Stiletto Sisterhood

Original Edition: *BONUS* Isobel| If by chance [WattpadBlockParty]

Isobel felt him before she saw him. Intangible and visceral all at once.

He'd arrived only moments after she and Priya had secured their booth seating. Handsome and refined, but casually put together. The sleeves of his blazer rolled up over forearms corded with muscle and decorated with dark curving lines of tattoos that were somehow natural instead of forced, but oh did they make him look sexy.

And dangerous.

Dark hair winged down over his brow and brushed the black frames of his glasses. His sculpted face, cool and aristocratic in its shape, and skin golden from both sun and lineage.

His presence was a shock of electricity across her skin. A buzz in the air primed only for her. As direct as a bolt of lightning that struck in places she never expected to feel again. Straight through the center of her chest.

And somewhere...lower. Reviving a broken heart and forgotten urges...

"You alright?" Priya asked, the straw from her cranberry vodka poised between her lips.

"Yeah. Fine." Isobel squirmed where she sat and crossed her legs. Thighs clenching against the needy ache. And as Priya launched back into the details of the daily drama at her firm, Isobel's eyes drifted away from her best friend—her sister, not by blood but by choice—and once again scanned the crowded nightclub for the source. For the man who touched her without a single stroke of his finger to her skin. For the presence that even now was coiling deep inside her body and filling her with heat.

So much heat.

He'd transitioned from the bar to a table and sat the cornered edge with his friends, blazer undone and forearms planted in front of him, all dark washed jeans—the neckline of his shirt plunged to reveal hard caps of his muscular chest. Smooth. Strong.

It surprised her to discover his eyes seemed to be searching for hers, too. As if whatever this sensation she was experiencing tugged on him too—equally shocking and new. The second he found her, a jolt snapped through Isobel, fast and bright.

His dark eyes captivated—not even the framed glasses could detract from the intensity of his gaze, though she saw gentleness there to temper and soften their dizzying power.

"Hey." Priya's fingers snapped in front of her face. Breaking the connection. The spell. God, that single, searing second had felt like an hour had stretched between them. Strong and tenuous. Every inch of her tingled and hummed, begging for more. A junkie craving another hit.

"What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"You totally spaced out on me."

"No I didn't."

"What was I talking about?"

Crap. Isobel reached for her martini, stalling for a few precious seconds. "You're concerned Mrs. Marlow will push to go to trial," she said, the gears of her memory churning with fierce effort to rewind the last minute. "And something about a tiger..."

Smirking devilishly, Priya swirled the straw in her drink, rattling cubes of ice. "Which one is he?"

"Who?"

"The guy who's got you all hot and bothered. Which one? Is it the Asian in Tom Ford checking you out—hard?" Isobel didn't need to flick her gaze across the room to know who Priya was speaking about. She could feel him watching her. And her mouth went dry with anticipation. The exhilarating rush of knowing sent little licks of excitement to twine with the nerves, leaving her giddy and a little breathless.