Chapter Five #2
It makes it easier for me to focus on work, which is my goal tonight. Summer’s club opening and the mingling that will follow require my full concentration. Keeping any client safe in a crowded room is always a challenge, and the way Summer distracts me, I need all my faculties fully engaged.
I wait in the family room, having already changed for the night. Wearing a pair of black dress pants and a black button-down shirt and a jacket that hides my weapon, I am ready to go.
The sound of a door opening has me turning in time to see Summer step out of her bedroom in a white floor-length gown cut low in the front, exposing her delectable cleavage, a slim fit that outlines her curves and has a high slit up one thigh, revealing creamy skin.
Her hair falls around her beautifully made-up face in perfect waves.
I want to kiss her pink pouty lips with a need that borders on desperation.
“Fuck, princess, you take my breath away.” The words escape before I can censor them.
A wide smile that could eclipse the sun takes hold, and she beams at me. “Thank you. You dress up pretty nicely yourself, bodyguard,” she says with a wink, using the name Ivy bestowed on me.
“Thank you.” I push aside the pleasure her words bring me. Work. I need to focus on work.
She walks up to me, her wildflower scent pervading my senses, and I am grateful for the jacket that covers my body’s reaction to her. At a glance, I realize she is wearing high heels because she nearly reaches my height, a perfect fit if I were to pull her into my arms.
“Are you ready to go? There’s a car waiting downstairs,” I say in a roughened voice.
She nods.
Unable not to be a gentleman, I extend my arm, and she hooks her elbow in mine and I lead her out into the hallway.
The club, named Echo, vibrates with sound as soon as we step past the line of partygoers waiting to get in and the bouncers and then go into the entryway.
Both Summer and Tawny have separate makeup stations in the corners of a dressing room, which are made even more crowded by Tawny’s traveling friend group and the addition of security, myself, and the other woman’s bodyguard.
“Summer, you’re up!” a female voice calls. We were already informed Summer will be the first to entertain the audience.
She draws a deep breath and rises from the seat in front of the mirror, looking every bit the elegant princess. “Here goes.”
I am by her side in an instant. “Break a leg, beautiful.”
She treats me to a breathtaking smile before spinning on her heel and heading out to perform.
I close my eyes and mutter a soft curse for my careless if not true words before following her out of the room and into the flashing strobes of the club.
Purple lighting makes seeing well from a distance difficult, and I know I’ll have to stick close to Summer in order to maintain her safety.
Even if it challenges my very sanity to be by her side and keep my hands to myself.
* * *
Summer
I feel like a goddess. I’ve never worn such an expensive dress and shoes, never had a gown fitted to my frame so there are no gaps or dips in the fabric. I glided on air walking into Echo on Ben’s arm, having to keep reminding myself that he is here as my bodyguard and not as my date.
He looks hot in all black, his facial hair a sexy scruff that needs shaving, but I am glad he opted to leave it alone.
I only have to perform two songs, one ballad and another with a fast tempo and beat.
I do my thing, singing and dancing, knowing Jade Glow’s people are in the audience watching me, judging me, and after Tawny’s set, they will be comparing us.
Yet despite the importance of my performance and all that is riding on me doing well, all I can focus on is the man in the audience there to do a job.
From the moment I step onto the stage to perform, I am aware of Ben’s muscular arms folded across his chest, his heavy-lidded gaze shifting between me and the crowd, alert and aware the entire time.
I sing more to him than the audience, at least in my mind, and I can’t deny the fact that when his gaze is on me, he eats me alive, his desire for me a potent and almost tangible thing despite his protestations that he can’t let himself get involved.
He never explained his reasons, and the time has never been right to bring up the conversation again.
I finish on a high and accept the applause before striding off the stage and handing the microphone to the woman in charge.
Tawny goes immediately after me, as usual nailing everything about her moment in the spotlight.
After her performance, she meets up with her entourage, including her agent, as usual.
Instead of standing around, I swing past them, head held high, and head for the dance floor.
“Where are you going?” Ben tugs me back against his hard body.
“I want to dance.” The deejay begins to spin more music, and the beat is thrumming inside me.
“Well, I’m not letting you out of my sight,” he says with an irritable glance at the crowded dance floor.
I raise one shoulder and shrug. “Guess that means you’re going to have to dance with me.” I slide my hand into his and pull him into the crowd.
Thanks to the amount of people, we would have been pushed together for even a fast dance, but the music shifts, and any movement will now be slow.
I intend to take advantage, but before I can act, someone bumps me from behind, shoving me into the person across from me, which nearly causes a domino effect of people knocking into each other.
Ben grabs me, pulls me against him, and begins to sway to the music.
I tip my head back, and our gazes lock as we move in perfect unison.
It is too loud for us to talk unless we want to shout to be heard, so our sensual movements speak for us.
I have one hand on his shoulder, his arm wrapped around my back, my chest pressed against his, and the hardness of his lower body causes an arousing sense of awareness in mine.
He smells delicious, the masculine scent I associate with him adding to the variety of sensations overtaking me.
Without taking his gaze off me, he lowers his head even closer to mine, his lips brushing my mouth one, twice, three times before he licks at the seam with his tongue. I moan, not that he will hear, and part my lips, letting him inside.
He tightens his hold, pressing our bodies intimately, hips grinding together to the beat of the music, his pelvis rocking against mine, the sparks of arousal spiking inside me.
I am happy to let the music provide the beat while Ben and I dance sensuously against each other, a subtle shifting and grinding that is hidden by the many people surrounding us.
He lifts his head, meeting my gaze, desire and raw need in his expression, when suddenly Tawny’s loud voice sounds near our ears. “Well, well, well, just like old times.”
Ben immediately steps back, putting space between us though not letting go of his hold on me; however, I know at this moment, thanks to Tawny’s interruption, it is my safety keeping us close, not his desire to be near me.
If the way Ben drags me off the dance floor is any indication, he doesn’t appreciate the reminder of our problematic past.
Tawny is obviously determined to do more than take away my chance at a career-changing opportunity. She wants to cause as much trouble as she possibly can. Anything to throw me off my game. The joke is on Tawny, because I can handle the other woman and her bitchy games.
I just need to figure out how to get through to Ben, because nobody gets lost in a moment like we did if he isn’t yearning to be together again. He is fighting himself, and I need him to stop.
For now, though, I figure Ben needs time to stew and be angry at himself for kissing me instead of guarding me, so I stride ahead of him into the dressing room area.
I left my purse with my lipstick and gloss in a drawer of the vanity.
I want to touch up my makeup since my lips feel damp after my gloss was licked off by Ben.