Ashes - Book 2 (New Adult Romantic Suspense) (9 page)

She grabs my hand and pulls me behind her. I get my first look at her from the back. There’s almost nothing there; her entire back is uncovered. There’s a slash of silver material that barely covers her ass and that’s it. Tanned skin everywhere else.

Walking past the long line of people waiting to get in, I’m soon shaking hands with Reggie, then he folds Amber in his gigantic arms. Apparently they know each other well.

“How’s your sister?” I yell at him over the noise.

He wrinkles his nose. “Doing better. Still going to physical therapy a couple times a week. They think they’ll have her walking again within a year or so.”

I met Reggie when I pulled him out of a car his sister was driving. Reggie walked away with a broken collar bone and a fractured wrist. His sister wasn’t quite as lucky. But she is alive, and Reggie never quit thanking me anytime we saw each other.

“Come right on in, my man.” He lifts the cord and we’re ushered in. The crowd behind me groans and tosses out their complaints. “Hey, quiet down!” I hear Reggie shout behind me good naturedly. “That man’s a hero. Let the man dance.”

Amber links her arm in mine and leans close, “Save me please, Mr. Hero. I have a big, big problem and I need someone to take care of it for me.”

I pretend to open up my Superman suit and she laughs. “What ails you, ma’am?” I yell.

She presses closer to me and backs me up until a wall is at my back. “I have an itch, Mr. Fireman. And I need you to scratch it.”

Damn. The woman is sexy.

I have a flash of another type of sexy. Petite, brown hair, brown eyes, hardworking hands with clipped, short nails.

I blink Beth away. I’ve got to get her out of my head. This is stupid.

I re-focus on the woman in front of me. What were we talking about? Oh yeah, an itch. I trace my thumb down the line of her bare spine. She shivers and presses harder against me.

The moment is interrupted when some drunk weaves against us, says a slurred ‘sorry’, then staggers the other way.

Amber grabs my hand and pulls me onto the dance floor. Rumor was true. The DJ is fantastic. And I see where he gets his name, Trunk. The man is as big as a Redwood tree.

Bodies are everywhere, some wiggling in place and others taking up yards of room in their crazy display of dancing. I’m facing Amber, but soon feel someone at my back, their arms stroking up and down my arms before circling around and hugging me from behind.

Amber winks at me and yells, “Hey Sophie!” to her friend. I turn and soon have Sophie grinding against me. Much shorter than her friend, Sophie has dark hair, dark eyes and, for a moment, I see Beth again.

Fuck.

I turn back to Amber.

Amber wiggles around me and speaks to her friend, her hand cupped around her ear so she can be heard. Sophie grins and digs open the tiny little purse hanging against her hip. She pulls out a key, then a condom. She hands them both to Amber.

“My itch is getting really, really bad,” Amber says, her lower lip pouting out before she grabs my hand, pulling me from the floor. I look back at Sophie, but she’s grinding on another guy.

Damn. Thought I’d have another tale to tell Ken tomorrow.

Chapter 14 — Beth

“What?” I yell at Steph, trying to hear her above the music. It’s so loud I can feel the bass pounding in my cells.

“I need another drink!” she yells and picks up her empty glass. I nod and look around. Hannah’s glass is still full, but Jenna, Leigh and Cici all need refills.

I give her an ‘I’m on it’ grin and she links her arm through mine and we weave our way to the bar.

“This is so much fun!” Steph yells and pulls at the top I’d loaned her for the thousandth time. She looks gorgeous in the color; the jade silk halter compliments her green eyes and light coloring. But she’s not used to wearing anything cut that low and seems to be worried to death that she’ll flash a little boob.

“Stop it,” I say and slap her hand away as she tugs on the top again. She slaps my hand back, playful as ever.

“What can I get ya?” the bartender asks and I turn, my eyes widening in surprise. Damn. Gorrr-geous doesn’t begin to describe him. I glance down at his hands. Rainbow ring. Shit. Figures.

“Six lemon drops,” I say, raising my voice to be heard and he gives me a wink. I turn back to Steph and her eyes are wide and she’s fanning her face.
‘Wow, he’s crazy beautiful
,’ her expression says. I nod and take a peek at the bartender’s ass as he bends to grab a glass.

A couple minutes later, I’m handing my credit card to the bar-god when someone reaches over me. “Here, let me get those,” the deep voice says and another credit card is thrust into the bartender’s hand. I look up and a smiling face is looking down at me. Damn … I really hate being this short.

“Please, let me,” he says before I can argue. I catch my breath — was every person in this place struck with the beautiful stick when they were a baby?

Stephanie elbows me and then sticks out her hand. “Thank you,” she says and thrusts one of the drinks at me. Hannah weaves through the crowd, to help carry, I can only assume. Her eyes widen when she catches a glimpse of the guy who is still holding my hand.

“Need help?” she asks, grinning, and Steph hands her two drinks.

Steph gives me an
‘are you coming’
look and I give her a little shake of my head. She gives me a little frown and I frown right back.
‘Okay, okay’
, her eyebrows say. Then her eyes shout
‘be careful’
before she turns and weaves through the crowd, glancing back with an
‘I mean it’
look.

“I’m Tanner,” the blond hottie says, lifting his glass to his lips.

“Beth.”

He leans in close and his hand slips to my back, his thumb caressing the bare skin that my strappy dress has exposed. I’d gone shopping yesterday, looking for a new club dress. I’d also gotten some new shoes that didn’t tear into my still healing feet.

“You’re very beautiful. I noticed you the moment you walked in.”

I glance up at him and he seems sincere. He belts back the drink and orders another — crown and coke. I shudder, remembering the hangover I’d gotten from that drink several years ago.

“Want to dance?” he asks and I look out onto the crowded floor. The place is huge and there are people everywhere. But the music is crazy good … driving every person in the place to move.

I nod. “Let me take my drink to my friends,” I shout loud enough to be heard.

“I’ve got a table over there.” He points in the direction of the corner.

No way in hell will I ever drink from a glass that hasn’t been carefully watched. I shake my head and start walking in Steph’s direction, my hand firmly over my glass. A second later, I feel his warm fingers on my back again. I smile. He followed me. I wasn’t sure that he would.

“Watch this for me?” I ask Steph when I find her again. She smiles and her palm flattens over the rim. Tanner tosses back his drink, then sets his empty glass down too. Then he’s pulling me behind him and I’m soon in his arms, grinding to the music.

I like dancing with Tanner. I like the way he keeps me close. And I like the way he slows things down even when the music tempo hasn’t changed. My arms are around his neck and we’re swaying to a rhythm he’s set. Slow and sexy. Perfect.

I look up at him and try to decide. Could I sleep with him? How would it feel to be with someone new? Someone not Gage? He grins at me, and he has a dimple too. I lift my hand and dip a finger into the groove.

I’m bumped from behind and an elbow connects with the back of my head. Tanner pushes off the crazy guy who’s flailing around to the music.

“Are you okay?” Tanner’s hands are in my hair and his fingers are rubbing my skull. I wince when he touches the bruise already forming there. Looking concerned, he propels me through the crowd and to his table where the music isn’t so loud. He lifts a hand to a passing waitress and orders us another round.

“Make mine a double,” he tells her and I look at him closely. He’s already had two crown and cokes that I know of in a very short amount of time. He must have a stomach of steel.

Walking around the small, bartop table, Tanner moves until he’s behind me. “Let me look.” He parts my hair and gently probes my scalp with his fingers. He’s being ridiculous — I wasn’t hit that hard.

I try to pull away, to protest and let him know I’m totally okay.

His fingers grip into my shoulders. “Sit. Let me look.” I stay put, feeling a little embarrassed about how much of a fuss he is making over a little accident. It kinda reminds me of Gage and even Ken, always making sure others are alright.

“Are you in healthcare?” I ask him, pulling his hands away from my head again.

Tanner snorts. “No way.”

I bristle a little at that and am about to ask him what’s so wrong with the health field when the waitress is back with our drinks. He slips his card from his pocket, then seems to change his mind and pockets it again. “One more round,” he tells her.

I begin to protest, but she’s gone and he’s lifting his glass to his lips. He reaches for mine, but I grab it quickly first. He gives me a funny look.

“To new friends,” he says and lifts his gigantic glass. I lift mine and he clinks them together, then turns his up and swallows most of it in one gulp.

“You might want to slow down,” I say and then add, “I got my worst hangover ever off of crown.”

He grins and gives me a little salute. “It’s good stuff. Takes the edge off.”

I look at him curiously. “Why do you have an edge?”

“Part of the job.”

He’s a lawyer. I’d bet a hundred dollars on it. “What’s your job?”

“I’m an attorney.”

Bingo.

I consider telling him that my dad’s an attorney too, but hesitate. He’d know my dad and will either love him or hate him. If he hates him, I’d be back with Stephanie and the girls in just a few minutes. But if he loves him, I’d never get rid of him. He’d be asking me a million questions and wanting me to take him home to meet the infamous Samuel Richards.

“What do you do?” he asks me before I have a chance to decide.

“I’m a nurse.”

He has the grace to look embarrassed. “That’s cool. Which hospital do you work at?”

“I don’t. I work at the HEAL center.”

His mouth twists a little bit, like he’s smelled something bad. Then the glass is at his lips again, draining the crown.

“You don’t approve?” I ask him, curious as to the look.

“Doesn’t matter to me. I’ve just known too many girls who cried rape and the guy gets a sex offender tag for the rest of his life.”

I bristle again and open my mouth to set him straight on a few things, then the waitress is back and sitting down the new round. I snap my mouth shut and slide from my chair.

“Thanks for the drink. I’m going to get back to my friends.”

He grabs my arm and pulls me back to him. “Wait. Don’t go. We’re just getting to know each other.”

I yank my arm away. “Yes. And what I’m getting to know, I don’t like.”

His lip curls up. “Fine. Go. Be a tease. Just like the little rape victims you probably cry with and hold their hands. Bet they are just like you.” His eyes scan me to my toes and back again. “Dress like a slut. Get drunk. Grind on some random guy’s dick all night at a club. But the moment their very obvious yes turns into a little whisper of no, they cry rape. Yeah, you go on back to your friends. Bitch.”

I toss my drink into his face, then punch a fist into his gut. I’ve turned on my heel and am making my way through the crowd before he’s breathing again.

I’m furious. I’ve never been this angry. And I have to fucking pee.

I make a left and weave through the thrashing bodies, deflecting the hands that try to pull me into a dance. The music is like walking through water, the heavy vibration of the bass clinging to me, pulsing through my system, slowing me down.

I break free from the crowd and almost trip over a dude who’d decided to breakdance unexpectedly. I don’t fall, but lose my shoe. Dammit. I bend over to grab it, but some guy with a huge afro grabs it first. He holds it out, just out of my reach. Grinning. He thinks he’s being cute.

I give him a
‘you really don’t want to do that right now’
stare and his eyes widen and he tosses it to me within seconds. I turn on my heel and limp to a wall, bracing against it and lift a leg to replace the shoe. Then I see him. No
them
. And my breath leaves my body.

It’s Gage and a gorgeous, tall blonde woman in a silver dress.

I flatten myself against the wall, but I didn’t need to worry. Gage’s eyes never leave her ass. She has him by the hand, leading him somewhere and he is grinning, looking mighty fine in a white button up shirt and black trousers.

They disappear into the mouth of the hallway. Where are they going? I limp over and look around the corner, my shoe still in my hand. They pass the long line of women waiting for the ladies’ room, then pass the two guys waiting for the men’s.

Where
are
they going?

Curious, I follow, stopping long enough to take off the other shoe. I jump into a doorway when the woman turns and begins to walk backwards. My stomach twists as they stop and she pulls his head down for a kiss.

I should go.

I should turn around and leave.

I know I should.

But I don’t. I peek around the corner and watch. Jealousy stabs at me and I stab it back. I don’t have a right. We’re not in a relationship. We’re both free to see anyone we choose. Hell, I was thinking of screwing another man just a few moments ago.

I hear the woman laugh and then her heels click on the floor again. I step out of my hiding place, intent to go back to Stephanie, but find myself following them instead.

The back offices of the club are a maze and they turn several corners before they stop and I see the woman insert a key into a door. Gage’s hand is on her ass and his mouth is on her bare shoulder.

Jealousy twists again. I want to be her.

The door opens and the woman laughs and takes Gage’s hand, pulling him inside. I’m horrified at myself when I tiptoe down to the door and realize it hadn’t shut all the way.