Eden and Ruth urged me to go home but I was too fascinated by the lights and the taste of my third double vodka lemonade to voluntarily leave.They stuffed me into an isolated booth near the bar and asked Rob the trusty bartender to keep an eye on me.

I waved at Rob as he gave me a friendly salute back. I kept waving and he ended up at my booth, taking my order of another double vodka lemonade.

“There’s something addictive about this,” I told Rob when he returned with my drink. “It must be the way you make them, Rob.”

He laughed, “Mackenzie, that’s your last one,” he warned. “I know your limit and your friends.”

“Speaking of my friends,” I said, glancing up at Rob. “Where are they?”

“Ruth is chatting up a storm with her fashionista crowd,” said Rob, pointing in Ruth’s direction then he pointed at Eden. “Eden is dancing with Robert.”

“Robert? Eden sure moves fast… she’s already at the frontline of the battle. I wonder how Gabriel Harris is going to retaliate,” I said, smirking at the notion then sighed into my drink, “every one is having fun but me.”

“I think your vodka lemonade might be offended by that,” said someone who didn’t sound like trusty Rob.

“That’s true,” I said, pausing for moment as my brain established that it wasn’t Rob that made the comment. “Where’s Rob?”

“He needed to tend the bar,” said the stranger, “if you don’t mind – I could keep you company.”

I glanced up at the stranger and my stomach did a slight cartwheel –was that the feeling experts in love call butterflies in your stomach? I pondered as I stared dumbly at him. He had disheveled blonde hair and alluring bluish-gray eyes.

“I’ve seen many blonde and blue eyed guys, you aren’t that different,” I said, blaming the butterfly effect on my vodka lemonades but suddenly, this average blonde-blue eyed stranger smiled and I realized, he wasn’t as average as I thought. My breath caught and for a moment my brain was in a pleasant haze, and then I said aloud, “I might have just experienced love at first sight.”

“And how does that feel?” he asked, taking my comment as a welcome gesture for his company. He sat next to me and said, “I’ve heard experts describe it but I’d like to know first hand.”

“I… wouldn’t… I,” I stammered, tongue tied and blushing but quite unsure why. This wasn’t like me –I wasn’t the type that would fall in love with just one smile! “It would take more than one smile –maybe five years of smiles for me to experience love at first sight,” I said my thought out loud.

He chuckled. “Then, maybe it wouldn’t be love at first sight,” he said, facing me. “But I think I could make five years of smiles into one night of first love for you.”

I was hypnotized by his lush mouth as he said the words –his voice sounded sexy. It tingled inside my ears and got my heart racing. “How would you do that?” I asked, knowing I shouldn’t have.

“First,” he whispered, inching closer to me, “we’d have to replace the smiles with something else.”

I could feel his warm whisper on my lips, “What would we replace them with?” I asked then bit my lip, eagerly anticipating his answer.

“Something much more intimate,” he said, his mouth moving to the nape of my neck. “Don’t you agree?”

His words made me shiver and I felt my insides turn liquid hot. “How do you do that?” I asked, blinded by the feeling and the alcohol.

“Do what?” he asked, distracted as he returned to face me.

I bit my lip harder when I caught his intense passionate blue gaze. “Make me hot without touching me,” I replied, almost breathless.

“It must be the curse of experiencing love at first sight,” he said, with that intoxicating smile.

And I was breathless, mindless and I couldn’t control myself even if I wanted to, I just had to kiss him, and I kissed him.

He tasted like sweet whiskey. His mouth was hot as he deepened the kiss. His tongue flickered against mine and it tasted syrupy and…I wanted so much more but before I could utter or plead a request, he broke our kiss.

“I think our night has to end here,” he said, touching my lips with his finger. “First sight loves should last longer than one night, don’t you think?”

“What?” I said, panting and trying to catch up to what he meant. “You mean you’re leaving?”

He nodded and smiled.

“Wait!” I said, hating his stupid smile. “You can’t just leave when… when…”

“When they’ll be a next time and I’ll make sure it ends with something more intimate than kissing,” he said, with confidence. He softly kissed my cheek then whispered in my ear, “I’m Nicholas Lauder, I’ll find you at school.”

I wanted to say something –maybe an insult or a request for the next intimate appointment but my mind was blank, and all I could do was watch him leave. After a minute of mind numbing silence, I finally gained my logic and voice.

“What the hell was that?” I asked myself, quite sure that Nicholas Lauder never happened. What blonde- blue eyed guy kisses a girl and leaves her waiting and wanting? Did guys like him really exist?

Maybe, it was finally time to quit vodka lemonades and clubbing at Alors on Danse. I stood up, abandoning my untouched vodka lemonade to find Eden and Ruth. It was best to leave and forget the memory of this night.