Steal
My
Girl
By:
Casey McMillin
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the author.
Copyright © 2014
Casey McMillin
All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Normally, I was the one who planned and schemed and my best friend and roommate, Addie, just tagged along. Tonight was different, however, because I was the one tagging along with Addie. She and her boyfriend Drake had gotten pretty serious over the last few weeks, and I was going out with them. They seemed mostly content to hang out at one of their houses most of the time, but tonight they were going to one of the hottest clubs in Miami, and I agreed immediately when she asked if I'd go with them.
It was a place called The Dive—only that didn't refer to it being a dive bar. It was an underwater theme, complete with gigantic aquariums, both overhead and under the dance floor. It was one of those places where you had to know someone to get in.
I could chance getting in on looks alone, especially if I had another girl with me and we got dressed up, but it helped if you had someone at least semi-famous in the group. That's where my friend Lee came in. He was a sportscaster for Miami's NBC affiliate and was always recognized by the bouncers at clubs. He wouldn't be going with us tonight since things were still awkward between him and Addie.
I had been living in Miami for four years, but Addie had only been here for a few months. During that time, she had a brief thing with my friend Lee, only to have it end when Drake swept her off her feet.
All this to say, we wouldn't have Lee with us tonight, so as far as I knew, we'd have to rely on our looks alone—or maybe not, since Addie's boyfriend also happened to come from a family of modern-day pirates. You heard me—pirates. Drake was really handsome, and maybe she liked the element of danger, but I honestly didn't get the appeal since I'd never want to live in constant fear that my boyfriend was going to get arrested.
I asked Addie about her feelings on the subject and she laughed it off like they were somehow above the law. I wasn't quite so convinced, but I liked seeing her happy, and thought she and Drake might actually make it if he could stay out of trouble.
Addie and I lived in my parents' guesthouse. We'd been in our respective bathrooms getting ready to go to The Dive, and were just about to leave. We were headed to her boyfriend's house to meet the other people going with us. I asked her if she knew how many people were coming, but she said the last time she talked to Drake he wasn't sure. Apparently, it was something his brother, Rory, cooked up, and Drake was just along for the ride.
Addie had mentioned hooking me up with Rory several times since she'd been seeing Drake, but I always found some excuse to avoid it. I didn't want to offend her or anything, but I just couldn’t handle going out with someone who could be in some sort of altercation at any moment. Apparently, Addie didn't see it that way. Either that, or she just liked Drake enough to ignore it.
It was December, but in Miami that just meant you brought a light sweater or scarf if you went out at night. It was a gorgeous 72 degrees outside, and I choose an outfit that would show a little skin just in case we were relying on looks alone to get in. I wore a little khaki dress. It was sheer with gold accents and a belt, and it had a full skirt that hit well above my knees.
It fit like a glove, and made me look like I was dressed for a party. It was one of my favorite dresses even though I rarely wore it. I added gold and leather jewelry and a pair of gladiator sandals that went well with the dress. I was comfortable, which was extremely important because I loved to dance. It was for this reason that I wore my hair up. I knew how sweaty I'd get on the dance floor, and based on past experience, I was all about comfort when dancing was involved.
I came into the living room, but didn't see Addie. Her bedroom door was open slightly, so I decided to go in and look for her. The door to her adjoining bathroom was wide open, and I walked toward it.
"Addie?" I said. She didn't answer, so I peeked into the bathroom.
She was staring at herself in the mirror with a mascara wand in one hand and her eyes wide open as if she was letting her lashes dry. I could see from the reflection that she had earbuds in her ears, which was why she hadn't heard me. I figured as much. She smiled and turned the music down when she caught sight of me.
"I'm almost done." Then she let out a little gasp as she turned to face me. "You look so hot in that," she said, "Where'd you get that dress? I love it!"
I smiled and struck a pose. "That little boutique I keep telling you about. You have to let me take you there."
"I will now that I've seen this." She grabbed me by the shoulder as I approached, and made me turn so she could inspect the dress. She had on a black dress, which was typical for her. She always said she wanted to start dressing like she was from Florida again, but old habits die hard, and the color happened to look great on her anyway.
"I hope you brought something to put your hair up when you get hot," I said, noticing she'd styled her hair down.
"I did. I always keep a tie in my purse. But I don't plan on dancing, necessarily."
"You say that every time we go out, and you always change your mind. You'll want to when you get there."
She shrugged. "I brought a tie anyway." She looked at her phone. "I told Drake we'd be at his house at nine," she said.
"I'm good to go when you are," I said. "That's why I came in here."
Addie took one last look in the mirror before unplugging the curling iron and shoving her makeup bag under the cabinet.
"Do you think we're gonna be able to move past the line?" I asked Addie as we walked to her car.
"I don't know," she said. "Drake and I haven't gone to the club together since we started dating. We both prefer dive bar situations if we're gonna go out."
"I almost made a joke about how this was a dive bar—you know because of the name."
"I thought you'd probably make that joke. I was actually expecting it when the words dive bar left my mouth."
"Glad I didn't say it, then," I said.
She laughed. "Me too."
Drake and Rory lived with their pirate father in their pirate mansion, which happened to be directly behind my parent's property. The land was separated by a huge, stone wall, so even though our backyards touched, Addie and I had to drive ten minutes to get around to the front of their house.
My dad was a successful plastic surgeon and our house was extremely nice, but Tom Kelly's home that bordered our property, was even more elaborate. I'd been there a few times, but Tom and Rory were out at sea fishing (so say) and Drake was the only one at home.
That wasn't the case this evening. There were seven other cars lined up in the front of the house when we pulled up. We thought we might have to park in the grass, but there was one spot left on the far end of the strip of parking spots, and Addie pulled into it.
We each said a few words to pump the other one up before we made our way up the huge, stone staircase that led to t
heir front door.
"Don't be surprised if you really do see a human skull sitting around," Addie said.
I knew it was a possibility because Tom Kelly, real live pirate, was known to carry a skull around to show people what happened when you messed with him. I know it sounds far-fetched, but it was true. My best friend's maybe-future father-in-law carried a human skull around with him, and somehow we were all okay with that.
Addie was just pushing my buttons because she knew I was a little nervous about hanging out with Drake's dad and brother. It's just that I didn't know the extent of their pirate-y-ness and part of me feared this evening would end with me having to walk the plank into shark-infested waters.
As someone who wanted to keep all of my limbs, and a general non-shark fan, this was not a good option for me. I must have made a face and it showed Addie my doubt because she said, "I'm just messing with you about the skull. He really does carry one around, but it's not a big deal. And you're going to love Tom. He's a total player, so he's gonna love you too."
I started to roll my eyes at the thought of being hit on by an old man, but the door opened and we saw Drake standing there smiling. He was extremely gorgeous—to the point where I could almost understand forgiving the whole ruthless killer thing—almost, but not quite. I watched him and Addie greet each other, feeling good about how happy she seemed.
"Hey Megan," Drake said. He held onto Addie with one arm and offered me the other one for a high five.
"Hey Drake."
"Don't mind my brother; he's already had a few shots of whiskey."
"How many people are here," Addie asked before I could ask Drake what he meant about his brother.
"Rory invited some of the crew," he said, shrugging. "There's ten or fifteen, I guess."
"Do you guys know anybody at The Dive?" I asked, beginning to worry about our chances of getting past the line with such a big group.
Drake regarded me with an expression that said he thought I might be joking, but he saw that I wasn't and said, "It's not a problem. We have friends just about everywhere. My dad made a phone call a few days ago. We'll have a private booth." He looked at Addie like he was surprised we didn't automatically know the Kellys could get into any club anytime they wanted. She smiled and shrugged, but we didn't say any more about it because we were in the process of rounding the corner into the main living room where everyone else was standing.
There was music playing, but most everybody stopped their conversations to glance at us when we walked in. I'd never met him, but I knew what Drake's brother Rory looked like since I had seen him quite a few times through the hole that was in the wall separating our property. I knew he was the one who was headed right for us.
He stared right at me when he approached.
"Addie talks about making us go out, but I don't let people set me up, and I don't do relationships, so ye can both forget about it." His Irish accent was thicker than I thought it would be for someone who moved to the states when he was fifteen. "I'm sure yer hot and everything, but unless ye just want to get fucked, I'm thinking we should just call this off before we waste our time."
Addie gasped. "I wasn't trying to set you two up, anyway, but I certainly wouldn't now that she knows what a rude brute you are."
"I'm not a brute," he said, rolling his R, "but there's no way I'm winding up like the two of ye." Rory pointed at Drake and Addie and I let out a laugh that made him look at me.
"You definitely don't have to worry about me wanting this with you," I said, pointing at Drake and Addie just as he'd done. I stared at Rory. "I'm just here to hang out with my girl. I'm not trying to hook up with anyone tonight—especially you."
Rory squinted like maybe he hadn't heard me correctly. Apparently, he wasn't used to people talking to him like that. I just stared at him with a look of a challenge.
"Aye," he said. He was so full of himself, he didn't even care that I'd just rejected him. "Just so ye don't get any ideas about trying to get me to go down this path like your friend here, because that's not me."
"Great, because that's not me either. I told you, I'm just here to hang out with Addie."
"You'd be smart to shut up right about now, Rory," Drake said. He looked at me. "You'll have to excuse my brother."
"It's all good," I said. My gaze shifted to Rory, and I spoke directly to him. "I'm glad you stated your intentions. It should free your mind to know that I'm equally disgusted at the idea of hooking up with you." That was actually a lie, but I was just offended enough to make it seem convincing.
"I didn't say I wouldn't hook up with ye. Yer a fuckin' dime—anyone can see that. All I said was that you shouldn’t get any ideas about trying to double date with yer friend here because that's not for me."
"Well don't worry yourself. I'm not interested. In fact, let's just assume that this will be the last time we interact this evening."
"Great," he said, rolling that R again as he walked off.
"What a butthole," Addie said, gawking at Drake when Rory went to talk to his dad and one of their other friends. She looked at me apologetically. "I seriously don't know where that came from. He's usually not like that, and I didn't even mention hooking you guys up."
"I figured he'd say something," Drake said. "I knew he was in rare form tonight. That's why I apologized to Megan before we even walked up." Drake turned to me. "I'm sorry. He's really not a bad guy. He's showing off."
"I'm not worried about it," I said.
I wasn't that worried about it, but a tiny part of me was feeling rejected, which was a crummy way to start the evening.
Chapter 2
That feeling didn't last long.
As soon as we stepped foot into The Dive, I ran into a group of people I recognized from the club scene, and Sean, a cutie I'd danced with before, asked me to dance with him.
I left Drake, Addie, and several others (including that bastard, Rory) to head for the booth while I made my way to the crowded dance floor with Sean. He and I had fun the last time we danced, even though I was relatively sure he was gay. He never told me that, it was just sort of the impression I got. Either way, he was a good dancer, and I needed the boost after the Irish stated his standing rejection.
"Your dress is amazing!" Sean yelled over the extremely loud music as we walked to the dance floor.
Yeah, I was pretty sure he was gay.
"Thanks!" I yelled.
"I'm glad you came in because my friends all like to wait till they're about four drinks in to hit the dance floor."
"Not me," I said.
I did actually like to wait until I had a little buzz, but Sean's timing was perfect considering the conversation I had earlier with Rory still had me pissed off and ready to show him how much I didn't need his company.
"Hey, can we stop by the bar for a second," I asked.
"Yeah, I was gonna ask if you wanted to since you just got here."
Sean and I waited for a bartender long enough that I almost suggested going back to the booth and having a waitress bring it over, but someone finally took my drink order. Sean didn't want anything, but waited patiently for me to order and finish my drink. I'd loosened up by the time I was done with it, and followed him onto the dance floor as soon as I set my empty glass on the bar.
"Who were those people you were with?" he asked, when we reached the edge of the dance floor and were standing next to each other, scoping out a spot.
"That was my friend Addie and her boyfriend."
"I've seen those guys in here before, but never with you."
"I'm usually out with a different group," I said.
"Are any of the ones you're here with tonight gay?"
And there it was.
I thought about telling him Rory was just so I could have a laugh at Rory's expense, but thought twice about it when I realized Rory probably wouldn't think it was funny, and Sean's feelings might get hurt in the process.
"I think they're all straight. Sorry."
He smi
led and shrugged. "Doesn't hurt to ask."
Sean and I danced to the next three songs before I told him I wanted to go check in with Addie and would catch up with him in a bit. By then, a few of his friends had made their way to the floor, so he just went to dance with them when I left for the booth.
I was at the very edge of the dance floor when I took my phone out of my clutch and looked at it for a split second. The coast was clear when I looked down, but somehow, I ran straight into a brick wall as soon as I glanced at my phone.
"Shit," I said. I had bumped into whoever it was with all my momentum—hadn't even seen them move in front of me. "I'm sorry," I said as I looked up from my phone.
Before I even saw his face, I realized it was Rory when I heard his Irish voice fill my ears. "I'm glad I found ye," he said, grabbing me by the shoulders.
I yanked my shoulder out of his grasp and regarded him with a scowl.
"Excuse me," I said, trying to skirt around him.
He grabbed me by the shoulders again, but this time, I couldn't shake him off, even though I tried.
"Excuse me!" I repeated, louder this time.
"Yer not excused," he said stubbornly.
"Let me go."
"I need yer help."
I looked up impatiently, waiting for him to spit it out.
"There's a girl over there named Gina who comes to the house to give massages sometimes, and when she does, we uh, the two of us hang out."
I rolled my eyes. "Why exactly do I need to know this?"
"Because she thinks that just because we're together at my house means we're automatically together here, and as ye already know, I don't like anyone telling me who I'm gonna be hanging out with."
He was hot and I loved his accent, but he was already on my bad list, and now he was wasting my time with this drama about one of his lady-friends. I didn't want any part of it. I glared at him. "This has nothing to do with me."
"Sure it does." His grip relaxed, and I used the opportunity to jerk out of his hand again, but it tightened just as soon as I did it, and he looked down at me, scowling.
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