Chapter 1

Even though she’d practically become a fixture of the uppity university’s coffee shop, few who entered the establishment spared so much as a passing glance toward the lonely young lady sitting by one of the front windows. She appeared, as she normally did, lazily dressed in an oversized baggy sweater with some comfy yoga pants adorning her thicker than average legs. Her dark hair was fashioned into a chin-length curled-under bob with long bangs, but one would be hard-pressed to notice considering the pudgy bookworm’s pretty face was currently too far buried in her favorite book. Although, on this particular day she wasn’t reading it, not right now, right now she was using the book to shield herself from the unbelievably hot guy waiting in line that had totally just noticed her checking him out.

Holly took a deep breath. It would be okay. The handsome hunk of a man would probably just shrug his shoulders and ignore her like everyone else. Everything would be okay. In a few seconds, she’d peek over her book and see that he’d completely forgotten about her.

One…Two…Three…

Holly peeked, and sure enough, the broad-shouldered man had turned his back to her. Phew! That had been a close call… Or had it been? Holly often perversely wondered how she’d acquired her uncanny ability to melt into social obscurity everywhere she went. How sad was it that her typical day off looked exactly like this?

Coffee shops on college campuses were supposed to be places to meet new people, and make new friends or, as Holly hoped, maybe even a boyfriend. Yet here, instead of becoming her proving ground, this tiny little establishment had become a refuge.

This was the one place she could go where she could make believe that society cared about her. Among the noises of people, their scent, their chatter, and their occasional glances, Holly could give her brain a small taste of what it truly craved, to belong to a tribe of other people just like her.

Taking a bite of the stale pastry she’d purchased with her coffee half an hour ago, Holly relaxed in her seat and leaned back. She tried to spot where the hottie in the sharp looking suit had gone off to but didn’t see him in line anymore. Biting her lip in disappointment, Holly couldn’t help but disappointingly think to herself, ‘Why don’t guy’s make the first move anymore?’

Before she had time to muse over her question, her attention was drawn to an unexpected shadow that quickly covered her empty table.

“Are you a fan of all E. L. James novels? Or are you just jumping on the bandwagon because of the 50 Shades movies?” A charming masculine voice echoed softly into her left ear.

Turning around in a frantic motion, Holly’s eyes widened with disbelief at the Greek god of a man who had just invited himself into her personal space. It was the same guy she’d been ogling in line just minutes prior! He had noticed her! Holly could hardly keep her flustered wits about her, her response was a pitifully dumb sounding, “Umm..”

Why was she pausing?? Not only had Holly read every single one of E. L. James’ books, she’d read 50 Shades of Grey at least a dozen times! Gathering her composure as best she could, Holly nervously cleared her throat before tersely responding, “I’m a fan.”

“Cool. Me too.” The hunky guy smiled, “Mind if I join you?”

“Umm..” Holly could hardly breath in this guy’s presence, much less form a complete sentence. He was totally lightyears out of her league, yet he sounded interested in her…

This was too good to be true. He was probably pulling some kind of prank on her, some kind of joke. Not wanting to fall into his trap, Holly managed to shakily respond, “I’m actually expecting some friends to meet me here like.. ten minutes ago..”

Strange. He didn’t seem dissuaded in any way. In fact, he merely shrugged and countered with a sincere, “Then how about I buy you a coffee tomorrow?”

Holly could hardly believe her ears. Was this guy legit interested in her??

He totally was! Holly knew she should play hard to get, but if this guy was seriously interested in her, she was desperate to hold his attention. Engaging her rarely used impression of a flirtatious sorority girl, Holly smiled faintly at Mr. Hottie and timidly burst, “How about you buy me a beer, tonight?”

“It’s a date. Wanna meet at Pat’s pub down on 30th street? Around 7:30?”

Did she hear him correctly? He agreed!?

Ha! He agreed! Holly was speechless. This was amazing! This was like striking gold! This was better than winning the freaking lottery! She tried to say, ‘heck yeah,’ but her tongue was so tied she couldn’t make the words come out, so she merely nodded to show her agreement.

“Great, I’ll pay for dinner, but please wear something that actually complements your figure. We’ll have a lot of fun tonight.” Mr. mystery hunk commented before making his leave of the preppy coffee shop.

Speechless. She’d even forgotten to ask him for his name and number... Why was she so bad at this??

Wait… What did he mean by the last thing he said to her?? Was he saying that what she was wearing right now didn’t compliment her figure?? And what exactly did he mean by ‘figure,’ was he hinting that she was overweight? Holly knew she was a little overweight, she didn’t need some perfect looking guy calling her out for it! And.. and.. fun?

Fun…

Was he suggesting… No. No way. On a first date? Was he that kind of guy? Holy hell did Holly hope that he was that kind of guy. She’d ignore whatever subtext she’d sensed in his last comment to her. She’d skipped so many possible chances to finally have an earth-shattering sexual experience with someone she genuinely found physically attractive because of her fear of rejection. She couldn’t let herself skip this one too. He was way too hot. And he looked so strong. Gosh. The things she’d let him do to her…