In Too Deep: A Romantic Suspense Novel (20 page)

Sophie returned my laughter, her tension now broken. I could tell by the way she carried herself that she wanted me, but she also wasn't the type of girl who slept with a man on the first night. "Okay. First, let me check on my friends. I don't need a guilt trip from them if they're looking for me."

"That's fine. I'm going to get something from the bar. Would you like something?"

I
thought
about Mark's offer for a moment, then smiled. "One drink only, but nothing strong. I have an early shift at the ER tomorrow and I can't afford to be hung over."

I had expected Mark to be resistant to the idea. Most men, when they offer me a drink, are looking for one thing. Most of them are upset when they realize that I'm not an easy lay. Mark took it in stride, his confident smile growing. I seemed to have gone up a notch in his eyes. "That's fine. How about a special mimosa?"

I don't know if Mark was lucky or just really observant, but he picked the one drink that I enjoy most. "What's so special about them?"

"I know it's going to sound weird, but the bar here has a special mimosa that mixes the orange juice part with another blend of juices. I like it, it has a bit more oomph to it taste wise than a normal mimosa."

I thought about it and nodded. "Sounds great. Meet you by the bar in a few minutes?"

Mark nodded and stood up, offering me his hand. When he helped me to my feet, I could feel his hand resting on my upper arm, his slightly callused hands sending tingles through my skin. His dark eyes looked into mine, and I could feel my heart speeding up another notch. "I'll have your drink ready," he said calmly.

Instead of escorting me to the stairs, he turned and almost melted into the crowd, leaving me to make my own way down to the floor. As I walked, I thought about him. I'm not the sort of woman who sleeps with a guy on the first meeting, but there was something about Mark that made me want to open up to him, to beg him to take me back to his place. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but admittedly, it felt perversely amazing.

It didn't take me long to find Tabby and Kelly. They were at one of the tables surrounding the dance floor with two guys. "Hey ladies, how's it going?"

"Ah, we're doing greaaat!" Tabby said, giving me a drunken giggle. She was already at least tipsy, if not fully drunk. "This is..... what's your name again?"

"John," the beefcake next to her said. He was a bit older than Tabby and me, probably getting close to thirty. He was fit, and I could tell he had money. Still, there was something about him that didn't do it for me, and I was confident that even a drunk Tabby could handle him. "How you doin?"

Jesus, he sounded like a stereotypical refugee from the Jersey Shore. How'd he get to our town?

"Tabby, can I talk for a second?"

"Sure," she giggled, wiggling out of the booth. I had to give John credit, he didn't look too worried about it, although the way his eyes were fixed on Tabby's ass was something I didn't appreciate. Once we were a few feet away, she looked at me. "What's up?"

Tabby's lack of drunken slur in her voice made me do a momentary double take. "You doing okay?" I asked, looking into her eyes.

"I'm fine," she said, leaning in. "I'm just planning on cockteasing this guy for a while. Decent dancer, but not good enough for me."

I smiled and looked her over again. "Okay. So you're just acting a bit with him. Look.... I kind of met a guy upstairs. You good on getting home by yourself if you need to?"

Tabby smiled and squeezed my hands in glee. "Good. It's been too long for you. Go have some fun, and I hope it works out for you."

I was touched by the fact that not only did Tabby care enough about me to encourage me to have some fun, but also respected me enough to trust my judgment. "Thanks, Tabs. You and Kelly take care of yourselves. Stay safe."

"You know me, babe. Have fun."

I left Tabby, who twirled and giggled again in her
drunken
state, her red hair whipping around to go back to the table. I found Mark by the bar, a special mimosa in his hand. "Here you are," he said. "My drink will be delivered up to the room in a few minutes. Shall we?"

I could barely control my breathing as I walked up the stairs to the second floor, and I could feel Mark's eyes look me over, especially my legs. I'm proud of them, they're well toned, but this time, I felt nervous. He was a very sexy man with a silent confidence that I found seductive, and my mind kept thinking about him and his hands running over my legs, cupping my ass. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts before goosebumps broke out on my skin.

T
he VIP room
I got was the smallest in the club, which was fine by me. I don't roll with a posse or have an entourage. The bodyguard, a big guy named Jerome that I knew was effective for his size rather than his skill, gave me a respectful nod as I came to the door. "Sir."

"Jerome. I have a drink order coming up. It's the only interruption I would like for a while."

"Of course. You'll have privacy."

I led Sophie into the VIP Room, closing the door behind us. The thick insulation cut off the house music, and I took a deep breath of relief. I detest house music. "So what would you like to listen to?" I asked, as I let the silence wash over me in an awesome wave. "The sound system in here is connected to an online database. I think they once told me it has over a million songs available."

With her student budget outfit comprising of a wine-red satin top, only semi-tight black skirt and forty dollar heels, I would have expected either pop or hip-hop. "Does it have Hans Zimmer?"

Her request pleased me. While Zimmer is no Beethoven, he's one of the best modern composers today in my estimation. Williams is the master of the brass, but Zimmer's got him beat in percussion and strings. "I'm sure I can find something," I said, keying the touchpad and searching. Finding what I wanted, I tapped in the request for random selections, and soon could hear my personal favorite come muted over the speakers. "What do you think?"

"
Time,
" Sophie replied, taking a sip of her mimosa. "Nice. I've used his work on
Crimson Tide
and Nolan's Batman movies for cardio workouts myself, but this is a pretty good one too."

I sat down next to her, and for the next hour, we discussed music and art of all things. It was nice, an amazing change of pace from the normal conversations I have in my line of work, or the typical conversations I have with women. I didn't once have to discuss just where I got my shirts from, or how expensive the watch I had on was.

As we talked, I was more and more impressed by Sophie. She kept herself to only two mimosas, sipping the drink carefully and not letting herself get drunk at all. I didn't tell her that the whole time I was sipping flat ginger ale, a modification of an old trick that I picked up from reading
Batman
as a little boy. With a drop of orange food coloring added, it looks just like aged scotch. By the time the last song drifted away, I knew that I wanted to see her again.

"You know, if you don't mind, I think I would like that dance now," I said, setting my empty glass aside and standing up. The VIP room had a small open area in the front. I'm sure it's been used for plenty of dancing of a different type than what I was wanting, "Would you?"

"I'd enjoy that," Sophie said, letting me pull her to her feet. She wasn't swaying at all, which was a good sign to me. She had handled the alcohol well. "What did you have in mind?"

Instead of answering, I tapped my request into the controller. The lights dimmed slightly, and slow saxophone filled the air. "Slow dancing should always be done to jazz," I told her, pulling Sophie in tight. My hands found the swell of her hips, resting lightly on the generous curve there. There's a saying that I agree with, even though I deride most people who use it. Real women
do
have curves, and Sophie's were wonderful. Pulling her in tight, her breasts pressed against my chest, I could feel both of us breathing heavier, our eyes locked on each other as the slow jazz morphed, acquiring a heavy undercurrent of bass that brought us closer and closer together. I could feel Sophie's nipples harden against my chest, and my cock was aching inside my jeans, when she pulled back, suddenly shy.

"I'm sorry...." she said, her hand resting on the swell of one beautiful breast. “I forgot. I can't. I have early work in the morning."

I was just about to reply when my cell phone, which I keep only for work, rang. I stifled a curse and pulled it out of my back pocket, flipping open the old fashioned looking phone. Despite outward appearances, it has all of the security technology you can get. It pays to be secure in my profession. "Yes?"

I
couldn't believe
what I'd just told him. I regretted what I'd said the moment it left my lips. Could I be any more of a geek? I don't know what came over me, the man was obviously into me, and I most certainly was into him. I guess I just got scared on where we were headed.

Mark listened on the phone for less than a minute before sighing and nodding. "Fine. I'll take care of it tonight. Yes, I'll call you when it's done."

He slammed shut his phone and looked over at me. I could still see the impressive swell of his cock in his jeans and my body was still thrumming with arousal. Still, I could read it on his face. "Work?"

"The danger of being a freelancer," he said with a small smirk. "On the other hand, I can set my own vacations."

"I understand. Well, I should go anyway. It's a long cab ride back over to the North Side."

Mark shook his head and grinned. "You won't have to. The client that called me, they're located on the North Side. I can give you a ride if you want. I promise, I'll be a total gentleman."

I looked at him and considered his offer. Again, the angel and the devil were sitting on my shoulders, both of them talking in my ear.
You should really go home and take a long cold shower, get ready for work tomorrow
, the angel said.
If you like him, you could get his phone number and set up a real date. If he's actually interested in you, he'd be willing to do that.

Yeah, and if you do that, you can spend another couple of months with no sex except your fingers and the dildo you keep in the nightstand,
the devil replied in my other ear. And f
or fuck's sake, you're on the pill, even though its been ages since you’ve seen any action
. Do
you remember how he felt? He's fucking ripped, and that cock you felt pressed against you, honey . . .

I could hear the devil give a little cheer of victory before whispering a final piece of advice.
Just keep Harpgirl over there quiet, and get his phone number too. If he's halfway as good as we think, you're going to want to call him up again.

My decision made, I focused back on Mark, who was giving me a perplexed look. "Sorry, just thinking," I said with a sheepish grin. "Okay, I'd love a ride home. You know where King Street and Graham Avenue meet?"

"Yes, there's a few apartments in that area. Not a great area, but I’ve seen worse.”

There was no condescension in his voice, just a simple statement of fact. It was actually kind of cool to hear it, a lot of guys gave me a look like I was a hood rat when they found out where I lived. "Vista Garden Apartments."

"All right. Let's go then."

When we left the VIP room, Mark slipped the attendant outside a folded up bill.

"Thanks for the service J," he said quietly, before leading me out. I felt a big boost to my ego when I saw Tabby and Kelly, both still playing with their boy toys, catch sight of us. Tabby did a double take before clapping and giving me a big thumbs up from across the club. "I see your friends approve."

I glanced over at Mark, who was grinning confidently and looking at me with a look in his eyes that bordered on cocky. He turned his grin to Tabby and returned the thumbs up, causing my bubbly friend to burst out in laughter. Over the loud club music, I couldn't tell what she said to Kelly, but I trusted Tabs. She'd had my back for a long time. If I was leaving the club with a handsome guy, Tabby would be cheering me on.

Walking through the parking lot, I was surprised at first when I felt Mark take my hand as we walked. "I enjoyed our talk and our dance," Mark said. "I'd like to do it again sometime."

Whoa. Was this vision of masculinity really asking me out on a date? "I'd like that," I finally said. "Give me your phone number?"

"I've got a card in the car," he said, reaching into his pocket and thumbing his security tab. I was only partially surprised when an electric blue Mercedes responded.

"Wow, nice wheels. What is it?" I asked, looking at the gull-wing doors. "I've never seen a Mercedes like this."

"GT-S, all electric drive," Mark replied, opening the door and helping me into the low-slung passenger seat. I know I gave him a very nice look at my legs getting in there, but I didn't mind at all. "I'm into being green."

And spending it
, I whispered to myself after he closed the door and came around, checking out the interior. All leather seats, a Bose sound system, and enough of those little touches that said this car was easily in the six-figure price range. Whoever Mark was, he had money. I waited until he settled into the driver's seat before saying anything. "I have to say, it's an impressive car."

"Thanks. Cars are one of the only things I like to splurge on," he said, turning on the engine.

The ride back to my apartment was surreal. Other than the wind flowing over the vehicle, it's almost totally silent. "Wow, you could be a ninja in this thing," I commented when we were about halfway to my home. "I'd never hear you coming."

Mark nodded and I could hear him chuckling under his breath. "I enjoy it that way," he said. "What about you, what do you drive?"

I laughed and looked over at him. "You'd laugh if I told you."

"Oh, come on. You know if you don't, I'm going to spend five minutes in your parking lot guessing what it is until you tell me one way or another."