by KL Donn
Case watched as the man grabbed his woman, pulling her closer to his mouth and whispering something in her ear. She paled, which pissed him off all over again. Holding himself back was the hardest thing he’d ever done.
Deciding he’d had enough, he pulled her up, gripping her biceps and demanding, “What did he say?” She rolled her lips in her mouth to chew on them. There was a new tension to her. She was stiff as a board, and her eyes had glazed over. “What did he say?” He practically yelled at her. Her flinch made him feel like shit, but he needed to know.
“Nothing,” she mumbled, not looking him in the eye.
“Fuck that, Evelyn. What the fuck did he say!” His emotions were all over the place now.
Worry.
That she would do something stupid.
Fear.
That she was in trouble.
Anger.
That she wouldn’t confide in him.
They swirled around him like a vortex waiting to suck him in and spit him out like yesterday’s garbage. He wasn’t used to the back and forth play by play that was happening to him. It was frustrating and exhilarating all at once. He loved that she had awoken this need in him to take care of her. Most people would think after the way he grew up and what happened to him that he’d be running as far and fast as he could, but what they didn’t realize was that the one thing he craved in life more than the freedom from his nightmares was a woman to complete him. Sounded girly as fuck, but it was what it was, and he was ok with it.
Now, if only he could stop fucking up so monumentally, that’d be fan-fucking-tastic.
“Why are you here?” Her whispered words brought him out of his internal ramblings.
“Are you fucking with me?” Was it just him or was the girl clueless? He’d spent hundreds of dollars on wasted beer for him and Ace as they came in every night she worked. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her, and she questioned why he was there on yet another night she worked?
There was this look in her tropical blue eyes. Almost wonder but filled with hope and doubt. He had to kill that doubt. “Evelyn, I’m here for you. Every fucking night it’s you.”
She spent so long searching his eyes for his sincerity that he didn’t think she’d respond. The careful consideration that flicked in and out of her gaze made him think he might be coming on too strong. He had to keep reminding himself that she didn’t know him, that she hadn’t done a background check on him the way he had her. She didn’t watch him every night. She didn’t obsess over him her every waking moment the way he did.
Well, fuck, Case, you sound like a stalker.
‘Cause I am, you fuck.
Great, now she had him talking to himself.
It wasn’t until she asked, “What’s so funny?” that he realized he wasn’t only laughing at himself internally but externally as well.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know yet.”
“This isn’t funny.” Her tone was serious.
“It’s not,” he agreed.
“Then you shouldn’t be laughing at me,” she told him as she crossed her arms in frustration.
He grew serious when he realized she thought he was laughing at her. “Kitten, trust me when I say I would never laugh at you.” He tried to convey his honesty through his eyes.
Back to the inspection they went.
Hardy finally found his voice. “What is going on, Evelyn? I told you no boyfriends!”
“Shut up, Hardy. This is your fault,” the dancer from guard duty answered before he could rip the douchebag’s head off.
“He locked the door, boss,” the bouncer chimed in.
“I don’t fucking care! He’s a paying customer! It’s about fucking time she starts doing the private dances anyway.” His voice wound down as he finished.
“I told you I don’t do those. You knew that when you hired me.” The snap in Evelyn’s voice had him wanting to cheer out loud. He was glad to see his woman wasn’t a push over.
Tightening his grip on her, he looked at Hardy over his shoulder, telling him, “No more private dances, or she’s done.” The dark timber of his voice brooked no room for argument.
The indecision was clear on the other man’s face as he pondered his response before telling Case and Ev, “Fine. But only if he,” he pointed to Case, “doesn’t come here anymore. He’s banned from this club for as long as you’re employed.”
“Not fucking likely. She was in trouble here, and your bouncer couldn’t even get in. Like fuck I’ll trust you with her safety.” He felt like he was breathing fire he was so mad.
“Take it or leave it,” the other man countered.
“Leave it,” Casey growled tossing Evelyn over his shoulder, no longer caring if she’d be mad as hell at him for essentially quitting her job for her.
“Wait!” Hardy called before they even cleared the door of the private room. “She can stay. No more private dances. You can come in as long as you aren’t scaring off customers or demanding all of her time.”
Fuck, he knew that offer was as good as he’d get. “Fine,” he put her down before she nailed him in a crucial spot with her nearly well-aimed kicks.
Hardy, the bouncer, and the dancer walked away leaving them alone for a few minutes. As soon as they cleared the door, Ev let him have it. “Who the hell do you think you are? I barely know more than your name! You think you can dictate where I work or what I do at that job, you self-righteous, entitled asshole!”
“Calm down, Kitten.” He had to force himself not to laugh at how adorable she was all worked up. “I knew he wasn’t going to let you go. First off, you bring in more customers than any other girl in this joint. The amount of lap dances happening while you’re on stage and then after you’re done is disgustingly high. You bring him big bucks; he won’t lose you. Second, you have an amazing ability to move sensually to any music. It drives me fucking nuts that other men see it. Then again, I’m so enthralled with the way you get lost in the beat that I can’t take my eyes off your delectable body so I get it.”
She looked star-struck. Maybe stunned. Like she was shocked anyone could possibly see her that way. Then it hit him. She had men staring at her more hours in a day than not. Of course, she doesn’t know what she does to them. They come here horny, not for the girl behind the pole. They just want the good time.
Holding a hand over his heart, he reached out to her with the other one, pledging, “On behalf of mankind everywhere, I apologize for every raging cock past, present, and future. Unfortunately, it’s not gonna stop. I can promise that it’ll only get worse, and I’ll beat any motherfucker who thinks he can take more than you’re offering. Which is nothing because, woman, you’re going to be mine. One day soon, you’re going to accept that I’m real, that you can trust me, and that the only thing I want from you is your heart.” Shit, did those words just come from me?
He wasn’t sure what to expect after his passionate plea, but what she did sure as shit wasn’t it. Her finger poked him in the chest three times in three spots. The third time almost had him giggling like a school girl.
“Watch it, woman.” Gripping her finger, he brought it to his mouth, nibbling lightly on the tip before giving a light kiss.
“How are you real?” she whispered in what he conceitedly hoped was awe.
Boom, bitches! I’m awe-worthy. He cheered.
He’s not real.
He’s not real.
He’s not real.
No matter how many times she chanted the same mantra with every poke of his chiseled chest, it proved that, yup, he was fucking real. His words couldn’t be, though. Could they? He’d only known her for a New York minute. Why would he want anything from her when all she did was cause trouble?
“I still don’t know you,” was all Ev could think to say.
“Have dinner with me,” was his response.
It was simple and silly and yet, she was tempted.
A date? A real dat
e. She’d never done one of those before.
Before she could think of a response, her mouth was answering for her. “All right.”
Shock held them both speechless for a few seconds before a smile so brilliant she could hardly breathe graced his handsome face. His dark eyes lit up like there was a fire in them. He had those dimples in his cheeks that women everywhere were known to go stupid over. The laugh lines scrunched up around his eyes told of his happiness from her one simple word. In turn, she was happy and found herself matching his smile. Her first real smile in longer than she cared to admit or remember.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous, Kitten.” His smile slowly faded as he spoke. Leaning closer to her, she knew he was going to kiss her.
One of his hands moved to hold her waist while the other tangled in her hair. He gave her about two seconds to choose whether she wanted it or not before he was descending on her. The first taste was nearly enough to melt her panties. His lips were soft, yet hard and demanding. He played along her bottom lip with his tongue, lightly licking it before sucking it into his mouth.
She arched into his hold as his grip tightened on her. His hands roamed her body as his lips sucked her into a hypnotic trance. She couldn’t say she fully participated so much as she just felt. Every little nip, suck, and moan reverberated through to her core. It allowed her to have the whole Case effect. The man was nitrous to her flame and together, they quickly went from hot to explosive.
Through all of the arguing and fighting, they’d forgotten one very important thing in the room…
Marcus.
A groan from the opposite side of the space had Casey slowly pulling away from their kiss. A curse burst from his mouth as he walked over to Marcus. She didn’t know what he was about to do, only knowing she had to stop him.
“Casey, leave him alone, please.” She dreaded having to tell him that he was her sister’s pimp and drug dealer, and that he’d been slapping Ev around as often as he could because she refused his advances.
“Seriously, Evelyn? This guy was gonna do God knows what to you, and you want me to leave him alone? No fucking way.” Acid laced his words.
She felt like Casey could be her salvation, but not before Marcus would be her damnation.
Her silence was her answer, and he knew it. Shaking his head, he blew out a disgusted breath, handing her a card. He muttered, “Call me when you’re ready to ditch the loser.”
Tears clogged her throat. Regret burned her eyes. Agony seared her heart.
She watched as he walked away from her for the second time. She wondered if it was for good. Would he come back? Would she have the strength to call him, to explain to him that she was trying to preserve the only family she had left? Would he even understand?
Confusion clouded her mind as the thoughts crowded around. She was lost and stumbling her way through a life she wished she never had. Immediately following that thought was pictures of Andy. She loved that boy like he was her own and was the one thing she didn’t want to change about her life. Except she feared his mother’s lifestyle was going to ruin him.
Laughter had her spinning around to face her worst nightmare. “You sisters think you’re hot shit, yet neither of you can keep a man. You’ll be just like Lacey soon, spreading your legs for anything with a dick. When you do, come see me. I’ll make sure you’re treated right, li’l momma.” His laughter followed him out of the club while she stood rooted to the spot.
Barely breathing and unable to think, Ev just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. Looking at the card Casey had handed her, it simply revealed his and Dom’s name and a phone number. Security Experts was scrawled along the bottom, also.
She was tempted to call Casey right then and ask him to come back. Worse…to find out if they were going on that date. She felt foolish for that one. What did it matter if they did or not, the end result would be the same? He’d want between her legs and then be done with her.
Crumpling the card, she tossed it into the wastebasket filled with the disgusting used condoms men put on before a show so they didn’t wet their pants.
“I can’t believe you fucking left that girl there all by her lonesome.” Ace laughed at Casey as he entered the club to do what he’d been asked—watch his girl.
Case couldn’t full-on ditch her. He had no intention of leaving her at all, but he needed her to know he was in it for the long haul. He needed her like he needed to breathe. He couldn’t imagine another day without her, which was why he was ready to throttle Ace.
At first, he thought Ace sticking around after Dee’s debacle was a godsend; he had someone new to hang out with while Dom and Dee did their mushy honeymoon thing. Recruiting him to help watch Evelyn after he’d met her and realized his lust had turned into obsession seemed like a good idea. Now, he wasn’t so sure.
He still wasn’t one hundred percent certain why Ace had stuck around. He’d never given anyone a full-on answer or would change the subject when they asked. What Casey had been able to get from him was that he was between jobs, not working full-time for Creed, and having no roots to put down anywhere. He’d see the sights. It was fucking Baltimore; he didn’t think there was much to see.
With the way he was always checking his phone, though, Casey figured he was either waiting on a job or a girl. As long as it wasn’t his girl, they were golden.
“Shut the fuck up and just make sure no one touches her for Christ sakes.” Hanging up, he tossed his phone across the table where it bounced off the wall and spun before stopping to mock him in the middle of the table.
It had been three days since the last time he saw her, and he felt like he was going through withdrawal. It was worse than when he’d quit drinking. He could tick off the pros and cons of cracking open the bottle. He could lean on Dom for support when he needed a drink, but with her, all he wanted to do was soak up every vision he could. He wanted to bathe in her vanilla-peach scent that never seemed to let her go. To find out which hidden crevice on her body gave her the most pleasure. Fuck, he just wanted her.
He looked at the unopened bottle of vodka sitting on his counter mocking him. It was a daily struggle not to take a drink. Especially when he was fighting other desires. Drowning in the nothingness liquor would provide was something he’d begun to do in the beginning. It was a slow but swift descent for him.
After he had fallen off the wagon all those weeks ago, he wasn’t sure he would ever recover. Shame had eaten at him for days. He’d obsessed over his failures, lost sleep, and had nightmares that had stopped haunting him years before.
Then Evie walked up on stage. He met her and began obsessing over her which ultimately turned into stalking her. Ace joked about his behavior, but he wasn’t so sure there wasn’t some truth to it. The only thing he hadn’t done was follow her home, and he strongly suspected that was only because she bussed it to and from work. If he had to wait as long as the bus took to get her home, he’d be tempted to reveal the extent of his obsession so it could be him giving her a ride instead.
From her address, he knew she lived in a shitty neighborhood, and he’d been even more tempted to move her in with him.
Basically, he was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. A soft knock on his door brought him from his internal debate of whether he was going to become an all-out stalker or not.
Opening it, he wasn’t surprised to see Dee. “Hey, Double D. How are ya?”
“Well, that depends.” She had a look on her face and a tone in her voice he didn’t like.
“On what?”
“Whether you’ve finally forgiven yourself and are going to stop shutting us out?” Straight to the point. He always liked that about her.
Scratching the back of his neck, he didn’t know what to say, so he opened the door, allowing her in. “How’s little bit one and two?” he asked referring to Jaxson and the li’l one she was carrying now.
“Jax is a helpful terror, and peanut is killing me with morning
sickness.”
“Why don’t you guys send Jax here tomorrow night and you two can have a date or whatever it is happy couples do.” He tried to smile but thinking about her and Dom going on a date reminded him of the one he missed with Ev.
“Tell me about her,” Dee queried.
He couldn’t play dumb. He’d made no secret of gaining all the information about her he could, including quizzing Dee.
“She’s got fire. It burns inside her, and she’s dying to let go. But the fear overpowers everything, and it’s driving me crazy.”
“Have you taken her on a date? Gotten to know her?”
The reminder was a sad one. “I walked away. I wanted to let her decide if I was worth it to her. Besides, I know everything there is to know about her.”
“Really? You know everything?” she huffed.
“Yes.” He was confident in his response.
“So you know her favorite flavor of ice cream? How she likes her coffee? Or maybe she’s a tea person. Does she like short, quick showers or does she like to linger in the warm water of a bath so it hugs her tight, and just for a while, it feels like a real man holding her? What about how she sleeps? Does she sleep on her back or does she lay on her stomach in hopes of a back rub to lull her into her secure future? What did she want to be when she grew up, Casey?”
Was she trying to kill him?
“Point made,” he muttered.
“Just get to know her before you go full-bore on her, okay?”
“Dom went full-bore,” he helpfully reminded her.
“Point made,” she repeated back to him.
Dee stood to leave. When she reached the door, she turned back to him. “I don’t think she’s had anyone to love her, Case. Go slow and be gentle. If I had to guess, love scares her more than anything.”
Long after she had left him alone for the night, Case lay in bed thinking over her words. Dee was right, of course, but he’d never admit that out loud. While he knew all the technical things about her life—like her mom leaving when she was twelve, her running away when she was sixteen, stripping the day after she turned eighteen, and finding her sister a year ago—he knew nothing personal. The longer he thought about it, the more it irritated him.