attractive to her, but on him it worked.
    He wasn’t as tall, but definitely matched Marco in the broad shoulder aspect. His deep blue eyes were bright and friendly. His only visible flaw was the thick jagged scar that ran down his left cheek, but then, some women would argue that it made him sexier.
    She blinked when he waved a hand in front of her face. “Are you all right, luv?”
    “What?”
    “Can I get you something? A pint? Food? Tequila?”
    Why did everyone keep pushing tequila on her? She let out a pained groan. “Nooo…no more tequila. Just, do you have any sparkling water?”
    “Sparkling? Is there a reason why it has to sparkle?”
    “What?” She shook her head. “If you don’t have—”
    “Oh, we have it. I was just having a bit of sport, luv.” He winked and went into the back.
    Brandy gave a small laugh and watched him walk away. Definitely a cutie.
    “Don’t bother with Sebastian, he’s sworn off women.” Marco sat down on a bar stool next to her, his eyes surprisingly hard.
    She wrinkled her forehead. Funny, she really hadn’t gotten that vibe off him. “You mean he’s gay?”
    “I didn’t say that. I said he’s sworn off women.” He kept watching her. “He’s going through a shitty divorce right now and plans to lay off dating for