The bouncer steps aside. “She’s with me,” I tell him, gesturing to Candice. He nods and lets her through.
A few seconds later and we’re in the VIP area. I introduce Candice to Tri. He kisses her hand, and she’s all smiles and pouts and fluttering lashes.
“Put me down,” Miss Shaw giggles. “Bolt, you can put me down now, silly.”
I carefully set her on her feet, noting that, at least she had the good sense to wear low heels. She leans forward, smiling like a madwoman and holding out her hand, which Tri shakes. “I’m Ashley.”
“Oh, I know exactly who you are,” he says. “I’m Trident.”
Miss Shaw frowns. “You know who I am? How do you know who I am? I don’t know you.” Then she seems to forget what she was saying and smiles. “This is Candice…she’s my very best friend.”
“Lovely to meet you, Candice,” Tri plays along. He kisses Candice on the hand again, and she giggles. “What can I get you lovely ladies to drink?” he asks.
“More shots.” Miss Shaw does this little jump, but her feet don’t leave the ground, which is probably a good thing.
I send Tri a scathing look and mouth ‘Fucker’ at him.
“Chill, bro! The real thing for you and me, and virgin shots for the ladies. I like Candice. I also happen to like my women sober and able to make decisions.”
“I don’t think so! I’m taking them home,” I say. “No alcohol for me.” I turn to the ladies. “How about we hit the road?” I look first at Candice, and then at Miss Shaw. “I think it might be enough partying for one night.”
I see both their faces fall.
“What? Home?” Candice says. “We just got here. We’re having fun.”
“Yes, Bolt!” Tri smirks. “We’re having fun.”
“We can’t go!” Miss Shaw puts her hands on her hips and looks at me like I’m the biggest jerk alive. “You can be such a party-pooper. While we’re on that, you really should smile more. You should definitely loosen up.” She grabs my biceps. “Too hard. So stiff and rigid.” She has no fucking idea how stiff and rigid I’m about to become if she keeps touching me like that.
“Yes, Bolt,” Tri laughs, “loosen up! I suggest a round of waters to rehydrate, and then we’ll have more shots.”
“More shots.” Miss Shaw claps her hands.
He signals the waiter hovering near our group and orders.
“Oh, my god!” Candice covers her mouth with her hands. “Is that Patrick Cuttings?” she says through her fingers.
“Patrick who?” I ask.
“Patrick Cuttings!” she loud-whispers. “You don’t know who Patrick is? He’s a famous actor. He’s an A-list Hollywood celeb.”
“Where? Where?” Miss Shaw looks around, her gaze finally landing on the dipshit surrounded by women. “Oh, yes! It’s him.” She looks amazed for a second, and then she frowns. “I thought he would be hotter than that.” She sighs.
“He’s pretty hot,” Candice says.
“Nope.” Miss Shaw shakes her head. “He’s a letdown. They’re all letdowns, and it’s all your fault.” She turns my way and digs her finger into my chest.
Tri puts his arm around Candice and asks her something or other.
“How is it my fault?”
“You’re too damned sexy. You’re so hot. I hate you so much, Bolt. You irritate me. Those eyes. I mean, look at them…just look.”
“I can’t look at my own eyes without a mirror, Miss Shaw.” My mouth is twitching. I’m having to work hard not to laugh.
“You know what I mean. You’ve seen them enough times. And these muscles…come on!” She says it like it’s a bad thing. She takes a step back and teeters on her low heels.
I move in and grip her hip to keep her steady. “You okay? Are you sure we can’t go home?”
“We are not going home, and I’m not done being mad at you for being,” she makes a disgusted noise, “so beautiful.”
“I’m a guy, Miss Shaw. Men aren’t beautiful.”
“You are, and you suck.” Then she narrows her eyes. “Why do you keep calling me Miss Shaw? Why?”
“It’s your name.”
“Nope.” She shakes her head in a slow, exaggerated way that tells me she’s out of it. Those shots are catching up with her big time. I need to get her out of here. I glance at Tri and Candice. They’re talking up a storm. Laughing. Joking. Fuck! “Repeat after me,” she says, drawing my attention back to her. “Ashley. Say ‘Ashley’. It’s not hard. Try it. Try it just once.”
I shake my head.
She’s half an inch away from me. No wonder jerkface couldn’t take his eyes off her tits; they’re a work of art. I force myself to do it. It’s not that hard, since her eyes are probably more beautiful. I’d say they’re her best feature. Even hazy from the alcohol, they’re beautiful. “Try it,” she says again. “Come on, Bolt. We’ll break it up. Ash- and then -ley. Ash-… Try it!” She reaches up and takes my lips in her fingers. She actually tries to manipulate my mouth into saying her name. “Ash,” she moves my lips, “-ley. Nearly. You almost have it.” She frowns, looking so fucking adorable. “You have such great lips.” She’s still holding them in her fingers. “Such…amazing lips… Another reason to add to that list of reasons why I hate you,” she says with such sincerity. “It’s a long list. A very long list indeed.”
I pull away. “I need to take you home, Miss Shaw.”
“Only if you call me Ashley.” She cocks her head.
I sigh. “Let’s just go, please.”
“I don’t want to go home! I know! You could take me to your house.” She looks so happy, I almost agree.
“Let’s just go.”
“To your house.”
“Um…we’re heading out,” I tell Tri, grabbing a water off the tray. I partially open it and hand it to Miss Shaw.
“Yum,” she says, opening it the rest of the way and gulping down the liquid. Some spills down the side of her mouth and into her cleavage.
Killing me!
I take hold of the bottle and lower it. “Easy does it.” I take the lid from her and screw it back on.
“We’re going now,” she tells Trident, “to his house.” She uses her thumb to point at me.
“Not my house.” I shake my head.
“Yes! Your house.”
I roll my eyes and groan. “Can I offer you a ride?” I ask Candice. “I’m hoping that neither of you drove here.”
“We Ubered.”
“If you want to stay, I could take you home,” Tri says. I’m sure he doesn’t have an ulterior motive. Not a single one. My inner thoughts are dripping with sarcasm. I don’t say anything. Candice is tipsy, but she can make her own decisions. Also, Tri wouldn’t take advantage.
“I’ll stay. Thanks for the offer,” she purrs at Tri. Then she frowns, looking my way. “You’ll make sure she gets home safely?”
“Bolt is a party-pooper,” Miss Shaw says, giggling at her own joke.
“What am I saying?” Candice says. “You’re her boss and a party-pooper.” She giggles. “Of course you’ll get her home safely. Her house keys are in her purse.” Which I note is tiny and strapped across her body.
“I will make sure she’s safe.” I put my arm around Miss Shaw to help her balance. “Let’s go.”
“We’re going to your house,” she states. I can tell this is going to be a long drive.
25
Ashley
I groan as my eyes open. They’re scratchy, and my head is pounding. I groan again as I sit up. I look around. Where am I? I’m not sure if it’s my head that’s affecting my eyesight or if I really can’t place myself right now. I’m leaning towards the latter. I don’t recognize any of this decor.
My head hurts so badly that I flop back down.
“Oh, you’re awake,” a familiar voice says next to me.
The air seizes in my lungs. I’m in a bed. That’s Bolt’s voice.
I’m in a bed with Bolt.
I sit back up and pu
ll in a breath. My head hurts so much, I grip it in one hand. My hair! It feels like a rat’s nest. I’m too scared to look next to me, so I look down. “What the…?” My dress is half off. It’s unzipped and around my waist. I’m wearing a strapless bra, which is still on. The bottom half of the dress is riding up, I see underwear, thank goodness. I don’t think anything happened, but when I try to search for a memory, my head pounds harder, so I stop.
“You tried to take it off,” Bolt says. “The dress. I tried to stop you, but you kept spanking me.”
Spanking?
I spanked Bolt.
No! No! No!
I groan. The sound is filled with pain, not just physical this time. I slowly turn my head. He’s lying on his back. No covers. He’s reading a book. I can’t say what it’s about because my eyes have focused on his chest. His naked chest. He puts the book down. “You tried to take your bra off too but, thank god, you couldn’t get it right. I wouldn’t have looked…much.”
His mouth twitches.
I wince at the memory and because I hurt…everywhere.
“You took my shirt off.” He smiles. “You tried to take my pants off as well, but I had to draw the line at that.”
I get a flash of trying to smack his hands away from his zipper. Of trying to… I stop the memory in its tracks. I don’t want to remember any more. I groan again. “That can’t be right,” I mutter. My mouth…it tastes like a toilet. “What happened? The club,” I croak. Flashes of memory are all I have.
“You had a couple of shots at the club. By the way, you can’t handle your alcohol, Miss Shaw.”
“Where am I?” I look around. Wow! This place is incredible. If I wasn’t feeling so shitty, I could appreciate it more. I think the view is amazing, but it hurts too much to stare into the light.
“You’re in my apartment.” Bolt gets out of bed. He’s wearing a pair of black jeans and nothing else. “This is my bedroom.”
My parched lips get even more parched when I see him standing there. Shirtless looks good on him. His tattoo of a lightning bolt is out on display. It streaks across his chest. It suits him. My head pounds harder. “Why… Why am I in your bed? Don’t you have a spare bedroom?”
Bolt chuckles. “I tried to take you to your own apartment. I would have put you in your own bed and left you there, but you insisted on coming here. Once we got here, you insisted on sleeping in my bed, with me in it.”
I have a flashback of wrapping myself around him, arms and legs. I wouldn’t let him leave. This is worse than I thought. Bolt walks out of the bedroom before I can say anything.
I take the opportunity to cover myself with a sheet.
Within a minute, he returns with a big glass of water and two tablets. “Painkillers for your headache.”
“I somehow remember being downstairs from my apartment. Did we go there?” I take the tablets and drink them down. That must be a false memory. Why are we here if we went there?
Bolt has this amused look. I’m glad he’s taking this so well. “Yep,” he nods, “I tried really hard to get you home. You refused. You wanted to come to my place. You were very insistent.”
“I was drunk,” I say. “Don’t listen to a drunk person. You could have carried me like a sack of potatoes.”
“Um…you threw your apartment keys down the drain when I tried to—”
I gasp and cover my face. “Oh, no! Oh, no! Please don’t say anymore. Oh, my word! I can’t believe I did that. My keys. I’m never drinking again. I’m so sorry. I’m imposing on you. I’m—”
“Actually, you were hilarious. I had the best time.”
I take my hands away. “I’m glad I could help out with that.”
“It’s fine. No harm was done. You had a good time and were safe in the end.”
I frown. “About that… How did you know I was there?”
“My friend owns the club. I was in the VIP area and saw some asshole pawing at you.” His whole body tightens, and he gets this tic in his jaw.
“You came to my rescue.” I remember the guy. He was a sleazy creeper who kept trying to buy me another drink. In the same breath, I remember Bolt giving me water and offering me more when we got here.
“Of course I did. That guy was one hell of a jerk.”
I gasp. “Candice. What about Candice?”
“My friend got her home safely.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yep.” He nods. “I checked in with Tri…my friend. She’s fine.”
“I’d better get cleaned up and out of your hair.” I stand, and my stomach rolls. “Oh, boy!” I grab my churning belly.
“Are you okay?”
I shake my head.
“Feeling sick?”
I nod. He picks me up and, taking long strides, has me in the bathroom in seconds.
I put my hand over my mouth and work hard at not puking on him. That would be really bad. I gag as soon as he puts me down. “Thanks. Now go!” I croak. Then I gag again and fall to my knees on the tiles. “Go!” I try again, but he doesn’t budge.
Instead, he gently takes my hair into his hand and holds it off my face. “It’s okay,” he says in a soothing voice. “Let it out, you’ll feel better.”
“Leave,” I push out. It’s my last-ditch hope he’ll listen, but he doesn’t.
Bolt holds my hair and murmurs words of encouragement while I puke. It takes a while, and it’s pretty nasty. I puke until there’s nothing left. Even then, I gag some more and then puke bile. Yeah, I’m never drinking again…ever. I gag a bit more until I finally feel done and slump with my head on the toilet seat.
“Let me help you back into bed, and I’ll get you more painkillers.”
I lift my head. “I need to shower, and I need to brush my teeth.” Thankfully, I didn’t catch my reflection in the mirror on the way in, and I’m grateful. I know I look awful. I might look worse than I feel, which would be something. Wanting to get cleaned up has nothing to do with my looks. I know I’ll feel better once I do.
“You should rest. Maybe rinse your mouth out first…if you’re up to it. I’ll send my driver to pick up some supplies. You can use one of my shirts…anything you want, for that matter. I’m sure you’ll feel better once you’ve had some rest and some good food.”
I’m floored all over again at how sweet he is. I can’t seem to get a handle on this man. He seems to run hot and cold. “Thing is, I think it’s my BO that’s making me feel ill. That, and my breath. I don’t think the shower can wait.”
“I’ll fetch a shirt for you to change into.” He sounds amused. “Help yourself to whatever you need.”
“Thanks,” I croak. I slump down beside the toilet for a few seconds until I muster up the courage to move.
Bolt leaves, but is back a minute or two later with some clothing. In the meantime, I’ve rummaged through his cabinet. I accidentally saw myself in the mirror and nearly fell over…literally. I look like a zombie. My hair is a rat’s rest, just like I suspected. I seem to have more eye makeup under my eyes than I originally applied last night. I’m not sure how that’s possible. My eyes are bloodshot and bleary. I’ve pulled my dress up to cover my boobs, which might be concealed by a bra, but are still all over the damn place.
“You have an electric toothbrush,” I tell him when he puts the clothing down on the cabinet. “In fact, you have tons of stuff in there. Three kinds of hair gel? Two kinds of hairbrushes? An array of colognes. Face cream and exfoliating cream?”
He smiles. “I’m metrosexual.”
Sexual.
Sex on legs.
Yes, he is!
I’m still attracted to Bolt. Even with a pounding headache, a mouth that tastes like a sewer, and a churning stomach. Yep, I still feel ill. I don’t know how that’s possible, since I puked everything out.
I wince as my head gives an almighty thump. I think I might have bruised it or done irreparable damage. “Do you have a spare toothbrush? Yours is electric, and I can’t find an extra brush thingy,
” I ask him. I’d call an Uber to take me home, but I’m in no shape to go anywhere. Also, my parents have my spare set of housekeys. I can’t show up looking like this.
“You’re welcome to use mine.” Bolt shrugs. “Use whatever you need, Miss Shaw. Use my toothbrush or use your finger with some toothpaste. I don’t have any spares.”
That makes me feel awful all over again. “I’m so sorry I—”
“Stop apologizing. Do you need help showering?” His eyes smolder. Yes, they actually smolder. I look like I do right now, and he still wants to shower with me. Not to mention he just watched me puke. He probably doesn’t want me slipping, falling and killing myself in his shower. Imagine the headlines.
I don’t say anything for a while. My brain can’t formulate the right response because ‘yes’ is not the correct response at all.
He leans against the door jamb. Still bare-chested and beautiful. I finally find my tongue. Not sure how I lost it since it’s a stink fest. “No…I think I’ll be okay.” I pick up his electric toothbrush. “You might have to throw this away once I’m done.”
“The brush part comes off.”
“Oh, I know, but I’d throw the whole thing away, in its entirety, just to be sure.” I make a face.
Bolt leaves. I hear him chuckle as he does.
Bolt
I try hard to focus on my work. It’s tough with Miss Shaw in my bed in the next room. She’s been sleeping for several hours. I want to crawl back into bed with her. I want to feel her body against mine. Hear her soft snores in my ears. I enjoyed sleeping with her last night. Once I finally fell asleep, I had one of the best nights of sleep of my life. I crashed.
Miss Shaw has this little snore. That’s what I woke up to this morning. It made me smile. So much about her has me smiling, and often.
I must be fucked in the head because I was far too happy when she threw her keys down that drain. I was almost as bad as that creeper when she was trying to undress herself last night. For a while there, I was rooting for her to get that clasp undone on her bra. Fuck, I almost helped.
Lord of Rain (The Dragon Demigods Book 5) Page 21