Mixed with Trouble: A CASH BAR NOVEL

by Faiman, Hayley

  Tipping my head back, I look up into his dark eyes. “Has it?”

  He nods once, the fire so fucking terrifying as he looks down at me, but he doesn’t realize that his fire is nothing like the men in my life, like the man I truly love. He doesn’t know that I crave and want the bad guy. I need the bad guy.

  Carter drops his hand, wrapping it around my waist before he tugs me into the nearby alleyway. I feel the rough brick against my back immediately as he pushes me hard, my head cracking on the exterior of the building.

  The pain doesn’t bother me, probably because I’m drunk. No, instead I feel a thrill shimmy throughout my entire body. His hands push my skirt up to my waist and tug my panties to the side.

  Lifting one of my legs, I wrap it around his hip, closing my eyes as his cock invades me with one quick thrust. There is no testing to make sure I’m ready for him, no warm-up. My body attempts to resist him, I’m not wet enough, but he forces himself inside and I hiss as the pain slides through me.

  “Fuck,” he whispers, his mouth crashing against mine.

  One swipe of his tongue, a second thrust of his hips and my body begins to relax. A third thrust and I sigh into his mouth as my wetness begins to ease the intrusion.

  “No more one-night stands, Lea. You’re mine,” he rasps against my lips.

  “I’m not,” I grind out.

  I’m not his.

  I’ll never be his.

  I’m Baby’s and nobody else’s, even if he’ll never want me, even if he’ll never know. I’ll always be Baby’s and I don’t care how downright fucking pathetic that makes me sound.

  “Until I’ve used all of you, that’s exactly what you are, Lea. Shit’s changed.”

  “Why?”

  He shakes his head, his dark eyes lifting as he continues to pound into me, my back scraping the wall, causing delicious pain down my spine. His hand slips between us and I feel his thumb press against my clit.

  “Because I fucking said so, you little slut. Now shut up and come. That’s all you do now, you’re mine. You keep your goddamn mouth shut, you take my dick and you come.”

  Hating his words and the way they affect me, I bite the inside of my cheek, willing my body to stop its climb toward my release. I’m on the edge, he knows it, the smirk on his lips is telling. My thighs begin to shake, my pussy flutters and I close my eyes.

  “No, I refuse,” I whisper.

  His mouth slams down against mine and he swallows my cries as I come. With one more thrust inside of me, he fills me with his own release, ripping his mouth from mine, his eyes staring into my own, the smirk gone, but a look of determination has replaced it.

  “You can’t refuse me, especially after I sit down with your family’s club. You want everyone to stay safe, you’ll do what I say, how I say. This is bigger than some little slut. This is huge and you’re going to play your part, or they’ll all die.”

  Shaking my head, I try to wriggle from my position against the wall. He doesn’t let me, he may not be as big and strong as any of the Devils, but he’s bigger and stronger than me. I am no match for him, not in the slightest.

  “I want a meeting with Snake. You’ll set that shit up or I’ll send my boss after them. All of them. We don’t spare women and children, so I would think about that.”

  “Who are you?” I whisper.

  Carter chuckles. “Doesn’t matter. Just know, you try to fuck anyone I don’t approve of and I’ll kill you. You do anything I don’t approve of and I’ll have your entire goddamn family taken out.”

  Fuck.

  I’m in deep shit.

  CHAPTER THREE

  BABY

  My ride takes me ten hours away from home. I don’t know why, but that’s where I go. I ride up to Alberta, to an address that I probably shouldn’t even know let alone visit.

  Lea should be long forgotten, but she’s not, she never will be. She holds this special place inside of me, one that I can’t quite define.

  Gracie and Skinner miss the shit out of her, hell, we all do. A part of our club has felt empty since she’s been gone.

  I don’t want to admit that a part of my heart has felt empty as well. She’s twenty now, graduated and supposedly happy. I don’t think that she is, how could she be? She isn’t with her family.

  Parking across the street from her apartment, I lift my gaze up to the fourth floor where I know her place is. There is a light on inside and I frown. It’s late, too fucking late for her to be awake. Then, my stomach drops.

  The curtains open and I see her, I know it’s her because Gracie mentioned that she’s grown out some long-ass dreads and dyed them gray or some shit.

  She’s standing at the window, looking up at the sky, her face so fucking beautiful, grown, not like the girl she had been the last time I saw her. No longer is her face round with baby fat. It’s slimmed down.

  My eyes widen when I see that she’s only wearing a bra.

  I try not to shift my gaze down to her tits, but I fucking fail. They’re full, spilling out of the top of the material that attempts to hold them in. She turns her head and I watch as a hand snakes around her waist then slides up to those tits that I’d been eyeing.

  He grabs ahold of her, his mouth touching the side of her neck. She doesn’t tilt her head to the side to give him more access, she stands frozen. Something is really fucking off, I can tell in the way she holds her body stiff and solid.

  Then as quickly as they appear, she turns around, the curtains are closed and they walk away before the light is switched off.

  Something is wrong, really fucking wrong.

  I stay where I am, watching that window, hoping for a sign of her again, but as the hours tick by, I see nothing. When the sun rises, the morning dew in the air, the main apartment door opens and a guy walks out.

  He’s wearing dark jeans and a white shirt, his hair rumpled and he looks like a tool. His eyes catch mine and I watch as a flicker of recognition crosses his features when he dips his gaze to my cut.

  He doesn’t walk over to me, instead he continues on his way and as much as I want to follow him, I don’t. That was her man, that fucking tool in a collared shirt.

  Fuck that.

  Lea was a wild child and from what I hear, she turned into a wild adult. No way in fuck is she supposed to be with some asshole who wears skinny jeans and a button-down shirt.

  Lifting my gaze to her apartment, I see her standing at the window again, except this time she’s not looking up. Her eyes are directed straight at me. I wait for her to smile, to wave or show any recognition, but she doesn’t.

  Instead, she turns around and disappears into the apartment.

  Fuck.

  This cannot be good.

  Reaching for my phone, I find Snake’s name and press call. I’m going to get to the bottom of whatever that was, whoever that guy was and why she looks so goddamn haunted. I know that if I could see her eyes, if she were in front of me, I wouldn’t like it one fucking bit.

  “Where are you?” Snake asks as his greeting.

  I chuckle, my eyes never leaving Lea’s apartment window. “Alberta,” I state.

  There is a moment of silence and I almost think that he’s hung up on me. That is, until he begins to speak.

  “Get your ass back here. We need to have a meeting about that woman in your bed.”

  I don’t look away from the window, wondering if I should tell him what I saw. Maybe I didn’t see shit though. I would feel like a fucking idiot if this was just some guy she was into and he wasn’t anything but some tool. My gut says he’s more than just some punk though.

  “Be back by tonight,” I say as I start my engine.

  My gaze stays focused on the window. Before I leave, I watch as she appears again. Her head tips down and she watches me.

  Lifting my hand, I give her a two-fingered wave. She doesn’t move, except to tip her head to the side and watch me for a moment longer.

  Without a word or another motion to her, I rev my
engine and take off with a roar down her quiet city street. She wants to live her life on her own, without her family and the club at her back, fucking some tool in a button-down shirt, she can have the fuck at it.

  I shouldn’t care what she does, not when it comes to where she lives or who she lets inside of her body. She’s a girl, nothing but a girl. I try to imagine the teenager she was before she left us, I try not to envision the woman that I saw in her bra at the window, but I fail. That is the only version of her that I see now.

  Shaking my head, I attempt to rid myself of the vision but I fail at every attempt. She makes my cock stir beneath my jeans. She shouldn’t. She’s a kid. Practically still a fucking teenager, but Christ, she looked anything but at that window, her body on display. I can only imagine what she feels like, all that smooth sweet skin soft to the touch.

  I’m going to burn in Hell for the way I’m thinking about her. Shit. It doesn’t really matter, I’m burning in hell anyway, I may as well have some fun. With a chuckle, I speed up and roar down the road toward home.

  Lea won’t be leaving my memory banks anytime soon and honest to fuck I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to stay away from her, not if the promise of her body is as good as I think it’ll be.

  Shit.

  I’m a fucking pervert.

  LEA

  Carter leaves me alone for the day, with a stern look and an order to go nowhere but work. I bite the inside of my cheek, a smart assed remark on the tip of my tongue.

  Normally, I would just say what pops into my head, but after last night he scared me. He is unpredictable and I’m not about to test him—not yet at least.

  My breath hitches when I walk over to the window to look out at the weather for the day. I have found myself at this window both last night and this morning.

  Last night because I wanted to be free, and at least I could look out at the night sky and wish for Carter to vanish. It didn’t work.

  Glancing down, I notice a man on a bike, facing my building. Except after a second look, I realize it’s not just any man. It’s him. Blinking, I try to see if it’s just my mind playing tricks on me, but it isn’t.

  Baby looks back at me. I know that he can’t really see much from his position, but it’s as if he can see through me, all the way through my entire being. Biting the corner of my lip, I’m unable to take my gaze from him.

  It’s like every single fantasy has come true. Now, if he would climb the fire escape like in that old movie, Pretty Woman, then it really would be my dream come true. He lifts his fingers as his bike comes to life.

  I stare at him, tilting my head to the side, unable to react to his wave. I don’t look away as he wraps both of his hands around his handlebars and his bike takes off down the street. Unable to do anything but stare at the path that he took, I only resume breathing once he’s out of sight.

  Eventually, my alarm sounds and that is the only thing that tears me away from the window. Hurrying around the room, I get dressed for the day. I slip on my tight black leggings and my even tighter black tank top. Black on black, my uniform for life.

  Grabbing my purse off of the kitchen counter, I lock my apartment door behind me and bound down the stairs to the front door of the building. Once I’m outside, I inhale deeply and begin to walk toward the shop.

  I could have gotten a job almost anywhere making minimum wage, but not many places would allow me to keep my hair the way I have it. Long gray dreads aren’t really considered professional. But working at a gentleman’s club as a cocktail waitress, I can do what I want with my hair as long as my skirt is short and my tits are exposed.

  Hiking my backpack up a little higher, I hurry toward the club. I should have applied for work in a bar or restaurant, but the club is only two blocks away and within walking distance.

  In fact, I don’t have to leave my two-block radius for anything that I need. The only time I do is when Carter has me come and spend the night at his place, otherwise, I stick to my small area of the city.

  It’s dusk by the time that I arrive and slip inside the back door. A few of the girls are already oiling up for their time on stage, something that I’m not quite brave enough to attempt.

  “Hey girl,” Marley waves as I slip past her.

  “Hey,” I whisper.

  Her eyes narrow and a frown appears on her face. Out of all the girls that work here, Marley is by far my favorite. She doesn’t start shit, she keeps to herself, and she works hard. Plus, she’s sweet and an amazing dancer.

  “You need to talk, you know where to find me,” she announces.

  I nod once, then turn toward my locker and slowly set my backpack down before I strip off my tights. Once my legs are bare, I tug the miniscule stretchy cotton skirt up my legs and over my hips. It rests so low that you can see my hip bones, and it’s so short that you can see a hint of my ass cheeks hanging out the back.

  Slipping my feet into the incredibly tall black high heels, I reach for the miniscule black top. It’s cropped so short that my entire stomach is exposed along with a hint of the bottom of my breasts.

  No bra needed, and if I lift my arms too high, my nipples will be exposed, a lesson I learned the first week I worked here. Across the chest of the shirt written in scroll is, Goldie’s, the name of the club.

  Tying my dreads up in a high ponytail, I smooth my skirt and turn toward the door to start my shift for the evening.

  The music is loud, as always, but something feels off. Glancing around, I don’t notice anything different and shake off the feeling as I walk over to my first set of tables for the evening.

  As the night progresses, the feeling never leaves, even when it fades, it’s still there in the back of my mind, niggling that something isn’t right. The club is fairly calm and I’m grateful since I’m not on my toes, my mind is completely occupied, somewhat by Carter, but mostly by Baby and my curiosity as to why he was here.

  Once I’ve clocked out for the night, I shove my tip money in my backpack and tug an oversized hoodie over my skimpy top, then tug my leggings back on to cover my bare legs before I shove my feet into a pair of flats.

  Hoisting my backpack over my shoulder, I leave the club. I shouldn’t be walking home so late alone, but it isn’t the first time and I doubt it will be the last. Hurrying down the street, I count each step that I take, knowing that it takes five-hundred and thirty-six steps to reach the front door of my building.

  I hold my breath the entire time, a little ritual that I started one night and have yet to break. Once I’m inside of my apartment, locked up tightly, I flip the light on only to see Carter sitting in my accent chair.

  “Why were you sitting in the dark?” I ask.

  He stands, his feet quickly carrying him over to me. Reaching out, he wraps his hand around the front of my throat, his eyes full of that unbridled fire and anger that is new to me, but I’m starting to realize is the real him.

  “Why was someone from that club watching your building?” he grinds out. Shaking my head, I open my mouth to respond, but his fingers squeeze me tighter. “Don’t think that I won’t hurt you, Lea. I know how much you enjoy the pain,” he coos.

  “I didn’t do anything. I don’t know why he was here. He didn’t come to the door,” I rasp, desperately.

  He tilts his head to the side, his eyes roaming over my face. “I believe you, for now. I see him again, you’ll suffer for it. The meet doesn’t happen until I make it happen. Which will be soon.”

  “Okay,” I whimper as his fingers flex against my throat again.

  “On your knees, suck my cock as your apology,” he chuckles.

  I do as he asks, the entire time I’m thinking that the first chance I get, I’m going to swallow my stubborn pride and ask the Devils for help. Fuck Carter. Once I figure out exactly what he wants from them, I’m going to delight in watching him drown.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  BABY

  Snake watches me. This isn’t what I expected. Free and Crooner are
the only other men here. The room is deafeningly silent as I stare across the desk at them. Snake is sitting in his chair, Crooner and Free standing on either side of him, their arms crossed over their chests.

  “Why were you in Alberta?” Snake asks.

  “Went for a ride.” I shrug.

  Snake shakes his head once, obviously that answer not good enough for him. Sighing, I lift my hand and run my fingers through my hair.

  “Got on my bike, needed some air, ended up there. Don’t know how, don’t want to question it either. Just did.”

  “She okay?” Free asks, speaking for the first time.

  I nod once, then shake my head. “I don’t know. Maybe, but probably not.”

  Snake’s eyes narrow, then I watch as he lets out a heavy sigh. “I’ll have Skinner check up on her.”

  I snort. “She won’t tell him shit, you know that.”

  Snake lifts his chin. “We deal with one thing at a time. Chardonnay and her fucking father first, then Lea and whatever the fuck you were thinking by riding up there.”

  “Don’t know what I was thinking, just did it. Now, not sure I’ll stay away.”

  “Baby,” Free growls.

  “Fuck you, man. Something wasn’t right. I could tell even from a distance. I won’t stay away, it’s Lea.”

  “What’s she mean to you?” Snake asks.

  Lifting my gaze to meet his, I hold it without saying a word. No words need to be spoken. She’s Lea and right now that’s all I know. Snake nods, maybe understanding my stare, but probably not.

  “You know the consequences,” he announces.

  Jerking my chin, I don’t say anything one way or the other. I do know the consequences. If Skinner finds out I’ve fucked with Lea without his permission, technically he could kill me, most likely he’d beat the shit out of me.

  Not sure if that’s something I want to deal with right now, or ever. Not sure if I even want her that way, I’ve only just seen her, haven’t even spoken to her in six years. Personally, I think he’s getting ahead of himself, but what the fuck ever.