Carter Reed (Carter Reed 1)

I had never been more grateful for those guys.

“Hi, guys. You’re going to see the boss?”

Thomas pressed his ear and said something. I couldn’t hear, but it wasn’t long until I heard another voice speak up, loudly with authority, “Mr. Graham, Mr. Reed kindly requests that you leave his guests alone for the evening.”

“What? But—”

“You’ve been relieved of your duty for the evening.”

“What’s going on here, Gene?” His voice rose in anger. “You can’t tell me what to do.”

“Actually,” Gene spoke again, harshly now. “I can. You’ve got the night off, Scott. I suggest you go on your own two legs.”

There was silence, and as it stretched onto another minute, the guys stiffened around me. The air grew thick with tension, but then a bitter laugh came from the night manager. “Fine. I’ll go, but I’ll be speaking with Carter himself about this tomorrow.”

“He’s expecting your phone call tonight.”

The guys waited another minute before they parted before me. Scott Graham was gone and so was the mysterious Gene. I felt like I could breathe easier again and drew in a deep breath when Mike opened the door and disappeared inside. Three guards from behind me followed him inside. It wasn’t long before some signal was given to the guards beside me and Thomas nodded towards me. “You may go in, Emma.”

I gave him a gracious smile. “Thank you, Thomas.”

When I went in, I was taken aback. It was large and grandiose with its own dance floor that extended out like a deck to an apartment. There were couches on one side, a table set on the other, and a bar—Carter’s office could’ve been its own apartment. When I looked to the side, I saw four doors and wondered if they were all bedrooms.

The other places that we had used didn’t come close to this. The place was extravagant for a nightclub office. I thought I met Carter in his private box before, but now I wondered if he had a few of them.

The glass doors slid open and Theresa came inside holding two huge drinks in her hand. Her eyes went wide and her mouth dropped when she saw me. “Holy crap, Emma. You are hot!” Then a twinkle came to her eyes. “Planning something extra for tonight, maybe?”

I flushed. “I don’t want to talk about that.”

“You are.” Her grin turned wicked and she pushed one of the drinks into my hand. “Can’t say I blame you. That man is one fine specimen walking around on two legs. If I hadn’t agreed to a date tomorrow night and if you weren’t my friend, I would’ve thrown my name into the hat. He’s gorgeous, Emma. You’re very lucky to get to ride that man tonight.”

“Theresa.” I knew she had a little of a wild side, but this was a new Theresa to me. Then I realized how red her cheeks were as I fanned mine to cool off.

Noah came in around her. “She’s drunk.”

“I gathered.” So those two were going on a date?

Theresa snorted. She must’ve caught the look I skirted between them. “It’s not him. I met a nice gentleman this afternoon. He suggested drinks and it’s high time I got something from a man.” Then she threw a dark look to the side.

Noah rolled his eyes as he poured a drink from the bar. “A gentleman? He’s a dick. Just wait. You’ll see.”

She drew upright and her shoulders squared back. “I will see, now won’t I?”

He mumbled something under his breath as he went back to the dance floor.

Theresa glared at his back until he had stepped beyond our eyesight, then the corners of her lips curved down and her shoulders dropped. “He’s the dick, not Allen. Allen is a gentleman to me. Kind. Considerate. Not like Noah. He’s such an ass sometimes.”

“What happened today?”

Her lip started to tremble, her chin quivered, and a burst of tears came out.

“Theresa?”

She shook her head, unable to speak, and sat on one of the couches. I sat beside her, placing both of our drinks on the table. With one hand rubbing in circles over her back, I murmured, “What happened? Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“No, it won’t.”

“What happened?”