“Smart,” Marlene said.
“Phew, I was just glad my method worked, because honestly, when I approached some of the guests here, I was scared shitless.” I laughed and set my beer aside.
“They get aggressive if you call them out on their BS.” Marlene rested her elbows on the bar top and met my gaze. “If you don’t, their ego stays intact. I told ya—you did good.”
“Glad to see you’re still creative,” Josh told me. “It’s getting late. Let me walk you to your car.”
The thought of protesting briefly crossed my mind, not wanting to seem too overeager. It had been a while since we’d seen each other, and even though this wasn’t the time or place to get into that, I couldn’t help but feel a pull toward him.
It also helped that he was the subject of my article. The more face time I got with him, the better.
“Sounds good, thanks.” I passed Marlene the half-empty glass as I rose to my feet. “Thanks for the training, Marlene. Do you want me in tomorrow?”
“Yeah. I’ll text you your schedule.”
With a wave goodbye to my supervisor, I turned away and gave my new boss my attention. “Ready to go when you are.”
We stopped off in the break room so I could grab my purse, and then we headed out. The night was surprisingly cool despite the humidity from earlier. Or maybe it just felt cooler since the club was so hot. Regardless, I took a moment to enjoy it before glancing at Josh.
He looked so good. Different. But good. Not good. Hot. Ridiculously fucking hot. If sex had a cover model, Josh would be that man. His hair was lighter than I remembered, and his arms were definitely more filled out. God, my earlier thoughts of wanting to lick him resurfaced. Down, girl! Two silver nose rings, one on each side. And damn, those tattoos—deliciously sinful. I was getting an even closer look than I had earlier. When we’d first met, he had a couple on his arms and now they seemed to have spread, giving him a full sleeve from what I could see. He also had tats from his neck to his temples, and even one in his ear: circles and stars, and all black.
Sexy. As. Fuck.
I think I just had an eyegasm.
Alone now, we walked in silence as I led him to where I’d parked. What was he thinking? If only I could see into his mind. Or maybe I didn’t even want to see it. Us alone, walking at night suddenly brought me back fifteen years. The memories I hadn’t drudged up in eons suddenly came flooding back at an alarming rate.
Then
The party was so loud I could barely hear myself think. The friends I had arrived with ditched me almost instantly, which I knew was going to happen even though they had tried to tell me otherwise. Trying to look busy, I stood by the snack table, sipping my soda and bopping my head along with the music.
After several long pathetic moments, I decided to hell with the noise and made my way outside. Breathing in deeply, I sat with a huff on the porch steps, still ignored by the people around me.
I was lost in thought, contemplating if I could swipe my friend’s keys and drive myself home, when somebody sat next to me.
“Hey. You look like you would love to be anywhere else but here.”
I turned to the person, but whatever I’d prepared to say had practically flew out of my head. Yep, with angel wings up to heaven, never to be seen again. I found myself staring at the most gorgeous boy I’d ever laid eyes on. Dirty-blond hair, blue-green eyes, and a dreamy dimple in his cheek as he smirked at me.
“Was I that obvious?” I managed to ask.
“Not at first. I thought you were really interested in that bean dip until you spit it on the floor and nudged it under the table with your shoe.”
“That was an accident.” I laughed.
“I don’t blame you.”
“But I’m glad to know somebody witnessed my embarrassment.” I sort of wanted to hide, but I kept my composure—for the most part.
He shrugged. “My mom’s a pretty bad cook.”
I laughed again, even though I could feel my cheeks burning red. “And yet, you’re still talking to me. So, it couldn’t have been that bad.”
It was his turn to laugh. “I’m Josh. Josh Varjak.”
“April Dawson.”
“So, April. Wanna get out of here?”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Excuse me?”
“You obviously don’t want to be here, and since you haven’t left already, I’m assuming you’re stranded. Come on. Let’s go for a ride. Unless you want some more of that bean dip.”
“I don’t even know you. And you don’t even know me.”
“I’d like to.”
His eyes grew hooded, and my face flushed for an entirely different reason. I’d never had any guy look at me the way Josh was looking at me. My stomach clenched, and then did a weird electric flip-flop thing. But I didn’t let myself get carried away. I wasn’t dumb. He was too slick and too charismatic.
“Nice line. Does that always work with all the girls?”
At this, he grinned, and his dimple became even more pronounced than it had been before. “Oh, yeah. Constantly.”
“Well, good for you. But if you really want to get to know me, you’re gonna have to try harder than that.”
He leaned in close, and even though I told myself to lean back, my body had other plans and remained exactly where it was, making it so his forehead was practically touching mine.
“That a challenge?”
Now
“What did you think of your first shift?”
Josh’s question brought me back to the present, and I forced myself to push away the image of the younger version of him who I used to know. This Josh was somebody else, somebody new. He wasn’t Josh Varjak, the smiley, smooth-talking, dimpled twenty-year-old talking to a lowly eighteen-year-old.
He was Josh Vorn: tattooed strip club owner and likely head of a dangerous motorcycle club.
“Busy, but good,” I said, struggling to keep my focus in the present. “I’m surprised to see you making the rounds on the main floor. Most business owners I’ve known can’t be bothered to visit their own properties, let alone keep an eye on things.”
“You must’ve met some shitty business owners then.”
“Oh, no doubt.”
The corner of his lip turned up slightly, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “For what it’s worth, you did good. Totally natural. I doubt anybody could tell it was your first shift.”
“Watched me that closely, did you? A few guys did.”
At that, he rolled his eyes. “Don’t let it go to your head.” I couldn’t tell if he meant him watching me or the attention of other guys.
The back door of the building opened, and we turned in time to see a young woman coming out, tugging on a coat. I noticed her as one of the dancers, and when she saw us, she gave Josh a soft smile and a wave. He waved back.
“I gotta go, but it really was great to see you.” He placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze before immediately letting go.
“You, too. We should catch up some time. There’s…” I paused, contemplating whether or not to bring up how we’d left things. It seemed that now that I was face-to-face with my past, I couldn’t stop the memories even if I wanted to. “We kind of left things…unfinished.”