Evil Allure by Rhea Wilde Read Free Book Online

flirtatious smile on her face couldn’t be less obvious. He glanced over at me for a second and our eyes met. Something about the way he looked at me made me feel uneasy and when he did, I turned my head away to see where this beer I was holding belonged.
    The Arrested Bar wasn’t as busy as it normally was tonight. The sudden rush of customers disappeared and I found myself watching the rest of the waitresses scoop up the remnants of what remained. I was sitting back at the bar again, waiting for the night to end while at the same time, dreading the walk back home.
    “Is someone sitting here?”
    I turned my head and Vaughn was standing there, an almost familiar smile on his face. He pointed to the seat next to me and for a second, I wondered if I should tell him to leave me be.
    “N-no,” I told him. “It’s empty.”
    “Good.”
    He took a seat next to me and I was immediately overcome with a kind of nervous anxiety that I couldn’t describe exactly. Everything about Vaughn was intriguing but so mysterious. He was ruggedly good-looking but it was more than that. The way he looked at me. The way he smiled. Even the way he smelled had me captivated. It was like I couldn’t push him away even if I wanted to. I had no control over myself when he was this close.
    “How is your vodka?” I asked him. “Did you drink more tonight?”
    “Two sips,” he laughed. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. It feels like fire in my throat. It burns.”
    “That’s what alcohol does. It’s flammable.”
    “It certainly is.”
    My eyes met his and it forced a chuckle on to my face. Even Vaughn wasn’t enough of a distraction to get my mind off of everything that had happened. He must have noticed it because he wasn’t giving me the space my body was unknowingly asking for.
    “What’s wrong, Ariel?” he asked me.
    “Nothing’s wrong.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Yes, I’m just bored, that’s all… It’s a slow night and there aren’t many customers to serve.”
    “No,” he said as he shook his head. “There’s more to it than that.”
    “Maybe. Maybe. But I’m not sure I can tell you.”
    “Why not?”
    “You’re… still a stranger to me. I don’t know who you are. I only know your name.”
    “Isn’t that how everybody starts? You don’t know anybody’s name before you meet them. That doesn’t stop you from becoming more than strangers with them.”
    He looked into my eyes but he was doing more than that. His gaze was hypnotizing. The way he spoke was so regal and refined. It was like he knew exactly what to say and told me what I wanted to hear. He seemed completely out of place.
    “Why are you wasting your time in a place like this?” I asked him.
    “I could ask you the same question, Ariel.”
    “I don’t have a choice. I don’t really have anywhere else to go.”
    “You always have a choice. There’s always somewhere else to go.”
    “So why did you choose to come here then, Vaughn?”
    “I have my reasons…”
    I didn’t want to read his intentions the wrong way. I didn’t want to think that a man like him might actually be interested in me. I didn’t want to get my hopes up for no reason.
    He stared at me and I couldn’t help but smile from the way he looked at me. I had to turn my head away to avoid getting lost in his gaze. I was beginning to lose control of myself and forget about all of the anxiety that had overcome me ever since last night.
    “So, what are you going to do, Ariel?”
    “What?”
    “I just said you have a choice and that there’s somewhere else to go. If you could, would you?”
    “What do you mean? I wasn’t talking about traveling around the world. I was just talking about the other bars down the street. I’m here because I work here.”
    We stared at each other for a moment then started to laugh.
    “It’s good to see you smile,” he said to me. “Your smile is infectious. It’s beautiful. You should do it more often.”
    I started to