Ryan's POV
The weirdest thing in the world was happening to Ryan.
He was, for lack of a better word, 'captivated' by the woman that he had bumped into earlier. Were he just trying to get another peak at her very impressive boobs he would have understood.
But instead, he found himself trying to get a proper look at not only her face, but that smooth skin, the dark hair, her dress…just her everything.
Who was she and why did he suddenly find her so enthralling. Forcing his eyes away from
her for what felt like the millionth time that night, he scoured the bar. His gaze fixing on the many gorgeous women that were present, but as had been the case the entire time, his attention on them did not last.
He found his eyes straying to the strange woman. What he would not give to have her look up and stare right into his eyes, revealing those gorgeous grey orbs to him. Pulling his gaze away from her once more, he let out a sigh, tapping lightly at his tumbler, and Mark echoed the sound.
"Come on, Ryan, there are plenty of women here for you to pick from. Why do you still sound so bored?" Taking a sip of his drink, Ryan drummed his fingers against the counter, looking over at the bartender, as he mixed a complicated drink.
"Of course, I am still bored Mark, don't you ever feel that everything is the same, all of these women for all of their beauty might as well be coming straight from the factory. They have the same clothes, they use the same hairstylists, go to the same places to get their nips and tucks done. Heck, they even smile the same now. Where is the authenticity…the real?" At the end of his statement, he once again found his gaze going over to the woman in the flowery dress. Mark, not noticing, chuckled dryly.
"Oh the horror of being the great Ryan Terrell, suffering from an overabundance of beautiful women," Elbowing his friend, Ryan forced him to turn around on his stool, and face the people in the bar the same way he was.
"I am not saying they are not beautiful. All I'm saying is all of it now just seems mechanical. Watch…" His gaze zeroing in on a particularly tall young woman who had been watching them since they'd sat down. Ryan inclined his head at her.
The woman smiled, bringing her martini to her lips.
"Now watch, either she's going to go back to drinking it and acting disinterested, or she'll wink at me and do something very provocative," Sure enough, a few seconds later, the woman winked, and then she did a little shimmy in her seat. What the intent of that was, Ryan had no idea, but he was not interested.
Next to him, Mark took a sip of his brandy. "Okay fine, point proven. Here's an idea though, if all of the women that you are used to act like they read how to behave from a script,
why don't you pick someone different for once?" Suddenly feeling interested, he turned to his friend with a raised brow. "Different how?"
Mark shrugged, then he used his glass to subtly point someone out. "Different like her, everybody else in here is dressed in the skimpiest outfit they can find, she's in a flowery dress and sandals, that is different enough for us. Why not chat her up if you're so bored of the normal kind of woman we see every day," Despite knowing exactly who his friend was most likely talking about. Ryan still made himself look, and sure enough, Mark was indicating towards the woman with the boobs who had bumped into him.
Did he dare?
Grabbing his drink, he stood, and he turned back to his friend.
"Challenge accepted," Mark's eyes widened.
"Hey wait, I was only kidding, don't-"But Ryan was already walking towards his target, his friend's voice fading into the background.
***
Any other man would have started off the interaction with some cliché line like asking if the seat were taken, but Ryan Terrell was no ordinary man. He did not seek permission,
if anything he gave it to others.
So he simply took a seat in the armchair facing hers, a small table between the two of them, placing his drink down on the table. He looked at her and gave her his most charming smile. After, staring briefly, the woman gave him a polite smile. "Are you lost?" She asked, and he shook his head.
"Not at all, this is exactly where I intend to be. Wouldn't you agree that this is a better meeting than our initial one?" The woman's cheeks pinked, and Ryan found his tongue darting out to lick his lips. How cute.
"Listen, mister," She stalled over the lack of a name,
"I'm sorry about earlier, okay? I made a mistake. Can we move on from that?" Enjoying her discomfort way more than he should have, Ryan briefly entertained, stretching the awkwardness for a while longer. But he decided against it. That was not why he was there.
"My name is Ryan Terrell,"
She squinted, then her eyes went wide.
"You're that billionaire guy," Again, a thrill went through Ryan.
Most women liked to pretend that they had no idea who he was, despite being well aware of him.
To have somebody not only acknowledge knowing him. But to also freely mention his financial status without playing games was refreshing.
"Indeed, I am 'that billionaire guy'. Again, her cheeks went pink, and so did the tips of her ears. The edge to reach out and bop her on the nose was strong, but he overcame it by taking a sip of his drink.
"And you are?" Picking up her own drink. The woman took a hasty gulp, choked as a result, and let out a cough while patting at her sizable mounds, unknowingly tempting Ryan into stealing a look. Which he did before forcing his gaze back up to those grey eyes that were slightly teary.
"My name is Vivian Rose," She told him once she had herself under control.
Vivian Rose. What a lovely name for a lovely woman.
"That is a lovely name, gorgeous,"
He gave the compliment freely, but something in the woman's face instantly shifted,
becoming guarded. What? Had he said something wrong.
"What do you want? Mr Terrell," She asked, her tone cool, shaking off his unease. He gave her his most charming smile.
"Just call me Ryan. And as for what I want…" He leaned forward, making sure she knew she had his full attention.
"What I want, sweet thing, is for me and you to go somewhere private, somewhere where we can have a little fun,"
He punctuated the statement by slowly raking his eyes over her frame, in a deliberate way. She was just so curvy.
Every single woman he'd been with had never had an ounce of unnecessary meat on them. But the woman before him had a softness that he could not help but find attractive.
Leaning back in his chair, leg spread, Ryan gave her a grin that was all teeth. If there was one thing he knew, women just could not resist him. Her answer was most definitely going to be yes.
Taking a sip of his drink, he congratulated himself on what was going to be a night well spent. And that of course was when Vivian opened her mouth.
"No thank you,"
***
Choking on a drink, because a woman had just told you no, was very embarrassing for a billionaire playboy.
For Ryan, who had never experienced such a thing in his life. It was mortifying.
After clearing his throat several times, he looked around to make sure that no one had heard that.
More importantly, that Mark had not, luckily for him. His friend was busy chatting to the bartender, turning his attention back to Vivian. He gave her yet another charming smile. One that had actually gotten him many princesses in his time.
"Excuse me, maybe you did not hear me earlier. I am Ryan Terrell, thee Ryan Terrell. And I've just offered to have some fun with you. It's an opportunity that many women will kill for," Instead of taking a moment to reconsider her stance, Vivian instead just shrugged.
"If many women will kill for a night in bed with you, good for you. But I, on the other hand do not like blood unless it is my monthly period coming in,"
What? Ryan was stunned.
She had just rejected him again. Not only that, she was freely talking about her period, something that he knew most women would rather die than bring up in public.
She knew he was somebody of influence and she did not care. Just who was this woman? No longer leaning back in his chair. Ryan straightened, taking her in for real instead of just her beauty. Those grey eyes, gorgeous as they were, held more intelligence than he was used to seeing in the women that he normally slept with.
This was not somebody who would be swayed by flattery and him throwing some money around.
She had refused to sleep with him. That meant his entire purpose of coming over to her table was done.
The best thing for him to do would be to go back to Mark, endure a bit of good natured ribbing,
and find somebody else to sleep with for the night. And yet looking at Vivian Rose, with her minimal makeup and her loose dress and sensible shoes, Ryan found he did not want to leave. Grabbing his drink, he fixed her with a look and hit her with a question that most people often avoided talking about no matter the circumstance.
"How do you feel about the current political climate of the world?"