"She was the reddest apple in the garden, the most tempting amongst the forbidden fruits, and I didn't need the serpent to convince me to bite her" - Daniel Saint
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"Well if it isn't JB!"
Both Jon and his girlfriend Mandy turned from the bar to face the voice. Mandy felt Jon stiffen when they saw a red head woman standing behind them.
"Sarah! It's um, well it's been a while." Jon replied, as he leant in to give her an awkward half hug and peck on the cheek. "Uh, this is my girlfriend, Mandy." He quickly added, and gestured to Mandy who stood beside him as she assessed this stranger. She had called him JB, so she was someone who knew him well. But Mandy didn't get the feeling it was an ex girlfriend.
Mandy also felt the scrutiny as the other woman looked her over in that way that two women often did. She hated that it made her feel self conscious in her dress and she had to resist the urge to adjust it. Mandy had brought it for this wedding a few months ago and hadn't bothered to try it on again until this morning, only to find it a little tighter than it had been.
"Nice to meet you Mandy." Sarah smiled, her voice light, as she held out her hand for Mandy to shake. There was something about her smile that made Mandy uneasy and she hesitated to shake it a moment too long so Sarah let her hand drop. Mandy expected her to look offended, but it seemed to make her smile wider as her eyes flicked back to Jon. A look passed between them and Mandy felt like there was some kind of secret she wasn't being made aware of.
They continued to exchange pleasantries. Mandy, and Jon, learnt that Mike, the groom, whom Jon worked with, also happened to be one of Sarah fiancés cousins, hence why she was also at the wedding.
"So is Ben with you?" Jon asked, looking around.
"Oh no, he's away at the moment. Due back in a month..." She said as she went on to explain he was in the marines now.
There was a hush that seemed to fall over the room as people stopped their chatter and all eyes went to the woman who had just entered the room.
Mandy watched her as she made her way through the crowd, eyes still followed her as the chatter began again. She wondered if it was the woman's beautiful, and slightly exotic look, with her sun tanned skin and dark hair that had people's attention, or if it was that statement of a dress. It's dark teal colour standing out amongst the pale colours of the other women's dresses around them or the incredibly daring front that showed more than it covered.
Glancing up at Jon, she was surprised to see his jaw clenched and his body rigid. He was staring at this woman with a look she couldn't quite place before he turned back to the bar.
"And there's my plus one..." Sarah laughed, her gaze flicking to Jon's back. "Hey beautiful." Sarah greeted her friend with a hug as the other woman came to stop by them.
"Sorry I'm late, the drive was crazy. I've left my suitcase in the car for now. Il take it to my room after the service." She returned her friends hug, her eyes closed and a soft smile on her lips. Her features weren't delicate, but they were just as striking.
Evie stood, letting Sarah step back. She caught the playful smirk on her best friends mouth. The look she always got when she was up to no good.
"Hi..." Evie turned to Mandy, flashing her a warm and genuine smile.
Mandy looked at the woman, mouth slightly agape. She was still taken aback by Jon's reaction and his sudden avoidance of this woman as he stood with his back to them. She looked at him again before looking back at the woman and saw her smile had gone as her eyes fixed on Jon's back. A cold look now in her eyes.
"Jon." She finally spoke. Relieved to hear no hint of a crack in her voice. Finally, Jon turned to face her. A torrid of emotions flickered over both their faces. Mandy looked at Sarah, who seemed unconcerned by the sudden tension engulfing them all, in fact she seemed almost amused by it all.
"Evie..." Jon's voice faltered slightly. His hands clenched in his pockets, the urge to reach out and touch her overwhelmed him in that moment.
**
"Hi," her voice was as tantalising as the rest of her. It held a slight accent that he'd not heard before. There was minimal seating left in the coffee shop, so he had suggested they share a table and he'd been surprised when she'd agreed. Instead of sitting opposite him, she'd chosen to sit next to him on the bench seat.
He was too aware of her. The subtle hints of a perfume that lingered on the skin of her neck. The heat of her leg touching his. The way her fingers brushed so slightly against his arm when she spoke.
How had this stranger intoxicated him so quickly. He found himself staring at her mouth, when he wasn't staring at her rack, her lips full and dark without a suggestion of lipstick and wondered if they were soft to kiss.. and how they'd look wrapped around his cock. He had tried to banish those thoughts but they kept coming, causing a stir in his trousers he wished it wouldn't.
But it was her eyes that would stay with him, and go on to haunt his dreams. They were dark, so dark they were almost black and they held every emotion she felt. Right now the mischievous glint did little to calm his raging hormones.
He'd walked her to her car. Surprised to find someone as dainty as she was, driving such a big car. She hadn't waited for him to make the first move. Instead she'd stepped forward and gripped his T-shirt, pulling him closer as she pushed up onto tiptoes to kiss him. Her fingers finding the bulge in his trousers as her tongue found his...
**
Jon was thrown back into the memory as he stared at Evie. Even after two years she was still as intoxicating as she had been when they first met. A year with her had changed him, the year without her had changed him more.
"We should go." Mandy's voice finally snapped him back to the present. He glanced down and saw the irritation on her face. He watched as she settled her gaze back on to Evie, hostility seeped from her pores as she guided him away.
