Beats of Life (Perception Book 5) (4 page)

The perky brunette waitress makes her way back to me the instant she notices my empty whiskey glass with another double of whiskey on her silver tray. This time, since she doesn’t need to bend over, her brown eyes stare directly into mine and she teasingly licks her top lip. I remove the whiskey from the tray, only sneaking a small peak at her generous breasts.

“Your napkin, Sir,” she purrs seductively, handing me the napkin that was under the crystal tumbler. She then winks, before spinning on her heels and strolling briskly back to the bar. It is only after I finish my perusal of her swinging hips and ass does my gaze lower down to the napkin she handed me.

“VIP bathroom in ten minutes,” I read off the napkin. When my eyes flick up to the bar she has just walked too, she smiles brightly at me. I give her a quick nod of my head. In ten minutes, any thoughts of Kylie that are plaguing my mind will soon become a distant memory.

“Cheers to girls that break your heart,” I murmur to myself, downing the double of whiskey, before heading to the bathroom to hook up with the horny waitress.

Kylie

I just spent the last hour begging Melanie to let us go straight back to the hotel. I had done as she requested, I dressed in one of her dresses, I put make up on my face and I went and watched the guy I still love perform on stage. I did everything she requested to the smallest detail and she is still forcing me to attend the after party against my wishes. It is only when her blue eyes pleaded into mine and her bottom lip dropped did I eventually cave to her request. Tonight was her night, we are only in Seattle on her request, so I may as well continue to suck it up for a little while longer. The smile that was plastered on her face when we walked into the nightclub was worth the feeling of being stabbed in the heart with tiny sharp knives. 

The instant I walk in the nightclub, I spot Slater standing up on the second story. Tonight he matches into the surroundings a lot better than he did the first time I had met him…….

I couldn’t miss the mysterious stranger standing outside of the Bar N Barrel. Not just because his whole appearance screamed biker, it was his piercing brown eyes and lickable tattooed arms that drew me in. Nearly every inch of his muscular veined arms were covered in a range of tattoos that I could spend hours exploring. When he noticed me perusing his body, his face morphed into a seductive grin and his eyes burned straight through to my soul. I never believed in instant love, but instant lust is a different story and that guy had my interests immensely peaked. It was only when Dominic slapped me on the bottom did our intense connection become interrupted.

“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it,” Dominic said playfully. When his arm wrapped around my shoulders, he forced me to continue walking towards the bar. I don’t know what compelled me to do it, maybe it was the intense throbbing between my legs, or the fact I could feel myself drooling, but I winked at the mysterious cutie before I walked into the bar.

We spent the next thirty minutes setting up the stage in preparation for my friends to perform. They have been playing at the Bar N Barrel for the past three months. It was an unpaid gig, but they did it more for fun than money. Once the stage was set up, I headed straight to the bar. No matter how many times Dominic requested for me to perform with them, I just couldn’t do it. I was scared senseless about performing in front of a group of people. I was more than happy to stick to singing in the shower. Once Darla handed me my cranberry vodka I had ordered, I spun around to watch my friends. I was halfway spinning around when I noticed the guy I had seen earlier sitting at the side of the bar. I didn’t even need to look at him to know that he was watching me, I could feel his intense heated gaze running over my body.

I waited patiently for him to come over and talk to me, but as the minutes started to drag on, I realized that I was going to have to make the first move.

“Didn’t your mother teach you it is rude to stare?” I questioned, giving him my best angry scowl that I could muster. When he smiled at my question, I quickly turned my eyes back towards the stage. That throbbing I was feeling earlier just catapulted to a new level. He moved and sat next to me, allowing me to smell a mixture of oil, aftershave and a scent that was pure man.

“Why aren’t you up there with your friends?” he questioned, the deepness of his voice vibrating right through my body.

Because I am pretty sure I would end up vomiting all over the stage or perhaps I might have even fainted. But instead of telling him what I was really thinking, I replied with “The idea of standing up in front of a crowd petrifies me.”

His laugh was that loud, I literally jumped out of my skin. And my vodka cranberry jumped out of its glass. He mumbled a quick apology before grabbing a wad of napkins off the counter top to clean the spill off my chest. Although the vodka was chilled, my nipples weren’t standing to attention from its coolness, they were paying careful attention to his large callus covered hands that were rubbing along them. I could only wish that there wasn’t a large wad of napkins between us. Suddenly, he freezes and his dark brown eyes lift from looking at my breasts to my face. His face a cross between amused and slightly aroused.

“I guess I should introduce myself since you have already met my boobs,” I replied before I suddenly became mortified. I’ve never been good at flirting and that line was one of the worst I have ever used. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” I continued, slowly lifting my eyes to look into his.

“I’m Slater, nice to meet you,” he said, staring directly into my eyes. “And your boobs,” he continued with a large smirk on his face.

Just as I was about to introduce myself, Dominic stood directly in between Slater and I. He pretended that he was ordering a beer from Darla, but I knew Dominic and I knew he was marking his territory. Dominic has been my friend since we were in diapers, but the past three years he has been trying much harder to be more than friends. Once Darla handed him his beer, he spun around and wrapped his arm around my shoulders to drag me towards our regular table. I quickly shrugged out of his embrace and turned back to face Slater.

“I’m Kylie and the pleasure was all mine,” I replied, before quickly spinning back around, wanting to ensure that he wouldn’t see the embarrassed and mortified look on my face, since I had just given him the second worst pick up line of my life.

As the night continued, the crowd at the bar started to become more filled with all the town folk wanting to enjoy their Saturday night. I could feel Slater’s eyes on me when I was dancing with some friends that I motioned for him to join me on the dance floor, he smiled while shaking his head. I guess boot scooting wasn’t his thing? A short time later, I was feeling parched from dancing so much that I went to the bar to order another drink. I may have also wanted to reignite my earlier conversation with Slater. This time, I decided to sit next to him.

“Not a fan of boot scooting?” I questioned sarcastically. He chuckled loudly while motioning for me to look at him. I was more than willing to comply with his request. Slater couldn’t have been any more different than all the guys in my home town. They were all clean shaven and most of the hair on their heads were covered with large cowboy hats. They wore jeans with big belt buckles, button up cotton shirts and riding boots. Slater had jeans, on but his belt buckle was a biker buckle. His hair was blonde, long and in dreadlocks. He was wearing a tight white singlet that showed off the impressive ridges of his abdomen and his large muscular arms. He was also wearing boots, but his were motorcycle boots.

“You have the boots for it,” I continued, causing him to chuckle loudly that it vibrated right through me.

Slater and I continued to talk for the next thirty minutes. To say he had a sense of humour would have been a major understatement. He kept me laughing the entire time that I ended up having small tears well up in my eyes. When the bar started to quieten down, he looked down to a black leather watch on his wrist and his eyebrows pulled together tightly.

“It’s not even nine,” he informed, like I was unaware of the time. Things in my home town were obviously a little different than what he was used to. There we rose early, normally before the sun was even up, so a lot of the town folk were normally in bed by then. If you own a ranch there is no Monday to Friday routine. The livestock and horses don’t care if it is Sunday or not, they want to be fed every day. When I explained that to Slater, he nodded his head, before he smiled a huge cheeky grin.

“So you’re about to go and tuck yourself into bed?” he questioned cheekily, his eyes roamed over my body seductively, causing that tingling sensation to return again.

“I said most town folks are normally in bed by now, I didn’t say I was like most town folks,” I replied, causing him to chuckle. I was only home for spring break. I was currently in my second year of college and I chose to attend one as far away from my home town as possible. Not because I didn’t love my family, it was because I wanted to experience life. My whole life I was raised on the ranch. I went to the same school with the same friends and we had the same routine every day for the first eighteen years of my life. To me that wasn’t living, it was like a hamster in a wheel, boring and predictable. I wanted to experience life to its fullest, to have an adventure and to live the best life I could. Maybe that was why someone like Slater was so attractive to me, he seemed full of fun and adventure. He appeared to be riding the crazy rollercoaster of life with his arms held high into the air, not even appearing to be the slightest bit scared.

“Will you take me for a ride on your bike?” I questioned eagerly, before I had a chance of chickening out. I had never been on the back of a motorbike and I would have loved to tick it off my bucket list of things I wanted to achieve in my life. He smiled while nodding his head.

“Now?” I requested, grabbing his hand in an attempt to drag him towards the entrance of the bar. He quickly downed the remainder of his beer before he followed me out of the bar.

Once we were standing in front of his bike, the nervous butterflies were fluttering full force in my stomach. He grabbed a small black helmet out of a saddle bag and placed it on top of my head, ensuring that he tied the straps on the tight under my chin. He threw his leg over the bike and kicked up the stand before helping me onto the back. When he kicked over the bike, the rumbling of the engine vibrated right through me and I let out an excited squeal. My eyes darted down, trying to find where I was supposed to hold onto before Slater grabbed my hands and placed them around his waist.

“Hold on,” he said, before we bolted out of the carpark. I squealed and giggled while looking back at the dust cloud we had left behind to find Dominic rushing out of the bar. His furious and confused eyes spotted us just as we entered the main highway. I gave him a quick wave, before reattaching my tight death grip around Slater’s hard and rigged stomach.

“
There he is,” Melanie squeals excitedly, interrupting me from my thoughts. She had just spotted Marcus heading onto the dance floor with Emily and Noah following closely behind.

“If you introduce me, I’ll love you forever,” she begs, her blue eyes pleading into mine.

“I’ll try, but he may not remember me,” I reply, causing her to squeal in excitement.

I grab her hand in mine and quickly make my way towards Emily, Noah and Marcus. It isn’t an easy feat with all the people vying for their attention. Luckily for me, Melanie is aggressive and has no problems barging and elbowing people out of our way. Once we finally make it to the middle of the dance floor, I tap Emily softly on the shoulder. Always being polite, she slowly turns her head back to face me as she says “Hello.” It is only once her eyes finally lift to my face does she realize who she is greeting. She squeals loudly before throwing her arms around my neck, engulfing me with her vanilla scent. Noah instantly becomes alerted by her squeals that he stops dead in his tracks and spins around that fast, I become concerned for my safety. When he realizes why Emily is squealing, he smiles his famous panty dropping grin that makes all the girls surrounding him sigh in sync.

“What are you doing in Seattle?” Emily questions, her light brown eyes leisurely roaming over my face.

“Only attending the concert of the world’s greatest band,” Melanie answers dramatically, making Emily smile proudly.

I introduce Emily and Noah to Melanie and I’m surprised when she maintains a cool calm composure, until Marcus stands next to Noah. Her eyes bulge out of her head and her grip on my hand tightens that much her nails dig into my palm.

“Hi Kylie,” Marcus greets kindly, leaning in and placing a kiss on my cheek, causing Melanie to sigh loudly.

“Marcus, this is my friend Melanie,” I introduce. Marcus politely greets Melanie and offers her his hand to shake. She stands still, staring at him, unable to move or speak, causing Emily to giggle softly. I pry her death grip off my hand and place her hand in Marcus’s to shake. The instant his hand wraps around hers, she snaps back into reality.

“Sorry, I was just imaging what our children will look like,” she informs without any hesitation. Noah laughs loudly, but Marcus looks genuinely concerned about her statement.

“Nice seeing you again Kylie,” Marcus informs politely, before making his way back towards the stairs.

After Noah’s laughter eventually dies down he turns to face Melanie. “I think you scared him away,” he informs slightly chuckling.

“He’ll get use to the idea……. Eventually,” Melanie informs, watching Marcus walk up the stairwell. Once he reaches the top, he turns back to look down at us and Melanie gives him an over eager wave. He hesitantly waves back before he moves away from the edge of the balcony, probably to ensure he is no longer in Melanie’s visual.