Attractive Stranger

All Stephanie ever wanted was to meet him. The one. Her soul mate.

It was the only goal she really had ever since she was a teenager. At the ripe old age of 15, she had been asked out by her first boyfriend. He had swept her off her feet with romantic gestures and words. Stephanie had fallen completely head over heels for the guy and was thoroughly convinced that she would spend the rest of her life with him.

The relationship lasted for four months.

But Stephanie was not to be deterred from her dream of one day finding the right man, falling in love, and having the most romantic and beautiful wedding that the world had ever known. But as the days, weeks, months, and years went by, she began to lose hope. Sure she had boyfriends and went out on dates frequently, but everything seemed to crash and burn before it even took off the ground.

Her friends constantly told her that she was young, only in her twenties and that she shouldn't lose hope already. It was just silly to want to be settled at such a young age. But Stephanie was not convinced. Her parents had been married by the time they were her age and for some reason, Stephanie always looked at that like a deadline. She wasn't entirely sure why she felt that she had to get married on the same timeline as her parents, but she did. So when that magic number came and went with no prospects for a husband, Stephanie had fallen into a deep depression that had lasted for the past several months.

But tonight was not about boyfriends, relationships, or marriage. Oh no, tonight was about finding a distraction.

She and her two girlfriends, Lauren and Beth, had gotten to the club early. The club was hosting their weekly ladies night which meant that women got in for free and got severely discounted drinks. She loved these nights. It was the only time she could afford to go out and actually having a few drinks without completely breaking the bank. When they first got the club around 8:45 p.m., there were very few people there. It was mostly a bunch of over dressed women and a handful of skuzzy looking guys.

Stephanie was frustrated. The whole point of going out tonight was to meet random guys and dance with them. Maybe even some ill advised making out if she could find a good looking (and clean looking) man. She had broken up with her last loser boyfriend over six months ago and she was itching to meet someone new. Despite her lifelong goal of trying to find a husband, she had to admit that she loved meeting new men. There was something so addicting about the thrill of meeting someone new. The rush of excitement you got when you "accidentally" touched them for the first time or the spark of energy from a first kiss.

The girls had been in the club for almost an hour. Stephanie had decided on a second drink and had gone up to the bar. When she turned away from the bar with her newly purchased beverage, she accidentally bumped into a tall, attractive man who had the prettiest brown eyes that she had ever seen. She quickly apologized and smiled sheepishly at him. He had thrown her a crooked grin and waved off her apology before stepping up to the bar himself. She cast him one more sideways glance before walking back to her friends.

She tried to focus on the conversation her friends were having, but she found herself completely distracted. A few minutes after returning to the table, she couldn't take it anymore and she looked up from her friends, searching out for the stranger she had bumped into. Her eyes immediately found his now familiar brown ones and she felt a heat in her stomach as she smiled shyly at him. She desperately wanted to go over to him and introduce herself, but she couldn't find the courage to do so. She had never been the type of girl to make the first move and tonight was no different, no matter how cute this man was.

Lauren tugged on her arm, disrupting her thoughts and pulled her towards the dance floor. Stephanie put her drink down on the table and followed Lauren to middle of the dance floor. She felt those two drinks hit her system as she stood up and started walking. She allowed the pleasantly warm feeling engulf her body and she took a moment to enjoy it. With her head buzzing just a little, she started to let herself go and dance, moving with the rhythm of the music that was pounding throughout the room.

As Stephanie and Lauren danced close, a few men had been bold enough to come up to her and wiggle around her, trying to catch her attention. But she had thrown each of them a flirty smile before shaking her head. She gave them each a look that clearly read "I don't think so."

After she did it to the third guy that had come up, she started to wonder if there was something wrong with her. Sure, she wasn't the type to make the first move, but she didn't usually turn guys away like that. She loved being the center of attention like that, so it was puzzling to her that she would turn them away. Some of them had been really cute too!

At some point after she downed her third drink she found herself looking around again for Mr. Brown Eyes. Once again their eyes met instantly. He smiled at her and nodded his head once in acknowledgement. She smiled back at him and whirled around on the dance floor.

As they looked at each other, the crowded club seemed to fall away. She continued to dance, never taking her eyes off of him. She danced for him and him alone, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. He leaned against a table, sipping his drink and enjoying the show that she was putting on for him. Just as he put his drink down and made a start towards her, he was pulled in another direction by a blonde woman.

With the moment broken, Stephanie shrugged to herself and turned back to her friends. Beth had disappeared, probably with that scraggly looking blond guy who she had been flirting with all night. As another guy came up to her she didn't even bother with the flirty smile. She just brushed him off with a wave of her hand.

"What are you doing?" Lauren asked her. "You came to dance with guys you don't know, so why the hell are you brushing them all off?"

Stephanie shrugged, trying not to make a big deal out of it. "Don't know. I guess I'm just not in the mood like I thought I was."

Lauren rolled her eyes and went to get her fourth (or was it fifth?) drink of the evening. She sighed and looked over at Mr. Brown Eyes again. He was in heated discussion with one of his friends and did not look up to meet her longing gaze. She wanted to go over and talk to him, but she still couldn't find the courage. There was something so inviting and yet intimidating about this man she had never actually met.

She threw back her drink in a few big gulps and felt the alcohol hit her system quickly. She went back to the dance floor and let the alcohol lead her into her own world. She closed her eyes and started dancing, not caring about anything that was going on around her. She smiled as she let her mind wander in the buzz surrounding her senses.

Her mind immediately went to Mr. Brown Eyes and she let her imagination go wild. She imagined what it would be like if she had found the courage to go up to him and introduced herself. She imagined what it would have felt like if she had been bold enough to kiss those perfect lips. She wondered if it would have lead anywhere. She wondered if they would have dated and if he would have ever asked her to marry him.

A smile graced her lips as she thought of that. She imagined Mr. Brown Eyes getting down on one knee in a candlelit restaurant surrounded by roses. She imagined jumping into his arms as she cried out, "yes!" She imagined walking down an aisle towards him, seeing him through the lacy veil that covered her face. She imagined standing at the altar in front of him, hearing the priest telling him to kiss his bride.

It was the moment in her fantasywhen Mr. Brown Eyes was leaning down to kiss her that she felt a tap on her shoulder, breaking her out of her daydream. She snapped her eyes opened and narrowed her gaze, searching for the person who interrupted her beautiful dream.

Her eyes met two warm brown ones and her heart sank down into her stomach and then started fluttering around her abdomen. Mr. Brown Eyes was standing right in front of her and looking down at her with an intensity she had never seen directed at herself before.

"I want to kiss you," was all he said. His voice was so deep and warm.

"Well then, kiss me," she responded without hesitating.

He took a deep breath in and gently placed his hand on the right side of her face as he wrapped his left arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He slowly leaned his head towards her and ever so lightly brushed his lips against hers.

She saw stars and for that brief moment the butterflies in her stomach were completely still.

It was the most intense kiss she had ever experienced and he hadn't even kissed her deeply. He pulled way far too quickly for her liking. She wanted to see what a deep kiss felt like.

He sighed and leaned his forehead against hers. "I've been wanting to do that all night," he whispered to her.

She gave him a little smile. "Me too. I just couldn't get the courage to go talk to you. You're the best looking man I've ever seen.""

"I'm not usually like this. I'm not the type of man who goes around kissing strange women," he said quietly. "Especially such a beautiful woman."

"I'm not the type of women who lets strange men kiss her," she replied with a witty little grin on her face.

"Look, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow," he said. "All I know is that I realized something. If I left this bar without coming over here to talk to you and kiss you, I would regret it for the rest of my life."

She looked into his eyes and smiled lazily. "Well, was it everything you thought it would be?"

"That and more," he whispered back. He paused. "You busy tomorrow?"

"For you, Mr. Brown Eyes? I've got all the time in the world."