His voice called up every single moment of her dream, from  waking on the cold, hard ground until she had placed her hand into his.<i>His voice…</i>beckoned to her despite the words he used. It was as if the rich tone implemented a message behind the reason he had stepped into her establishment. Karie looked as if she might dart at any moment, her eyes flashing from his mouth as those sensuous lips moved hoping to capture a glimpse at his teeth for confirmation. She saw no fangs and she wasn’t certain if it was relief or disappointment felt. Perhaps, both? Fingers tightened further until skin was at last  broken. She felt herself pulled towards the space between them and leaned forward. It was as if he compelled her closer to seek actual physical contact.<br/><br/>However, her state of being seemed to dissipate once her employee showed up. It then registered in Karie’s mind what the man had actually said. He didn’t want to buy the place, but simply invest in it. No doubt at a high percentage or stake of ownership, neither of which she would bother to consider. Yet, she at least would hear him out. She was already convinced he would receive her rejection, but she felt it would do him good to attempt in swaying her mind.<i>That’s not all you want him to sway… <b>Shut up!</b></i>Kari’s mind fully snapped her out of the short reverie and her eyes flashed with hot, rising anger.<br/><br/>“She’s not some doll that falls in love with any pretty face. Give her more credit than that,” Karie said in defending her friend, though she admitted to herself that Meagan’s behavior was strange. Once the other young woman was well out of the hearing vicinity, Karie rested back against the booth’s bench to stare at him. She saw him as a business predator who went for the easy kill, or in this case win. Her pride bristled just under the surface.<br/><br/>“I’ve done fine on my own. You’re asking me what I’d like to change? Nothing,” she told him, knowing it was a partial lie recalling those bathroom tiles above and the shores of Italy she’d never gotten to walk down. “So, unless you are about to offer me something extraordinary, I think you can eat your soup, on the house, and go try to swindle someone else. Someone far more naive than me.”<br/><br/>It was harsh and Karie knew it. It was her defensive mechanism when she was faced with something that troubled her or made her uncomfortable. This man did both for her. While her mind had all but persuaded her that this man sitting across from her was not the man from the dream, the more she gazed across the dark wood table at him, the more she began to doubt. Karie didn’t believe in coincidence and there were just too many with him. That instinctual ping all her customers were subconsciously feeling had now risen within her and the need for placing some distance between them provoked her next words.<br/><br/>“Now, if you’ll excuse me… I believe I have some pints to fill. You are welcome to stay as long as you like. Let me know if the soup is to your liking.” It was her turn to give him a fake friendly smile, the one she used with younger men who felt flirting would earn them free booze. This was where she was supposed to get up and walk away, make her grand exit. Then, why was she still sitting there?