Jodi_ByTheLight (19 page)

“I could do better than that. At least I know how to dance.”

He jerked his head toward Ava. “Your little ass isn’t going to be stripping.”

“Who said anything about stripping?” She shrugged her slim shoulders. “All I said was that I could dance better.”

“This isn’t a dance contest; it’s a strip club.” He narrowed his gaze. “The girls that work here are strippers, which you are not. Besides, we won’t be here long enough for you to get into this line of employment.”

“Actually, we do have an amateur night once a month.” Sherry Pie popped her chewing gum.

“Do you get paid?” Ava looked at Sherry.

“Not by the club, but you do get to keep the money you get from the customers. The really pretty girls can make a killing.” She gave Ava a cool once-over. “Why hell, I bet you could make over three hundred dollars.”

Ava turned a hopeful smile on Damon. “It’s a way for us to get some money for a room.”

Damon’s eye twitched. “No way in hell.” He slapped his hands on the table and Sherry retreated two steps back to safety.

Ava gawked at him and he could tell she was struggling to keep silent. Biting her lip, she looked back toward the stage. “Fine, whatever.”

He ran his hand over his face. “We’ve gotten totally off track of why we are even here.” He glanced over at Sherry who’d edged closer to Ava.

“We were wondering if you knew anything about a guy named David Jenkins. We heard he hangs out here.”

The waitress stopped chewing her gum, and her eyes hardened around the edges. He knew they had struck gold.

“Sherry, do you know David Jenkins?” Ava prodded.

“Yeah.” The waitress swallowed hard, her eyes darting nervously between him and Ava.

“Sherry, we really need your help in finding David. We believe him to be a suspect in a kidnapping.”

Sherry’s eyes grew wide. “I thought you two said you weren’t cops!” She took a step back.

“We’re not. He took a girl, a friend of mine, and I’m not going to sit around on my ass and do nothing while the girl is in danger.”

“Oh, God. He actually kidnapped a girl?” Sherry pursed her lips. “That asshole. I knew he was dangerous, but nobody ever listens to me.” Sherry shook her head.

“So, you
do
know him.”

Sherry nodded. “He comes in here every Saturday, you know, to watch amateur strip night. We get a lot of college girls coming in trying to earn a little extra money. Heard him tell the bartender he doesn’t like the regular girls, said they were beneath him.” Sherry snorted. “Like we could ever be lower than that piece of dog shit. The truth is none of the girls would give him the time of day. Didn’t matter how many hundreds he would throw at them, no one ever left with him. He gives off this bad vibe, this evil that seems to cling to him.”

“So, he only comes in to watch the college girls.” Ava looked at him and gave him a knowing look. “Like LSU college girls?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“Because the girl he kidnapped goes to LSU.”

***

After leaving the strip club, they headed to the nearest coffee shop down the street.

Although it was Saturday night, it was relatively empty, which gave them plenty of time

to talk privately.

As Ava secured a corner table, Damon placed an order for two coffees and a couple of pastries he’d seen Ava drooling over.

Sitting across from Ava, he handed her a coffee and the plate of sweets.

“You are quickly using up your funds on my eating habits.” She shook her head.

“You want me to take this back?” He reached for the plate, but she batted his hand away.

“Never mind. I don’t mind sleeping under a bridge.” She took a sip of her coffee and grimaced. “I was hoping this coffee was better than the hotel. I guess I’m just used to mine.” She glanced at the sweets and licked her lips. “How’d you know I was lusting after these?”

Damon imagined tracing his tongue over her lips and he froze. His jeans grew uncomfortably tighter as he stared at her mouth.

She looked up and smiled.

“I saw you looking at them when you came in.” The corners of his lips curled up into a grin. “So you have a sweet tooth, do you?”

“I usually don’t like sweets that much. I don’t usually eat like I’ve been doing today.” She sighed. “Must be all this nervous energy.” She cut the pastry and forked a bite into her mouth.

“That’s really good.” She closed her eyes and moaned.

“Keep that up and you’re going to make me jealous of a pastry.”

Her eyes opened. “You have no competition. I’d much rather be tasting you right now.”

Lust licked deep in his belly. He wanted to be inside her this second. He gazed at the restroom door.

“Oh, no. I refuse to have sex in a bathroom.” She wrinkled up her nose. “So unsanitary.”

“Even if I hold you up?” He grinned at her.

“Yes.” She arched her brow. “Plus, the next time I get you naked it’s not going to be quick. I want you all night, for hours.”

He held up his hands. “Okay, okay, stop. I’m seconds away from ruining my jeans if you keep up the dirty talk.”

She laughed low and took another bite.

“What’s the next step? We know David will be heading over to the Beaver tonight.”

“No, we don’t. He only shows up on amateur night.” He opened his mouth when she offered him a bite. The pastry melted on his tongue.

“Yep, and guess what tonight is?” She waggled her eyebrows. “Amateur night.”

“How the hell did you find that out?”

“Sherry told me when you went to the bathroom. She said they had a lot of girls signed up and said I should do it too.”

“No fucking way.”

She gave him another eye roll. “The point is Jenkins is probably going to show tonight. And we need to be ready.”

“You’re not going anywhere near that bastard.” He curled his fingers into fists.

“Where do you suggest I go? We don’t have a room or any money to get a room.”

He took his cell phone out of his jacket. “I’ll call Jayden. I’m sure we can stay with him, if he’d bother to ever answer his fucking phone.” He punched in redial and waited. After going to voicemail, he left another message and disconnected.

“Do you mind if I used your phone? I’d like to call my father.” Ava pushed her plate away and sipped on her coffee.

He shook his head. “It’s not safe. Barrett is the only one with a secured line and I don’t want those rogue wolves tracing us here.”

“Now what?”

“We’ll just head back to the casino and I’ll ask Jayden if he can watch you while I go back to the club.”

“You don’t need to go after him by yourself.” She frowned at him

“I’ll call Jeff and see if he can lend me one of his bouncers and a van. Once I grab him, I’ll take him back to Jeff’s and question him. The quicker we find Haley the better.”

She looked at him. “In my heart I believe she’s alive. I can’t explain it. I don’t know if it’s rational or not, but I don’t want to lose hope.” She looked away. “And if she’s dead, I hope that it was quick and that he didn’t torture her. Because if he did, I’m going to kill him myself.”

He reached across the table for her hand.

“Doesn’t matter if he killed her or not, he’s on my radar which makes him a dead man walking.

“Good.” She picked up his hand and kissed his knuckles. At that very moment, Damon Trahan’s heart swelled. An unfamiliar emotion swamped him and his chest tightened. He’d never felt a bond, a closeness with another person in all his years. It was like being in a dark hole for years and finally escaping to the outside where he was engulfed with the warmth of the sun. It filtered through every cell in his body, touching places that had been long dead.

He swallowed, admitting what he’d already known. He was in love with Ava Renfroe. Loving her would be the end of him.

***

Ava stood at Damon’s side while the front desk clerk at the casino paged Jayden.

“What’s keeping him?” Damon growled. The passing hotel guests were smart enough to give him a wide berth. “Jayden should have shown up by now.”

“Maybe he had to go to Granny’s house.”

He pulled out his phone and called Granny.

“Well, do you know where he is?” He finally asked halfway into an obviously lengthy conversation.

After a few more seconds, he hung up.

“I take it he’s not there.” She threaded her fingers through Damon’s.

“No.” He grimaced. “But, Granny did mention she was having another sex party tonight and invited you.”

“That sounds fun.” She gave him a big grin.

“There’s going to be male strippers.” He narrowed his eyes.

“Sounds even better. I should bring the chip and dip.”

“This automatically counts you out.”

She stuck out her tongue. “You’re no fun at all.”

“Baby, I’m a lot of fun.” His intense stare melted her insides, making her feel all hot and gooey.

“I bet you are.” She stuck her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. A couple of guys stumbled as they walked by, too focused on looking at her.

She didn’t struggle when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him. His hard chest muscles teased her nipples, making them pebble and ache.

“You’re going to cause those guys to get their asses beat if they keep looking at you.” His hot breath tickled her ear and she shivered.

“What? I’m not doing anything.” She gave him her best innocent look.

“You don’t have to. All you have to do is stand there.” His hands caressed up and down her back.

She couldn’t resist. Leaning in, she kissed him hard and deep. When she pulled away, she nipped at his bottom lip.

“You keep that up, I’ll throw you over my shoulder and find the nearest corner.” He playfully slapped her on the ass. “Besides, we’ve got to find a place for you to stay while I get David Jenkins.”

“There’s always Granny’s.” She smiled wide.

“No.”

“Can I hang out at Jeff’s bar?”

He shook his head. “Jeff’s bar is too dangerous.”

“You keep forgetting that I work in a bar.”

“You’re a bartender at a restaurant. This is a biker bar. A Were biker bar. Two totally different things.”

She gave him a droll look. “I also worked at the Mule.” The Mule was the only bar near Jonesboro that catered strictly to bikers. No Harley meant no admittance.

“Are you kidding me?” He looked horrified. “Do you know how dangerous it is to work in that bar?”

“That’s why I keep a sawed-off shotgun behind the counter. And the Judge. That sucker will put a hole through you the size of a melon.”

“You ever use it?”

“One time.”

“You’ve killed someone?” His eyes widened.

“Not exactly. He dove under the pool table, and I ended up shooting the door.” She grimaced. “My aim was off. The owner had to order a whole new door and took it out of my pay.”

“What did he do to make you shoot him?”

“He put his hand on one of the waitresses.”

He grinned and pulled her close. “That’s my girl.”

“I’ll be perfectly safe at the bar, as long as Jeff gives me access to a weapon.”

“Come on, Sarah Conner. Let’s get you weaponed up.”

***

The parking lot of Remus and Romulus was already crowded and it was only nine o’clock. After a scan of the area, Damon led Ava up to the front door. A large Were stood blocking the entrance, arms crossed. Damon nodded once at the bouncer and he moved aside, allowing them entrance.

Holding Ava’s hand, he pulled her beside him. “Stay close.”

A couple of humans stared at Ava until he let out a lethal growl.

“Easy there, boy.” Ava ran her hand up and down his arm.

“They’re looking at you.”

“Lots of men look at me.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“Damon, I can take care of myself.” She kissed him. Before he knew what he was doing, he had her tight, crushing her into his chest. He thought she might fight him, or pull away, embarrassed by the public affection. God knew Laura had done that plenty of times. Laura always told him kissing in public wasn’t appropriate behavior. Looking back on it now, it was probably because she didn’t want her lover catching her.

Not Ava. She already had her arms locked around his neck. He waited for the panic to set in, but it didn’t.

Her lithe body rubbed against his, her curves pressed into his muscles. She moaned into his mouth and male satisfaction surge through his veins, knowing she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

“Damon, do you need to use the room in the back, boy?”

Jeff’s booming voice had him slowly pulling away from Ava and turning to face the man.

“Don’t call me ‘boy.’” He grimaced at Jeff.