“Time to take out the trash,” I mumble to Trina.
“You can say that again,” she says with a laugh, following me out.Ellie“I don’t see her.”
“Under the table,” Trina says. “Where you always find the trash.”
My gaze goes down and sure enough, there is Hayley, under the table, her mouth buried between a pair of thick legs that are encased in worn jeans. At least this side of the bar is kind of dark. I can’t see the man’s face, but just from his outline I would say that Hayley’s clientele has improved dramatically since the Gibson brothers.
I walk over and I’m almost directly at the table, when I hear the man groan out. “Quit teasing. Put it in that mouth of yours.”
My knees threaten to buckle. I know that voice. I know it because it haunts me nightly. I stop, causing Trina to run into my back.
“El? You okay?”
I don’t answer her. I’m not sure I could, even if I tried. It feels like I’m dying. I can’t move, I can’t look away. I can’t breathe.
“El? Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Trina says. If I wasn’t in shock, I’d hear the panic in her voice.
“Liam?”
I didn’t mean to say his name. I sure as hell didn’t want to. It slips out in my shock. I hope he doesn’t hear me, but his face jerks around immediately and he stares at me, his silver-gray eyes cold as steel.
“Ice? What the fuck?”
I recoil when I hear his nickname. He used to think it was funny. He said my hair was so white it reminded him of ice, but I was so hot I felt like liquid fire when he was inside of me. I used to like that he thought of me like that and I couldn’t deny it. My reaction to Liam was always combustible, it was so hot. Now? Now, I feel so cold that it hurts to drag air through my lungs.
But I do.
“Hayley, you’ve got one chance to get out from under this table and you two can continue your party in private, or I call Hank over here.”
“Fuck, I’m just trying to make a living here,” Hayley bitches from under the table, peeking her head out, spittle running along the side of her lips. I can’t look at her. I can’t look at that. I don’t want to think of this whore with Liam’s dick in her mouth. It shouldn’t bother me. It’s been over a year—hell, almost two—and it’s not like Liam has even tried to get in touch with me—even after I served him with divorce papers. He calmly signed them and mailed them back to my mother’s. I hated him for that and I know I didn’t have a right to.
I still did.
“Trina, get Hank—”
“I’m getting out, you bitch. Maybe if you tried a fucking dick every once in a while, you wouldn’t begrudge women who get them,” she says crawling on her hands and knees. Considering that her shorts let her ass cheeks hang out, she’s definitely giving Liam a view of what else could be his. To his credit, he doesn’t look. He’s too busy staring at me.
“Take your john and get out of my club.”
“We’ll see what Harvey has to say about this,” the bitch huffs.
The urge to punch her is strong, but I resist. I don’t want Liam to see that I’m upset.
“Well, he’s not here. That means you have to deal with me. So you two get the fuck out of here and continue your party where my customers can’t see you,” I snap. I turn to walk away and Liam’s hand wraps around my wrist, pulling me back around. I turn to look at him, the tension between us so thick that it nearly chokes me.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Liam growls. My body jerks in reaction to the anger in his voice. My gaze rakes over him, taking in the subtle changes in him since we parted. Then, I drop my eyes down to take in his erect cock that is more than half out of his pants. Disgust, anger, and even jealousy wells up inside of me.
“Put your junk up, zip your pants and get the fuck out of my bar, Liam. If you don’t, I’ll have you arrested,” I threaten. I turn away, closing my eyes briefly when he lets go of my hand. Then, I walk quickly back to my office. I don’t stop, I don’t answer Trina’s questions. I just keep walking. When I get inside my office, I close the door, leaning against it, as my heart raps hard against my chest. I sink to the floor, as my legs finally buckle.
Liam is in Phoenix. Liam is in my bar.
Liam was getting a blowjob by a local hooker.