by Clara Bayard
A tiny, petty part of me bristled at the way he casually mentioned his other ‘dates’ with the women who worked at the club. Stupid to be feeling jealous when this was all fake. And he was doing it to help me. But knowing I was being stupid didn’t make the feeling go away.
“I did get all dressed up.”
He smiled. “You sure did.”
“Okay, then. Dinner it is.”
“Great. Come along, Amanda. Get ready to be bored out of your skull.”
We left the club and were walking to Trey’s car when I saw a familiar face that chilled me to the bone. I tugged Trey back into a shadow as the man passed us.
“What? What happened now?”
“Shh,” I hissed at him. “Wait a second.” Once the coast was clear, I continued. “Did you see that guy?”
“Alexei? Yeah.”
“You know him?” I took a step away from him.
“Of course. He works here. He’s security.”
“Oh no.” I felt like I might faint.
“What is it?”
“He’s the one. The man I saw at the airport. The one who was staring at me.”
“Are you sure? It’s dark out here.”
“I’m sure. He walked right through the light. And I’ll never forget that face.”
“Shit.” Trey crossed his arms. “That’s bad.”
“Damn right. If he was following me, he knows who I am. Which means he knows why I’m here.”
“No way. Can’t be. Veronica and Peter wouldn’t let you walk down this block if they had even the vaguest idea that you weren’t who you said. They certainly wouldn’t give you a tour and hire you.”
“Then you explain it.”
“I can’t.” He put his hand on my back and led me down the driveway. “But we need to get out of here. Let’s go to dinner and think about this, okay? I’m sure we can figure this out.”
I sighed. “Fine. I’m trusting that you know these people well enough to be right about this.”
“I do. I swear.” His face was resolute and ferocious in the dim light. “I will keep you safe.”
+
Fortunately, Trey was right about dinner. The conversation was so dull I had no problem tuning it out to think things through. I only paid attention to the food and drink that were placed in front of me. Even in my anxious state I couldn’t help but devour everything. The food didn’t look like anything I’d ever eaten, but the flavors were incredible. Meat so tender I barely had to chew it, vegetables swimming in a light, citrus sauce I wanted to slurp up with a spoon. And the wine wasn’t bad either. Which is why I had almost a whole bottle myself.
It was interesting, as I grew more and more tipsy, to watch Trey. So far I’d seen a few different facets of his personality, but this was something new. He charmed the couple we shared a table with as easily as he had me, but in a rather different way.
From what little I listened to, the couple – in their late forties – were hoping to sell a portion of their company. They were rich compared to me, but pretty much paupers next to Trey’s family, and they wanted to find a parent company with deep pockets to help grow their business.
Snore-fest.
But, contrary to what he’d told me, Trey dove right in to the business talk. He rattled of numbers and jargon I didn’t even try to keep up with, and dazzled them. This was probably fun for him. I’d seen how he liked defying expectations and wanted to do things his own way. Most people who met him for the first time expected him to be not much more than a pretty face, probably. And when he showed them to be wrong, it would knock them off balance in a wonderful way.
The man, Patrice something or other, flagged down the waiter to order another bottle of wine and I smiled. He grinned back playfully. “If you must sit through endless business talk, it’s easier with a bit of wine, right?”
I nodded.
“It is a shame, Trey, don’t you think, to have such a beautiful young woman on your arm and be stuck looking at my ugly face.”
We all laughed. Patrice was anything but ugly. His hair was beginning to gray at the temples but otherwise he was fairly youthful, and quite handsome in a refined, soft-living kind of way. So different from Trey, even though they lived in the same world. Where Patrice gave off an air of a life full of comfort, there was a hint of something primal behind Trey’s eyes. Something that confused and intrigued me.
Patrice’s wife, Claudia, patted him on the hand. “Please pardon my husband. He gets so talkative when he has too much wine. You two should go up there and dance. Leave us, what is the term – ‘old farts’ here.” She gestured with her chin to the front of the restaurant where a few couples had begun to slow dance to the music of a quartet. I’d never been in a restaurant that had a live band before. Maybe it was because the place was part of a hotel? I couldn’t ask if it was weird without making it obvious that I was completely out of my depth.
“Oh, I’m not much of a dancer,” I said.
Trey snorted and chugged the rest of his wine. “Nonsense. I think it’s a fantastic idea.”
I glared at him and he cocked his head to the side, clearly trying to tell me something without speaking. I had no idea what, so I just played along. “All right. I’ll dance. But you two have to join us.”
Patrice clapped his hands together. “Excellent idea. Come.”
We strolled arm in arm to the dance floor and Trey placed his arms around me as we found an empty spot.
“I don’t think I’ve slow danced since my prom,” I whispered as he pulled me closer.
“Don’t worry. You’ll be fine.”
I closed my eyes as my face pressed against his chest, inhaling the scent of his aftershave or cologne, and underneath, the indescribably enthralling smell of his skin.
“I thought of a way to figure out what Alexei knows,” Trey murmured after a few seconds. “We can do it as soon as we get back to the club.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“Not for you,” he said before reaching up to run his hand through my hair.
I moaned softly at his touch, and gripped him tighter. I was a little drunk and a lot vulnerable and it felt so amazing to just let go. To follow his lead. Safe in one sense, but delightfully dangerous in another. I knew Trey was on my side, but I wondered if I wasn’t starting to feel things I shouldn’t. We’d only just met, but with everything going wrong in my life I couldn’t help but feel like he was the one right thing.
When the song ended we went back to the table, but on the way there Trey held my hand, and I let him. The rest of the dinner was mostly a blur for me. My thoughts kept drifting to the way it felt when he held me as we swayed together on the dance floor, and wondering what it might feel like if he kissed me. How was it possible that something so wonderful could happen in the middle of something so horrible?
+
By the time we got back to the club, I was ready to face anything with Trey by my side. He wouldn’t tell me the details of his plan, but he assured me it would work and I believed him. We went inside and found ourselves in the middle of some kind of scavenger hunt. Well-dressed couples hurried past us in every direction, in hot pursuit of something. No one would stop long enough to explain to game, so we just tried to keep from getting run over and made our way upstairs to the game room.
Alexei was on duty in the hallway and I stiffened as we swept past him, but he never so much as glanced in my direction.
We went into the room and sat down on a loveseat that left our legs touching.
“Now what?”
“Now we wait.”
“For?”
“For him to forget how long we’ve been in here.”
“Him meaning Alexei?”
“Yup.”
I crossed my legs. “And what will that do?”
“It’ll sell the bit better if he thinks we’ve been in here boozing it up for a while.”
“Huh?”
“Just trust me.”
I shook my head. “You�
��re having too much fun, Trey.”
He grinned. “Only because you’re here.”
“You’re also full of shit.”
He plucked a hair off the bottom of my skirt. “True. But in this case it’s true. I’ve never met anyone like you before, Amanda.”
“I’m sure.”
“I mean that in a good way.”
“You barely know me.”
“I know enough.”
“Such as?”
He turned a little so we were looking into each other’s eyes. “Like how brave you are.”
I snorted. “Oh yeah, I’m a big damn hero.”
Trey put his hand on my knee. “You are.”
“No, I’m just a scared ‘little mouse’ like you called me yesterday.”
“I was wrong. When mice get scared they hide. When you got scared you strutted in here ready to do battle. That’s brave.”
“And kind of dumb.”
“Sort of. But no less brave. I’d be honored to have a girl like you search for me. I believe you’d burn this building to the ground if that’s what it took to find your sister. And it’s amazing.” He shook his head and gazed deep into my soul. “How could I not help you.”
A reply caught in my throat and I just croaked out, “Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Thank me when we’re having drinks with Kat and talking about the crazy thing you did to make sure she was okay.”
“It’s a deal.”
He paused for a second and then slid his hand up over my thigh. “Just so you don’t think I’m a boy scout, there’s another reason I’m glad I met you.”
“What’s that?” I asked, even though I was pretty sure I knew.
“You’re one of the sexiest women I’ve ever met. And you’re so real. Even as we’re lying to everyone around us, I see the real you and I just…want to touch her. Whatever happens, you need to remember that you’re so much braver and sexier than you know.”
My eyes slid shut as his hand reached my waist and continued up. “Yesterday you stopped yourself.”
“I know. And I think I was right to. But damn it, I don’t want to do the right thing now.”
“What do you want?”
“You.”
I sighed and opened my eyes. Trey was staring at me, with such heated desire in his eyes that I couldn’t look away. No one had ever looked at me like that before and it was more intoxicating than any of the many glasses of wine I’d had.
“Trey…” I breathed.
“Don’t say anything. I’m going to kiss you.”
My lips parted, but I didn’t speak. His hand grazed my breast and kept going. He held my chin between two fingers and pulled my face towards his. His lips were soft and sweet against mine at first. But soon, when he saw I wasn’t pulling away, the kiss deepened. Trey’s tongue invaded my mouth and claimed the space for his own.
I wrapped my arms around him, interlocking my fingers behind his back, enjoying the rhythmic slide of his muscles as he moved. While our mouths learned each other, Trey tangled a hand in my hair and held me immobilized in his strong grip. But instead of restrictive, it felt freeing. He led every motion. Sucking on my tongue and nibbling on my lower lip.
Each second stoked the flames of passion inside me until I couldn’t take it anymore. I groaned against his mouth and brazenly shifted so I was sitting in his lap. Trey made a hungry sound as my ass settled against him, and I felt his arousal straining to break free between us.
“Amanda,” he said after kissing me breathless, “We have to stop.”
I managed to hear him through the haze of desire that filled my brain. “Why?”
“Because if we don’t stop now, I’m not going to stop at all.”
For a brief moment I didn’t want to stop. I didn’t care about anyone or anything but the way I felt with Trey touching me. It was horrible and selfish and none of that mattered. “So don’t stop.” To make my meaning clear, I began to roll my hips against him, sliding us together and apart over and over again.
It was his turn to groan, then. “If you don’t get off me right now I’m going to flip you over and take you right here on this couch. In front of the cameras and with who knows how many people in hearing distance.”
That, finally, was enough to bring me back to my senses. “Shit,” I said, jumping up. “I’m sorry.”
He shook his head and held my hand. “Don’t be. I’m not. But this isn’t the place or time.”
“You’re right.” I stepped away to compose myself and smooth down my dress as my heart continued to thunder in my chest. “We should um…do that thing you mentioned earlier.”
He smirked. “I’m not taking that bait, Amanda.”
I giggled. “You know what I mean.”
And just like that, we were back on track. The attraction wasn’t gone, but it faded to a low simmer, enough for me to remember why we were here. I walked over to the window and looked out. The neighborhood was quiet, even this early and all I could see was dark windows and a park in the next block where someone was walking a dog.
“Okay,” Trey said after a while, “Do you know how to play pool?”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“No.”
“Well, I do.”
“Good. You get started and I’ll put my brilliant scheme into action.”
I rolled my eyes, but did as he said. The table was already setup, so I just had to pull a cue off the wall and get into position for my first shot.
But just as I was leaning over the table, Trey grabbed me from behind and spun me around before jumping onto the table in a bizarre leap. He landed hard and flailed for a while, sending my cue and most of the balls flying around the room. The clattering against the gleaming wood floors and furniture was incredibly loud and I yelped. “What the hell are you doing?”
Before he could answer, Alexei came barreling into the room. His eyes darted all around and came to rest on Trey, who was still lying across the pool table after his belly flop. He muttered something into his headset in another language and stomped over to the table.
“Get up, drunk asshole.” He grabbed the back of Trey’s suit jacket and pulled him up.
“Hey, hey, calm down man,” Trey responded, twisting out of the other man’s grip quickly and flashing a grin at me. “I was just showing the lady some of my advanced pool techniques.”
Alexei glowered at him so hard I took a step back. “Listen, rich boy. Just because you have all the money in the world doesn’t mean you can break the rules here.”
“He’s sorry,” I piped in, overcoming my fear of being recognized.
The tall man turned to stare at me. “I wasn’t talking to you.” He paused and peered at me for a moment. “Do I know you?”
“Today’s just my second day here.”
He grunted. “You look familiar.”
Struggling to cover my panic, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “I’m the ‘girl next door’ type. Everyone says that.”
“Hmm. Well, girl next door, if you want to get paid for tonight, keep your boyfriend here under control.”
Trey shoved him from behind. “Don’t you talk to her like that.”
Alexei spun around and the two men faced off. “Why? What are you going to do, hire someone to beat me up?”
“No.” He growled and rolled his shoulders. Gone was the silly playful Trey. He was a warrior now. “I’ll happily kick your ass myself.”
“Try it.”
“Guys, come on,” I pleaded pointlessly. Both men were ready to fight and nothing I said was going to penetrate the thick cloud of testosterone filling the room. I didn’t know how this was part of Trey’s plan, but without a way to stop them, I had to just see what happened.
And what happened is Trey swung a closed fist that collided with Alexei’s chin, hard. The guard let out a puff of air and pounced. In a second they were on the floor, grappling with each other. Punches and knees and elbows were thrown so fast I couldn’t
keep track of who did what. But eventually it became clear that Alexei would win. He managed to straddle Trey and put an arm across his throat.
“Stop!” I screamed, desperate. If I’d stopped to think first, I would have just run away. But I didn’t. I picked up a discarded pool cue from the floor and brandished it in what I hoped was an intimidating way. “Get off him.”
Alexei loosened his grip, but didn’t release Trey. He stared at me and then began to laugh. “My heavens, I see why he likes you. Fierce little thing.”
I opened my mouth, shocked. I’d expected him to hit me or pull out a gun. Not be amused.
Before I could recover, Peter entered the room and shouted for all of us to be quiet. He pulled Alexei off and helped Trey up. “What is going on in here?”
Trey flexed his jaw a few times and crossed his arms. “Your boy here is misbehaving. Interrupting my special time with Amanda.”
I scoffed, figuring that wouldn’t work for a second, but I was wrong. I had clearly misjudged how much the Eden Club was willing to put up with from loyal members.
“Alexei, why did you come in this room?”
“I heard a commotion,” the other man said sullenly, all humor gone from his voice and face. “This idiot was trying to fuck the pool table I think.”
“Amanda, what was happening?”
“We were just playing around. Had a bit too much wine at dinner and Trey was just being silly. Alexei overreacted.” At this, I cast a disapproving glance at him, like the ‘fierce little thing’ he claimed to appreciate.
“I see.” Peter looked at all three of us in turn and then grunted. “Alexei, leave them alone. Mr. Heller, I apologize for the interruption. Please enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Trey walked over and draped an arm over my shoulder. “Oh, we will.”
The security guards left, closing the door behind them. I slapped Trey on the arm and glared at him. “That was your brilliant plan? Let that guy almost kill you?”
He chuckled. “I’m fine. This isn’t the first scrape I’ve gotten into with somebody in this place. A little fighting is acceptable. But you saw him. He doesn’t remember you. He had plenty of time to recall your face.”
“True. But that doesn’t mean he never will.”