Business as Usual (Off The Subject) (17 page)

“Neither have I. I’d like to think I do, but honestly I don’t think I would have done what he did for me. He gave up everything and this is my chance to make it up to him. So one night of humiliation is nothing. I can endure it to help him.”

My chest constricts and I feel like I’m drowning.

She loves someone else.

I want to ask her who he is, but I don’t want to know. Is it the guy she was with two weeks ago? It seems unlikely. They seemed too casual and he’s not with her now. I’m more confused than ever.

The song ends and I look across the room, hatred filling every pore of my body for the person who’s putting Alexa through this charade. Tina’s watching us with amusement. I look down into Alexa’s face and she steps away from me. Our song is done. Our commitment is up.

Only I’m not ready to let her go yet. Maybe I can save her at least part of her embarrassment.

I cradle her cheeks and stare into her eyes, looking for any sign that she finds my touch revolting. But her breath comes in short bursts and her pupils are dilated. My thumb strokes her right cheek bone, and it amazes me how smooth her skin is. I should stop prolonging my torture, but I don’t want to hurry this moment. I want to sear it into my brain.

I lower my face to hers and her mouth parts in anticipation. Our lips touch lightly and I run my tongue along her upper lip. Her hands return to my shoulders as she takes a step closer, pressing her chest to mine, her mouth parting as she sighs. My tongue accepts the invitation, twining with hers.

Her arms tighten around my neck and I slide a hand behind her head. Blood rushes to my groin and the way she’s pressed against me, she has to know I’m getting a hard-on, yet she doesn’t step away. She presses closer instead.

Still, I take my time with the kiss, making it last. I want more, so much more, but we’re on a dance floor, surrounded by at least thirty people, being watched intently by a group of perverts in the corner. I want to keep this pure. I want to take the thing Tina meant as a punishment for Alexa and turn it into something meaningful. At least for me. But the way Alexa clings to me tells me the experience has power for her too, even if it’s just because she’s sacrificing herself for some other guy.

I finally lift my head and stare into her lust-filled eyes and I want to curse the gods who put her in my path only to take her away.

“Thank you,” she breathes out with a sigh.

“Do think that was enough to appease her?”

Her eyes cloud with momentary confusion. “Oh…yeah.”

“If it’s not, I want you to promise me that you’ll ask me for help.” I sound like a pervert myself, but the thought of someone like Tattoo Guy pawing her nauseates me.

She seems to understand my intention because she gives me a grateful look. Tears fill her eyes. “Thank you.”

I want to kiss her again, to take her out the back door and away from Tina and her vile crew, but that’s not what Alexa wants. I step back and interweave my fingers with hers. It takes every ounce of fortitude in my body to take her back to that table. When we get there, I pull out her chair to show this table full of disgusting low-lifes how to treat a woman.

Tina claps her hands. “I think there might be hope for you two yet.” She waggles her eyebrows at Alexa, then looks up at me. “I told you Reed’s—”

Alexa leans forward, her eyes wild. “I think I need another drink.”

I stare at her in disbelief. She’s trying to interrupt Tina because she thinks I don’t know who she really is—Alexa Pendergraft, baby sister to that asshole Reed Pendergraft. And with a sigh, I realize it’s better this way, all around, because I would throw everything away to get one shot with this girl.

Ben

I stuff down my disillusion and disappointment. This is for the best and the sooner I let her go, the better off I’ll be.

Brittany shakes her head when I walk around the end of the bar. “Damn, Ben. That was …” Her voice trails off.

I lift my eyebrows and she remains silent. I snort. “In all these months working together, I’ve never seen you at a loss for words.”

She leans an elbow on the counter and looks at me with appreciation. “After that kiss, you make me want to rethink my rule about not dating coworkers.”

“Drop it, Britt,” I mutter.

She moves closer. “Why aren’t you happy? Not only did your mystery girl come back, but she danced with you
and
you two shared one helluva a kiss.”

“She’s in love with someone else.” I shake my head with self-disgust, my chest heavy. I’ve never felt this way about a girl before, and it’s just my luck that I turn into a love-struck moron over a girl who belongs to someone else. Maybe it’s karma.

Brittany tilts her head to one side and scrunches her face in disbelief. “Uh…I saw that kiss, Masterson. There’s no fucking way that girl is in love with someone else.”

“She says she is. That’s why she’s putting herself through this humiliation. Because Tina has some kind of information and Alexa’s trying to find out what it is to help some guy.”

Brittany’s eyebrows furrow as she gives the situation thought. “You realize that makes absolutely no sense, right?”

“Tell me something I don’t fucking know.”

Tattooed Guy walks up to the bar and I swallow the urge to jump over it and beat the shit out of him. Not that I could.

“I need a couple of rum and cokes and another beer. And be sure to really load them up with rum.” He looks over his shoulder with a leer. “After seeing you with her, I need to get her more eager, if you know what I mean.”

“Perhaps it’s the company that matters, not her level of intoxication.” My statement is harsh and direct.

His smile fades. “What did you just say?”

Brittany pushes me aside. “Ben, I need you to go in back and bring out another CO2 bottle. You know I can’t lift those heavy things.” Her southern accent is heavy as she leans forward, pointing her tits, which are hugged by her too-tight T-shirt, in Tattoo Guy’s face. “I’ll be more than happy to help you out, sugar.”

I continue to glare at the fucking asswipe in front of me.

“
Now, Ben
.”

Brittany is right to make me leave, which only pisses me off more. Cursing under my breath, I head into the back to lug out a CO2 bottle. Too heavy for her, my ass. I’ve seen her carry two canisters without breaking a sweat. She’s learned how to move heavy objects around from transferring patients in and out of bed in the nursing home.

The storage room is too small, the air too stale. I can’t believe I took her back to that table and left her there. With that fucking pig who wants to get her drunk and eager.

I’m suddenly desperate for air.

I leave the canister in the hall and step out the back door into the coolness of the night, hoping it will ease my mood. Why do I feel responsible for this girl? She’s not mine and she’s where she wants to be, but I suspect she’s gotten herself into a more serious situation than she realizes. The real question is why do I care? I barely know her other than a couple of interactions. I sort through my head, trying to remember what Tina and Scarlett have said about her. I didn’t pay much attention then, and I curse my short-sightedness. How could I see her in the math lab days ago without figuring out how I knew her? How could those blue eyes belong to anyone else?

Focus, Masterson
.

Every time I’ve seen her here in the bar, she’s worn that black wig, yet at Southern she’s a blonde. Why the disguise, especially since she doesn’t want me to know who she is?

She lives with her brother and his fiancée in an apartment and Reed keeps her on a tight leash. It’s obvious he has no idea she’s out with Tina tonight. In fact, I’m tempted to tell him and let Tina take the heat. But that would implicate Alexa, so for now I’ll keep her secret. I know she’s a sophomore business major and the student liaison for the Middle Tennessee Children’s Charity, and that she’s determined to establish a program for middle-school kids that I would have killed to attend at that age. She throws herself wholeheartedly into whatever she loves, whether it’s a project or a person.

As I finish my list of what little I know about Alexa—Lexi—Pendergraft, I feel worse instead of better. It makes me want a shot with her even more.

Down, boy. She’s taken
.

So where the fuck is the asshole? Where was he two weeks ago when that actor from the play was ready to screw her on a table? Where is he tonight when she’s putting herself in danger? For
him
? I don’t know jack-shit about the fucktard other than he doesn’t deserve her.

Instead of cooling off, I’m angrier than when I first came outside.

I take a deep breath. So what am I going to do about any of this?

No, the real question is what do I
want
?

But that’s not a question, not really. I know I want her. I want to protect her from Tina and her group of miscreants. I want to get to know her better and to kiss her again, in private this time so it can go further. I hardly know her, and I’m not a love-at-first-sight kind of guy, yet I know deep in my gut that if I had a chance with her, we would have something amazing.

But she’s Reed Pendergraft’s little sister, and no matter how honorable my intentions are—four words not usually uttered in conjunction with my name—Pendergraft will never approve. He’ll fire my ass before I can utter a word of protest, especially when he finds out about my arrest. Because I’m sure he’ll dig that gem out and polish it until it’s nice and shiny, blinding everyone within a two-mile radius with the glare.

No, Alexa Pendergraft is off limits. I’ve already let one girl nearly destroy my life. I can’t make that mistake again.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to blow my tension away. Then I go back inside, determined to put her out of my mind. Hopefully her evening with Tina is a one-time venture. Chances are I’ll never see her again unless she visits Reed and up until now she’s only dropped by twice, once for him and once for Scarlett. If I make it through tonight, I can be free of her.

As I lug the CO2 tank behind the bar, Tattoo Guy is walking back to the table, juggling the drinks and his beer.

“You didn’t really put more alcohol in her drink did you?” I ask Britt as I start to replace the can.

She rolls her eyes. “I can’t believe you even asked. And you’re welcome for saving your ass. That guy would have beat you to a bloody pulp, not to mention that your uncle would have fired you.”

I grumble my thanks.

“She won’t be getting drunk
here
tonight, but what happens to her after she leaves is out of our control.”

I nod. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Was she really going to leave with them? I don’t like it, but there’s nothing I can do.

Brittany leans against the counter, watching Tattoo Guy with a scowl. “But I don’t trust that snake who got her drink. We need to watch him like a hawk.”

More patrons enter the bar and we’re working double time to keep up, making it harder for us to keep an eye on Tina’s table. Alexa is still between Tattoo Guy and Tina and they’ve ordered quite a few drinks. I’m making a pitcher of margaritas for a group of mommies who look desperate for a night out when I see Alexa head back toward the restroom while Tattoo Guy makes his way to the bar. He sets one of the drinks I’ve made on the bar and pushes it toward me.

“Are you sure you’re putting enough alcohol in these drinks? My girls aren’t getting very buzzed.”

I shrug as I wipe a spill off the counter with a rag. “Maybe they have a high alcohol tolerance.”

“Well, they’re switching to Long Island Iced Teas. And you better not be cheating me.”

My stomach drops. I have no idea how to fake the alcohol content of a drink made almost entirely out of alcohol.

Britt casts a glance my direction, hurries to finish making the drink she’s working on, then heads to the back. She returns just as I’m handing the new cocktails to the guy.

He’s walking back to his table when she whispers in my ear, “I’ve warned her. I don’t know what else to do. I tried to talk her into going home, but your girl is a stubborn thing. She refuses to consider it.”

Your girl
. Why do those two words catch my breath?

“I told her if she feels unsafe to let one of us know.”

She makes her way toward a customer who’s waiting at the bar, but I grab her arm. “Britt, thanks. Seriously.”

She shrugs and grins. “I feel inclined to help because you’re stuck on her, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen you show any interest in a woman since we started working together. But I also can’t stand jerks like that who try to prey on vulnerable women. I’ll bash in his head before I let her leave with him.”

I’m not sure how Brittany plans to put this statement into action, and I’m afraid to ask.

We’re so distracted by Alexa and Tina’s group that we get behind, but we bust our asses to get caught up and get a few minutes to breathe. I look up the clock on the wall. Twelve forty-five. Only another hour and fifteen minutes until we can close. The stress of the evening has made me more exhausted than usual.

Britt is at the other end of the bar when she suddenly stiffens. I automatically turn to Alexa’s table. She’s trying to get out of her chair but Tattoo Guy is pulling her back down.

I’m around the bar and at their group before I even stop think about how to handle the situation. But when I reach the table, Alexa’s trying to pull out of his grasp. “It looks like the lady wants to get up.” I say, my back tense. “I suggest you let her.”

Tina bursts out laughing. “Benjamin Masterson, wanna-be hero.” She moves her hands in a shooing motion. “There’s nothing to see here, so why don’t you run along and leave us alone.”

My gaze lands on Alexa. “Alexa, do you want to leave?”

She looks up at me with unfocused eyes, panic etched on her face. “Yes.”

Tattoo Guy stands and puffs out his chest. “She came with me and she’s leaving with me. I’d like to see you try and stop me.” He reaches down and grabs her arm, pulling her up.