Escape With Me (Love With Me 1)

It was enough to make her want to sing.

“Brianna, come sing with me!” Janessa said with a laugh, tugging Brianna to the stage. “It's our turn!”

Brianna grabbed Cassie's hand. “You get to come too!”

The three of them giggled as they stepped up on the small stage. A screen with the words glowed brightly in front of them. Janessa handed everyone a microphone.

“What are we singing?” Cassie hissed to Brianna. The words hadn't come up on the screen yet.

“Dirty by Christina Aguilera,” Brianna told her.

The music started, and dark words appeared on the bright screen. Cassie didn't need the lyrics. She already knew them. This was something she liked to belt in the shower when she pretended that she had a future as a rock star.

Cassie threw her hair around like she was a pop singer. Brianna and Janessa moved their hips, and all three of them undulated on the stage.

It was fun. And then Cassie made eye contact with Wyatt. It changed from fun to sexy as hell. Heat rushed through her core at the way he looked at her. He looked positively hungry. He liked what he saw up on that stage, and it wasn't Brianna or Janessa.

It was her.

He licked his lips, and his eyes watched her like she was the hottest thing he'd seen in months.

She winked at him and flipped her hair back over her shoulder before finishing up the song. She hadn't felt this way in a very long time.

Sexy. Desired. Wanted.

Wyatt, the sexy bartender who could have anyone, wanted her.

It was intoxicating and powerful. She finished the song with a flourish of her hips. The crowd clapped and cheered, and the next group of singers came on stage.

Cassie felt like a rock star. She sidled up to the bar, grinning from ear to ear.

“Hot damn,” Wyatt said, handing her a drink.

She sipped and found it was just water. She grinned. He wasn't taking chances with her being drunk again either.

“You liked it?” she said, feeling coy as she sipped on the straw.

His eyes darkened, and for a moment, Cassie wished they were the only two people in the bar. She was tempted to jump over the bar and kiss him right there. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. She felt like the wooden bar stool should have caught fire with the heat their gazes were generating.

“When do you get off work?” she asked, continuing to sip on her water. She'd only had a couple of half shots, so she was in complete control. There was no way she was messing tonight up.

“As soon as your party's done,” he replied, his gaze still focused entirely on her.

Cassie suddenly wished that the party was over and done. She didn't want to wait.

But she was here to celebrate her friend. She winked at Wyatt and took her water to the table where the girls all sat. Different kinds of party games decorated with versions of male genitalia filled the tables, all of them using Cassie's recently purchased batteries. The music hummed and throbbed through the room as various people got up to sing.

At the third bad rendition of “Love Shack,” Janessa announced that it was time to go to the club. She was ready to dance the night away, and she wanted real music. Cassie checked her watch and saw that it was nearly one in the morning.

“I love you sweetie, but this old lady is done for the night,” Aunt Suzette told Janessa. “I've got to get to bed before your uncle worries that I'm having too much fun without him.”

“I'm to bed as well,” Aunt Harriet added. “You youngsters are just too much.”

Several other members of the bachelorette party announced that they were heading to bed as well. It was the perfect escape.

“I don't really feel like dancing...” Cassie told Janessa. “I think I'm going to head back to the room.”

Janessa chuckled. “You just don't feel like dancing at a club,” Janessa told her. “You want to do the horizontal tango.”