"If he does that, we’ll all beat him up," Kellie said. She hesitated for a moment and looked over at Andi. "You know, maybe we should go somewhere else."
But when she said that, it made me feel like I was giving in, that I was giving too much power to Hunter. I opened the door. "Let's go in."
We walked inside the club and I did everything I could to hold my head up high. As we moved through the crowd, we found a table and sat down, ordering drinks. Andi and I each had a shot and then ordered a double alcohol cocktail, and within a few minutes I was beginning to feel loose. The music was loud, and I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the beat rock through my body.
"Would you like to dance?"
I opened my eyes and looked up into the face of a man. He was sporting a crooked smile that made me think he was also enjoying several shots and a double alcohol cocktail. His smile didn't look lecherous or cocky, he just looked like a guy who wanted to have a good time.
Since I was there to have a good time, I stood. "Sure."
I followed him to
the dance floor wondering if Hunter was around and would see me having a good time? The petty part of me hoped that he would see me and it would make him crazy to think that another man was taking an interest in me, or that maybe I was taking an interest in him. Of course, that could backfire on me as well. With my luck, he'd be relieved to see me with another man, and I’d end up watching him take another woman to the VIP room.
25
Hunter
There was a saying about best laid plans going awry. As I looked through the security feed, my plans to escape from Natalie went up in flames. She walked into my club looking sexy as sin. What was her game? Did she think that painted on dress would make me change my mind about us?
I heard the door to the security room open behind me and expected it to be Chuck returning from a break, but when I turned to look, it was Noah. He strode up next to me looking at the security feed. He pointed to where Natalie and her sister, Kellie and my grandmother's assistant Andi, had taken a seat at a table.
"Did you know this was going on?" Noah asked.
I shook my head. "No."
"What is Andi doing here anyway?"
I turned to look at my brother, wondering why he cared whether Andi was here are not. "Look at that fucker flirting with her."
I studied him for a moment wondering if perhaps he had a thing for Andi. I had half a mind to tell him to not bother. Women brought more pain and suffering than they were worth.
"Andi is a tough cookie. I think she can handle herself. Why do you care anyway?"
Noah flinched slightly. "I don't care. It’s just weird."
I turned my attention back to the screen, deciding whatever was going on with Noah and Andi wasn't any of my business, especially if he didn't want to tell me about it.
I watched as Jason Tollison made his way over to their table. You better go for Andi, I thought. I'd rather have to throw Noah out of the club for beating Jason to a pulp than to have me be arrested and make the club look bad because I've beaten him up for hitting on Natalie.
As Jason bent over and gave his signature smile to Natalie, I had just the right angle to be able to see her look at him in surprise, and then smile back. It wasn't that full wattage smile that I had seen on occasion, but it was enough that someone like Jason would take that as a cue.
"Fuck."
"So that thing between you and Natalie that you said was nothing—"
"It is nothing." I said, trying to unclench my fists and instead rested my hands on my waist.
“You look like you want to beat the shit out of him."
"I often do. He causes a lot of trouble in here and I’d hate for him to cause trouble with Ryan's wife." See, I could pretend like this had nothing to do with Natalie.
Natalie rose from her chair and walked with Jason out to the dance floor. It was a fast song so as they started dancing, there was enough space between them that I felt I could hold it together and watch from here. But soon Jason was inching closer to her and then he put his hand on her waist. Either Natalie didn't feel it because she was clearly lost in the music as her hips swayed to the beat, or she didn't care. The problem was that I cared.
I strode out of the security room and towards the dance floor, my brain going on the blitz as I tried to figure out the best way to intervene without making a scene.
Finally, when I reached them, I grabbed Jason on the shoulder and yanked him back. "Mind if I cut in?"