"Keep these coming." Reagan called to the bartender, throwing back the rest of the liquid in her glass. This was her twenty-ninth birthday and she was spending it alone in a bar like some kind of pathetic spinster.

"You know you keep drinking them like water and you won't be able to walk out of here in a straight line."

She snorted, quite unattractively, "That's the plan."

"Hard night?"

"It's my birthday today, and I'm spending it alone in a bar. What do you think?"

A large hand reached in front of her to trade out her empty glass for a full one, "Well with an attitude like that I'm not surprised. It'd be like cozying up next to a cactus." The mocking tone of voice caught her attention. Reagan lifted her face to get a look at the person who spoke to her in such a rude manner. The bartender was tall, much taller than herself. Reagan had to tilt her head back a little so that she could meet his dark gaze. She found herself focusing on the fine details of his face. Such as the fact that he had a dimple in his chin, a couple of scattered freckles, and a small crook to his nose. Overall he was oddly attractive even if he looked a little to baby-faced to her.

"Excuse me?"

He leaned forward, pressing his palms to the edge of the bartop, "There is no reason for you to spend your birthday alone. Unless you're throwing yourself a pity party. Which would be a damn shame, cause a hottie like you-" Reagan's cheeks burned as his eyes trailed over her quickly in a quiet assessment, "if you just toned down that attitude...You could easily get yourself a nightcap."

She found herself slightly confused by his words, lifting a brow, "A nightcap?"

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah. A way to end the night with bang that puts you right to sleep. That's really the only way to end a night if you ask me."

Reagan's mouth fell open as she caught onto his insinuation, "Are you suggesting that I have a one-night stand with someone in this bar?"

He chortled at her question, "All I'm saying is you have two options, you can spend the night alone or you can find someone to spend the last couple of hours of your birthday with. I know what I would chose but that's just me." He turned away from her with that, sauntering to the other side of the bar where a group of females sat giggling amongst themselves. Reagan watched him through narrowed eyes, who the hell was this guy? Some kind of sexual fairy-godmother? He shot her a look over his shoulder, winking as one of the girls slipped him a napkin with her number on it, no doubt.

Reagan averted her gaze in annoyance, glancing to the clock on the wall. There was only one hour left of her birthday. Maybe she could stop in at the little market by her house and pick up a carton of her favorite ice cream and spend the rest of the night watching sappy romance movies. She let out a heavy sigh, hunching forward. This was the first birthday she had spent alone in five years and she hated how alone she felt. Maybe the bartender had been right, maybe she needed to find someone to lose herself in for the rest of the evening.

As if fate was working in her favor, a man moved to stand next to where she was sitting at the bar. Reagan found herself drinking him in, moving from the top of his head to the tips of his shoes and back again. Her mouth may have gone dry but her panties were all rivers and oceans for the handsome stranger.

"Hello." She greeted him as he stood next to her, drinking the last remnants of his beer.

He turned to look at her in slight surprise as if he hadn't noticed her until she spoke. Reagan watched as his lips curled up into a sexy grin as his eyes trekked up her legs and over her body, up to her face, "Hello."

This was seriously the worst possible advice that she had ever considered taking, but the gorgeous stranger standing next to her, smelling like tobacco and warm spices made it seem like a good idea. She found herself leaning in toward him, "My name is Reagan, and I'm here celebrating my birthday." The words seemed to fall from her lips, slightly slurred.

His body inclined toward her, "Happy birthday. I'm Marcus and I'm just here to close up my tab for the night." Reagan found herself giggling at his attempt to make a joke off of her drunken babbling. She could only imagine how sloppy she must have appeared to him, but that did not deter her.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"No." He replied with a soft laugh, the skin around the corners of his eyes crinkling with some internal merriment, "Do you have a boyfriend?"

She found his question caused her mood to dip slightly for a moment, but Reagan was not going to let thoughts of Chase ruin her the rest of her day, "Not anymore." She watched Marcus expression drop into something similar to sympathy as he turned his eyes from her, which was not what she wanted from him. At the moment all she wanted was for him to take off her dress with his perfect teeth and give her the best birthday sex of her life.

"Marcus, do you want to take me home tonight?" Reagan knew she was being forward but thanks to the amount of alcohol in her system that didn't matter to her.

The handsome stranger froze with his glass pressed to his lips, slowly turning his face to meet her gaze. The best part about him was that he looked absolutely nothing like her ex-boyfriend. Marcus looked like he spent most of his days in the gym, that or he had a serious steroid problem. His dark hair and eyes matched each other perfectly like a dark roast coffee. He was the perfect remedy for the serious love hangover that had been clinging to her since the break up with Chase.

"Do you want to go home with me tonight, Reagan?" The words were spoken with a faint accent. The way her name rolled off of his tongue made her wonder what else his tongue was capable of. Reagan gave him a hooded look as her lips tipped up into a seductive grin. Every girl was entitled to have a rebound, and she didn't think the universe could have picked any better for her than Marcus.

Tomorrow she would worry about finding a man that was ready for serious commitments. Tonight she would let go and embrace the now, "Yes, very much."

He pulled some cash from the pocket of his coat, dropping it onto the counter as the bartender approached, "For mine and the lady's drinks. Keep the change." Marcus threw back was left in his drink, placing the glass on top his cash, "Let me go tell my friends I'm leaving." He leaned down and pressed a surprisingly sensual kiss to her lips, breaking away much sooner than Reagan found she wanted, "I'll meet you at the door, Reagan." Her cheeks felt hot as she watched him stroll away with confidence.

"I see you found yourself a nightcap."

Reagan slid from her stool, adjusting her dress before throwing a look to the bartender, "I find you totally repugnant..." He looked down at her with amusement, completely unphased by her comment. She forced herself to swallow her pride, not meeting his eyes, "but thank you for the advice...it was somewhat enlightening." With that she spun on her heels and strutted to the door to finish her birthday off right. Who needed a pint of Rocky Road when you could have a pint of Marcus.