Burn For Him

by Kristan Belle

  “He’ll be fine. Don’t worry so much.” She said, looking back over her shoulder at the drummer with a sly smile. “I’m staying right here. He looks like he’s going to come over here any minute now.” Dee winked at me. Personally, I didn’t think he was going to make a move on her, merely enjoying the attention she was throwing his way.

  “I’ll be back up in a bit, then.”

  I didn’t see the point in hanging around there if she was too distracted by the man-candy surrounding her. Plus, it didn’t seem like Milligan was going to be returning any time soon. I didn’t think that he would have had too much time for socialising anyway seeing as the club was only newly opened and it was heaving with wall-to-wall sweaty, writhing bodies. He was going to have his work cut out for him keeping this place at the top.

  I made my way across the VIP room and back over to the stairs where the doormen parted to let me through. I smiled a limp thank you at them and made my way back down to Harper.

  Just as I neared the bottom of the stairs, the heel of my shoe snagged on something and I went sprawling forward. There was no time for me to scream or even to fling my arms out to try to save myself. I grimaced as the floor rushed towards me, knowing that it wasn’t going to be pretty

  Suddenly, a pair of strong hands gripped me and held me steady on my feet. The wooden floor of the nightclub was no longer rushing towards me, threatening to smash my face beyond all recognition. I slowly looked up and felt like I was falling all over again.

  “Are you okay?” Milligan asked.

  I couldn’t answer him for a moment as those hypnotic eyes bored into me and stole my fragile breath. I took in a deep gulp of air and felt light headed. “Yes. I am now. Thank you.”

  “Can you stand?”

  I realised that he was still tenderly holding onto my arms and that I was still leaning into him from the second step up. Even though just being near him seemed to cloud my senses, I still had the presence of mind to be embarrassed by my reaction to him. I straightened myself up and made it down the last couple of steps on my own, holding on tight to the smooth wooden banister rail to keep my jelly legs from failing me. I was glad that he still kept one warm hand on my arm. I needed his help to balance, but more than that, I was enjoying his touch. I was still feeling a little shaken up and with him standing that close to me, his presence wasn’t exactly helping matters.

  “That was a close call.” I tried to joke but the shake in my voice kind of ruined the effect.

  “It was lucky that I was passing.”

  “Yes, very lucky for me.” Something about him rendered me speechless and I glanced down at the floor, blushing at my stupidity. He seemed so dominant and self-assured, even if there was a large degree of arrogance thrown into the mix. It was a heady combination.

  “Do you need to sit down?” He asked, his eyes never leaving my face for a single second.

  I shook my head at him slowly. “I’ll be fine.” It was bad enough that I had tripped and nearly fallen flat on my face in front of him, I didn’t want to look any more like a damsel in distress than I already had. It wasn’t like I was going to faint and needed smelling salts. Sure, he had a hell of an effect on me, but I wasn’t quite that pathetic just yet.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  I smiled shakily. “It was just a trip. I’m fine. I’ve got to go and check on my friend.”

  Milligan nodded. “Be careful. You still seem a little shaken up.” He finally released my arm. “I need to get someone to check on those stairs. I would have hated it if anything had happened to you.”

  He made my skin tingle all over. You know that feeling? When someone simply looks at you and it feels as if your insides are turning to mush and the hairs on your skin stands on end? Yeah, that was me right in that moment. I know that it sounded ultra-cheesy, but there was just something about him that made me go weak at the knees and nervous tension ran through me. I seemed to lose the ability of speech when I was near him. I couldn’t reply. The words seemed to dry up in the back of my throat.

  “Well, now that I have managed to save you from a nasty accident, I need to get back to work. If there is anything you need Carrie, you make sure that you go and see Rick over there.” He waved over at one of the men that were standing guard at the end of the bar, and Rick nodded in acknowledgement. “He’ll see to anything you need, and he’ll know where to find me.”

  I couldn’t do much else but stare at him and mumble, “Brilliant. Thank you.”

  He smiled down at me and once again it transformed his whole face. “I hope to see you again very soon, Carrie.”

  I cleared my throat and formally shook his waiting hand. “It was good to meet you too, Milligan.” I was pleased that I had finally managed to form a coherent sentence, no matter how lame.

  He raised an eyebrow at me, like he wondered how I had gotten hold of his name, but it wouldn’t have been all that hard in a place like this. Secrets weren’t well kept in a world like this. Plus, it wasn’t like he had tried to hide it. It was obvious that he worked here in some capacity.

  As he walked away, I called after him, “Is that your first name or your last name?”

  He turned to grin over his shoulder and I could feel my knees going weak again. “Both.” He laughed and carried on walking away.

  Hmm. A man of mystery, and one that I would very much enjoy unravelling.

  “Who the hell was that you were flirting with?” Harper asked as soon as I walked over to stand next to him at the bar.

  “I wasn’t flirting.” I insisted. I hadn’t had the energy to flirt with him. That man drained my senses.

  Harper laughed. “You were in full-on flirt mode.”

  “Shut up. I was just talking to the guy.” I grinned, but we both knew that I was lying. Well, it was only a little bit of a lie anyway. I had been too blown away by him to flirt properly. Would I get the chance to try again? Who knew?

  “So, where’s the blonde?” I asked him, trying to change the subject away from me.

  “She’s gone to the bathroom to powder her nose.”

  I laughed. “Really? Who uses that expression these days?”

  “Don’t be mean. Michelle is old school. She seems really nice, though.”

  I smiled at him. Harper needed much more than just ‘nice’. He was a fantastic guy and he shouldn’t settle for anything short of fantastic for himself. But, he also wasn’t heartless. He wouldn’t just up and leave her like that. He would let her down gently if he wasn’t interested. Harper was a nice guy and he would happily settle for ‘nice’, but he needed a whole lot more than that for it to last.

  “Here she comes. Don’t be a bitch.” He warned me with a look.

  “Bitch? Me? Never!” I grinned.

  “Hey, Michelle.” Harper smiled as the blonde appeared next to him. “This is my best friend, Carrie.”

  She looked me over, just like they all do. I looked over her right back. It was just what we females did. Checking out the competition. I thought that she looked kind of trashy, with her fake blonde hair extensions and fake boobs on display. Although she smiled at me, there was a look in her eyes that told me that you shouldn’t judge the book by its cover. There was something honest and straightforward in those baby blues of hers.

  Then I had to pause for a moment. I could almost see the thoughts ticking over in her mind. She must have been thinking pretty much the same thing about me. I never usually dressed quite so out-there like I had tonight. Not wanting her to get the wrong impression of me either, I stepped forward and smiled as warmly as I could muster.

  “Hey, I’m Carrie. Good to meet you.”

  She nodded in a shy manner that didn’t quite match her brash appearance. “I’m Michelle.”

  There was something about her that I wasn’t quite sure about on first impressions. But, Harper seemed to like her well enough for now, so the least I could do was to make an effort to try and get to know the girl a bit. So many girls got scared off by the fac
t that Harper’s best friend was a girl, and I wanted to make sure he had a shot at this one if he liked her.

  “Do you guys want a drink?” I asked them both. Harper seemed to breathe out a huge sigh of relief. He knew that I was protective over him, but I really wasn’t going to try here. Some of the girls Harper me were so obviously with him for the wrong reasons that I went into full-on bitch mode with them. I was trying to rein that in.

  Michelle didn’t seem to be his usual type, but who was I to judge? Especially with what I was wearing. If she wasn’t good enough for him, he would be able to find out in his own time soon enough. And, that’s when I would pummel her.

  “Sure, thanks.” She seemed just as surprised as Harper at my level of friendliness. “I just need to go and tell my friends where I am and then I’ll be back.” She smiled shyly over at Harper as she walked away. The girl looked smitten.

  “As soon as she was out of ear shot, I said, “She seems nice enough.”

  “She is. So retract your claws.” Harper smirked.

  I held up my hands and waved them in his face. “See? No claws. I’m being good.”

  “Good. Make sure that you behave yourself. So, where’s that guy that made you shake so much that you fell down the stairs?” he said as he leant over to give the bartender our drinks order, waving me away when I tried to pay for the drinks.

  I instantly groaned. “You saw that?”

  “Who didn’t?” Harper laughed. “You went flying straight into his arms. It was like something out of a really bad movie.”

  I cringed and lowered my head into my hands. “How embarrassing.” Harper was still laughing loudly at my misfortune and I tried to glare at him, but even I could see the funny side of it. “But, I didn’t fall because of him. My shoe got caught on something. It was just lucky that he was passing by and caught me. I could have really hurt myself otherwise.”

  “Yeah, very lucky.” He replied, not looking overly convinced. There was no point in trying to protest my innocence any furthers so I settled for giving him a friendly but firm punch on the arm.

  “Can I get you that drink now, Carrie?”

  I almost didn’t turn around. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. But I had to. I couldn’t just leave him standing there and ignore his presence. Plus, Harper’s threat of laughter forced me to turn around. Milligan was standing only inches away from me, so as I turned around, our bodies brushed against one another.

  “I… Uh…” I stammered like a fool.

  “Sure, she’d love a drink.” Harper said loudly, giving me a sly shove from behind. He was just lucky that I didn’t fall or stumble or he would have been in for a world of pain. I had already made a royal idiot out of myself in front of Milligan once tonight, I didn’t need a repeat performance.

  “Would you like to come and sit down with me?”

  My throat suddenly dried up once again. I didn’t know why he had such an extreme effect on me, but I felt the nerves tingling through my body.

  “Sure she does.” Harper said, the laughter ringing in his voice.

  I swung around to glare at hm. He really wasn’t helping matters. I didn’t have to say anything to him. He knew that if he carried on this way that he would be in deep shit and he quickly held up his hands in mock surrender.

  “Sure, let’s go and sit down. Somewhere away from him.” I growled, only half joking. Luckily enough, Milligan seemed to see the funny side of it and he held out a hand to introduce himself to my friend before I quickly walked away from the bar.

  “Over here.” Milligan pointed to a table with a reserved sign placed in the middle of it and placing his hand at the small of my back, guiding me.

  As soon as we sat down, one of the bartenders walked over and placed a shot glass in front of Milligan and a bottle of ice cold water in front of me.

  “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

  Milligan glanced over at me and I shook my head at him, telling him that I was fine with the water. He waved the bartender away and leaned on the table to look at me intently. I hated that he made me feel so goddamn nervous when he seemed so composed and self-assured. I could usually talk to just about anybody about anything, but he left me choking on my words like a nervous teenager.

  Just as I opened up the bottle and took a long, cool swig, a scream rang through the club, overshadowing the pounding music in his intensity. Milligan quickly shot up out of his seat and spoke quietly into the device on his wrist.

  “What was that?” I asked, standing up and looking around myself, but I couldn’t see anything.

  “I’m not sure yet. Stay here.”

  I didn’t appreciate the stern manner in which he spoke to me. He had only known me for five minutes. That wasn’t anywhere near long enough to give him the right to boss me around. Harper had known me most of my life and I didn’t let him get away with it, so Milligan didn’t stand a chance.

  I took a couple of steps away from the table and saw a crowd gathering at the foot of the stairs that led to the VIP lounge.

  I was as bad as the rest of the rubber-neckers. You see a car crash, you have to slow down and take a peek. You see some kind of accident and you have to check out what happened. You hear a scream, you follow the crowd to find out what had gone one. It was simple human nature.

  I couldn’t get close enough. I heard a lot of chatter, but seeing as the music was still blaring out, there was no way to decipher what was being said. A sudden push through the crowd and Harper appeared in front of me, looking pale and shaken.

  “Destiny.”

  It was all he had to say to get me moving.

  I shoved my way through the heaving crowd of people, elbowing and kicking my way through when they wouldn’t move out of my way. I didn’t care. If Dee was somehow involved in this, then I had to get to her. Harper grabbed hold of my hand and dragged me through the remaining people, who were stood around, talking and staring.

  Destiny lay in a broken heap at the bottom of the stairs. I couldn’t understand what I was seeing at first. Why was she on the floor like that? Then it hit me and I crumpled to my knees at her side. A terrified sob rose in my throat. I reached out a hand to touch her, to let her know that I was there with her, but my hand was quickly snatched away.

  “Carrie, don’t. She’s badly hurt. We can’t risk touching or moving her yet.” Harper said in a voice that was thick with emotion.

  “The paramedics are on their way.”

  I turned to see Milligan standing solemnly off to one side. The moment that he saw the pain in my eyes, he crouched down next to me and put his strong arms around my shoulders. I buried my face into the curve of his neck. What the hell had happened here? It was too much for me to think about. I couldn’t seem to keep my thoughts straight. What had happened to Destiny?

  “Carrie? Do you know her?” Milligan asked me gently.

  I pulled my head back to look at him. It was strange to think that I didn’t even know this guy, but he was giving me untold comfort. Having him at my side was giving me strength.

  “She’s called Destiny. She’s my best friend.” I looked over at Harper, who was watching us with a strange expression on his face. “She’s our best friend.” I added as I reached over to take Harper’s hand.

  I didn’t find it strange that Milligan didn’t remember her. After all, he had only had eyes for me when we were introduced. Plus, even I found it hard to recognise her like that. She looked bloody and broken.

  “Harper? What the hell happened to her?” My voice broke.

  Who would have ever thought that the night would have ended up like this? I heard Milligan move away slightly to talk to some of his staff who were trying to thin out the crowd of people that were gawking at us, making sure that the medics had room to get through. All the while, he kept his hand at the small of my back, reassuring me that he was still there and not leaving.

  “She fell.” Harper replied simply, not taking his eyes off of Destiny’s still form and grasping tight
ly to my hand.

  “Will she be okay?”

  “I’m no doctor, Carrie. But, she’s alive. And as they say, where there’s life, there’s hope.” I sagged against Harper when he said that. She looked so still, but I didn’t want to think the worst.

  I looked up the staircase. Perhaps she had caught her foot on the carpet? Like I had? Glancing up, I saw Michelle standing at the top of the stairs, her hand over her mouth and tears streaming down her face. I glanced at Harper, the question in my eyes clear. He shook his head slightly. I knew what that meant. He couldn’t go and comfort Michelle. He had only just met the girl. He couldn’t leave Destiny lying alone on the floor to go and see to a complete stranger. Our friendship was stronger than that.

  Milligan returned to my side, holding my other hand that was free and squeezing it reassuringly. I knew that he wouldn’t be going anywhere. This was his club and the accident would have to be investigated. But, even if he was still only there for his business interests, then I was glad about it. His touch gave me warmth.

  I wished that Michelle would come and put an arm around Harper. He needed something like that, just as much as I did.

  “The paramedics are here.” Milligan said softly as soon as he received word of their arrival. I looked behind us to see the uniformed men rushing towards us.

  “Do you want me to give you a ride to the hospital? We could set off now and meet them when they get there.”

  I turned to look at Milligan. His face was a mask of concern, but I knew that it wasn’t just concern for his business. He was genuinely concerned for Dee, and for me. I turned to glance at Harper, not knowing what to do for the best.

  “You are in no state to drive. Neither of you are. Let me help you. I’ll drive you both there.” I nodded dumbly as Milligan turned to speak quietly to Harper and within seconds, we were getting hustled out of the club via a rear exit.