by Marla Monroe
“So, we planning on staying home and making my list out tonight, or are we checking out one of the joints?” he asked again.
“Since we’re going to be gone next weekend, better show our faces, or they’ll all think we’ve jumped ship. Don’t want someone to get the big idea they can poach on our territory,” Billy said.
“Don’t think there’s much fear of that, Billy. They’d want to see our bodies before they risked pissing you off. Can’t say I would blame them either.” Craig chuckled when Billy sent him a dirty gesture before turning the water on in the sink to wash up.
“Got that pansy-assed car ready to go. You get to call them and tell them to pick it up. I’m not dealing with them again. Made my teeth hurt the way that woman gushed all over you,” Billy said. “Oh! What big muscles you have.” He mimicked in a high-pitched voice.
Craig couldn’t stop the laugh that spewed from his mouth at Billy’s attempt at sounding like the woman. He was right though. She had fawned all over him while her older than dirt husband stood back and watched, amused. Yeah, he knew she wouldn’t risk losing his money by actually slumming with them.
“I’ll give them a call as soon as I finish this. Shouldn’t be but another ten minutes or so.”
“Which means at least thirty,” Billy muttered as he walked across the bay to the office.
“Yeah, screw you, bastard!” he yelled back as the door to the office slammed.
As it was, Billy turned out to be right, and it was almost thirty minutes on the dot that he washed the grease and grim from his hands and joined the other man in the office. There was only one desk, but a love seat and an easy chair took up one side of the room. Billy had the loveseat, so Craig sat at the desk and started searching around to find the ticket with the Mercedes couple’s phone number on it. The desk was a mess, as usual. Neither one of them liked doing the paperwork. Considering there usually wasn’t much to it, having as big a mess as they had was embarrassing.
He finally located the ticket and picked up the phone to punch in the number. When it went directly to voice mail, Craig held it away from his ear and stared at it in disbelief at the sappy message. Who put things like that on voice mails?
The message ended, and a loud beep announced it was his turn to talk. After leaving a short message that they could pick the car up by five or it would be Monday morning before they could get it, he dropped the phone back in the base.
“That was just sick!” he said making a face.
“What?” Billy opened his eyes and stared at him.
“It went to voice mail, and they took turns leaving the message, changing who spoke every few words.” Craig shook his head and read the notes Billy had made on the ticket before dropping it in the plastic tray they had labeled done.
“What did you expect from someone like them? She’s a gold digger who doesn’t mind trading her body for money and status. He’s an old man who has enough money to pretend he’s got what it takes to keep her happy. They were made for each other.”
“When did you get to be so jaded, man?” Craig shook his head and started fiddling with the mess on the desk.
“I was born jaded. Everyone wants something from you, Craig. You know that. But I’m okay with it ’cause I want something from them, too. It’s a mutually beneficial exchange.” He pushed up off the loveseat and rubbed his face.
Craig could see the frustration in his friend’s eyes. There just wasn’t anything he could do about it. Billy had to decide what he wanted and settle into it. They had the business that was paid for, a nice house with everything a bachelor could ever want, nice trucks, and all the women they could dream about. Life was good, but not when you felt like something was just out of reach, something that you had no earthly idea what it was to go after it.
Billy opened the door and stepped out of the office, muttering about starting on the little bug that a kid had brought in the day before. After the door slammed behind him, Craig sighed. If something didn’t give, Billy just might implode. Maybe going camping the next weekend would help settle him some. One thing he knew for sure, going out tonight was going to ramp him up. If he decided to party with some sweet bar hopper, they’d both feel better on Monday. But Craig wasn’t banking on it. His friend hadn’t wanted to bring anyone back home in a long time. Maybe there would be someone new at one of their favorite joints that would prick Billy’s interest. Someone like the curvy, chestnut-haired beauty that haunted his dreams most every night now.
Chapter Two
“Are you sure about this, Kayley? I mean this isn’t exactly a nice place,” Sam said, looking over his shoulder at her in the back seat.
“I’m sure. If you two don’t want to come, you don’t have to. I can get a ride home.” She wasn’t so sure about that, but she didn’t want them to do something they really didn’t want to do.
“Hell no.” Sam scowled at her in the rear view mirror. “Come on, honey. Might as well get out and see what the place is like.”
Bea climbed out of the truck on one side while Kayley jumped out of the back seat. She wasn’t about to admit that she was nervous as hell about actually walking through the door of The Playpen. All she knew about the place was that it was a favorite of the party crowd, and Billy and Craig frequented the place most weekends.
As they neared the entrance, she was very glad Bea had talked her out of the dress since most everyone she saw lingering in the parking lot wore jeans. She would have stuck out like a sore thumb. As it was, her faded out jeans clung to her hips like a second skin, and the skimpy red tank top with sequins that drew the eye made her feel like she was on display or something. The top was cut low enough to show off her ample cleavage while hiding her bra. Thank God for small favors.
“Come on, Kayley. Stick close to us. If we lose you in the crowd, head for the door and we’ll look for you there. Whatever you do, don’t go to the bathroom without one of us. There’s safety in numbers.” Sam wrapped his arm around Bea’s waist and pushed through the entrance.
Kayley had just enough time to grab Bea’s hand before they were spilled into the crowd. Country music blared from the speakers strategically mounted around the ceiling. She couldn’t tell where the dance floor was for all the people standing around in front of her talking, or rather shouting, at each other. The bar was along one wall to her right, and she could just make out the exit sign in the back of the building with an indication that the restrooms were in the same general location. Good to know.
“Let’s get a drink before we look for a place to roost,” Sam yelled.
She nodded and allowed Bea to drag her in the direction of the bar. The crowd swelled around her, forcing her to scramble to keep from being pulled away from her friends. Once they had squeezed a place in front of the wooden counter, Sam swung Bea up on a bar stool, shoving her in front of Bea while he stood behind them.
“What do you want to drink, Kayley?” he asked.
“Um, Corona.” She wasn’t much of a drinker, having the occasional beer with pizza on the weekends.
He shouted their orders to one of the bartenders then leaned back, keeping his hands around Bea’s waist. It hammered home that Bea and Sam were happy, and she was still alone. She refused to let her lack of a partner bring her down tonight. She was celebrating a new hairstyle and turning over a new leaf in life. No more mousy Kayley that people tended to make fun of, thinking she had no idea. Oh, she knew they called her an airhead and said she was clumsy without a lick of good sense. It hurt, but she didn’t let anyone know it. Not even Bea, her best friend, knew how much it affected her.
One of the bartenders sat their drinks in front of them, and Sam paid him. Bea had gotten a whiskey and coke while Sam stuck with Bud Light. Kayley sipped her Corona after pushing the lime down into the bottle, thankful it didn’t squirt anyone in the process.
Even Bea treated her differently at times. It was like she didn’t think Kayley could handle something by herself. She let her friend take charge most of
the time, and she went along with the ruse that she didn’t know what was going on. She wasn’t doing that anymore. Starting tonight, Kayley was taking back her life and her self-respect.
She ran one hand through her now much shorter hair, pleased with the style Bea had created for her. It was barely shoulder length with soft curls at the ends. Being shorter had given it a lot more body and brought out the lighter side, making it appear more of a chestnut color than the dull brown she’d always associated with it. She’d applied light makeup, having to argue with Bea on that part. He friend tended to be a little heavy-handed with the face paint for her tastes. All in all, Kayley was quite pleased with how she looked.
“Let’s dance!” Sam yelled in Bea’s ear.
“Come on, Kay. You, too.” Bea let Sam help her off the stool, but Kayley shook her head no.
“I’m going to stay here. I’ll keep the stool safe.” She climbed up on the stool and waved them off.
Bea didn’t look like she wanted to leave her, but she finally shrugged and let her husband lead her in the general direction of the dance floor. Kayley still wasn’t sure if there was a designated spot or if everyone just picked a place and let go. She watched the crowd swallow her friends up then turned back to the bar and took another swig of the cold beer. That was one thing she could say about the place. They did serve ice-cold beer. It was just about the only way she could drink the stuff.
By the time Sam and Bea returned two songs later, she’d finished the Corona and had ordered another one. Oddly enough, neither Bea nor Sam noticed. They were making goo-goo eyes at each other. It made her want to roll her eyes, but at the same time, it was cute. She just hoped she could find someone one day who cared about her like Sam did Bea.
She snapped out of her thoughts when a cute guy walked up and smiled down at her. He had sandy blond hair and the prettiest baby blue eyes she’d ever seen.
“How ’bout a dance, doll?” he asked.
The fact that he didn’t slur his words and was clean gave her all the courage she needed to jump down off the stool.
“Hey, Kayley. Are you sure?” Sam asked, concern shown from his eyes.
“Yes. That’s why I came, Sam. I want to have fun. I want to dance!” She let the big man take her hand and lead her out into the crowd.
The jukebox was playing some lively country songs, so she felt pretty good about dancing with the stranger. Besides, there were plenty of people around to assure he wouldn’t be trying anything with her on the dance floor. Kayley had no intentions of going anywhere else with him except right back to the bar where Sam and Bea waited on her.
“My name’s Bo. I haven’t seen you here before. Are you from around here?” he asked, swinging her around.
“I’m Kayley. I haven’t been here before. I’m from Cougar Den, born and raised.”
“You’re kidding. I’m not far from there. I’m in Darcy. What do you do?” he asked.
“I work with computer programs. Nothing exciting or anything. What about you? What do you do?” she asked.
This wasn’t so bad at all. Nothing like the few guys she’d dated before. Bo was easy to talk to.
“I’m a manager at Darcy’s Lumbar Company. I’ve been there since I was sixteen, and once I got my degree, they promoted me to one of the manager positions.” It was clear by the sound of his voice that he was proud of that.
Kayley instantly liked that he was proud of his accomplishments but wasn’t putting on airs. Maybe she’d found someone she could get to know. To think she’d been wasting her time waiting around on Billy and Craig to notice her. Well she didn’t need them. She would enjoy herself without them.
Still, a small part of her rebelled at putting them behind her. They held a piece of her heart and soul that she might not ever be able to get back. It was silly and a little bit pathetic to have given it to them having never even dated them.
“Whew! How about a drink?” he asked after the second song ended.
“Sounds good.” She turned to head back to the bar, but he grasped her wrist, stopping her.
“Let’s go back to my table where we can sit down. A waitress will get them for us.”
She frowned. She really didn’t want to do that. She didn’t know Bo well enough to separate herself entirely from her friends. Sure, she’d left to dance with him, but they knew the general direction she’d be. If she went off with Bo now, they wouldn’t have any idea how to find her.
“Come on. I’ll get you back to your friends after we’ve rested a while.” He smiled, showing even, white teeth.
Kayley sighed and nodded. She wouldn’t stay more than one dance. If Bo wouldn’t take her back to the bar, she’d make her own way. They had just squeezed out of the swaying bodies when she tripped over something and started to fall over a table. Before she slammed face down, large hands grabbed her, cussing as she knocked his beer into his lap.
“Oh, God! I’m s–so sorry. I tripped,” she managed to say as she fought to regain her feet.
The big man held her tightly, her back to his very hard and muscular chest. Instantly, she stilled at the obvious bulge pressing against the top of her ass.
“That’s okay, babe. Why don’t you have a seat and visit for a while?”
Kayley froze, her eyes going around the table to find a very shocked Craig staring at her. She recognized Billy’s gruff, deep voice, and her heart slammed into her chest wall, stealing her breath in the process. Of all the tables she could have landed on, why did it have to be theirs?
“Hey, she’s coming with me, Wainwright. Let her go and get your own woman,” Bo said with a frown.
“Well what do you say, sweet thing? Want to go with him and his buddies or stick around with me?”
Kayley opened her mouth to tell him to let her go, but Craig stopped her.
“She’s staying with us, aren’t you, Kayley?”
“What?” Billy spun her around and let loose a string of expletives that left her blushing to the roots she was sure. Her face felt overheated.
“Kayley, you don’t want to stay with these two reprobates. They’ll just use you and drop you like a hot potato.” Bo was still pressing his suit to get her to agree to go with him.
“What in the hell have you done to your hair?” Billy shouted.
Kayley cringed before jerking out of his hands. “None of your fucking business, you…you arrogant ass!”
“Watch that language, babe. I’ll turn you over my knee and paddle that tight ass of yours. Who in the hell brought you here? Let’s get you home before you cause any more trouble.” Billy reached out to grab her hand, but she sidestepped him, bumping into someone and making him spill his drink.
Billy rolled his eyes and took another step toward her. The man she’d stumbled into turned with a growl and headed straight for Billy, thinking he’d been the one to bump him. She heard Craig curse in the background.
“Oh, hell. Kayley, get out of here before you get hurt,” Craig yelled as he hurried around the table to try and stop the developing brawl she’d caused.
Kayley couldn’t understand why the man wanted to hit Billy when he hadn’t done anything and she’d been the one to bump into him. She started to step in between the two shouting men when the other man started to throw a punch. Billy swore and jerked her out of the way, taking the full force of the man’s fist to the face.
“No!” But no one was paying any attention to her.
Instead, everyone started throwing punches as if they’d been wronged as well. She dodged a beer bottle then barely got out of the way when a man flew through the air in her direction to land hard on the floor at her feet. It was all too crazy around her. She quickly took to the floor and crawled under a table to stay below the general direction of the punches and beer bottles that flew across the room. She prayed no one landed on the table and broke it over her head.
The sound of sirens could be heard over the mêlée, spurring many to abandon the free for all and head for the doors to get out. Th
e congestion at the back of the building had some people falling to the floor and getting trampled on. Kayley felt the tears roll down her face at the realization that it was all her fault, and all she’d done was trip.
When three men wearing hats and badges forced their way inside, she began to shake. One of the deputies shouted out for everyone to shut the hell up and freeze. She looked behind her, and another deputy was dragging two people back through the rear exit. He shoved them across the room and stood in front of the door so no one else could slip out.
“Now someone tell me what in the hell happened and who started it?” one of the men asked.
A dozen voices spoke at once, accusing each other of the mess. The deputy held up his hands and whistled a loud, shrill noise that had Kayley covering her ears.
“Not all at the same time,” he barked. Pointing over at Billy, he nodded. “Why don’t you tell me what is going on, Wainwright? I’m not the least surprised to see you in the middle of this.”
Billy, blood dripping from his nose and the corner of his mouth, sneered at the other man.
“Billy,” Craig said in a soft voice. “Don’t antagonize him.”
Billy visibly reined himself in and took a deep breath. “He started it. He threw the first punch,” he said, pointing at the big brute that Kayley bumped into.
“The h–hell I did! You pushed me. S–spilled my beer.” He slurred his words to the point that it was amazing anyone could understand him.
The deputy waved his hand in front of his face to disperse the fumes. “Well, you’re drunk, so we’re taking you in for public intoxication.” Then he turned to Billy. “And you are usually the one behind the fights we have to clean up, so you’re going in, too.”
Kayley’s mouth dropped open in horror. She couldn’t let Billy go to jail because of her clumsiness. She jumped up, knocking her head on the table and sending it spilling over to the floor. Rubbing her tender head, she hurried over to the deputy to confess that it was all her fault.
