Chapter 1

Cassie chugged down the glass of whiskey in one go and signaled the bartender for another. The bartender slid over to her and side-eyed her while he refilled her whiskey before leaving her alone. Cassie didn't blame him for judging her. She was a young woman in the bar alone who had been chugging down glass after glass of whiskey. She would judge herself too if she wasn't in the situation she was in right now. But alas she was in this situation and just wanted to drink it all away so she didn't care about anyone judging her. She picked up the glass of whiskey and swirled it around. As she did the images from earlier flashed in her head and she downed the entire glass in annoyance. She signaled the bartender again.            

"Just leave the bottle", she told the bartender this time when he came to refill her glass.

Again, he gave her that judgemental look but dropped the bottle, which was all Cassie cared about. She poured herself another drink and downed it. She was feeling tipsy now but she could still remember those images in her head and it frustrated her. She came here thinking she could drink and forget all about it, at least for tonight. But no matter how many glasses she drank, the gruesome scene of her fiance in the arms of her sister still replayed in her head as vividly as ever.

"That asshole", Cassie cursed as she downed another drink.

His words kept replaying in her head.

"You are too headstrong Cassie, no man would feel good having you as a wife"

The bastard! She had caught him cheating yet he had somehow made it into her fault. If he was cheating with any other person maybe it wouldn't hurt this much but her sister.

"Elizabeth is more feminine, she is more wife material", he had said.

Cassie admitted that she did have her opinions and she liked to stand on them but she didn't think that meant she deserved to be cheated on. He could have at least told her about how he felt about her character. They were together for seven years and he never once complained. Damn! She had devoted seven whole years of her life to him. She hated that it hurt this much but she couldn't help it. Carter was her first relationship and it had turned serious fast and she did love him. She loved him a lot. She had really thought their marriage would be the stuff of storybooks, married to the first and only love of her life. It all sounded so magical. But now it was all over because he suddenly realized he didn't like her having strong opinions even though she had always been like this. She didn't even want to think of the possibility that this thing with Elizabeth had been going on for longer than she knew. Because whenever she thought about it, it hurt so much, her eyes turned glassy with tears.

Cassie downed another glass of whiskey and wiped her tears. No, it was no use crying over that bastard. He wasn't worth her tears. She came here to forget about it all, she would deal with it tomorrow but for tonight she wanted to drink and forget all about her cheating fiance and her backstabbing sister. She still felt the dull ache in her chest.

'Maybe she needed to hook up with someone', she thought to herself.

She hadn't hooked up with someone at the club for... she couldn't even remember how long. She had always been faithful to Carter. But if that two-timing bastard wanted to play, two could play his nasty game. She knew somewhere in her subconscious that it was the whiskey affecting her already and that she was already drunk but she didn't care. She scanned the bar for any candidates but was disappointed by the men she saw. They were all shabby-looking and just weren't her type at all. Then she noticed him, sitting at the far corner of the bar in a private booth. He had on a navy blue suit which Cassie found peculiar and interesting at the same time. He was alone as he drank and watched the other people in the bar. Maybe it was the neat way his hair was slicked back or the sharp cut of his jawline but Cassie found him very attractive. Already pumped full of liquor courage, she picked up her glass and sauntered over to his booth.

"Excuse me, are you alone?", she asked as she hovered at the entrance of the private booth.

He lifted his gaze and looked at her, quizzically, one of his eyebrows raised in confusion. And it was like Cassie's breath was knocked out of her lungs. He was handsome. So freaking handsome! Way more handsome than Carter who up until now she had actually thought was the most attractive man she had ever seen, childish she knew. But this stranger was on another level,

and he was staring at her like she was the most interesting thing he had seen in the bar so far. She didn't know why that thought made her feel hot.

"May I join you?", Cassie asked when she finally found her voice.

He scanned her from head to toe, an amusing look on his face

"I'm not looking for company", he said.

Cassie's courage faltered a bit that she steeled herself up.

"Oh, come on, it's so much better to drink with the company", she said.

He stared at her silently for a few minutes as if scrutinizing her before finally nodding his head. Cassie smiled to herself in triumph and sauntered into the booth. She sat down next to him and they sat down in awkward silence for the next few minutes.

"You are like, really hot", Cassie blurted out.

He looked at her amused.

"Really?"

"Yes", she nodded her head vigorously.

It was the whiskey but she didn't care, she was just going to keep going. He chuckled and the sound was like a melody to Cassie's ears, even his laughter sounded so handsome.

"Do you want to hook up?", Cassie blurted out again.

He looked taken aback before his expression went back to amusement.

Cassie wanted to slap herself, not for asking him to hook up but for sounding like the dorkiest teenager while doing it. She really was out of touch.

"It's just like, I find you really attractive so I was wondering if you would be interested in hooking up. I know a good hotel nearby", Cassie rambled on before her liquid courage failed her.

He stared at her silently for a long time.

"No, I'm not interested", he said finally, and his rejection hurt.

She didn't understand why it did.

"Why? Am I not your type?", she asked.

"You don't think I'm pretty enough?"

He stared at her intensely before slowly leaning towards her. Cassie closed her eyes instinctively but when she felt his hand on her, she flinched back.

She opened her eyes and saw that he had resumed his original position, a faint smirk on his face. Despite all the liquor she had drunk, looks like she wasn't as ready as she thought to randomly hook up.

"I'd prefer my hookups to want to hook up", he said after a while.

Cassie was silent and soon the tears she had not allowed herself to cry since she walked in on that scene this morning began to fall from her eyes. He was shocked when he heard a low sniffing sound and turned to Cassie.

"Are you- Are you crying?", he asked in disbelief.

Hearing him ask that, Cassie began to bawl her eyes out, crying loudly. He watched her with a shocked expression.

"Don't, don't cry", he said awkwardly as he picked up some tissues and offered them to her.

Cassie took them and bowed her nose and as he watched her he chuckled softly.

"What?", she asked.

"Nothing", he shook his head.

"I'm embarrassing myself, aren't I?", she sniffed.

"You probably think I'm crazy"

He smirked.

"It's not the worst thing I've seen tonight", he said as he poured her a drink and passed the glass to her.

"Instead of hooking up, do you want to talk about it?", he asked.

Cassie glanced at the drink and looked at him. She hesitated for a few seconds before picking up the drink and downing it in one go, to his amusement. Why the hell not?

Thirty Minutes later.

"The self-centered bastard", Cassie said as she finished the entire glass.

"Indeed", he nodded as he took a sip from his glass.

Cassie looked at him, she had just spent the last thirty minutes narrating the whole thing with Carter and Elizabeth to him and he had listened attentively throughout.

The lighting was low but she could still see him clearly. God, he was really handsome. Why was she bothering about a jerk like Carter when there were literally God knows how many men like this out there? He was absolutely stunning with the faint smile hanging on his lips as he sipped his drink. It was most definitely the whiskey because she was completely buzzed now but she leaned in towards him and planted her lips on his.

He didn't move and she leaned back. She looked into his eyes, he was staring back at her, no words spoken. She leaned again and kissed him deeper this time and soon he began to respond as well, kissing her back. And what started as a soft kiss became rough and needy and she was all for it. She pulled back to gasp some air and leaned in again but this time he held her back and looked into her eyes. There was something dark and feral lurking behind his eyes now.

"Are you sure?", he asked in a husky tone.

Her mind still buzzing, all Cassie knew was that she wanted this man, she wanted him badly so she nodded her head eagerly.

"Yes", she breathed.

He stayed still searching her eyes for a few seconds before diving in to kiss her again. And this time the kiss was rough from the start, nothing soft and gentle, just raw need and want and it fueled Cassie like nothing had ever had before.