Catching Lucy (Lucy & Harris 1)

“Back of the line, ladies,” he told us before I could even open my mouth.

I forced a smile to my lips as I pulled my hand free from Kin’s and took out my ID. Honestly, after three weeks of not responding to Harris’s email I didn’t even know if he would still have me on his VIP list, but I was still going to try. Part of me wanted to see him just as much as he’d said he wanted to see me. “I’m Lucy Thornton. Harris Cutter is expecting me.”

The man lifted his brows skeptically but one look from the man standing behind me and he lowered his gaze to his list. I turned a smirk on Marcus. There were times, much like this one, that it paid to have someone with big muscles and a mean-looking face at your back. My bodyguard didn’t even lift his lips at me, but I was rewarded with a quick wink before he turned his menacing gaze back to the man with the clipboard.

After a moment of looking over all the sheets of paper with the list of people allowed immediate entrance, the big man stepped to the side, letting us pass. “I’m not sure where Mr. Cutter is at the moment, Miss Thornton, but you can go straight up to the VIP lounge on the second floor. Take the stairs to your immediate left once you step through the entrance. Tiny will be waiting to let you up.”

I nodded before taking Kin’s hand once more and stepped inside the club. As soon as the door opened I was deafened by the blast of loud music echoing off the walls. I grimaced. This was nearly as bad as being backstage at one of my dad’s concerts. I needed earplugs for that, and I realized I was probably going to need them tonight.

Beside me, Kin jerked at the loudness and plugged a finger into her left ear. She’d lost the hearing in her right ear when she was a toddler. The way she listened to music with the volume turned up so loud it was a wonder she hadn’t lost the hearing in the left yet. Behind us, Marcus stood close and nudged us toward the man standing by the stairs on our left.

If I’d thought the bouncer out front was huge, I’d been seriously wrong. Tiny did not live up to his name, or maybe it was just a joke because Tiny was anything but tiny. He stood at least seven feet tall dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt that was definitely in danger of being ripped apart if he so much as breathed the wrong way. There were muscles on top of muscles on top of even more muscles. Holy crap, the man was scary.

Unconsciously, I took a step back, wanting closer to Marcus.

Tiny took a step forward and offered his hand. “Miss Thornton?” His voice was just as scary as the rest of him, sounding naturally rough and kind of growly. Kin’s fingers tightened around my own and seeing our obvious fear he grinned, transforming his face into something almost soft. Almost. “It’s a pleasure to have you with us tonight, Miss Thornton. You and your party should go on up. There are other VIPs in attendance tonight, but Mr. Cutter has yet to come out of his office… Would you like for me to alert him to your arrival?”

Without hesitating, I shook my head. I was in First Bass, which was as far as I could willingly go for the moment. I needed a little time to collect myself before I saw Harris again for the first time in years. I didn’t know if what I’d once felt for my old best friend would overwhelm me or not. I didn’t want to make a fool of myself. “No, I’m sure he will find me in his own time. In fact, I’d like to surprise him, so please don’t let him know I’m here at all.”

Tiny inclined his head in acceptance and stepped back to let us up the stairs. I pushed Kin in front of me, not wanting to be the first one to enter the VIP lounge. It was hard to tell who might be up there at the moment. It was early still, just after eight, but First Bass was the place to be any night of the week, especially on Saturday night.

By the time we got to the top of the stairs Kin had removed her sunglasses. It was so dimly lit that she had to or risked falling down the stairs. As soon as we reached the top she didn’t give me more than a second to glance around before pulling me toward the bar on the far side of the room, but at least I got a quick feel of the layout.

The top floor made up the VIP lounge with the center of the room railed in so that people could stand and look over at the dance floor below. Leather couches were spread out around the room. Dim lighting cast a soft glow over the room.

The bartender, a seriously hot guy with a faux hawk and the longest lashes I’ve ever seen in my life gave me a grin when he turned from placing two bottles of imported beer in front of the three guys beside us. “What will it be, angel?”

I could have flashed him my fake ID, but with Marcus behind us I knew that would only lead to my dad having a coronary. “Ginger ale,” I told him instead of the beer that I would have rather had.

His smile didn’t even dim as he turned his gaze on Kin. “And you?”

Kin shot a glance behind me at Marcus and sighed. “Same.”

“You got it.” He had our drinks set down in front of us quicker than I would have expected and I handed over my credit card. “Just start a tab,” I told him and he gave a nod before going to the end of the bar to set it up.

I turned to face Marcus. “You should get yourself a drink. Just add it to the tab.”

“I’m good for now, Lucy,” he assured me, glancing around the room like he expected someone to suddenly try to murder or kidnap me. After a moment he disappeared into a corner where I knew he would spend the night watching me like a hawk. I was thankful that he was going to give us a little privacy to enjoy our night.

The bartender returned with my card and a folded piece of paper. When he handed both over, his fingers held onto my hand for a moment longer as he leaned forward. “My number, baby. Call me,” he murmured just loud enough for me to hear over the music.

Heat filled my cheeks and I bit my lip as I pulled away, looking up at the guy through my lashes. “Maybe,” I murmured. No way was I going to straight-up say no to this guy, but I knew that I wasn’t ever going to call him. Number one, because my dad would probably kill this guy. And two? Well, as yummy as he looked, he just didn’t do anything for me.

Very few guys had ever really caught my attention. It took more than a nice face and hot body to really stand out to me. Yeah, I was a freak like that. But it didn’t mean I didn’t like to look. And I could look at Mr. Bartender all night long.

He laughed. “That’s better than the ‘hell no’ I was expecting.” He leaned against the bar top, showing me that his arms were rock hard with muscles. “I’m Nate.”

“Lucy,” I told him. “This is Kin.”

Nate’s eyes shot to Kin for a moment and he nodded at her before turning those killer eyes with their amazing eyelashes back on me. “If you need anything, just let me know. I’m sure I can take care of it for you.”

“Okay.” I bit my lip again. I’ve had guys hit on me plenty of times since I’d developed all my curves, but most guys didn’t have the balls to try it once they knew who I was. They knew the reputation of my dad and his Demon’s Wings bandmates. They were overprotective and would castrate anyone who they thought wanted in my pants.

Someone called out for Nate from the other end of the bar and he gave me a wink before going to get the guy his drink. Picking up my drink, I turned to face Kin who was taking in the rest of the room with wide eyes. I glanced around, taking note of all the things I hadn’t gotten to see earlier.

This was Harris’s dream. He’d confided in me plenty of times about his vision for his future when we had been close. He hadn’t wanted to be a rock star like his dad. He’d wanted his own club where people could relax but also where new talent could come in on open-mike nights and maybe get discovered by some of the connections he had made growing up in the rock world.