Trusting the Fall (Matters of the Heart #1)

1. Claire

1

One Week Later

“See anyone you like yet?” I shout in Lex’s ear.

The Wayside has been my favourite little dive bar since Lex and I could drink. Legally. It’s a mix of grunge, themed nights, and devious decisions. Lex shakes her head at me, her bright red curls swishing with the motion.

My bestie is a total knockout but has no idea how to rock it. We met nearly a decade ago in high school and she’s been the Thelma to my Louise ever since. She’s the quiet and calm to the chaotic storm that thrives in my mind. But where I’ve figured out how to balance work and play, Lex is still on the podium glaring at the tightrope.

I thought she would relax a little after she got her degree, but then she went and got promoted at the nightclub where she works.

She owns a tavern back in her hometown, Killara Bay, with her brother. Dylan manages all the day-to-day stuff, but a few years ago, he started distilling their own whiskey. It’s only sold at their tavern, Jedidiah’s, but recently he’s been working to get it stocked in pubs and clubs here in Heart City.

Lex made it her mission to learn everything about the industry to help them expand and succeed, but she knew she had to stay in the city for that.

It suited me just fine. I used her expertise to design the business plan for the salon I’m starting, plus I got to hold onto my friend for a little longer. She’s planning to move back to Killara Bay when the distillery secures an investor, and she and Dylan can expand their operations.

Tonight, we’re celebrating Lex’s promotion to assistant manager at Hallucinogens as well as the wall framing being installed at Parlour Tricks. My future salon.

Considering the trouble I’ve dealt with just to get to this point, it was high time both of us were able to let loose and have some carefree fun.

“Hey, babe? You know when parents teach their kids to swim, and they just throw them in the deep end and tell them to figure it out?”

“I-I don’t think they can actually do that now.” She shakes her head, tugging on the leather miniskirt I made her wear tonight.

“Well, this parent does,” I whisper before shouting, “Sink or swim, honeybunch!” I give her a gentle nudge, or shove, whatever you want to call it, into some hottie walking past in a vest and tie.

The guy looks like he needs to let loose, too. I watch him catch her, glee coating my face as I notice him take her in. He looks captivated by the first look.

Lex hasn’t noticed the fine specimen yet, her eyes still fixed on where her hands landed on his stomach, but he’s definitely noticing her.

I watch as he dips down to meet her eyes. Lex looks a little unsure, but I have faith this man knows how to handle the reins. He’s smiling at her, and it makes my stomach fizz with excitement, especially when he picks up a lock of her hair and twirls it around his finger. This guy is hooked.

Lex looks over at me with wide, nervous eyes, but I throw her two thumbs up, grinning hard and nodding.

I keep dancing to the music while I monitor her, making sure she really is okay.

The suit puts a finger under her chin, keeping her eyes on him, and it makes me flush with heat. I love being in charge, but I also love a man who can command my pleasure and attention.

I watch as they head over to the bar. A huge, tattooed guy with a scowl painting his face talks to them, and it seems like the two men may know each other.

Hopefully, it’s not because he’s caused trouble here in the past.

I already told Lex if she went home with anyone tonight, she was to take them back to our house in an Uber. I don’t need her feeling unsafe and unsure in a stranger’s home or letting him drive her anywhere.

Lex seems to grow more comfortable in this guy’s presence, and I feel my face softening.

My bestie has the biggest heart. Tender as it is, she’s loyal to a fault, but pain from her past has kept her from opening up with men. Not that I’m an expert on that. The walls around my heart are built with fortified towers. Nothing’s getting in.

I continue swaying, letting my body get lost in the sea of people around me as the pounding beat moves from one song to the next. Before long, I notice Lex being wrapped up by her hottie in a suit and ushered out of the bar. The man looks obsessed beyond reason.

Now that my bestie seems on her way to being well looked after, I need to find some relief for myself.

The contractor working on my salon has been grating my very last nerve.

I’ve spent the last four weeks working with the interior designer and architect to get my plans finalised and with every decision, he keeps emailing back stupid suggestions. I would really recommend tile over timber in a commercial space. Your classroom should be on this side, not in the back corner. Are you sure you want that much pink? Elle Woods would be appalled by that last statement, as am I.

I’ve never even met the guy in person, only through emails, but he gets under my skin like a splinter, and I only know of one surefire way to fix that.

Before I can venture down that path, I need to put my mind at ease over Lex.

I make my way over to the bar where the tattooed grump still hovers and knock my knuckles against the bar top to get his attention.

He pins me with a dark green gaze and growls, “What can I get you?”

I nod my chin to the exit where Lex and her guy just escaped. “You notice the redhead that was just here?” I ask.

He glances over at the door, then back at me. “Yeah?”

“You know the guy she left with?”

He offers a small, pacifying huff of amusement. “That’s my brother.” I feel my eyebrows jump into my hairline. Brothers? Those two look like complete opposites, although they seem to share a certain something for dominating the space they’re in.

“So, she’s okay taking him home?”

“Your friend will be more than okay.”

A menacing grin takes over my face. “Excellent. In that case, I’ll have a—” Before I can order a drink, a warm body bumps against me.

“Shit.” The deep, smooth voice sends shivers straight down to my core and holy hell, would you look at the eyes on this god?

Piercing, ice blue. He’s tanned, with fierce cheekbones and a light dusting of scruff covering his jaw. What looks to be golden blond tendrils are pushed off his face, but I can’t be sure with the low lighting of the club.

“Are you okay, miss? I’m sorry, my friend bumped into me.”

Jesus, his voice is like butter. I can feel it melting over me and dripping into my pores.

“You’re forgiven, sir,” I purr at him, offering a demure flutter of my eyes that I hope he reads the way I mean it. Entirely not innocent. “You did, however, interrupt my drink order. I hope you’re gentlemanly enough to rectify that problem.”

He smiles, turning to me fully and bringing in to view a chiselled front, straining under the light cotton of his T-shirt.

“It’s not in my nature to be ungentlemanly. Not in public, anyway.” He adds that last bit in a lowered voice right beside my ear. “Please allow me to correct my mistake and buy you a drink.”

“Why, thank you. I’ll have a sex on the beach.” His bright blue eyes sparkle at the innuendo.

I bask in the silent flicker of heat sizzling between us as we wait for our drinks.

He offers me a crook of his mouth once he places the brightly-coloured cocktail in my hand.

“Are you here alone?” he asks.

“My bestie was here, but she went on to greener pastures.”

He smirks with understanding, and his once-bright eyes darken when I pluck out the cherry from my drink and place it between my teeth.

“She’s a hard worker, my friend, so she needed to let loose. But I must say, I’m rather jealous of all the attention she must be getting right now.”

I savour the cherry in my mouth, finishing with a glide of my tongue over my bottom lip before taking a sip of the peach and orange drink.

“You’ve got my attention, beauty queen.”

I smile and glance briefly at the dance floor. Lover boy follows my line of sight over his shoulder before turning back to me. “You want to dance?”

He doesn’t look like a dancer; he looks like a damn Viking.

“You’ll dance with me?”

He steps in closer, and I get lost in the scent of leather and sandalwood. “If it means I can hold your body closer to mine, then yeah, I’ll dance with you.”

Huh, good answer, lover boy.

I grab his hand and lead him to the middle of the dance floor.

It’s warm and rough, but the contact sends my heart into a frenzy.

I’m not unfamiliar with attention or one-night stands. In fact, I quite enjoy them. Frequently. But this guy feels different. Unexpected, in the best way. Perhaps because I was looking for the same sort of guys I usually meet here. Brawny. Easy. Reliable. Or maybe I should say predictable.

This guy is a lot prettier than what I normally go for, but he still has that rugged masculinity going for him.

He looks nice.

I’m not used to nice.

I’m used to picking the guys who only want to hang around for thirty minutes because that’s all I’m willing to risk on them.

This guy looks like an all-night-long guy.

When he pulls me in close to his body, it sends a message. He’s put us in a bubble that no one can breach because he wants all my attention. He wants everyone here to know I’m his for the night.

Huh, that’s new. It’s kinda hot, that confident possession. I think I like it. I wonder how that translates in the bedroom.

“I’ve never seen you here before,” I say, reaching up on my toes so I can speak in his ear, but also so I can rub the girls against his chest.

And boy, is that a nice hard chest he’s got hiding under that cotton.

He tucks my hair behind my ear and keeps his hand cupping my neck while he responds. “I’ve been here once or twice.”

I may have come. Just a little. That voice feels like honey, dripping and warm, all the way from my neck and down my spine.

I’m trapped in his arms as he sways us to the beat. He picks up my free hand and places it behind his neck. My fingers twirl through the soft strands there.

“What’s your name?”

Jesus. If he could just speak in my ear all night, that would be great. I bet I could get off right here from just his words. I’d prefer his cock, but if any man could master a no-touch orgasm, I’m sure it could be him.

“Why don’t you just call me yours for the night?”

That side smile he aims at me is lethal. This guy could cause a lot of trouble if I’m not careful.

I’m not the kind of girl who has boyfriends. Short-term situationships, sure, but anything more than that, it’s just not in my DNA. Not after everything my mum went through.

Lex and I are the only committed relationship I can handle right now, and I best not forget it.

I sway my body against his, looking at him from under my lashes in a well-rehearsed move.

“Whatever you say, Bombshell.”

I like that. “And what should I call you? Sweet talker? Mr All Night? Lover Boy?”

He places a finger on my lips. His blue eyes crystallise as they focus in on the spot, and he nods. “Yeah, that one.”

My pussy is throbbing.

Fuck, just flirting with him is turning me on more than actual foreplay with some guys I’ve been with.

With his finger still against my lips, I dart my tongue out to lick against the tip.

The hand on my hip squeezes and pulls me harder against his body.

“I like dancing with you, Lover Boy.” I nip at his finger this time. “But I bet it’d be a lot more fun without our clothes on.”

Before my mind can catch up, his hand moves to clutch my neck, and he pulls my lips against his.

It’s thunder cracking in the night. A wildfire burning without control. A tornado thrashing over the sea. My body and mind are victims to a storm of passion that I don’t want to be saved from.

He could obliterate my soul and leave me to rebuild the fragments long after he’s done the damage.

Because if this is how he kisses, I want to wear the scars of his affection.

I’m in trouble.