And he makes your skin tingle when he touches you. Yeah well, I needed to go ahead and forget that one. And he makes you feel safe.

“Well, I had too much sake and chased it with absinthe, so I seriously needed some air.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, that’ll do it.”

“I'm waiting for the hallucinations to kick in any moment now. Will I really see a green fairy?”

He chuckled low, and I wanted nothing more than to melt into that sound.

“I think you're safe from little green fairies. The absinthe they serve these days is missing the wormwood, so you’re unlikely to hallucinate.”

“What? Then what was the point of all that? The sugar cube and the flame? I thought I was getting something really extraordinary.”

“Well, you got the experience at least, if not the buzz.”

I sighed and slouched. “Bummer. Not quite the London experience I was expecting.”

“Oh, come on, at least you came to a cool party.” He winked.

“Yes. There’s that.” My arm accidentally grazed his, and I sucked in a breath as I shifted away. “But that’s not what I meant. I meant the first time doing something out of my norm. Stepping out of the box.”

“Ahh.” He nodded. “Seems I have a little adventurer on my hands.”

“Ha. I’m hardly an adventurer.” I shivered.

Lex shrugged out of his jacket and shifted toward me. Unsure of what he meant to do, I stiffened and leaned away from him an inch. His grey eyes met mine, and his smile was soft. Careful not to move too quickly, he slid his jacket around my shoulders. The warmth of his heat cocooned me.

Relax, Abbie, go with the flow. For once, be brave. I closed my eyes, and without thinking, I snuggled into his coat and leaned into him.

The moment my body made contact with his, we both stilled, and I didn’t dare breathe. When it finally came to a choice of inhale, or pass out, I dragged in air quickly.

The moment I tried to slide away, he scooted closer and threw an arm around me.

For three long seconds, I forgot how to speak. My brain, unable to command my body to move away, took stock of my emotions. Anxiety level—DEFCON One. Fear level—low. Lust level—skyrocketing.

Minus a deep breath of his own, Alexi seemed completely unaffected by our close proximity. When he spoke again, his voice was mellow, modulated. “So, you don’t think you’re an adventurer? How did you end up in London, if not?”

If he could be cool, then so could I. “Would you believe it if I told you I ran away from home? Left my life and my apartment and my b—” I halted just short of saying boyfriend. I amended. “I left my family just to prove that I could do something extraordinary, be something extraordinary.”

And ditched my abusive ex.