Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
PATRICK
How do I explain to Jillian where I’ve taken her?
I can’t believe I’m the lucky guy—the one her brother gave permission to hang with his sister tonight—his twin.
Jamie trusts me to take care of her. And since I won’t break my friend’s trust, I need to move slow, so Jillian can see that my feelings for her are absolutely genuine and not some ploy to get her in my bed just for tonight.
From the moment I met Jillian Leonard last year at one of Jamie’s infamous card nights, there hasn’t been any other girl for me. I have a colossal crush on her. My beautiful Jillian.
Jamie and Jillian might be twins, but she has more of her mother’s Korean features while their German father’s DNA is more dominant in Jamie.
Her sleek, black hair reaches her midback and I dream of running my fingers through it. Whenever she looks at me, I easily fall into her dark brown eyes. I spend hours fantasizing what her lithe body looks like under her clothes, especially if I can see—
“Patrick.” Jillian tugs at my hand, yanking me out of my wayward thoughts. “What is this place?”
“It’s the VIP lounge. Do you like it?” I ask, leading her to the bar area—except she stops abruptly and looks around. Since there’s only a handful of people in there, I lower my voice and say, “I thought… maybe, we could talk and get to know each other better.”
“But I already know you,” Jillian responds with confusion. She turns in a quarter circle and quietly gasps. “Is that—”
I quickly place a finger over her open lips. “Shhh. This place has an anonymity clause.”
“What does that even mean?” she whispers back, not taking her eyes off the movie star who is draped over a model I’ve seen on the cover of a sports magazine’s yearly swimsuit edition.
“It means that whoever you see inside this space, doing whatever they are doing, needs to stay in this space. Understand?” I ask. Using my finger on her chin, I tilt her face back to me. “Understand, Jillian?”
She nods slowly. “I do.”
“Good.”
“But I have another question.”
“Of course you do,” I say, chuckling. Her brother warned me that Jillian is a curious person and would ask lots of questions—confirming what I’d already noticed during the card nights. “What is it?”
“How did you get access to this room—I mean, I bet it costs an arm and a leg to get in here.”
I chuckle. If she only knew what I had to do to get this single access. “Let’s not worry on how, but focus on getting a drink, finding a place to sit and then talking.”
Jillian smiles. “Okay. But I really should tell my girlfriends I’m in here with you.”
She tries to pull out of my hold, but I tighten my grip and shake my head. “They already know we are in here. Besides, once we leave, we can’t get back inside.”
Her eyes narrow on me. “Really?”
“I promise,” I say, giving her a three-finger salute like a good Boy Scout. She doesn’t need to know that I barely made it two months in Scouts before I started focusing on sports, and then my interests led me to computers in college. But all that’s for a future discussion.
She lets out a whoosh of breath and her shoulders sag. “How about that drink?”
“You got it.”
As I order her a Tom Collins and ask for a beer for me, I glance at the wall behind the bar.
The mural depicts a beach scene. It seems an odd choice for a club in Chicago, but at the same time it’s kind of awesome and strangely calming.
Though, the scene could represent Oak Street Beach, which is an epic place to hang during the summer.
Once we get our drinks, we make our way to the back area of the room, where several aqua and mauve square seats surround a table. One of the seats is a modern, two-person chair, and I encourage Jillian to sit there so I can sit close to her.
Her gorgeous behind has barely hit the upholstery when a guy I’m unfortunately way too familiar with stumbles over and plants his ass right next to Jillian. “Hey sweetheart, how about I show you a good time in the back room?”
“What?” Jillian’s back snaps straight, her eyes widening with shock.
“Scram, John,” I seethe, ready to punch my cousin in the face if he tries touching Jillian. He was my connection to get into the private space, but I didn’t expect him to intrude into my time with her.
Jillian looks up at me as she leans away from John as far as she can. “What is he talking about? Aren’t we in the back room?”
John answers before I get a chance to. “No.” He points to another set of doors to the left and slurs, “Come on. I’ll show you the fun you can have in there… With me.”
As he reaches for my girl—and yes, Jillian is my girl, I push John back, making sure he falls off the seat and out of reach of her. “I don’t think so, jagoff.” My cousin can be a prick at times, but this far surpasses his usual dickish behavior.
Jillian stands and faces me with confusion. “Patrick.”
“Come on, we’re getting out of here.” Without hesitation, I take Jillian’s hand and lead her out of the room—back to the nightclub area. Immediately, I spot Kate and Sue standing by one of the pillars. Jillian sees them too.
“Wait.” Jillian pulls her hand out of mine and rushes to her friends. I remain standing where she left me, watching the play of conversation and hand gestures between the three women.
This night isn’t going as well as I’d hoped and I’m feeling defeated. My stomach begins to churn with anxiety, and the few sips of beer I drank are not helping.
Maybe I should have had dinner before I came here. But I was too nervous to eat.
Another minute goes by before Jillian waves to her friends and moves toward me. “Ready?” she asks, taking my hand.
“Ready?” I’m slight befuddled by that word.
“Yes. It’s too loud in here. Want to leave?” she asks, tightening her hold on my hand.
It takes me a moment before what she said registers, and then it hits me like a brick. “Yes!”
I push through the throng of people, and Jillian doesn’t loosen her grip on my hand.
Once outside, I hand the guy in a black vest the ticket for my car.
Thank goodness for valet parking. I didn’t like the idea of walking around the city, so I opted to drive—and now, with Jillian looking so damn sexy, I’m especially glad I did.
I want my eyes to be the only pair of eyes on her bodacious body.
“Where are we going?” Jillian asks, her eyes full of mischief. And I wonder what’s going on in her brain.