Vindicated

by eliza_000

  “You are so screwed,” Ally said a few minutes later.

  “Thank you for confirming it,” Karly replied.

  “I don’t know how you’re getting by on what you make.”

  “Well, no shit, Sherlock,” Karly said, covering her embarrassment with sarcasm.

  Ally thumbed through the bills again, her frown deepening with every page. “You need more income, Karls. I don’t want to discourage you, but by the look of things, you’ve only got another couple of months before shit hits the fan.”

  Karly groaned and dropped a forkful of casserole back to her plate. She knew the truth but had hoped Ally might be able to sprinkle some of her financial magic over the ugly debts. With at least another year of school left and the issue of Emma at hand, there was no relief in sight.

  The apartment door opened, distracting her from her thoughts. Ally looked up and smiled. Jack crept into the apartment, making a wide berth of Chelsea and the baby, and came to stand beside Ally. He placed a hand on Ally’s shoulder and squeezed gently, nodding to Karly.

  The smile froze on her face at the sight of Randy looming over Jack’s shoulder. Her stomach lurched. She pushed away from the table, her appetite destroyed. The breadth of his shoulders and the way his hair curled over his collar made her fingers clench with desire. Their eyes met. She glanced away, unwilling to acknowledge his presence. After an uncomfortable moment, Randy went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Karly slumped in her chair with relief. Just seeing him stirred up anger and attraction that she no longer wanted to acknowledge.

  Thankfully, Jack’s displeasure at the tableau in his living room took precedence over the awkward tension between her and Randy. When Jack wasn’t happy, everyone knew it. Karly focused her attention on a glass of iced tea.

  “I don’t know what that is out there,” Jack whispered with a jerk of his chin toward the living room, “but it creeps me the fuck out. I guess my only question is—why?”

  Karly snorted and covered her mouth with her hand to prevent spitting iced tea all over the table.

  Ally rolled her eyes and smiled up at her luscious boyfriend. “She’s going through a rough time. She just needed someone to give her a little break.”

  Jack grunted and continued on to the kitchen, where he pulled a couple of beers from the refrigerator. “I get that. But why does she always need a break from us? I divorced the woman, for Christ sake. I see more of her now than when we were married.”

  “I heard that,” Chelsea said from the living room.

  This time Karly choked on her iced tea. Ally bit her lower lip to hold back a smile, while Jack huffed and grumbled in the kitchen, banging through the cabinet doors. He returned to the dining room with a bag of potato chips in his hand. He bent to whisper in Ally’s ear, loud enough for Karly to hear.

  “Get her and the troll baby out of my house, please. I’m going to have nightmares.” He punctuated his words with a charming smile and a light kiss to Ally’s forehead. Louder, he said, “Randy and I are going to the back room and watch the game.”

  “I heard that, too,” Chelsea called. “Don’t worry. I’m leaving now.” There was a rustle of movement from the other room, followed by the slamming of the apartment door.

  Randy came out of the bathroom, looking harried but calm. He stood on the opposite side of the table from Karly, facing her, hands in his pockets. He opened his mouth as if to say something. She glared at him, and he promptly snapped it shut again. Jack handed him a beer and slapped him on the back. They both turned to walk away, but after a few paces, Jack stopped and came back to the table. “Hey, did you call about the plumbing at Felony, babe?”

  “I did,” Ally replied. Tension rolled off her in waves, adding to the palpable friction between Karly and Randy. “They have to replace all the pipes from the street to the bathrooms.”

  “How long’s that going to take?” Randy spoke for the first time. Although he directed the question to Ally, his gaze focused on Karly. Her heart leaped at the sound of his rasping baritone. She frowned, irritated at her body’s traitorous response to him.

  “I don’t know. A week. Depends on what they run into,” Ally replied.

  Jack sucked in an audible breath of dismay. He set the potato chips and his beer on the table and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with thumb and forefinger. “So we’re going to have to close until it’s fixed. Is that what you’re saying?”

  “Well, yes. We can’t open until the restrooms are operational, and it passes inspection.” Ally swallowed audibly, the furrow between her winged brows deepening.

  “And you were going to tell me this when?” Jack’s tone was unmistakably angry. “Right before we opened the doors?”

  “Don’t get shitty with me, mister,” Ally snapped. “I left you a voicemail, sent you a text, and put a note on your computer. And then I went downstairs to tell you in person, but you said you were too busy to talk and to come back later.”

  “Fuck,” Jack said. He punched the air above his head with a fist, dark eyes snapping.

  Karly twisted in her chair, uncomfortable in the face of so much tension. She cleared her throat and slid out of the seat, gathering her papers as she moved. Ally left the table, drawing Jack into the kitchen with her and throwing Karly an apologetic smile along the way.

  See you later, Karly mouthed, and Ally nodded. Avoiding Randy’s gaze, Karly swept her things into her book bag and sprinted toward the door.

  Chapter 41

  When she heard footsteps behind her, Karly heaved a weary sigh and turned to find Randy a few paces away. He held up a hand to stop her from speaking. She turned back to the elevator and punched the call button, determined to ignore him. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck lifted, warning her of his proximity. She remained facing the elevator doors, keenly aware of the heat from his body seeping through her clothing.

  “Are you still pissed?”

  She bit her lip to keep from speaking.

  “Okay. So the answer is yes.” A heavy sigh gusted against the back of her neck, sending shivers along her spine. “Can’t we just go back to the way things were?”

  “Nope.” She directed her answer to the wall. Maybe he’d get bored and go away if she kept this up long enough.

  “How about dinner tonight, then? We can go on that date and talk.” His tone held a note of boyish optimism.

  “You mean, I will talk, and you’ll sit there and say nothing.” She pounded on the call button. Where was the freaking elevator? “The answer is still no.”

  “What about tomorrow night? If Felony’s closed, I’ll be free all night. We can spend it together. Get something to eat. Watch a movie.”

  “I’m busy,” she said, pleased with his sigh of frustration.

  “Why? Do you have a date?” Unmistakable jealousy tinged his words. She bit back a tiny smile that deepened the furrow between his brows.

  The elevator bell dinged. The doors slid open. She stepped inside and pressed the ground floor button, avoiding his gaze. A groan of exasperation rumbled from his chest. She heard his hand rasp over his face and scrub through his hair.

  “Fuck,” he muttered as the doors closed and shut him out of her life.

  Chapter 42

  Randy spent the entire next day at the gym. The intense physical exercise did nothing to burn off the anger and frustration raging inside him. He couldn’t stop thinking about Karly. The more he thought about her, the angrier and more frustrated he became. To make matters worse, he wasn’t even certain why he was angry. He’d gotten what he wanted. Was he angry with himself for caring, or angry at her for shutting him out like he’d done to her? After several hours of smoldering contemplation, he showered and drove to her apartment, determined to face her.

  She met him at the door, her displeasure obvious. “I don’t have time for this,” she said, blocking his entry. “I’m leaving in a few minutes.”

  His palms were sweating and his pulse tripled. She looked a
dorable in her bathrobe without any makeup, and she smelled wonderful, like citrus and honey. Despite his nervousness, he drew in a deep breath of her scent.

  “Right. Your date.” He pushed past her and into the apartment, earning a frustrated grunt from her. Even pissed, she turned him on more than any woman he’d ever known. “Who is he, anyway?”

  “It’s not a date,” she said, still standing at the door, holding it open like she thought he might take the hint and leave.

  “We need to talk, Karly.” The quick flare of anger in her eyes said he’d overstepped his mark. He’d come here to smooth things over, not make them worse.

  “So now you want to talk. Well, tough shit, Mackenzie. You missed your chance.” She retreated to her bedroom. He followed her down the hall but stopped short when she slammed the bedroom door in his face.

  He placed a hand on the door and leaned his forehead against the cool wood. This pint-sized woman had him questioning all of his principles in the space of a week.

  “I hate you being pissed at me,” he said.

  His confession was greeted by silence. A few seconds later, she jerked the door open, nearly bowling him over upon her exit, and stormed down the hall with a duffel bag in her hand. She grabbed a pink hoodie and shrugged it on while scowling at him. With a harried jerk, she opened the front door.

  “I’m leaving. My cab’s waiting downstairs,” she said. “You have to go now.”

  Feeling like a scolded puppy, he trudged after her. Even with his long legs, he had to hustle to keep up with her as she ran down the stairs, duffel bag thumping along behind her. At the first landing, he took the strap from her hands and threw it over his shoulder. She gave him an exasperated glare and kept going. Finally, at the bottom of the steps, he grabbed her arm and made her look at him.

  “Where the fuck are you going in such a hurry?” he asked.

  “I’m stripping at a bachelor party,” she replied.

  “What. The. Fuck?” He couldn’t have been more surprised if she’d told him she was pregnant with an alien baby. While he tried to process her words, she walked away from him. “Whoa, whoa. Hang on a sec.”

  “I don’t have time for you to catch up, Mackenzie,” she said. Her hand was on the cab door when he snapped out of his shock. He put his hand over hers, preventing her from opening the door.

  “The meter’s running,” the cabbie said, earning a glare from both Karly and Randy.

  “You can go,” Randy said to the cabbie and handed him a five-dollar bill from his wallet. “I’ll take you wherever you need to go, Karly.”

  The drive to the bachelor party teemed with uncomfortable silence. Karly sat against the passenger door, arms wrapped around her waist, while he tried to get rid of the unpleasant taste in his mouth The idea of some strange guy getting an eyeful of Karly’s perky tits and sweet onion ass set his teeth on edge. The more he thought about it, the more pissed off he became. Why it bothered him, he had no idea. And that pissed him off even more.

  “You’re not going in,” Karly said once they arrived.

  “The fuck I’m not,” he replied. “You can’t go into this without someone to watch your back. It’s just not done.”

  “Right. I forgot you’re an expert at this kind of thing.” She yanked her duffle bag out of the truck before he could help her.

  He’d played bodyguard for several strippers over the years. It was an easy gig. Most of the time he sat on his ass, bored out of his skull, while the girls did their thing. Once in a while some drunken bastard tried to cop a feel, and Randy would step in to reiterate the rules. It had been all about business and easy money, but he hadn’t cared about any of those girls. Not like he cared for Karly.

  “I’m coming with you, and there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop me,” he said. She might not want him there, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to leave.

  Chapter 43

  A beautiful historic hotel on the city’s north side played host to the bachelor party. The groom-to-be and his pals had rented out the top floor suite and adjoining rooms. Their raucous shouts and laughter echoed through the halls and into the room where the girls dressed in preparation.

  Randy watched Karly standing in front of the mirror, all legs and perky tits, in the hottest little number he’d ever seen. Her hair flowed in long ringlets down her back, the sides swept up with barrettes. The bands of her garter belt peeked from beneath the hem of the short skirt, and the merest scrap of white silk panties peeked out from beneath when she bent over to straighten her stocking. She was a walking wet dream. His walking wet dream. As she turned in front of the mirror, his throat went dry and his fingers clenched with the need to touch her.

  She turned to face him while smoothing the skirt over her hips. Her lips trembled. He slid his gaze over her from head to toe and back up again, and swallowed hard to choke down the knot in his throat.

  “Do I look okay?’ she asked, voice quavering.

  “You look fucking hot,” he answered sincerely, dragging his gaze over every inch of her curves. “But then, you always do.”

  “I think I’m going to puke.” She turned back to the mirror where their eyes met again. All the color drained from her face. She sprinted toward the bathroom and slammed the door behind her. A few seconds later, the toilet flushed, followed by the sound of running water. When she came out, she avoided his gaze.

  “You don’t have to do this, Karly. We can leave right now, if you want.” His fingers curled with the urge to grab her by the hair and drag her to safety. “You’re not cut out for this.”

  “You mean, I’m not hot enough or sexy enough?” Her frown cut him. “Just because you’re not attracted to me, doesn’t mean other men aren’t.”

  “That’s not what I meant. I’m crazy attracted to you. You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” He clenched the back of his neck with one hand, squeezing the tense muscles. “It’s just not you.”

  “It’s five hundred dollars,” she whispered as she fiddled with the top of one stocking. “Five hundred dollars. Do you know what I can do with that money? I need this.”

  “Fuck the money. If you don’t want to do it, then don’t.”

  “I want to do it. I need to do this.” She grabbed her purse and crossed the room to stand in front of him. Her eyes blazed with determination and resignation as she dug into the purse and came up with a one-dollar bill and some change. “You don’t get it, do you? This is all I have.” She thrust the money into his face. “This is it. There isn’t any more. I’ve only eaten once in three days. I’ve got debt up to my eyeballs. And there’s Emma.”

  Her voice broke, and his gut clenched at her despair. Her pain became his pain. He felt it when her shoulders sagged under the weight of it. If only he could make it better, somehow protect her from all the worry. He’d do anything to see her sunny smile again. He craved it like a man dying of thirst in the desert.

  Lifting her chin, she threw the money back into her purse then clicked it shut. “I’m a big girl, Randy. I don’t need you to give me a lecture. I didn’t ask you to come here. If you want to leave, then go.”

  He took her chin in his hand and turned her face up to his, sliding his thumb across the soft skin of her lips, fighting the urge to kiss some sense into them. When his gaze locked with her eyes, their remarkability caught him off guard. The irises were soft gray like a dove’s wing, startling against the thick fringe of her lashes.

  “I don’t want you to regret this tomorrow,” he whispered. “And I think you will.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” The plush lips curved into a smile, more confident this time, and she turned to enter the bachelor suite through the adjoining door. He watched her go with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

  “Get a fucking grip, dude,” he muttered beneath his breath. “You’ve done this a hundred times with a dozen different girls. This will all be over in a couple of hours, and you can get the hell out of here.”

  The minute
she passed over the threshold, every male in the room homed in on her like vultures circling prey. The other dancers seemed tired and dull next to Karly’s exuberance. The strawberry blond hair, swinging hips, and school-girl outfit made a scintillating combination. Like a pro, she circled the room, trailing fingertips over chests and arms with the bright smile he’d come to cherish, a smile meant for him, only this time it was aimed at someone else.

  Most of the men were in their mid-thirties with beer bellies and wedding rings on their fingers. Karly circled in on a clean-cut young man wearing a dress shirt and necktie. The dude’s eyes lit up when she shoved him back into a chair and straddled his lap with a toss of her hair. She was good, Randy thought. Too fucking good for his comfort.

  “Careful, stud, your fangs are showing,” Cheetah, the woman in charge, brushed behind him, her heavy breasts grazing his back. He’d played bodyguard for her girls plenty of times and knew she ran a class act. It should’ve made him feel better but didn’t. Neither did the dollar signs in her eyes as she watched Karly. “She’s a natural, isn’t she? Great eye contact for a virgin. I have to say I’m impressed. I can get her more work if she’s interested.”

  “She’s not,” he replied, eyes glued to Karly, and gently nudged the woman to the side.

  Cheetah laughed and shook her head, moving back into the party.

  Karly circled the young man’s chair and began to slowly untie the knot of her blouse. His face flushed bright red. Although his hands rested on his thighs, his fingers twitched like he wanted to touch her. Randy tugged at his shirt collar, feeling choked. Karly dropped the shirt to the floor, revealing a lacy white bra and the upper swells of her breasts. She turned her back to the guy, hooked her thumbs into the waistband of the skirt, and tugged it down with a flirty glance over her shoulder. The skirt crumpled and slipped to the carpet at the precise moment Randy’s control snapped.

  Chapter 44