Her eyes scanned the room, and then went wide when she saw what had shaken me. “Layna, I’m sorry.” She whispered again.
“I want to leave.”
She took my hand, “Don’t let him ruin your night.”
“I just need to go to the bathroom for a moment.” I stood, and walked down the stairs. Camille was right behind me, following me through the crowd. It took everything in me to not look in his direction again.
I burst into the bathroom, finding the biggest stall. Camille shut the door. The tears that were begging to fall finally ran down my face. I blew out my cheeks trying to compose myself, with my hands on my hips. I looked up at her, and she walked up, wrapping me in her arms. I closed my eyes tight, and took a deep breath.
“Why did he have to be here tonight?” I asked into her shoulder. “It’s not even the same damn girl.”
“I don’t know.”
“Who was the lanky blonde?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know a lot.” I mumbled.
She giggled, “I do know that you are one of my favorite people, and I don’t like seeing you sad.” She leaned back, wiping my face. “You need to take your hot ass out there, and dance the night away. James is a piece of shit. He can only ruin your night if you let him.”
I twisted my mouth, “You’re right.”
“Let’s go get a drink and dance.” She squeezed my hand. “I’ll even pull out my slutty moves for you.”
I tried to hold back my laugh, but it quickly escaped me.
Camille poured us two shots from the bottle that Spencer and his friends had ordered when we got back to the table. I took the shot immediately when she handed it to me, noticing Spencer watching me as I set the shot glass down. Camille whispered to Taylor then grabbed my hand, dragging me down the stairs towards the dance floor.
We started dancing and I felt the liquid courage take over. I wasn’t sure if James had seen me, and I didn’t care at this moment. This moment was about me taking back my happiness that he stole from me. He made me feel worthless, like I wasn’t enough. This was me showing myself that I was always enough. Camille and I danced in the middle of the floor as the lights bounced off and on of us every few seconds. The loud music was humming on my skin.
My hand was suddenly taken by someone from behind me. I spun around, and my breath was quickly stolen from me. Spencer’s dark eyes were holding mine.
“Would you like to dance?” He asked.
“Sure.” I squeaked. I held back my mortified face. I couldn’t be more awkward if I tried.
He held my hand above my head spinning me around. The music sounded like it had become louder. He placed his hands on my waist with a strong grip, pulling my back to him. I felt my worry fading away, but I wasn’t sure if it was him or the amount of drinks that I had. One thing I did know was that Spencer Calloway knew how to move his body to the rhythm of a woman trying to forget.
The song ended, fading into the next one. I turned to face him; my face felt flushed. He smiled down at me, “Would you like to sit?” He gestured toward our empty table upstairs.
“Yes.” I smiled, brushing my hair behind my ear.
He held his hand out, “Lead the way.”
I started walking, glancing back in the direction of James. His eyes had found me, and for some reason I didn’t care how he felt. He hurt me. Not the other way around. I took in a deep breath, and walked up the stairs.
“What is it that you do, Alayna?” Spencer asked as he poured himself a glass of water.
“I work in Human Resources.”
He smirked, “Ah a pesky rule enforcer.”
I laughed, “Aren’t you a lawyer? Isn’t it your job to enforce rules?”
He ran his glass along his bottom lip in thought, “You can look at it that way, or you could say that I get people out of the rules that they break.”
“Touché.” I raised my glass of water.
“Rules are meant for breaking sometimes though.” He said casually, taking a sip.
Oh hell he is something else. This guy radiates sexual tension. I felt myself feeling flushed all over again. I chugged my water trying to sober up.
“Have you ever been married?” I blurted out, instantly cringing at my question. Why did I ask that?
He laughed, “No, I have not. Have you?”
“Nope.”
“Your friend Taylor told me about your ex boyfriend being here.”
I rolled my eyes, “Of course she did.”
“That’s why I asked you to dance. A woman like you deserves to be spun around the dance floor. If he wasn’t going to do it, I was.”
His words sent butterflies into my stomach, “And what kind of woman am I?”
“One that I would like to get to know.”
“If I let you get to know me, can you promise that you’re not a serial killer?”
He laughed, “Do you think I would tell you if I was?”
I shrugged my shoulders, “I don’t know. A lawyer is a good cover up.”
He pulled his wallet out, “Here’s my business card. You can Google me if you want.”
“See, you’re just lathering on the cover up.” I took the card from him, looking down at the small grey font. I held the card up to him, “You know, from a consumer standpoint, your font is too small and the color is way off.”
He laughed, “Do I have a perfectionist on my hands?”
“Nope. Just a concerned girl in a bar.”
“Do you ask all men you meet in bars if they’re serial killers?”
I laughed, “No. Just the lawyers.”
We talked for what seemed like 2 hours. The bar was closing soon; we were both sober by now. I didn’t even realize time had passed during our conversation. He was so easy to talk to. Our friends were still off dancing or mingling. We weren’t really sure where they were.
“I should probably call Taylor to see where they’ve run off to.” I told him, as I pulled my phone from my clutch. He was quickly on his phone reaching out to his friends.
“Hellooooo, Layna!” Taylor sang into the phone. Oh great, she’s drunk.
“Hi, Tay. Where are you? The bar is closing soon.”
“We left.” She giggled to someone she was with. Probably Camille or Zach, her sort of not boyfriend.
I pressed my fingers to my other ear, so that I could hear her better, “When did you leave?”
“Um, like an hour ago.”
I sighed, “Well, it looks like I’ll be ubering home alone then.”
“Noooope.”
“What do you mean nope?”
“I may have taken your keys when you were off dancing with Mr. Calloway.” She laughed.
“Taylor, you didn’t.” What the actual fuck?
“I most certainly did.”
“Where am I supposed to sleep?” I asked firmly, clearly annoyed.
“Ask Spencer.” She said, “Gotta go! See you in the morning!” She hung up before I could say anything else. They will hear an ear full in the morning, but tonight I need to figure my life out.
“What’s wrong?” Spencer asked as he stood.
I followed, “Taylor’s tipsy self stole my house keys.”
“You don’t have a spare?”
“Nope.”
He tapped his bottom lip as he thought, “We could try to break in?”
“We will be there all night.” I looked down at my phone. “I’ll probably just get a hotel, or show up at their apartments, banging on the door until they give me my keys back.”
“Well that just won’t do. You can stay in my hotel room. There are two beds.” He raised his hands. “I’ll be a complete gentleman, I promise.”
I shot him a look with a small smile, “You do know they’re doing this on purpose?”
“Oh, one hundred percent.” He pulled up his Uber app. “Your friends aren’t very subtle. I’m not complaining though.”
I laughed, “I feel like you’re enjoying my m
isery.”
He smiled, opening the bar door for me, “No. Just your company.”
I stopped before walking outside, “Are you sure you’re not a serial killer?”
“Will you walk?” He laughed. “Let me be a gentleman.”
“Fine.” I smirked back at him.
*
His hotel was posh to say the least. It was one of the fancy towering ones with black marble throughout the lobby. The hotel receptionist nodded to Spencer when we entered. I probably looked like a high end escort. Too bad my bank account doesn’t reflect that lifestyle.
His room did in fact have two beds like he said. I set my clutch down on one of the beds as I stood there uncomfortable. I didn’t know how to act in this situation.
“Would you like a water or room service?” He picked up the menu. “I think they do late night room service here.” He looked up and noticed that I was staring at him. “Are you ok?”
I crossed my arms in front of me, “Yes. I just don’t do stuff like this.”
“What? Eat food in a random hotel room with a stranger?”
“Yeah, that.”
He set the menu down, “I don’t normally do this either. So, it’s new for both of us.”
I wanted to ease the awkward tension; food seemed like a safe bet. “Do you want to split a burger and fries?”
He smiled, “Sure.”
Thirty minutes later the food arrived and we set up a picnic on top of one of the beds. Spencer turned the TV on to late night sitcom reruns. He handed me half of the burger. We ate and laughed as we told each other embarrassing stories.
“...So, I took my diaper off and ran through the church during prayer.” I laughed. “My Mom was furious, as you could imagine.”
He laughed, “I can attest that I’ve never gone streaking before. Even as a child.”
I giggled, “I don’t think it would be a good look on you Mr. Lawyer.”
“Why? I have a nice ass.”
I smirked, “I’m sure you do.”
His eyes stayed locked in on me, I didn’t break my attention away. It was so annoying how delicious he was. My heart began beating faster. I wasn’t sure if I was going to regret what I was about to do. I leaned over the tray, and crashed my lips onto his. He was shocked at first, but responded oh so sensually. He wrapped his hand behind my neck, and his tongue slipped through my mouth. Yep, he was sexual tension on fire.
I knocked the tray onto the floor, and rose to my knees as I continued to kiss him. He pulled me down on top of him, his strong hands felt good as he gripped my body. He grinded against me in response. I wasn’t thinking, I was just acting. Was this living life? I don’t know. What I did know was that Spencer Calloway was about to take me to a sexual high that I needed so desperately.
To be continued…
Under the Oak Tree Page 31
