The Spice of Life (The Transformation #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

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    Minutes later, both women had a drink in hand. Sipping her martini, Kelli took time to take in the bar. It was chic and modern, with clean angles and dark wood accents. The lighting was just low enough to create great ambience, and there were lots of little nooks and alcoves with dark, velvet-lined booths. As Kelli admired her surroundings, she completely tuned out; unaware that Nina was describing her latest relationship in great detail.
     
    “Kelli? God, Kells, are you listening to a word I say? So, what do you think I should do, anyway?”
     
    “Um, I guess you should do whatever you feel is right.”  Kelli had no idea what Nina was referring to. Her comment worked though, because Nina then launched into another detailed analysis of “he-said, she-said”.
     
    The bar was rapidly filling up with beautiful people. It was mostly an older, professional crowd, but Kelli noticed a few young twenty-somethings in the mix. Their fresh faces made her feel self-conscious for just a moment, but she mentally shook it off. She felt good, sexy. And judging by the glances she was getting from a variety of male patrons, she could hold her own against a nubile 23-year-old anytime.
     
    There was one man in particular who kept glancing her way. He was across the room, leaning against the bar. He was perusing the room with his eyes, much as a 4-star general might peruse a battle field. Kelli gauged that he was about 5’10”. Her eye was generally drawn to taller men, but there was something about this guy. He looked vaguely familiar, something about his eyes, but she couldn’t figure out why. Maybe she had encountered him at a work function somewhere. That must be it.
     
    She took in his physique, dressed in a tailored suit jacket, over a simple black t-shirt and dark jeans, with nice leather boots. His features were unusually striking. He was clean-cut, with salt and pepper hair, olive skin and a well-muscled frame. Their eyes met; she immediately noticed that his were a vivid green and warmly inviting. Kelli was becoming more and more conscious of him and was finding it even harder to pay attention to what Nina was saying.
     
    Nina finally caught on, and leaned forward to whisper. “Kelli, I think that guy over there is super into you! He keeps staring.”
     
    “Yeah, I’ve noticed. What do you think? I think he’s really attractive. Do you think it’s weird that he keeps looking at me like that?”
     
    “Hell, no! He just wants to eat you up, that’s all! Want me to call him over for you?”
     
    “No, no. Don’t do that. Maybe I’ll just take this opportunity to get some drink refills.”
     
    “Sounds good, girl. Do it! In the meantime, there is a smoking hot guy at that corner table who has caught my eye…I might have to go say hello, while you check out Mr. Intense over there.”
     
    Kelli decided to go to the ladies room first, to prepare herself before making her approach to the bar. She felt oddly nervous, with butterflies in her stomach. It had been so long since she did anything like this. Did she even remember how to flirt, really flirt, and mean it? She reapplied her eyeliner and carefully smudged it along her upper eyelids, patted some powder lightly over her nose and cheeks from her purse compact, and topped things off with some more red lipstick. ‘ Too much?’ she wondered, but the mirror told her otherwise; she looked smoldering and intense, just as intense as the mystery man at the bar. She was ready.
     
    Kelli walked out to the bar with confidence, and slid onto a bar stool a few seats down from the handsome stranger. She felt his eyes on her, like a brand burning into her neck. It was not an unpleasant sensation, just the opposite. She ordered another hot and dirty martini, smiling coyly at the cute, young, male bartender and then toyed with a cocktail napkin.
     
    She felt him move next to her before she even saw him. There was indescribable warmth and the air tingled. She