CHAPTER SIX #2
“Oh, no,” Nico said, and started ushering me out the semi-private exit door.
“That one’s not for you. Carmen has big plans for her.
Besides, you seem to lose the ability to form words as soon as you see her.
Go talk to the sheriff instead. That takes priority, right Mr. Mayor?
” He grinned as I flipped him a subtle bird and left the building.
I’d texted Byron, and he was waiting for me.
I sighed after greeting Byron and telling him what was going on. I wanted to go home, but I had to swing by the police precinct first.
Then home. A long, hot shower and bed were calling my name.
But I kept picturing the beautiful hostess I’d run into.
No matter what Nico said, I wanted to see Nadine again. I mentally ran through the coming week’s schedule of galas and appearances. I’d be back at Sugar the first night I was free.
***
“Okay, Byron, take me home, please.” The meeting with the sheriff had been long, but productive. The homicide had been ruled a domestic violence dispute that had escalated.
While that was horrible, I was just thankful it didn’t appear linked to the murders of females that had been occurring at fairly regular intervals for the past few years.
There had been a few rumblings about West Bay having a serial killer, but so far the police had quashed them.
They also hadn’t been able to discount them, a fact that was more than a little troubling.
“I, uh, would, Reynolds. But did you forget your plans with Whitney?” Besides going to boarding school together, Byron had been my roommate at Harvard.
He’d majored in criminal justice intending to go to law school but had joined his family’s private security firm instead.
When I’d learned I needed a bodyguard, I’d convinced him to move to West Bay.
The city couldn’t afford his salary, of course, and had been thrilled when I’d made up the difference between their normal expenditure for security and what Byron normally made.
The bonus for me was that I not only received top of the line security protection, I also got to have my best friend back in the same city with me. And right now it was coming in extra handy. Byron knew my personal and work obligations better than I did.
I’d totally forgotten about having plans with Whitney.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “I sure did.”
I had no desire to see my ‘girlfriend.’ According to the press, my parents, and West Bay as a whole, she was perfect for me. Everyone thought so, it seemed, even her.
But I didn’t.
I had made it abundantly clear to her we weren’t a genuine couple or exclusive. I wanted her to be my date to galas and benefits because she looked good on my arm. She was well aware I was fucking other women. She just looked the other way.
But I’d noticed she’d become more possessive, and I wasn’t sure what that was about.
I sighed and looked out the window. “Do you remember what those plans are, Byron?”
“You’re supposed to be at her place for an after-dinner drink.”
“Ah. Okay.” That was code for spending the night. Even though we weren’t having sex, she liked me to stay over from time to time to make things seem more authentic. I fucking hated spending the night at her place. It was so…stiff and formal. Like her. “I guess drop me at her place. But Byron?”
“Yes?”
“I’m not spending the night.”
His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. We’d been friends long enough that I knew what he was thinking. I laughed. “Don’t give me that look. I’m serious. I’m not staying this time.”
He grinned at me. “Sure. Whatever you say. Just call me whenever you’re ready to go to your place. I have some errands to run, but I’ll be ready whenever you are.”
“Oh, I’ll call.” I looked at my watch. “It’ll probably be an hour from now.”
“Right.”
I chuckled. “You have no faith in me.”
“I just know you. You’re not going to have the heart to leave that girl when it’s time. You’re too nice.”
“Could you be my new campaign manager? Because Melda doesn’t think I’m too nice. She thinks I’m a reckless playboy who plays fast and hard with women’s hearts.”
“Well, you’re that, too.”
I burst out laughing. “Ah, you’re right.” The face of the hostess I’d run into earlier popped into my mind. “I saw an angel tonight, Byron.”
I saw his eyebrows pop up in the rearview mirror. “An angel, huh? I don’t think I’ve ever heard you call a woman an angel before, Reynolds.”
“I know. But she’s the prettiest woman I ever saw.” She was. She’d had big, pretty brown eyes, plump, kissable lips, a perfect face, and a body I knew I’d dream about tonight. I could still feel how soft her skin had been against my hands when I’d held her to keep from knocking her down.
“That’s saying a lot.” He glanced at me as if weighing whether he should ask me something.
“Out with it,” I said. “What’s your question?”
“Was this woman working at the club, or…?”
I didn’t miss the pause. Byron knew what went on at all the different clubs. I’d tried to get him to join with me, but he was devoted to the girlfriend he’d been with since college. “Yes. She’s a new hostess at Sugar. She serves drinks,” I clarified. I didn’t want him to think badly of my angel.
Lord. Was that how I was going to think of her? As ‘my angel?’ I weighed the thought in my head. Yep. It fit.
“Wait, wait, wait,” he said, laughing. “Oh, shit. Was this the same woman you saw a few days ago after you worked out with Nico?”
My eyes shot to his. “Who told you about that?”
“Nico, dumbass. He said you couldn’t talk around her. That you froze up. This is her, right?”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “I don’t know what it is about her, man. She just… does something to me. Like tonight, for instance. I had two girls taking turns sucking my dick. But every time I closed my eyes, I pictured her. My angel.”
Byron and I had wildly different views on women.
His long-time girlfriend, Natasha, lived and worked in DC.
If they weren’t visiting each other, then he wasn’t having sex.
He was a one-woman man, and he didn’t cheat, which I respected.
Though he worked out with Nico and I at Saffron, he rarely ever set foot in Sugar or Cayenne.
He said he didn’t want to be tempted. He was a better man than I was, that was for sure.
He would drink with us occasionally at Cinnamon, but never on an auction night. I didn’t attend the auctions, either. The thought of fucking the same woman for months at a time didn’t appeal to me.
I realized the car had stopped moving.
“I think I know what’s happening, Reynolds. Maybe she’s the one.” He waggled his eyebrows at me.
I snorted. “Bullshit. I just need to fuck her and then I’ll get her out of my mind.” The words felt wrong in my mouth as I said them. Something felt… different about Nadine.
“Whatever you say, Reynolds. We’re here.” Byron had a smug look on his face.
“Thanks, Byron. I’ll call you soon.”
“Right.” He gave me a little wave and a sly grin as I got out of the car and jogged up the steps to Whitney’s townhouse.
I straightened my tie and pressed the doorbell.
And tried to psych myself up for what I knew would be a boring evening with Whitney.