When the song ended the crowd chanted for more. More for me? Great! He looked like he was already working on it. I stood back with my hand on my hip, holding my towel, and mouthing a silent thank you to him. He nodded and went to the mic as he set some water down on the stage. “Oh, you want more? Alright, as we do at least once, it’s time to kick it back. This one goes out to my little sister’s best friend,” he said with a breathless smile while Keane played with his guitar for a moment. Jase told the girl she could leave and thanked her for her help. He kissed her on the cheek, and she fluttered away. The girls she had beat to get up there all mean mugged her. She beamed happily. Jase guided the band. Mel hit the drums, and Keane began to play the hell out of his guitar in a very, very impressive solo. I sighed and put my hand over my face, embarrassed. I immediately recognized Van Halen’s “You Really Got Me” eruption. The bar stayed silent and watched in awe, as did I, as we marveled at Keane’s impressive skills. That could not be that easy, surely. He was so definitely showing off. It was intense, completely hot, awestriking, and I was having a hard time being embarrassed anymore when I was so taken. Soon he hit those familiar chords, and the rest of the band joined in. Jase did a really good job for having such a raw voice at the moment, though it was pretty tame as far as lyrics seemed concerned. He alternated between playing his guitar, hugging his mic with that pick in his fingers, and pointing over to me. It was a good thing Kayleigh was already compensating for me, because I couldn’t help but be a little distracted by all of it since apparently it was for me. My mind swirled with memories at Chelsea’s house trying to recall any sign that he may have shown back then maybe? I still poured shots and drafts while I received compliments about what an amazing performer my boyfriend was. I had to keep denying that I was with him. Though, at this moment, I found I didn’t want to. The bar went silent when the music closed and the crowd roared chanting Jase’s name. The bouncers were gonna have their work cut out for them tonight, that was for sure. Somehow all of this seemed to be pumping the bar more and more with every song.
“Come on now, I can’t take all the credit on that one, please give a round of applause for my best friend and amazing guitar player, Keane Keller, ladies and gentleman!” he held his hand in gesture, and they all shouted Keane’s name and cheered wildly. I had a feeling that soon Jase and Mel wouldn’t be the only ones with a following here. Keane openly ate it up and fanned his hands toward himself for more with a huge grin on his face. “Alright, enough about him. Let’s get back to the real star of the show. Now, we are gonna slow it down a little bit. This next one goes out to the girl I had a crush on in high school,” he smiled wickedly and winked at the audience while he breathlessly continued. My damn heart felt like it stopped beating, my breath was stolen as I waited on pins and needles for whatever he would say, what he was going to play. “A girl who starred in many of my thoughts, if you know what I mean, and kept me distracted any time she was around. Anytime I hear this song, I think of her.”
My throat closed as he pulled a stool up to the mic then sat down. “Ladies and gentleman, I’m sure you can guess who I am talking about, but just in case, this one is for the little redhead with the braces, short hair, the cutest blush, and the most beautiful smile in the midst of it all,” he smiled again and winked at me while he grabbed his water and took a swig. I felt tears prick my eyes, and I had to exhale steadily. He bent back down and set it on the stage at his feet. He looked at Keane and nodded. Keane began to play an acoustic guitar slowly. Jase leaned to the mic and held it, closing his eyes.
CHAPTER 5
“What’s up, Klive? You actually seem a little distracted,” Tom told me from the hallway near the manager’s office. He walked up beside me where I leaned against the wall with the papers I was looking over. Well, I was supposed to be looking over them, anyway. In truth, I was incredibly distracted by that pretty little redhead I was working to desensitize myself around lately. The bloody racing heart and sweaty palms were getting a little old. For the millionth time, I wondered what the hell it was about her in particular that had me on edge in a way no other blasted female had ever accomplished. Let’s just add that shit to her stellar list of seemingly impossible accomplishments, shall we? Tom chuckled as he followed my eyeline to Kinsley James. “She’s pretty, huh?”
I scoffed, and he chuckled once again. What an understatement. She was so hot. Such a strikingly different character at work than when I had seen her in the elevator. She was not so sweet in appearance here. Sure, her demeanor was sweet, but she was nothing less than sexy here. I was pretty pleased with the uniform selections Tom had made in this moment. Couldn’t really go wrong with low cut, skin tight, and super short where that woman was concerned. “You sure this is all of it?” I asked him as I glanced back down at the documents.
“Yes, Sir. It’s all there,” he told me.
“Everything still quiet?” I asked him seemingly absently as I thumbed through, double checking I had everything I needed. In truth, I was pretty much asking whether or not my second-hand man still needed his balls removed, or if they were safe.
“That it is. Hasn’t shown his face since Tiffany changed shifts,” he told me. I nodded as I watched Kinsley work her hot little ass off with a ton of pretty smiles, polite conversations, fantastic serving times, overall a very valuable employee to say the least. I shared that thought with Tom as I ran my hand thoughtfully over my mouth. Sure, I may not show my face here very often, but I still owned the bloody place, and business was business. He confirmed she was one of the very best he had, and he often used her for training the others. I was definitely pleased by that. Seemed the place was a pretty well-oiled machine, and the spring break crowd had yet to make an appearance. It was pretty packed tonight as Taylor was busy performing his heart out onstage. I was very pleased with his entire package and how it worked in my favor. Hopefully it would serve to afford me more free time soon enough.
“What do you think of Taylor?” I asked Tom as I watched Jase, studied him, and noticed the other developing conflict where my business was concerned and this damn woman who seemed to be everywhere, all over everything, even as she was so unaware. Right now she was completely unaware of the many pairs of eyes that followed her as she gracefully moved throughout the place. Including Taylor’s. He began to sing “Bad Company” alongside his cop friend playing the guitar, rather well I might add. I noticed Kinsley’s whole person change as she cast a flirty smile up to the stage, and both guys returned it with their own. So the plot thickens, then. She turned back to hustle up to the bar to load her tray once again. She was so damn close, but still so far away, so out of reach. Always just out of my reach, it would seem.
“Taylor’s a great guy. Known him for years, sang on and off here between deployments just for the hell of it at times. Easygoing, definitely popular with the ladies, has his own website and fan base, so he draws one hell of a crowd to this place. I’m sure it doesn’t take a genius to see that he carries a torch for the same little redhead you were just scoping out,” he called my shit once again with a stupid grin that I couldn’t help but return. “Although, around here, that’s common knowledge. As far as the other aspect, seen him beat some serious ass when necessary. He looks nice, but you piss that one off, he can do some serious damage. Even roughed some asshole up for fuckin’ with Kinsley a little more than he was comfortable with.” I raised my eyebrows at that as I watched him. Good boy… “She doesn’t know about it, and we prefer to keep it that way. Jase adores her, seems he wants to preserve her bubble. The girl’s too sweet. Naïve. A definite flirt, though she doesn’t even realize it half the time. She does one hell of a job with the patrons because of her nature. Unfortunately, she seems to be unaware of how fine she is, so it’s not always a favorable combination. Gus keeps a firm eye on her and Kay pretty well. They are the hottest ones other than Tiff, hence the shit Ray gave her. I have to warn you, she looks very similar to Kinsley, so if you don’t feel like killing unnece
ssarily, I’d keep that in mind if you bring him in on one of her shifts,” he offered. How very informative, thank you, Tom. I was going to kill Ray’s ass when this was all done anyway, so perhaps I should go ahead and lay firm ground work for my reasoning. I already knew, without a doubt, that the first moment he even looked at her in a manner unbecoming, I was going to want to put a bullet into his head. I found that restraining myself when it came to anything to do with this woman was an exhaustive effort. Tom interrupted my thoughts, “I’m afraid Kins is so cute and unassuming, she makes for an easy target.”
An easy target indeed. My sweet, naïve, girl was already forcing me to possibly kill someone not on the list for doing the very thing that Taylor had beat the shit out of someone for; fucking with her. She doesn’t know it, just like she didn’t know then. I would prefer to keep it that way, as well. Innocence was a luxury that I would love to afford her for as long as possible. The prick was in the bar right now, watching her, flirting with her, studying her in a way that got under my skin so badly, it was all I could do not to haul his ass out of here with my gun to his head.
“Seemed to pick up on that bit myself. Glad to know Gus is doing such a great job,” I told him absently from where I saw that he was doing that exact thing right now. “Listen, I will most likely be in here a lot more, for reasons that obviously don’t need explaining, and I’d prefer if you continued to make sure that no one knows my true affiliation with this place. It’s bad enough that I can’t go anywhere without being recognized in my own part of town, so I’d prefer to keep this area untainted for as long as possible. Besides, the last thing I want is for these people to find out I am their boss’s boss. When I come in, I expect to be treated exactly as everyone else, I will pay just like everyone else does,” I told him. No need to worry about the drinking in your own establishment law since those guys were in my pocket anyway. Besides, it’s not as though that were the thing anyone would be interested in arresting me for. Tom nodded. “If I am ever to blur those bloody lines, well, I don’t want her knowing about it.” Tom snickered with another nod before he walked out on the floor to delegate a few more to compensate for the ever-thickening crowd. My little Kinsley James was working behind the bar a mile a minute when I watched Taylor, being barraged by a large group of fans, walk up and order from her while her back was turned to him. She turned around with a huge grin that I was instantly envious of him for. So she was into him. Damn it.
She looked so pretty tonight. Her hair was down, so much longer than I had thought it when in that ponytail, and she wore more makeup than she normally did. Her eyes had a bedroom look to them that was completely arousing. Speaking of arousing, I watched as she reached up to grab a bottle that was nearly out of her reach, and I was intrigued to see that she went up to the very tip of her toes as she did so. There was no damn way… Had she been in ballet at some point? She did have a particular grace to her movements. Shit, there was no way that she could be that perfect for me, was there? Add that bullshit to the list of ways you drive me fucking mad, woman. Her legs were so fantastic! I desperately wanted to run my hands up them, to feel the power in those toned muscles, tame that fucking power down while wielding my own over her. I wanted those damn legs open with me in between them, fucking her so damn hard. I wanted to wipe that sweet smile off of her face and watch it twist in bliss as I made her come. I wanted to pull my name from her, to feel her nails scratching down my back, to pull the hell out of her hair, to whip the hell out of that ass she was tormenting me with. Oh, yes, violent sex with a whore was on my list of to-do’s at some point to curb this shit. Tom came back beside me, but kept monitoring, muttering something under his breath in irritation that I couldn’t quite make out. I didn’t care. I was just too lost in all that was my lust over the delicious Miss James. I bet she was delicious…
She absently ran a hand through her hair to move it from her face before setting Taylor’s shots before him, and I watched his gaze stray to her breasts quickly before looking back up at her, she never even noticed. I smiled as she worked the crowd for his drinks before she took some money from the overeager females at the end, and my heart stopped momentarily as her eyes connected with mine for just a second before turning to those women with a wry grin. She glanced at me again, as though she wanted to study me more closely, but she was too busy to get the chance. Was it possible she recognized me? She had come within a few feet of me, and her perfume wafted over to my area. Tom was distracted, so I inhaled deeply with my eyes closed, relishing in her for just another moment before opening my eyes to see Taylor lifting her over the bar as though she were nothing more than a little doll. The jealous blokes around him sang his praises where she was concerned, and I chuckled as her whole face shown her shock for their crude behavior. Oh, Taylor, why this particular female when you could so obviously have any other in the bloody place?
As he walked up to the stage with her pressed firmly back against him, protectively so, I returned the paperwork to the office, then found a place in the bar to sit and watch protectively myself. Had I ever used my evil for good before? My evil didn’t feel so good when I saw Jase standing between my girl’s legs from where she sat on the edge of the stage while he charmed the hell out of her, ignoring all those other desperate women as though she were the only one in the room that seemed to matter to him. Couldn’t really blame him, could I?
The asshole I was keeping an eye on was closer to the stage now, and I had to give the cop some major props, because he seemed to have picked up on him and was watching him now, too. Detective, according to my background check, so he should be pretty observant. I was glad my girl seemed to be so surrounded by good protection, if there could be a positive in all of this. I watched the officer as he moved to sit beside Kinsley and began playing with her hand as he silently communicated with Jase. Interesting. They never skipped a beat. Maybe Taylor is in law enforcement as well? Perhaps the two are just that close and able to communicate the way best friends can silently pull? Either way, the detective was playing his fingers in her hand while Jase was busy trying to talk her panties off, it would seem, holding some card as though explaining something to her that she gave him an obedient smile to. Smart ass or legit, either way I wanted that look for myself.
She seemed eager and resistant to him all at the same time. Shit! She leaned forward, and her lips met with his cheek, her eyes were closed, and she lingered just long enough to give him the green light to try harder. She pulled away to go back to work, but he tugged her back. I watched as he raised his eyebrows in surprise before a slow grin warmed his face. What the bloody hell had she said to him? Was she coming onto him? Oh shit, what the hell is wrong with me?! Gone were the days when I was only happy that she wasn’t married or engaged to someone as a girl like her ought to be. To me.
I ran my hands over my face to clear that bullshit. Wife? Fiancée? Damn it. I had never considered myself husband material. I needed sex now! I needed to fuck this girl. To get her out of my bloody head. Hell, I needed to touch her, period. Then there was also the other option that disgusted me to the core, but it made sense. If I killed her, it would remove her fucking distraction for good, and I wouldn’t have to feel conviction for all of the shit I was involved in. I wouldn’t have to worry about this pathetic jealousy, winning someone over, wanting to fuck her so much. I could just keep my bad intact instead of pondering constantly about how in the hell to get out safely to steal this girl’s heart for my own and keep her. My tendencies were becoming more violent when I had to straighten anyone out due to the continuous frustration she was presenting me. I had somehow thought that if I could find her again, that I wouldn’t be like this again. Like I’d been for weeks after losing her after the elevator. Now I found it had only gotten worse. I needed to vent. I needed to beat the absolute shit out of someone, and right now, that someone was this stalker of hers. Maybe I should outright beat him to death to remove his threat and curb these emotions I had never before dealt with in my
bloody life.
“Alright, alright! Sorry, I may have taken fifteen, but have ya’ll seen that cute bartender recently?!” Taylor shouted to the crowd charmingly while the bar erupted with praise and agreement. I chuckled and lightened as I watched Kinsley’s entire face go slack with her embarrassed shock once more. I liked that face as well. I wanted to cause that face. She was adorable when she looked like that. Adorable, King, seriously? You blasted pussy. See, I was all over the fucking map where she was concerned. One minute I am murderous in my frustration, the next I am completely melting as I look upon her, warm with this feeling I can only imagine is that dreaded word I do not particularly care to admit even in thought.
I watched with a grin I couldn’t help as he worked the crowd some more before pulling an attractive young woman onstage to play the tambourine for him. “Kinsley, Baby, this one is for you!” Nice. Well played, you asshole. She was embarrassed and flattered at the same time as he began “Are You Gonna Be My Girl.” I sighed, but smiled, as the alcohol was flowing right along with that money. Good boy. Not to mention it was fun watching two more men completely lose that filter in the name of that same woman; helped me to feel better about my own having gone missing. They were completely fun to watch, and Taylor was a master at working the stage. He owned the hell out of it and was definitely trying to get into that pretty redhead’s panties as he made her crack up to the point of having to cover her face because he was being such a dumbass up there. He was good. Had to give him that much.
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