“That sounds good to me,” I said. “Why don’t we take you to our favorite club, Shadow? The drinks are nice and strong, not too expensive, and the music there is pretty killer.”
Releasing himself from my grip, he threw his arm around my shoulder and said, “That sounds awesome. Let’s go,” he said, and we all headed out into the night.
Shadow was really crowded tonight. A really hot local band was playing here, so it was a little more crowded than usual. Marissa and I came here enough and were friendly with the bouncers that we got in with no problems. Luckily we found an empty table, and Brody offered to go get our first round of drinks. As we walked to our table, I felt a tingle down my spine, like someone was watching me. Weird. When we sat down, I took this as an opportune moment to talk to Marissa. “Hey, girl, you doing okay?”
She smiled at me, and fidgeted with her hands. “I’m fine.” When she looked at my disbelieving look, she said, “Ugh, I can’t help it, Rory! He looks so God damned sexy! I just need a couple of drinks to loosen me up a little.”
“That’s the spirit. Just try not to over-do it and start telling him you want his strong masculine hands all over your naked little body,” I laughed, and she playfully shoved me.
“Rory, will you keep it down? He might hear you, you know!”
“Who might hear what?” asked Brody, setting down a bottle of Patron and three shot glasses.
Seeing Marissa’s face redden even in a dimly lit club, I said, “Oh, that guy over there was checking Marissa out. I was just teasing her.”
Brody looked around quickly. “What guy?”
“Relax, I think he’s already moved on to some bar skank. Don’t worry,” I said, and Marissa sighed deeply in relief.
“Good, because no one better mess with either one of you, I’m serious,” he said, wrapping an arm around Marissa and giving her a quick hug.
“Aw, that’s so cute,” I joked, and he smirked at me.
“Not to discredit your masculinity, but if any guys mess with us Rory usually knees them in the balls,” Marissa laughed.
He grinned at me and held out his fist. “Nice,” he said, and I fist bumped him across the table. After releasing Marissa, Brody poured the three of us a shot, and when he set the bottle down, we all raised our glasses. “So, what do we toast to?”
I held mine higher and said, “Here’s to the best looking guy in New York City, to Brody Shaw!” I shouted, and we all clinked our glasses together and downed the shot. Marissa coughed a little bit; Patron was always too strong for her. I was going to have to watch her like a hawk to make sure she really didn’t say or do anything she’d regret in the morning.
Just as Brody was about to pour another round of shots, someone called out from the table behind us, “Did someone say Brody Shaw?”
We all turned to see who was asking, and when Brody saw who it was, his face broke into a huge grin. “Liam? Hey man,” he said, pulling the stranger into a quick manly hug and saying, “What the hell are you doing here? I never expected to see you in New York.”
When they broke from their hug, I finally got a good look at his face, and my breath caught. Holy shit, he was gorgeous. He probably knew it, too. He had blue eyes…maybe the bluest I’d ever seen, sandy blonde hair that was messy and spiked up just in the front, and a scruffy shadow of hair on his chin. He wore a tight CBGB’s tee that clung to his chiseled torso, and his sculpted arms looked like they were going to tear the shirt open. He had several large tattoos on both arms, but with the lighting I couldn’t clearly see what they were. He looked like straight sex on two legs. If I were a normal female on the prowl, this is the exact type of guy I’d go for. But I wasn’t…I looked away for a moment and my eyes roamed the room, and it seemed like every single women within a four table radius was staring at our table. I rolled my eyes. Smiling, the stranger said, “I took a job in the fifty-third precinct, so I came back here, family drama be damned. What about you? You living here now?”
“Uh, yeah, I just got hired on at New York Presbyterian.”
The man smiled, saying, “You’re shitting me. Dude, that’s awesome, congratulations.”
Brody grinned. “Thanks man. So, you living back in Manhattan? ”
“Hell no. I got an apartment in the Village. Easier to dodge the old man that way,” he said. So, the tattooed mystery man was a cop. That was kind of hot. I bet he had a big gun, I thought, and immediately regretted it. Get a grip, Rory!
At that moment, a man who I now registered was sitting at the table with Mystery Man nudged him on the arm. “What am I, invisible?” he joked.
The mystery guy laughed and patted the other guy on the arm. “Sorry, man. This is Nick Ramirez. He’s my partner in homicide.”
Brody gave him a wave. “Nice to meet you, man.”
The mystery man’s eyes were on me and he was staring intently. I tapped Brody on the arm. “Um, hello! Aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend, dumbass?”
He narrowed his eyes at me and smiled. “Sorry. Guys, this pretty girl right here is Marissa O’Neal,” he said, sliding his arm around Marissa, and she politely waved to them. “And, this smart mouthed pain in the ass is my little sister, Rory Shaw,” he said, swatting me back on the arm. I smiled at him and gave him the finger. “Girls, this is Liam and Nick. Liam and I went to IU together.” I nodded and waved at both of them.
They both smiled at us, and then, suddenly, Liam turned to me and some unknown realization crept across his handsome face. He ran his hand through his already messy hair, and sighed. “Rory Shaw?”
Confused, I answered, “Uh, yeah.”
“Are you by any chance a hairstylist in Manhattan?”
My brows furrowed, and I answered, “Yes. Do I know you?”
He smiled a sexy crooked smile, and said, “No, but I’m sure you have heard all about me.” Still puzzled, I stared at him until he finally answered, “Vivian Tanner is my mother.”
My mouth fell slack. Vivian Tanner was this guy’s mother? No freaking way. At that moment, I put my hand to my forehead and rolled my eyes. “You have got to be kidding me. Relentless woman,” I laughed.
Shaking his head, he offered his hand to me. “Well it’s nice to finally put a name to a face.” I reached my hand out to shake his. When he took my small hand in his much larger one, I felt hot white heat radiate from my hand up my arm and shiver down my back. “Liam Tanner. It’s nice to finally meet you Rory.”
“You too,” I said, my heart pounding. I tried to play off my reaction to his touch, so I shook my head as if I were annoyed by out meeting.
Brody and Marissa looked at each other, confused. “What is going on? How do you two know each other?” she asked. His friend Nick just sat there with his mouth hanging open.
“Oh, we don’t, but I probably know more about him than I care to,” I said, chuckling. “Liam’s mother is a good client of mine, and she has spent the last three years trying to hook me up with this guy.”
Nick reached over and shoved his arm. “That’s the woman Viv’s been trying to hook you up with? Dude, I didn’t know you were gay,” he laughed, and Liam shot him a dirty look.
Brody smiled at us. “Wait…so your mom’s been trying to hook you up with my sister? Small world, huh?”
“I should have known she was up to something when she insisted I come here tonight. ‘I hear the music’s good there’, she said.”
“Oh man, she’s sneaky. I accidently let it slip that we were coming here tonight when I was checking her out this afternoon. I thought I was just making polite conversation. Damn it, she’s good,” I said, and Liam flashed a crooked smile at me. Just then, I felt a little jolt in my chest and my heart rate picked back up again.
“So, are you two flying solo tonight?” Brody asked him.
“Yeah, it’s just us,” Liam said.
“Well, why don’t you hang with us then? We can catch up and you can have a story to tell your mom to make her happy,” Brody suggested.
> I put my hand on the table. “No, no, no Brody, you don’t understand. This woman is a force to be reckoned with. If she finds out we met at the club tonight, she will go into full overdrive on us both,” I said, and Liam and Nick laughed. “The wedding invitations will be mailed out next week.”
Marissa smirked at me. “Oh please Rory, she can’t be all that bad.”
“Seriously, this is a level five disaster! Tell them, Liam!”
“I won’t tell if you won’t. Deal?” he asked, gazing at me with those blue eyes. I swear they could see right to my soul.
I rolled my eyes, and irritatingly said, “Deal. Weren’t you about to pour me another shot?” I said to Brody. Liam walked around the table and set his drink down next to mine, and Nick took the other seat next to me. I sighed and slammed back the shot Brody offered to me. All I wanted tonight was to hang out with my best friend and my brother, and now I was flanked on either side by two burly cops, one who happened to be one of the sexiest men I’d ever seen. I needed another drink.
After about an hour, I was actually having fun. Nick and I were shooting jokes back and forth while Brody and Liam were catching up. I had been having a good time with these guys. Of what little conversation I had with Liam so far, he seemed like a really nice guy. I still couldn’t get over someone as classy and sophisticated as Vivian Tanner could be his mother. He was all dark, tattooed, and sexy and acted nothing like he grew up with money. Nick, on the other hand, was a complete smart ass and a jokester…and I loved it. For every dirty joke or crappy come on he threw at me, I had an equally acid laced barb to shoot back at him, and he laughed every time. I was still laughing from one of Nick’s comebacks when I looked to Marissa, who looked bored. Brody noticed too, so he stood up and took Marissa’s hand. “What’s wrong, Minnie? You look bored,” he said.
She smiled politely. “I’m okay. I was just letting you two catch up.”
“Well, we can catch up later. Come on,” he said, standing up. “Dance with me.”
I could see excitement flicker in her eyes. “Oh, no, it’s okay Brody. Really. Stay and talk to your friend.”
He pulled her to her feet. “Come on, I insist. You’re the one that said it’s my night, remember? I can do whatever I want to do, and right now I want to dance with you. What do you say, Minnie?”
She smiled a bright smile that reached her eyes. “Okay, Brody. Let’s go,” she said as he leaned her out on the floor.
Nick took a swig of his beer and turned back to me. “Well, if they are going to do their thing, I’m gonna go talk to that brunette chick at the bar that’s been staring at me.”
“Aw, Nick, she looks like a nice girl. I hope she doesn’t run away when she sees how tiny your dick is,” I joked, and Liam choked on his beer, laughing.
“You’re just jealous because I’m not laying the pipe on you, sweetheart,” he said, playfully shoved me. I flipped him off and stuck my tongue out at him. “I’m gonna go talk to her. Liam, keep our eye on this one,” he said, winking at me and then walking away. I looked at Liam and smiled politely, not sure what to say. Suddenly, it got way too quiet, and the silence became deafening. Being around him before was easy because I had Brody, Nick, and Marissa to keep me calm, but now, I had no idea of what to say to this man. After a few quiet seconds, Liam finally spoke. “I can’t believe she pulled this off,” he said, smiling. “Sorry about this.”
I waved my hand in the air. “Hey, it’s no big deal. It’s like you said, it’s nice to put a name with a face. Besides, she would have found a way for us to meet anyway.”
“That’s true. When Vivian Tanner wants something, look out world. I have to admit I am a bit surprised though,” he said, taking a long drink from his beer.
I cocked an eyebrow up. “Oh? How so?”
“Well, don’t take this the wrong way, but you aren’t at all what I pictured when Mom described you to me.”
I laughed. “What were you expecting?”
“Honestly? I was expecting you to be a, well, a…”
“A gin-soaked coked-out socialite whore?”
Liam smiled another crooked smile at me. “Well, something along those lines. All Mom ever said about you was that you were a stylist at a high end salon, that you were smart, quick witted, and that you were, and I quote, ‘a stunning redhead.’” Stunning, huh? Wow. “Anyway, I can’t wait to hear what you expected me to be. Come on, tell me,” he said, grinning.
“In the name of honesty, I expected a…”
“A trust fund yacht club frat boy bitch?”
“That wears polo’s and smoking jackets,” I said.
Laughing, he said, “You just described my father,” and a dark laughed laced with contempt escaped him.
I knew Liam and his dad didn’t get along, so I decided to change the subject. “So, Nick’s a trip. How long have you two known each other?”
“Since we were kids. We grew up together, and my family kind of became a surrogate family for him when his mother died.”
“That’s so sad that he lost his mom, but I can see Vivian being nurturing like that. Your mom’s great.”
“She is.” He paused for a moment, and continued. “Can I ask you a question?”
As I threw back another shot of Patron, I said, “Shoot.”
“Okay, so my mom’s been trying to hook us up for three years now.”
“That’s not really a question,” I said, and he smirked.
“I know that, smart ass,” he said, nudging me with his arm. It felt white hot against my bare skin and I had to fight to keep my wits in check. “I guess I am just wondering how you have been single after all this time,” he said, his clear blues eyes locked on mine. “I mean, a sexy redhead that’s rocking some serious ink and piercings? You have to know you are hot, every guy in this club has been checking you out.”
I instantly broke eye contact with Liam and looked around. Immediately I noticed four men at a nearby table starting at me like they wanted to take my clothes off with their teeth. I rolled my eyes. “I don’t give a fuck if they are, let them look.”
“So you aren’t going to tell me?”
“There’s nothing to tell. I just don’t date, that’s all.”
“You don’t date,” he laughed. “Care to elaborate?”
Slamming back another shot, I glared at him and said, “No.” I felt a dull ache in my chest.
Liam must have known I wasn’t about to answer. “Okay, fair enough.” Even though he had backed off, I could tell he was intrigued, but I wasn’t about to get into my messed up romantic history on a Friday night.
After a few uncomfortable moments, I finally spoke. “You have some nice ink of your own, by the way.” I finally got a good enough glimpse of the tattoos I could see, and he had a huge sacred heart on his right forearm, and a large dragon on the other.
He instinctively flexed his arms, and said, “Thanks. These are the only ones that are visible right now. I’m actually working on finishing my back piece.”
“Sweet. Are you doing a theme or just lots of different things together?”
“A lot of things. Every tattoo I have is a part of who I am,” Liam said proudly, but his jaw tightened. “What about you? What do these all mean?” he asked, gliding his fingertips under my hair and across the upper part of my back. I shuttered slightly, and for a moment my heart was beating faster.
“Um, well, most of these mean something to me, but a few of them are just reminders to not get a tattoo when you are a little buzzed,” I laughed.
“I take it that the happy cartoony dolphin will be covered soon?” he laughed, and I nodded.
“That, and there’s a Hello Kitty on the lower right side that needs to go,” I laughed, and he smiled wider.
“Oh hey, that’s nothing. Remind me sometime to show you where I covered up my Snoopy tattoo. Now that was a challenge,” Liam said, and I almost choked.
“You had a Snoopy tattoo? I’m going to have to confiscate your man card,” I lau
ghed.
“I covered him with a skull, that’s got to give me some bad ass points, right?”
“Okay, points rewarded. You can keep your card for now,” I laughed. I moved my eyes toward the dance floor, and Liam’s eyes followed mine. Brody and Marissa seemed to be having fun, dancing excitedly in each other’s arms. He was saying something to her, which made her smile brightly, and they both looked over at us. Marissa waved at me happily, and I waved back, giggling.
“So, what’s up with Brody and your friend? Marissa is it?” he asked me.
“Yes, and there’s nothing up with them. At least they haven’t figured it out yet.” I poured myself another shot.
“They aren’t a couple? Huh, I would have thought they were a thing for sure, they way he’s looking at her right now,” Liam said. I looked at Brody, and the way Marissa was dancing around him, he looked at her like she was the most beautiful girl in the club. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. “Brody never looked at anyone like that when we were roommates in college. Lord knows he got his share of offers though.”
“Yeah, Brody’s always been a bit of a chick magnet, even in high school. He went on dates, sure, but he was never serious about anyone.”
“He and Marissa never hooked up? She looks like she’s crazy about him.”
“Oh yeah, always has been. But, he’s never seemed to notice her that way. Well, until now it seems,” I said, smiling. “I hope they can figure it out. Otherwise I might have to intervene.”
“Really? Taking a page from Vivian’s book, are you?” Liam asked, one eyebrow raised.
“Ouch, below the belt!” I said, faking being insulted. “I’m not that bad! I just know they would make each other really happy. They already do as best friends. I just see them being something more, that’s all.”
“Just like Mom saw us,” he said, shaking his head. “She was right about one thing though.”
“What’s that?” I asked, with a smile.
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