"I know," I said, smiling. I didn't even care about the contest. I wanted to get back to the subject my new neck tattoo.
"You were so amazing!"
"Thanks," I said smiling. "I was nervous, but it helps when you know the song forward and backward."
Her eyes widened. "You should have seen Rory watching you," she said.
I gave her a curious glance, wanting her to continue.
She laughed, remembering the scene. "We were all standing at the edge of the booth so we could see you on stage, and Drake and I were watching Rory watch you. He had his hands on the rail and he was gripping it like this—" she demonstrated an iron grip, complete with bulging eyeballs. She laughed. "He whiteknuckled it the whole time you were up there."
"He just lectured me about my dress being too short."
"He's jealous."
I smiled, and Addie narrowed her eyes at me.
"Do you like him?"
I looked at myself in the mirror, at the red mark on my neck. "I'm not sure I like him, but I'm not sure I don't like him either. He's sort of a butthole, but he's the kind of guy who it works for, you know?"
"Just don't let him hurt you," Addie said.
"I won't," I said confidently.
Chapter 5
"Drake and I are going to chill in the booth for a little bit. I got sweaty out there."
"I did too," I said, putting a little powder on my face. I thought about pinning my hair up again, but I realized if I did the red spot on my neck would be clearly visible.
"Are you dancing again, or coming with me to the booth?" Addie asked.
I didn't want to say that Rory was expecting me to meet him, so instead I said, "I'm not sure. I'll probably see if my friend Sean's still here."
"I saw you dancing with him earlier before Rory went over there. Did he get upset when Rory busted you guys up?"
"He didn't care," I said. "But I should probably try to talk to him again sometime before we leave. Do you know what our plans are?"
"I heard Drake and his dad say they had arranged a business meeting, and had to hang out until that was taken care of."
I looked at her sardonically. "Oh, I'm sure legit business dealings take place in a private booth in a nightclub."
She just looked at me like I was stating the obvious. "Well, they never claimed to be bankers."
I stared at her. "Aren't you scared?"
"Of what?"
"Of sketchy, pirate business meetings that take place in the middle of the night. Aren't you scared there will be a shoot out or something?"
Addie laughed. "Maybe it makes me naïve, but not really."
"I just don't think I want to be present in the booth while they have their little meeting," I said.
"I hang out with them all the time and Tom has never put me in an uncomfortable situation, but if you ever feel weird just pinch me and we'll take off to the ladies room."
"Speaking of the ladies room, Drake's going to be looking for you," I said.
She smiled. "Can I see your trophy?"
"I don't have it. Rory threw it back to the DJ when we were dancing. Can you believe? He just took it out of my hand and threw it to him. He's so high-handed."
Addie laughed. "Drakes high-handed too. Their daddy has them believing they have the right to be or something."
I cut my eyes at her and smiled. "It's kind of hot."
Addie stared into my eyes with a sincere, thankful expression. "Thank God you think it's hot. I thought I was a freak."
"No, not at all. There's something about a guy who expects you to fall all over yourself for him."
She laughed. "Something that makes you want to do exactly that, right?"
I rolled my eyes, but knew it was the truth. "It doesn't hurt that his face is freaking flawless."
"Yeah, you probably shouldn't even make eye contact with it unless you plan on letting him talk you into things."
She was joking, but there was something to that. If I didn't want to let anything happen, I would definitely need to avoid him.
I left the bathroom with Addie, feeling like I could and should be talked out of going to the booth, which was exactly what happened. Sean found me as soon as we walked out and asked me to come meet some of the other people he'd been hanging out with. Apparently, they were big fans based on my one fluke song. I needed a second to think about Rory, so I was grateful for the excuse.
I'd only been over at Sean's table for a few minutes when that same cocktail waitress from earlier came up to me with a serious expression that had me instantly concerned.
"Is your name Megan?" she asked.
"Yes," I said with a worried expression.
"Mr. McDonald, uh Rory, asked me to bring you with me back to the booth."
Her expression was so serious that I couldn't believe all she wanted was to tell me to follow her back to the booth.
I giggled. "Please tell Mr. McDonald I'll make my way up there at some point."
She smiled sadly and hesitated. "I'm afraid he told me to bring you back or not bother coming back, which is not good for me because there are others in the booth who ordered drinks and I'm already in the weeds. So, if you could please come back with me, that'd be great."
I cocked my head at her, wondering why she didn't just tell Rory she was a cocktail waitress and not his personal assistant.
"Please," she said.
Her expression was so pleading, that I felt bad for her. I looked at Sean with regret that I couldn't stay and hang out, and he gave me an understanding smile. I told the waitress I'd come to the booth just as soon as I was finished there, but she insisted that she wanted to wait for me to follow her. She seemed pretty frantic to get me back to the booth, so I followed her without further hesitation.
I figured Rory must have threatened her or something, and I couldn't wait to give him a piece of my mind about it.
"Come on, it's right up here," she said, running down the hallway. She kept glancing back at me with worry, so I jogged to keep up with her. We opened the door to the booth and stepped inside to find that every single person in the room was staring at us. Rory stepped forward, looking down at his watch, and the waitress bent at the waist and put her hands on her knees as if trying to catch her breath.
I looked at her then at the others, unable to make sense of any of it.
"Ye made it at the very last second, Jade, but did ye tell her about the money?" Rory was speaking to the waitress, whose name was apparently Jade, but was looking straight at me.
My face must have showed my confusion.
"What'd she say to ye to get ye up here?" he asked me. Everyone was waiting for my response and, honestly, I couldn't remember what she had said.
I shrugged nervously. "She told me you wanted me to come up here."
"Did she say anything about there being money involved?"
"No. Why? All she said was she needed me to follow her up here because you wanted to see me."
My explanation came without hesitation, which must have convinced Rory that I was telling the truth. He smiled at the waitress, who was now standing and looking relieved and maybe even a little excited.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Rory told the girl he'd give her five hundred dollars if she could bring you back here in three minutes without telling you she was on a timer or why."
The answer came from Captain Tom, but everyone else nodded and smiled at the truth of the statement.
I laughed, thinking about how she had pleaded with me with her eyes. "She didn't say a word about a time limit or money," I said, honestly. Everyone in the room started talking and laughing amongst themselves, mostly about Rory and his crazy antics and how they couldn't believe she got me to come up there.
Rory took out a wad of cash and proceeded to count out five bills from the outside. He handed them to her with a smile, and she beamed at him like it had been a super fun challenge. I just watched the whole exchange, unable to believe that I was at the cent
er of it all.
For the next several minutes, everyone in the booth congratulated me for the rap contest victory. At least a few of them knew the truth about it being a rehearsed bit, but none of us mentioned that. I just thanked everyone for the compliments and enjoyed my fifteen minutes of fame.
After a few questions about rap and my obvious love for it (which I went along with) most of the people in the booth went back to their own conversations. I found relief in that because I had enough of the spotlight for one night—especially since I didn't really feel like I deserved the high praise.
"I can't believe you paid her five hundred dollars to walk downstairs and get me when you could have just done it yourself."
Rory had been standing close to me since I came in, but now that everyone had left us alone, he was even closer.
"I like to find an excuse to tip them big. They work really hard."
I smiled. "Well, in that case, I'm glad I hurried."
He gave me a mischievous smile. "I'm glad too," he said. "But that was sort of the whole point, now wasn't it? To get ye to hurry up here."
I looked around to see if anyone was listening to our conversation. I didn't want people to get the wrong impression and think we were together.
"No one cares that yer talkin' to me." He shrugged. "They've all seen us kissin' already."
I glanced around nervously, not wanting him to talk like that.
He wasn't discouraged. He smiled and pulled me close to his hard chest again. I resisted, not sure how much I wanted his friends and family to see. He tightened his grip, which made me look up at him with a scowl.
"You should probably let me go," I said, seriously.
"Ye should probably stop acting like ye don't want me holdin' ye, because then I'm gonna be forced to let ye go, and I don't really want to do that."
"But I didn't give you permission to grab me in the first place."
"Aye, but now it's done, and if ye continue to wiggle and squirm like a little princess, I'll be forced to let ye go."
"I want you to let me go."
"No you don't."
My eyes met his when he said it. At first I looked offended, but with each second that passed, I found it harder and harder to remember why I wanted him to let me go in the first place. He smiled at me when he realized I was no longer straining against him.
"Now, that's more like it," he said.
"It's only because it's easier to just go along with you. You're extremely persistent."
He laughed. "Ye haven't seen the half of it."
I glanced around again to find that everyone in the room was preoccupied. Tom was in a corner talking to a few guys I didn't recognize, and I wondered if this was the famous business meeting Addie was talking about. I felt a wave of dread, imagining one of them standing up and opening fire, and just as I was picturing it, Rory said my name.
"Megan."
I jumped, which made him laugh.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"I was just thinking about dancing. I thought maybe we could go dancing again." I was saying anything to get out of that booth and the impending massacre.
"I need to be up here with my dad for a few minutes, but we can go in a little bit."
"I think I'd be more comfortable going now," I said. I gave a concerned glance in the direction of his dad.
"Dad's just speaking with some of our friends," he said. "We're all friends here. There's no reason to be nervous." He smiled down at me and gave me a squeeze. "Don't ye know that I'll protect ye?"
"I don't know if I trust you after what you did to my neck. I can't even put my hair up."
"I'll have ye know I have no regrets about what I did to yer neck. I'd like to give you a few more just like it."
"I'm sorry but no."
"Not even if they're in a place where nobody else can see?"
"I told you I'm not having sex with you," I whispered earnestly.
"Ye need to settle down is what ye need to do. Yer a bloody wild one and it makes me want to take ye somewhere and teach ye something."
I laughed. "You teach me something? I'll bet I'm older than you."
"Yer age has nothin' to do with the fact that ye need to be tamed if yer ever gonna be a proper lady."
I gasped, offended. "I'll have you know my parents bought me very expensive etiquette lessons. I've got more proper lady in my little finger than you have in your whole body."
He stared down at me, unrelenting. "It's not etiquette I'm talking about. I'm talking about ye knowing yer place and understanding that I don't like to be let down when I've decided there's something I want. I'm afraid I'm not good at rejection, so just don't do it."
"Don't do what?"
"Reject me."
I gave him a confused, frustrated glare. "If not sleeping with you equals rejection, then I'm sorry, but I've already said tha—"
"Why are ye making rules? Why not just take it as it comes?"
I gave him a long, measuring stare, looking right in his eyes. "I'm not sleeping with you Rory McDonald."
He groaned and held me tightly to him. "Say it again."
"I'm not sleeping with you."
"Not that part. Say my name."
"Rory McDonald."
He squeezed me tight enough to make me let out a moan. I laughed and looked up at him wondering why he was so impossible to resist. I stared at his beautiful jawbone, and before I knew what I was doing, I reached up and ran a finger along it. He looked to the ceiling.
"Oh, thank Christ," he groaned.
"For what?" I asked.
"For ye touching me like that. I needed to feel yer hands on me. I think I might cause a scene if ye don't put them on me some more."
"Is that blackmail?"
"I'm not familiar with that term."
"You know I don't want you to cause a scene."
"Then I suggest ye get yer hands on me."
I narrowed my eyes at him, but truth was, I wanted to put my hands on him, and I was delighted that he was asking me to.
"Where am I supposed to put them?"
"Why don't ye start by putting one on either side of my face?"
I hesitated. "Like this?" I reached up and cupped the sides of his jaws, loving the feel of the soft stubble on his face.
"That's good. Now take a hand and put it on the back of my head, and when ye get it there, pull me toward ye and see what happens."
I held his face in my hands and smiled up at him. "Are you tricking me into kissing you Mr. McDonald?"
"There's no trick. I'm telling ye exactly what to do and when to do it. I think we both know it's gonna end in a kiss."
For reasons even I didn't understand, I couldn't resist him. I did just as he told me to, running my hand behind his head and pulling him down to kiss me.
That bloody pirate had the nerve to resist a little bit, and by the time our lips finally touched, I didn't even care who was looking at us.
Chapter 6
Rory and I were standing at the front of the room, near the door when our cocktail waitress came in holding a tray of drinks. We had just kissed, and he smiled down at me before I glanced around at the others in the booth.
Captain Tom used the interruption to call Rory over to the area where he was sitting talking to a few guys.
"I have to go see what he wants," Rory said.
"I should go catch up with those guys down in the dance floor anyway. I pretty much ran off when the waitress came to get me."
"Yer not going back down there. I want ye up here with me. That was the whole point of me sending for ye."
I glanced around again, deciding how I felt. Drake was sitting with his dad and the group of gentlemen, and Addie was sitting on a couch on the right side of the room, talking to a few girls.
"I'll chill over here with Addie for a minute, but if it takes all night, I'm going back to meet my friends downstairs."
He smiled confidently. "Threats, eh?"
"No. I'm just not entirely
sure what's going on with you and I in the first place, and when you factor business dealings in the corner of the room—"
I trailed off since he was already leaving me and heading off in the direction of his dad and brother. He was still looking back at me smiling, like he expected me to stay put in spite of my doubts.
Rory went to have a conversation with his dad, and I went for the couch on the opposite side of the room with Addie and the girls.
"Hey, you haven't met Nina and Gina," Addie said.
I gave her a quick glance to make sure she wasn't just joking around by spouting off rhyming names, but Addie just widened her eyes slightly, letting me know she was serious.
"We're not twins or anything," one of them said. I assumed that was supposed to be a joke because, while they were both breathtakingly beautiful, one of them was black and the other was white.
"I'm Nina," the black girl said smiling.
"Gina," said the other one, sticking out her hand.
"We ran into them earlier on the dance floor, and I told them to come up here and say 'hi' to Tom when they got the chance. Nina's got a mobile massage therapy business," Addie explained.
"Tom's been a client for years," Nina said.
It was all starting to sink in that one of these girls might be the one Rory was trying to avoid tonight.
"So, you're Rory's girlfriend?" Gina asked, just as I was thinking about her possibly being the one who thought that.
"No!" Addie said, laughing.
"It's okay to tell them," I said. My gaze shifted to Gina, nodding. "We're seeing each other."
Addie stared at me and I told her with my eyes that I needed her to be quiet and go along with what I was saying.
"I was actually just coming over here to tell you I was going back out there for a few minutes. Rory's talking to his dad, but I'll be back when he's done. It was nice meeting you guys." I was planning on waiting for Rory, but didn't really feel like dealing with the stunning pair of massage therapists, and really wanted to get out of there.
We exchanged a few more friendly words before I stood and went for the door. I walked quickly, not even glancing in Rory's direction.
Steal My Girl Page 4
