Chapter 9 #2
“Your drinks are on us. Have a nice evening.”
He was gone before she could thank him again.
“Superstar,” Marlene said with a giggle.
Cresley elbowed her, which only made her friend laugh harder. Celebrity had its perks, to be certain, but the loss of anonymity and privacy went along with it, things everyone took for granted until they were gone forever.
Julian’s band took the stage, and she couldn’t believe how different he looked in jeans, a T-shirt and a ball cap on backward.
“Hi, Cresley,” a woman said from behind her.
She turned to see Julian’s girlfriend, Isla. “Oh, hey, Isla. How’s it going?”
“I’m good. How’re you?”
“Happy to be out with my friend Marlene. Marlene, this is Isla, Julian’s girlfriend.”
The two women shook hands.
“Your man did one hell of a job getting me through one of the nastiest divorces in recorded history,” Marlene said.
“I’ve heard he’s good at what he does.”
“He’s outstanding at it, and I’ve got the bank account to prove it.”
“Julian is a whole different person with the band,” Cresley said to Isla.
“It’s funny, right?” Isla said. “Mr. Suit and Tie becomes Mr. T-Shirt and Jeans.”
“Which one is the real him?”
“Both.”
Canyon kicked off their set with “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osborne, followed by “Somebody to Love” by Jefferson Airplane.
“Wow, they’re great,” Marlene said.
“I know! I love it.”
“What’re you doing here?”
Carson would know that mane of blonde hair anywhere, those curves, that posture…
She whirled around to face him. “Hello to you, too.”
“Why are you here?”
Stung by his almost-hostile tone, she said, “Julian invited me, if you must know.”
He glanced at Marlene, who was probably staring daggers at him for daring to speak to Cresley that way.
“This is my friend Marlene Powers. Meet Carson Remington.”
“Oh,” Marlene said. “Hello, Carson.”
“Hey.” He knew Marlene from her divorce, but she’d never met him. He’d done the surveillance on her douchebag ex-husband that’d netted her a fat settlement.
His gaze locked on Cresley.
“Do you want me to leave?” she asked.
“No.”
“Good talk.”
She turned back to face the stage while he stood there like an idiot, asking himself why he cared she was there.
Julian hadn’t told him that he’d invited her, which wasn’t cool. But if he said anything about it to Jules, he’d take it as proof Carson had a thing for her, no matter how hard he tried to deny it.
He didn’t have a thing for her—or anyone else, for that matter.
A waiter came by to take his drink order. “Just a club soda with a lime, please.”
After the waiter walked away, Carson didn’t know where to put his eyes. If he looked toward the stage, he had to look at her, which he didn’t want to do.
He wished his grandfather hadn’t gotten all philosophical about the most important thing in life, because that was the last thing Carson had needed to hear when he was trying to keep his distance from her.
That was the right and fair thing to do for her and Ty, and nothing anyone said, even his grandfather, could change his mind about that.
The band played “Down on the Corner” by Credence, and the two women started dancing like fools, swinging their asses, and raising their arms over their heads like teenagers at a Taylor Swift concert. They kept it up through “Hot Blooded,” and by the time that song ended, his blood was running hot.
Fucking hell.
And then she turned around, flushed and smiling, to reach for her drink as the band launched into “Hungry Heart.”
She stared at him for a long moment, and when she blinked and turned away, he felt like he’d lost something important, which was ridiculous.
By the time the band finished “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” Carson was about to implode from the desire beating through his body as she continued to bump and grind with her friend to every song.
He’d seen enough, he decided as he put down his glass, intending to make it an early night before he did something that couldn’t be undone.
As if she sensed his imminent departure, she turned and crooked her finger at him, continuing to dance as he stood there like a deer trapped in headlights, trying to decide if he dared engage with her.
Why did it feel like he’d be crossing an invisible line that could never again be uncrossed if he moved in her direction?
The pull was almost impossible to resist.
She was so fucking beautiful, especially with her face flushed from exertion and her eyes bright with pleasure.
Maybe a stronger man could’ve resisted the lure, but he clearly wasn’t as strong as he’d thought, because he was taking a step toward her before his brain made the decision to go.
His hands curled around hers as he followed her lead, moving to the beat of “Born to be Wild.”
Her gaze collided with his, and he was instantly hard for her.
You should go, he thought. Get the hell out of here before it’s too late.
Too late for what?
Just go!
Her hands tightened around his, trapping him.
The next thing he knew, his arms were around her, and they were moving together like they’d been dancing together forever.
This was not good at all.
And yet, it was the best thing ever.
He wanted to bury his face in her hair and breathe in the bewitching scent that had driven him crazy last night and was still present in his SUV almost twenty-four hours later.
The crowd around them, her friend, the band, the many reasons he needed to keep his distance…
All of it faded away like useless noise that didn’t matter when stacked up against the most powerful desire he’d ever experienced.
Her fingers found their way into his hair, her nails skimming his scalp and sending a charge of excitement down his spine.
“Fuck, Cres… I can’t.”
“You can,” she whispered in his ear. “You want to. I have proof.”
“Of course I want to, but it’s a mistake.”
“This doesn’t feel like a mistake to me.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Then don’t.”
Could it really be that simple? Every ounce of evidence he had said otherwise, but when she said it so bluntly, it seemed… doable.
Then the music stopped and snapped him out of whatever spell he’d slipped into, captivated by the most exquisite woman he’d ever known, caught up in something he might call magical if he were a different kind of guy.
He took a step back. “I… uh…”
She reached for him, took hold of his hand and kept him right there with her.
Trapped.
Enthralled.
Terrified.