I set my bagel on the coffee table and turned to face him. “Austin, what aren’t you telling me?”
“Club business.”
“So, this is how it’s going to go every time you don’t want to tell me something? You’re going to hide behind ‘club business’?”
“Babe, I can’t tell you. You just have to pick somewhere else to go.”
“No. We want to go to Blush and since girls’ night out is sacred, you don’t get a say in it. If you want to drive us, you can take us where we want to go.”
“Blush is off the table, Dani.”
“Then we’ll get a cab.”
He studied me. “I’m driving you, babe, and you’re going somewhere other than Blush.”
I threw my hands up in frustration. “You are not the boss of me, Austin!”
His phone buzzed and he swore again, but answered it after he checked the caller ID. “Yo. Yeah. Fuck me. This shit needs to be dealt with, brother.” He rose to his feet and headed out my door just like he had the other night. Only, this time, I didn’t really want to let him back in. I took my minute of reprieve and called Kim.
“Wow, two calls before eleven,” she said. “I must be special.”
“Hey. Austin’s being all alpha male about Blush and won’t ‘allow’ me to go.”
“What the hell?”
“Yep. So, either we go early and blow him off, which I have a feeling won’t work, because he’s here and I don’t really know when he’s leaving.”
“Or…” Kim said.
“Or, he drops us off somewhere else and we either walk or cab it back to Blush.”
Kim chuckled. “You really want to play that game this early in your relationship?”
“Please, if he keeps going like this, there isn’t going to be a relationship.”
“Well, I’m up for whatever. I really do want to try for Blush, though.”
“Me too,” I said. “Okay, it’s sorted. I might call you later to fake make plans, you good with that?”
“I got your back, Dani. Always.”
“This is why I love you best,” I said.
“Okay, I’m going for a run. Love you.”
“Love you too.” I hung up, finished my bagel, and was downing my last gulp of coffee when Austin walked back in. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he said, but I didn’t believe him. He looked pissed. “But I have to go.”
“Okay. See ya.”
“Don’t be like that, Dani.” He frowned. “Just trust me on the Blush thing.”
“You got it, buddy,” I quipped, and stood.
He narrowed his eyes and gripped my chin, albeit gently. “Don’t go thinkin’ you’re gonna do anything stupid, Dani.”
“Oh, but you said I’m not stupid, so how could I possibly do anything stupid?”
“Do I need to put a recruit on you?”
“What does that even mean?”
“Have someone watch you.”
I gasped and pulled out of his grip. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would if I felt I needed to.”
“You know you just erased the experience of a sweet morning breakfast, with me regretting I let you in my house because you’re being the biggest dick on the planet.”
“When you see mine, babe, you’ll see how right you are.”
I snorted. “You’re disgusting.”
“Unfortunately for you, I can’t stick around and show you just how fun disgusting can be. I’ll pick you up at eight.”
“Don’t bother,” I snapped.
He chuckled, sliding his hand to my neck and pulling my head forward. “Eight o’clock, baby.” He kissed me quickly and then he was gone.
I stood next to my couch and stared at the door, debating on whether or not I was going to throw something at it. In the end, I locked up and put a new plan into motion. Austin Carver was going to find out just how dangerous the wrath of Dani could be. Starting with me not being at his beck and call. Jerk!
Danielle
KIM PICKED ME up at seven and we decided to grab dinner before we headed to the club. My best friend could only be described as perfect. There really was no other way around it. She was tall, almost five-foot-ten, with legs that went on for miles and the ability to wear anything as though it had been made for her. She had long dark hair that never dulled… ever. Big brown eyes and full lips that any woman would die for, and a super sweet way about her. She was as close to me as Emily was, and for all intents and purposes, I considered her my other sister.
Tonight, she wore a little black dress that ended just below her butt. How she sat without flashing anyone, I have no idea, but she was a pro at it. Her four-inch Jimmy Choos were silver and strappy and gorgeous, and she wore several varying shades of silver bangles on her left wrist. With her big hair and smoky make-up, she looked more runway model than bartender, and normally, I’d feel ugly beside her. But tonight, I didn’t.
I wore a clingy black dress that was low-cut… and I mean, low. The hem fell just below my knees and my three-inch black ankle boots did incredible things for my calves. I was all about accentuating the positive and thank God for Spanx, because everything was where it was supposed to be. I had curled my hair in waves, and it hung down perfectly with the help of copious amounts of hairspray, and my big hoop, silver earrings were just enough bling to pull the whole thing together.
As we arrived at the restaurant, I was liking the looks a few men were giving us and I was no longer seething with righteous anger by the time we sat down to eat… just smug with having thwarted my nemesis.
“So, let me get this straight,” Kim said. “You’ve made some drop-dead gorgeous biker fall in love with you, pissed off said biker, and thrown down the wrath of Dani all in less than a couple of weeks.”
I raised my pomegranate martini in a toast. “Yay me.”
She tapped her glass to mine and laughed. “I cannot wait to meet this guy.”
“Huh-uh.” I shook my head. “You’re not going to meet him, Kimmie.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because I’m not dating some guy who treats me like chattel. I’m a grown woman, not some little girl who has to do what my big, bad man tells me to.” I sipped my drink. “Hell, no. Not gonna happen.”
“Amen, sista,” Kim retorted.
Our dinner arrived and we giggled through our meal. For the first time in a while, I wasn’t feeling like the world was on my shoulders. It was awesome. We grabbed a cab from the restaurant to the club and arrived just as people were beginning to line up.
“Perfect timing,” I said.
Kim linked her arm with mine. “Totally.”
We walked up the stairs behind two of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. They were denied entry and my heart dropped. If they couldn’t get in, there was no way in hell we were going to.
I handed the bouncer my ID and he glanced at me, then back at the ID. The other guy took Kim’s. The men shared a look and then the door was opened for us.
“Welcome,” the smaller of the two said.
“Seriously?” I blurted.
“Thanks,” Kim said quickly, and pushed me inside.
“I can’t believe we’re in,” I said, and grabbed her hand.
“I picked up on that when you almost made the bouncer change his mind.”
I gasped. “I did not.”
She grinned and we walked further into the club. A half-dressed woman led us to the booth in a corner facing the dance floor. She wore a teeny-tiny black mini skirt with a blood red top that tied at her neck and left her midriff bare. Her bright red stilettos oozed sex appeal, but all I could think about was how she managed to stay on her feet all night. I was already dying in my boots.
I took a minute to take in the space. It was swanky for sure, with red booths, deep mahogany wooden tables and two bars downstairs. Roped off stairs led to the exclusive VIP area that reportedly only the rich of the rich, and/or celebrities were ever granted access.
The dance floor’s tiles lit up with multi-colored lights, while the DJ sat on a dais above the dance floor and was currently playing some God-awful dub step piece.
We slid into the booth and the server took our drink order. I leaned over to Kim and raised an eyebrow. “I thought it would be different in a weird way.”
She nodded. “Yeah. I’m hoping we’re not going to have to listen to this crap all night. I’ll lose my mind.”
I giggled. “Me too.”
The server returned with our drinks and smiled. “Compliments of the gentlemen sitting over there,” she said, and pointed to the booth across the dance floor from us.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.