by Cassie Wild
“Thanks for your attention on that matter, Mr. Robson,” Stacey said, smiling at me and looking as cool as cream ten minutes later.
I returned her smile. “Not a problem, Stacey. I promise the issue will be resolved.”
She beamed at me and turned on a heel roughly the height of a New York City skyscraper and walked out.
Once she was gone, Donut asked, “Is there any way I can help the next time she comes back?”
“No,” I said shortly.
He gave me a crestfallen look, and I knew by the look in his eyes he had figured out exactly what was going on in my office. Not a surprise. Stacey hadn’t been quiet.
And that dress…
In the next second, he grinned. “Just messing with ya, boss. Here, I’ve got the schedules roughed out for next week, if you want to look them over. I swapped out Dave and Carol’s schedules for Wednesday, if that’s okay. She’s got a doctor appointment in the morning, and he said he didn’t mind working the early shift to cover her hours.”
Being a busy garage in a busy city meant we had to have more flexibility than the standard nine to five. We could have those hours, but we’d lose business to those garages that were happy to be open later or on weekends.
Since I preferred not to lose business, I’d hired a crew that could be flexible and cover the hours I wanted covered. It hadn’t been hard. Not every mechanic wanted to come in at the crack of dawn, and this way, I had people on hand until ten in the event somebody’s BMW or Porsche ended up in a fender bender – which happened. A lot.
I took the stack of schedules but cast a wistful look into the bay of cars. I’d rather be out there getting my hands dirty than going over paperwork, even with something as simple as approving the hours for the coming week.
Gritting my teeth, I forced my gaze back down onto the papers. Might as well get it done now instead of later, when there would be more work.
Three
Suria
“I didn’t think we’d get past that bouncer,” Trice said, hooking her arm through mine.
I adjusted the neckline of my dress. It was designed to be low, but I strategically made it a little lower as I distracted said bouncer. Trice’s fake ID was pretty damn good, but he’d been giving it a pretty thorough once-over.
“Just don’t try to order anything but a soft drink,” I told her, ignoring the face she gave me. “I’ll let you have some of mine while we dance, okay? But you don’t want to get caught ordering anything with booze in it. It will be harder for me to use my ta-tas to distract a bartender or one of the servers.” I nodded at the servers. They were all female and much less likely to be distracted by my tits.
She laughed. “Okay, deal. Just promise I can have something…this week has sucked. Vano is being such an ass, and my mother keeps saying that awful M word.”
“I know, honey.” I gave her a tight hug, wanting to promise that I’d save her from that dreaded M, but not wanting to make a promise I couldn’t keep. Not to family, not to one of my few real friends.
“You know, you’re lucky,” Trice said, a note of wistfulness obvious in her voice even over the loud music pulsing in the air.
“Why is that?”
“Because you make so much money for the family.” She shrugged, looking out at the gyrating, twisting bodies. “He won’t want to give that up. He doesn’t make nowhere near as much as you do. If you marry off, you won’t be sharing your take with him anymore. It will go through your husband to Vano.” She rolled her eyes. “Your papa won’t like that. He may not make you marry at all.”
While I wasn’t keen on the idea of being forced into one of the famed arranged marriages, I’d go in a heartbeat if it meant that Trice and Joelle would be spared such a fate. I could take care of myself. I was good at manipulating people without them even realizing – my father and aunt, for starters.
But Trice and Joelle weren’t like that.
“You know, some Rom clans are actually getting a little more modern.” That wistful note still hadn’t left Trice’s voice, and I cut my eyes back to her face. “Some even let the couple have a say in who is selected for marriage, and if either party is outright against it, they don’t force them. Why can’t Vano and the elders wake up and smell…” She sighed, wrinkling her nose, “if not the twenty-first century, I’d settle for the nineteenth?”
“Or even the eighteenth…depending on the culture,” I offered. I caught her hand. “We came here to have fun. Do you really want to think about my father, or Vano, or the elders?”
“Hell, no.” Trice shook her head emphatically.
“Then let’s go dance.”
At the edge of the dance floor, I flagged one of the servers down and asked for whiskey on the rocks. She did ask to see my ID, despite the fact that I’d already been carded, so as she studied it, I slid Trice a quick look. Told ya, I mouthed.
She just rolled her eyes.
After the girl disappeared into the crowd, the two of us eased the last few inches onto the dance floor and started to move. Dancing was one thing I loved, that I’d always loved, but I didn’t get to do dancing like this at home.
Trice and I threw ourselves into the music, and I only pulled myself out of the spell when a hand tapped me on the shoulder.
It was the server with my drink.
Pulling a bill from inside my shirt, I paid and tipped her – I knew how important tips were – then lifted the glass to my lips. From the corner of my eye, I watched until I knew she was gone – and the other staff that might be watching weren’t – then I passed the glass over to Trice.
She took a quick sip and mimed gagging as she passed it back over.
“I don’t see how you can drink that stuff. It’s like…I don’t know…medicine.”
Loftily, I informed her, “It’s an acquired taste.”
Somebody tapped her on the shoulder, and I grinned at her as a good-looking brunet asked her to dance. She shot me a hopeful look, and I waved her off.
None of us got to mingle much with people our own age. Who was I to deny her a chance at dancing with a sexy guy with big, dark eyes?
Making my way off the dance floor, I focused on the bar, thinking I’d get a glass of wine and find a bare space on the wall where I could watch Trice.
I made it almost off the dance floor before I bumped into somebody.
A pair of hands gripped my hips, and I looked up, an automatic apology on my lips.
It died at the sight of pale eyes meeting mine.
Pale eyes under a shaggy fall of bangs, hair that looked almost gold under the flashing display of lights going on overhead. A smile creased his lips. “Since we’re already halfway there…want to dance?”
I wasn’t the type to be open to charmers or players. I was the charmer, and although I didn’t like it, I’d been the player too.
Still, there was something about his boyishly handsome, open smile that made me loop my arms around his neck. “Why not?”
We swayed to the music as it went from a fast cadence to a slower one. One dance became two, then three, and it wasn’t until the third one ended that either of us spoke.
“My name’s Kian,” he said, dipping his head so he could talk into my ear without shouting.
I turned my head to do the same.
“Suria,” I said, giving him my real name without thinking.
That was something I hardly ever did.
Was there anybody outside the clan who knew my real name?
Well, yes. Now this blue-eyed stranger by the name of Kian knew it. But did others? I couldn’t remember the last time I’d given that piece of myself to somebody. I realized I was smiling and had no idea why.
“You come here often?” Kian asked.
There was something about the way he asked, about the way he watched me that made me think that it wasn’t just a line. I shrugged. “Not too often. But once or twice.”
He grinned at me. “Maybe you should try to get out here a bit more frequently.�
�
“Why?” I gave him a bold smile. “You think you might want to meet here sometime?”
“I think that could be a possibility.” The hand he’d placed low on my spine spread wide, his fingers like brands through the thin material of my dress.
“Hmmm…” I licked my lower lip, decided that maybe I liked the sound of that. “Maybe tomorrow?”
“Maybe.”
He dipped his head.
I tensed, but to my surprise, he caught my hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.
Then, quick as a wink, he lost himself in the crowd.
“Until tomorrow,” I murmured.
Then I realized…I was going to have to sneak away two nights in a row.
That was going to be just plain awesome.
Four
Kian
I came awake to pale golden light, the lingering pulse of music echoing in my ears, my mind still clinging to the remnants of a dream where I’d held Suria in my arms as we danced again.
First, it had been a rather sedate dance.
But then…piece by piece, our clothing had fallen away, and what had been almost innocent became a lot more.
I kissed her, and she tasted every bit a sweet in my dreams as I’d thought she would.
But when I would have pulled her up against me and deepened the kiss, she pulled away and open her lips. With a kittenish smile, she said, “The time is ten a.m.”
The alarm sounded again as I lay there.
“The time is ten oh one a.m.”
I silenced it and craned my head to the left, staring out the window into the bright sunlight.
It felt far too early.
But I had to get up and moving…and I had to stop thinking about the sexy girl I’d danced with last night.
After all, I had a date this morning.
“It smells great.” I bent to kiss my mother on the cheek before stepping inside her small, pin-neat condo.
Tamara Robson was forty-eight, but she could have passed for late thirties. She wore her curly brown hair swept back into a loose topknot and her blue eyes, just a shade darker than mine, met my gaze with more than a few shadows.
I wasn’t surprised.
She’d been dreading this particular day for the past month.
I was here to distract her as much as I could.
“You look beautiful,” I told her. I meant it. Bending down, I pressed a kiss to her cheek and gave her the flowers I brought over for our weekly brunches. She accepted them with a smile, but it was tinged with wry humor. “I look like a fright. I was up half the night thinking…”
Her words trailed off, and I reached up to brush my fingers down her arm.
She took my hand in hers and squeezed. “Come. I should put these in water.”
I followed her into the kitchen where brunch was spread out for the two of us.
Scrambled eggs, muffins, bacon, potatoes…I breathed in deep and shot Mom a grin. “You went overboard.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said softly. Her eyes drifted away, and she laughed self-consciously. “You know how I am. When I’m feeling down, I cook. I also made an apple pie for you to take with you.”
I went to her and wrapped my arms around her.
She leaned against me for a minute, but then pulled away. “Come on. I don’t want to get maudlin right now.”
If ever anybody had a reason to get maudlin, it was my mother.
Today would have been my uncle’s forty-first birthday. He disappeared years ago when he was a child.
Mom had never gotten over it.
But if she didn’t want to talk about it, I wasn’t going to drag it out of her.
“How about we sit down so I can start eating?” I suggested. “I’m starving.”
“You always are.”
Nearly an hour later, the remains of brunch lay between us, demolished mostly by me, but I’d coaxed Mom into eating a little bit of almost everything. Her only child, I’d like to think I had a special way with her.
But then again, I was arrogant in some ways.
I liked to think I had a special way with a lot of women.
I thought of the dark-eyed brunette I danced with last night. Suria. Would she be there tonight–
“Your mind is wandering, Kian,” Mom said.
“Is it?” I slanted a smile at her and leaned back in the seat. “Nah, I think it’s just a food coma. I stuffed myself silly.” I patted my belly as she gave me an indulgent look.
“I’d like to think you were thinking about a girl,” she said, eerily echoing my thoughts. “Have you met anybody recently?”
Again, Suria’s face flashed through my mind, but I shook my head. “I rarely have time. Work, you know.”
“Life can’t be all work, baby.” Mom reached over and brushed her fingers down my hand before covering it and squeezing light. “There’s got to be something more if you want it to mean anything.”
“I’ve got more than work in my life,” I assured her.
She worried about me, I knew that. But I was only twenty-seven. It wasn’t like I was pushing fifty or sixty, about to be put up on a shelf. Briefly, I wondered what that meant, before shoving the thought aside.
“Stop worrying so much,” I told her gently. “I’m still focused on the garage, but that won’t last forever.”
“I just want to know that you’re happy.”
“I’m not miserable.” But it didn’t make her smile. I should have known it wouldn’t, not on a day like this. Clearing my throat, I said, “Actually, I did meet somebody at a club last night. We just danced, but…I liked her. We’re supposed to meet up again tonight.”
Her face brightened. “Tell me about her.”
“There’s not much to tell. She’s beautiful.” I shrugged self-consciously, not willing to add the more earthy details that had caught my attention, like that tight body, a roadmap of curves and valleys, her dark, silken hair, and eyes that seemed like I could fall right into them.
“You’re blushing, Kian,” Mom said, laughing. “Okay, don’t tell me anything else.”
A couple hours later, I was wet and standing under the spray of water as I showered.
I didn’t know what I was expecting to happen tonight, but I sure wouldn’t mind if Suria and I ended up wrapped around each other in bed somewhere.
My cock took notice of that thought, and I grimaced. “Down, boy.”
The prick had a mind of its own, though, and wanted to indulge in wayward thoughts about the two of us slipping out, finding a hotel close by…dancing a little more, as one piece of clothing after another fell away.
That was definitely something I wouldn’t be opposed to.
Still…my mind wandered back to the conversation I’d had earlier with my mother.
I just want you to be happy.
And what had I told her?
I’m not miserable.
It was the truth. I liked my life.
I was…content enough.
But shouldn’t there be something more than that?
A sardonic voice inside my head laughed at me. You’re going to meet up with a beautiful woman, and if you play your cards right, chances are you’ll end up naked with her. What have you got to bitch about?
“I’m not bitching,” I muttered.
And I wasn’t.
But while I couldn’t exactly complain about the state my life was in, I knew there had to be more than what I had going on.
Five
Suria
“You’re here.” Kian’s smile flashed bright in the dim light of the club and caused all sorts of funny things to flip around inside me.
It also set girl parts to tingling in ways they hadn’t in a while.
Smiling at him, I lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “I told you I’d be here.” I took a sip of my drink which was watered down to mostly ice right now. As I lowered the glass back down, I glanced over at the dance floor then back at him. “You want to dance?”
The
look he gave me was answer enough, and he led me onto the dance floor just as a slower song was starting.
His hands settled low on my hips, and he brought me in close contact with his lower body, making those funny flips start all over again, while the tingling girl parts threatened to do more than tingle. Melting might be in order.
The man could move.
We didn’t talk much. The music was just a little too loud, and I didn’t think either of us was in any mood for it.
As the ballad slipped into a faster pace, the two of us sped up tempo, but he didn’t let much more space come between us, and the friction of his body rubbing against mine was both temptation and torment. I didn’t know if I loved it or hated it.
I decided, though, when he eased farther back.
I tried to close the distance again, and the moment I did, I realized why he’d broken away.
His cock brushed my hip, heavy and thick.
He was as aroused as I was.
My feet suddenly felt unusually heavy, and I half-tripped over the next step. Kian’s hands steadied me…as did his body. “You okay?” he asked, the words spoken directly into my ear.
I should have just said I was fine and broken away.
My life was a complicated mess, and the last time I’d gotten involved with a guy, it had made my life even messier. But it had been so long since it had been anything but me, myself, and I alone in my bed, and I ached to feel a man’s body moving against mine.
No.
Not just any man.
This man.
Slowly, I placed my hands on his chest, still swaying to the music, although it was slower.
Sliding my palms upward, I moved in closer to him, not bothering to hide the intent.
His hands tightened on my hips, and for one brief second, he dragged me in closer. I felt all of him. Or at least it sure as hell felt like it.
A moan threatened to roll out of me, but I swallowed it down.
