“Thanks.” I grabbed the glass and circled around him, leaving as much space between us as I could. The place was packed. It certainly wasn’t a lot of space. Inches. It wasn’t enough. I could smell his cologne. I could feel the heat of his body. I hesitated, wishing I could lean in to him and stay there.
Remember, he shares his women. He has lots of women. And he’s not looking for a relationship. It’s all about bondage. Whips and chains and safewords and control. You made a break. Don’t go back. You’ll only regret it.
Pulling in a deep breath, I hiked up my chin and pushed on, wriggling through a crowd of men gawking at the women shaking their asses on the dance floor.
I’d done it. I’d talked to him without throwing myself at him. And had I wanted to.
Side stepping and inching through tiny gaps in the crowd, I made my way back to our table. Every now and then, I’d steal a little sip of wine. It was good. Really good. I discovered the table I’d been sharing with Jill was occupied. But not by Jill. I downed the rest of my wine, set the glass on the first empty horizontal surface I could find and headed outside.
Ah, much cooler. The air smelled better, not like stale beer and sweaty bodies. I click-clacked out to where I remembered having parked the car, on the street, in front of a bagel shop. I stopped. I looked left. I looked right. I went down another street and another. It wasn’t there.
It freaking wasn’t there.
“I am going to kill her,” I grumbled as I fished my phone out of my pocket. I listened to the phone ring. One, two, three…five, six. It clicked to voicemail and I left an angry message, asking her why she’d abandoned me then clicked off. A split second later, as I was scurrying back to the bar to decide what to do, my phone rang.
“Where are you?” I demanded. I was getting tired of being abandoned at the bar. Really effing tired of it.
“Um…” She giggled. “Stop that.” She giggled again.
“Jill, where are you?”
“Oh. Bristol? Hi. I ran into Dave at the bar. You remember Dave.”
Sure, I remembered Dave. How could I forget him? He’d used Jill to make an old girlfriend jealous and then dumped her like yesterday’s trash. The guy was an absolute ass**le. “I’m ready to leave. Come and get me.”
“Oh. Sorry. I can’t.” She giggled again.
“Why not?”
“Well, because you parked the car illegally. It was towed.”
Gah!
Fortunately, I was near a bench. I plopped down.
“Bristol? I’ve gotta go.”
“Bye.” I ended the call.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Jill had been my best friend since I was in kindergarten, and had seen me through some of the biggest heartbreaks in my life, I might have vowed to never speak to her again after this. But she had been, and would always be, my best friend. And it hadn’t been her fault the car was towed. I was the one who’d told her it was okay to park in that spot.
I glanced around, suddenly aware of the fact that I was alone on the street. It was late. And there weren’t that many people out there with me.
Feeling a slight sense of unease, I started back toward the relative safety of the bar and the masses of people inside it. As I turned the corner, a black car pulled up alongside me and honked the horn. I glanced.
Looked like Shane’s car. The passenger side window was down. The woman in the seat was waving her hand out the window at me.
“Bristol!” she called.
The vehicle was idling at the curb, hazard lights blinking.
Great timing. Just great. If Shane found out I was stranded, he’d offer me a ride. I didn’t want him to do that because if he did, I would take it.
“Bristol Deatrich,” the woman said.
Against better judgment, I approached the car and peered into the window. “Hi.”
“Are you okay?” Shane asked.
“Sure. Of course I’m okay.”
“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” he said.
“Thank you for the concern. I’m heading to my car. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“How about I make sure you get to your car safely? I can drive you to it. Where did you park?”
Of course he offered to drive me to my car.
“It isn’t necessary. I’m just down the street.” I pointed in a random direction.
“I don’t mind.”
“Really, it’s okay.”
He got out and circled the front end. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
His eyes narrowed.
Dammit, he was like a hound on the scent. “The car was towed.”
“I’ll take you home.”
“You don’t have to—“
“I insist.” He was already pushing me toward the car.
I managed to blurt out one last, “Really, it isn’t necessary,” before he’d practically forced me into the backseat.
Within seconds, we were zooming down the quiet streets, going in the opposite direction from my condo. He knew where I lived, so my assumption was he was taking his friend home first.
“You’re going the wrong way,” I told him, hoping he’d turn around and take me home first instead.
“Bristol, this is Kayla. Kayla, Bristol. Kayla lives just a few blocks from here. Since you and I live south, it makes sense to take her home first.”
It made sense, sure. But that meant I’d be in the car with Shane alone. I didn’t want to be in the car with Shane alone. Not for a minute. But I knew there would be no changing Shane’s mind, so I sat back and kept quiet during the short ride to Kayla’s place. A few minutes later, I learned she lived in a high priced condo in a converted old factory. Nice. Definitely more Shane’s speed.
I waited in the backseat while Shane walked his guest up to her building’s door. He didn’t touch her, I noticed. Nor did he kiss her. When he returned, he opened the passenger side door. “Why don’t you come up here and sit? I feel like a chauffeur.”
“All right.” I made myself comfy in the front seat, buckled in. As Shane pulled back out onto the street, I said, “Thank you for taking me home.”
“You’re welcome.”
As much as I wanted to sit closer to him, I forced myself to lean against the door the whole trip to my condo. Of course, like he had with Kayla, he walked me up to my door. But unlike what he’d done with her, he placed a hand on the small of my back as he did it. And he didn’t leave when I unlocked the door.