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Lochlan glances over his shoulder with a taunting look before he disappears into the crowd. I know what I said at the villa hurt him, but sometimes caring for someone feels like hurting them.
I realize now this game we’ve concocted is going to be the best thing for both of us. It’s too easy to get lost in the hunger of his blue eyes and the reverence of his touch. Too easy to get lost and never want to be found. But I have to return to reality sooner or later.
And he needs to be reminded that I’m not the only one for him. The thought stings, but I tell myself it’s just my ego rebelling against being runner-up.
No, this is good. This is what I want, I remind myself. I wasn’t lying when I said there have been a lot of heightened emotions. I am sure these confusing feelings toward Lochlan are due to them, and I need to try harder to see clearly through their haze.
A familiar face catches my eye and I wave Lulu down. “Ms. Wright, what can I get for you?”
“I have an unusual request,” I whisper, and she leans closer to hear me.
She chortles. “Oh, I doubt it. You won’t believe what kind of requests I get working here.” I smile and the guilty feeling in my chest relaxes a little.
I take a hundred-dollar bill from my clutch and offer it to her. “Flirt with Lochlan, try to get him to take you home.”
She tucks the money into her bra and smirks conspiringly. “He just ordered shots,” she says and wiggles her shoulders excitedly before spinning back toward the bar.
My heart quickens as I watch her pick up a shot glass full of liquor and flounce over to Lochlan’s table. He’s sitting at the end of one of the semicircle booths.
His arm rests along the back, and I get a good look at the cherub with a machine gun on the back of his hand. It’s an oddly fitting tattoo. I watch the corded muscles of his forearm flex as his fingers tighten around the cushion when he sees Lulu approaching.
I change my position by a few steps so I can see his face, but he can’t see me. The clandestiness of it all has me tiptoeing as if I need to quiet my footsteps to sneak past. When, in reality, I am camouflaged with the other guests and my steps are inaudible amid the club’s music. But still, the sense that I’m about to be caught races up my spine.
Lulu drops into his lap and the pit of my stomach pangs when he immediately wraps his arm around her waist, smooth and natural. With a bashful look, she says something that makes him laugh. His warm, husky chuckle I know so well echoes in my head.
I thought she was excited about the shot to loosen him up, but I realize she has a totally different intention when she slips the small glass between her breasts, held in place by her corset.
I swallow and try to remember this is my own doing. I steel myself for what’s to come when he leans forward and she rocks back to give him room. His mouth is so close to her pushed-up breasts. I feel the phantom of his breath against my own neck. Chills radiate down my arms in suspense for a moment I find I am dreading.
Right before he’s about to remove the glass with his lips, his eyes cut up to me. They are blazing. The heat crashes into me even from across the room.
He keeps painfully intentional eye contact as he ignores the shot and licks a lascivious path up her throat. My breath stalls and there’s a flicker of a smirk in his piercing gaze, like he knows he just sucked all the oxygen out of my lungs with one swipe of his tongue.
He only breaks our connection to dip down again and pluck the shot from her cleavage with his mouth, throwing his head back. The clear liquid disappears down his throat and he sets the empty glass down.
A dark smile carves his face as he finds my eyes again while wrapping his arm tighter around Lulu’s petite frame and whispering in her ear. My face heats, and I wonder what filthy words he’s teasing her with.
My chest hammers, and I’m about to walk away when she slides off his lap and turns toward me. He tilts his head to the side and, with the same cruel smile, drags his thumb over his bottom lip, wiping any spilled liquor.
Curiosity makes me remain in place as she makes her way to me. When she reaches me, she relays, “Lochlan says you just wasted a hundred bucks.”
1. Play “If I” by Limi
Chapter 23
Should Have
Lochlan
I’m not as strong of a fighter as Roan. 1 I’m not a tech genius like Finn. I don’t command power and respect like Cash, but there are two areas I excel: collecting debts through any means necessary and being one charming motherfucker.
The first two cards are easy to get. Like riding a bike, I fall right into old patterns. But once the initial excitement of the competition wears off, I’m wholly unmotivated to put in the effort it takes to feign interest.
I find myself subconsciously scanning the room while the woman I’m sitting with talks at me. For some reason, my eyes catch on the back of a man in a navy sports coat. I watch him slide his empty tumbler across the bar as he stands from his stool. I can’t see the person he’s talking to until he leans forward to kiss their cheek in parting.
Stella brushes her locs behind her ear and presses her cheek to his. Our eyes lock, and I can feel the aftershock of our connection ripple across the room. This is the first time I’m seeing her since she sent Lulu over. I tried my damnedest the last few hours not to look for her and focus on winning cards, but now that I’ve found her, I can’t tear myself away.
Her lip curls in a small smirk, and my stomach knots. She goes from kissing the air to brushing her lips against his face, her eyes fluttering shut sensually.
