3
A VERY LARGE, very muscular man met them just inside the door of the dance dub. “Sorry, man,” he said to Andrew. “We’re full.”
Andrew certainly didn’t intend to argue. The music from inside the club was so loud it seemed to reverberate inside his skull. He’d just as soon find someplace quieter, if that were possible on this occasion. He took Nicole’s arm and nodded pleasantly at the doorman. “Of course. We’ll—”
“You aren’t really going to throw us out in the cold, are you, Tommy?” Nicole murmured, slipping out of Andrew’s grasp.
Looking surprised, the doorman turned to Nicole, then did a double take. “Nicky?”
She gave him a brilliant smile. “In the flesh.”
The man’s formerly severe face creased with a broad, toothy grin. “Well, I’ll be—Nicky! Damn, it’s good to see you.”
Andrew watched in disapproval as Nicole stepped happily into the big man’s enthusiastic embrace.
“It’s good to see you, too. Tommy,” she said.
“I thought you’d moved off to Chicago or Detroit or someplace like that. What are you doing back in town?”
“Minneapolis,” she corrected him. “Do you know how cold it is there? I had to get home before I froze my, er, fingers off.”
“So you’re back to stay?”
“For a while, anyway. Oh, this is Andrew Tyler.”
The big man nodded agreeably. “Nice to meet ya. I haven’t seen you in here before, have I?”
“No, it’s my first visit.”
Tommy moved away from the entrance to the club. “Have a good time.”
Nicole took Andrew’s hand and towed him forward. She reached up to pat Tommy’s cheek as she passed him. “Thanks.”
“Hey, you’re welcome here anytime, Nicky. You know that.”
The club was exactly as Andrew had expected—dim and crowded and noisy and smoky. The music was loud and frenetic—very different from what he usually listened to. He’d rather be just about anywhere else—as long as Nicole was with him. The more time he spent with her, the more he realized he’d only just begun to know her.
He was just about to subtly question her about her relationship with Tommy when a woman nearby squealed. “Nicky! You’re back!”
A painfully thin young woman in a clingy black-and-silver mini, black over-the-knee stockings, clunky shoes and dangly costume jewelry threw herself at Nicole, who greeted her with laughter. Before long, Nicole was surrounded by babbling twentysomethings in trendy clothing.
Watching in wonder, Andrew decided that she must know nearly everyone in the place. It amazed him that she seemed so completely at home here, yet had seemed no less comfortable as a first-time visitor to his club. Straining to hear over the loud music, he caught only snippets of her conversations with her friends.
“When did you get ba
ck in town?” someone asked her.
“A few days ago.”
“How was Indianapolis?”
“Minneapolis. And it was cold.”
“Have you seen Stu yet?”
Andrew’s eyebrow lifted when Nicole stiffened visibly in response to that name. “No,” she said. “Haven’t seen him. Is Pete here tonight?”
“Didn’t you hear? Pete moved to L.A. Got a gig in a comedy club there. It was only for a couple of nights, but he decided to stay and give it a shot. He’s hoping for a TV sitcom.”