Dirty Dealers

I wonder if Cameron’s security detail is somewhere nearby and who they might be. I’m jolted with the sudden thought, Do they have a guard on me? Why didn’t I consider this before?

“Miss?”

“Oh!” I snap out of my light bulb moment. “Just a coke for now, thanks.”

She disappears, and I move my head as if looking around. No dice. I can’t see anything once the sun goes down.

A loud murmur moves through the room, and the flash of cameras registers in my limited vision. Within seconds, I know what’s happening.

“I love this place,” Ava says, joining me at the high table. She slides her arm around my waist in a hug before climbing onto a chair beside me.

“You made it!” I say, trying to calm my racing pulse. Logan is somewhere around here. I wonder if he’ll join us at the table, and I try not to care.

“I love that jacket,” she says, running a finger down my sleeve.

I pull back, unable to resist. “Hands off, thief.”

“Rude!” she laughs.

Just as fast she catches my wrist, placing my tiny wallet on my palm. My jaw drops. “You’re completely corrupt.”

She only laughs more. “When I hugged you. I was testing your extrasensory abilities. I have to say, you failed.”

“That’s a myth. Blind people don’t have any special powers. We just notice things differently than sighted people.”

Warmth approaches from my right, and I know at once who’s standing behind me. “I’ll be in the back corner behind the bar,” he says, and my heartbeat quickens.

“We’ll be here,” Ava calls happily and orders a glass of champagne when the waitress reappears. Leaning against my shoulder, her lips touch my ear as she coos. “Your little brother is hot.”

I’m so distracted trying not to think of Logan being somewhere in the shadows behind the bar, I almost don’t even register.

“What?” I blink back to my royal guest. “Oh! Cameron. He was always a cute kid.”

“I can’t imagine not being able to see him.” Her voice is sad, but I cut her off.

“No, you’re right! I can see him in pictures on my phone. I just have to enlarge them.”

The music starts, and it’s impossible to hear each other. Cameron’s band has gotten electric since the last time I heard him. It’s louder and less acoustic, and from what I can tell, Cam’s out front more now.

“I thought he played the guitar?” Ava shouts in my ear. I wince back from the ticklish vibration of her voice.

“He’s not playing?” I shout toward her.

“Nope,” she calls, pausing for a drink. “Just singing and prancing around being all sexy.”

That makes me want to laugh. I slip off the stool and realize I need to visit the ladies. “Do you need to use the restroom?” I shout.

A prolonged pause while I wait, then she cries, “Oh! I shook my head.” She makes an embarrassed sound. “No, I’m okay. Are you okay to go alone?”

“We’re never really alone, are we?” I think of the guards all around us here.

“Very philosophical.”

I do a little wave and follow the noise of voices and the echo of glasses toward the bar area. Once I arrive, I walk slowly along the perimeter of the busy area where patrons sit with their backs to me. I can tell by the changing of the sounds I’m approaching a more secluded corner. I realize too late I’m on a fool’s errand, considering I’m not familiar with the layout of this place.

“Are you lost?” The deep voice stops me in my tracks.

My insides go liquid at the sound, and I swear I wasn’t looking for him. What you seek is seeking you drifts through my mind.