Marry Me for Money (23 page)

“I can’t wait. I hope it’s you unwrapped.” He winked.

“Eyes on the road,” I warned, squeezing his hand back.

I wondered if today would be the day I let him seal the deal. We were way past date number ten, and I knew we had been leading up to this point. I’d made him wait long enough, almost to the point of his combustion, but the anxious, giddy feeling I’d had when we first started dating was no longer there. I knew this had to do with Kent and how the lines were blurring between us, and I mentally cursed him for it.

“How long is it going to take us to get to the bar?”

“About forty-five minutes,” Brian said, glancing at the clock on the dashboard.

My mind drifted to Kent as we left the city lights behind us. I’d invited Kent to Brian’s birthday party when things were not so gray between us. Now, an uneasiness was building inside me. I worried about Brian’s interaction with Kent tonight, how Kent would feel at seeing Brian and me together, and worst of all, how I would feel when I saw Kent, especially now that the friendship lines were no longer clear.

“Hey, Kent is coming tonight, remember?” I said.

Brian and I didn’t speak of Kent often. It was the one bad word in our relationship. The four letter K word never failed to put Brian in a foul mood.

“Yeah,” Brian said under his breathe. The look on his face showed his displeasure.

“Be good. He asked about your birthday, and I wanted him to join us.”

“I’m always good,” he stated, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

I raised an eyebrow as I gave his hand a squeeze, and he loosened with my touch.

“It’s not like I don’t like him. I just don’t like the situation,” he said.

“Okay, just remember that when you see him. He’s saving me from a lot of debt, so be good.”

Brian gave me a quick kiss on the lips and placed his eyes back on the road. Hopefully, that kiss had meant that he would play nice.

A line of people spanned from outside the door to down the block. Given that this was a bar in the suburbs, the crowd surprised me. When Brian spotted some of his friends in line, he ushered me through the herd. I introduced myself to the group, and we exchanged pleasantries.

Scanning the crowd, I noticed Kent beyond the mass. As I saw him gilding forward, I excused myself.

“Hey, I’ll be back,” I whispered as Brian continued to reconnect with his friends.

My eyes locked with Kent’s through the pack of people, and a small smile formed on his face.

“I’m so glad you made it,” I exhaled.

Pulling me into a hug, he wrapped both arms around me and placed his head in the crook of my neck. I felt his deep intake of breath through his nose, taking in my scent, and as he exhaled, his whole body relaxed. His breath tickled my neck, and every nerve in my body felt that electricity between us. I closed my eyes, and for a moment, I basked in his embrace. Then, I remembered that I was here with Brian, so I moved from Kent’s touch.

“I had no idea this place would be so crowded. Did you find it okay?” I asked, touching my hair nervously.

“It wasn’t that difficult. You asked me to come, so I came.”

The way he gazed at me sent a shock from the pit of my belly all the way down to the tips of my toes.

“Well, I’m glad you came. Let’s get in line,” I said, ignoring the tremor in my voice.

He devoured my ensemble with his eyes, and I swore that I stopped breathing.

“You really look great tonight, Beth,” he said softly.

I warmed from his compliment and the way his eyes took all of me in. “Thanks. Let’s get in line,” I repeated.

He reached for my hand, but mine stayed in place. It would have been easy to meet him and link our fingers together. During this charade, it had become natural for him to extend his hand and for me to grab his in return, but tonight, I was here with Brian, and I had to remember that.

From my peripheral view, I could see Brian heading toward us, just on cue, and as he approached, the uneasy, nervous feelings I’d felt in the car rushed back.

“Hey, Kent. Thanks for making it, man,” he said, gripping Kent’s hand firmly.

“Any reason to drink. First round is on me for your birthday,” Kent replied, taking a step away from us.

“The line is moving, so we should go.” Brian affectionately kissed me and grabbed my hand to lead me through the crowd.

I glanced behind me. Kent had his hands fisted at his sides while looking at my hand linked with Brian’s. I couldn’t read his face.

Inside, the music roared, and the dimmed lights highlighted our surroundings. The place was packed with people standing shoulder to shoulder. We pushed ourselves to a spot against the bar and made room for all of Brian’s friends.

As promised, Kent took the first round. When he ordered shots of tequila for everyone, I made a face. This was going to be a fast night. I had to pace myself because it was Brian’s birthday, and I would be the designated driver.

I licked the salt off my hand, downed the shot, and sucked on the lime quickly, feeling the liquor go down and burn the back of my throat. “Kent Tequila? Really?” I scrunched my face, feeling the aftertaste.

“Beth, it’s not like you can’t drink,” Kent said above the music.

My thoughts flickered back to the first time we’d gone clubbing together. It felt so very long ago, and I smiled at the memory.

Brian reached for my hand. “Hey, some of my friends just arrived. Let’s go say hi.” He looked to Kent and gave him a nod. “Excuse us.”

I felt Kent’s eyes burning a hole through me as Brian and I drifted through the crowd. After a while, I peered behind me, and two girls were standing by Kent’s side, flirting with him. I cringed inwardly, noticing as each girl tried to top the other while vying for his attention. I watched as Kent laughed at something the shorter one had said, and then the taller one leaned in to whisper something in his ear.

It figured that Kent would pick up two attractive girls within the first fifteen minutes of being in the bar. I glanced to either side of him, and I noticed other girls were also eyeing him. From his clothes, to the way he carried himself, Kent looked like he had money. I couldn’t decipher if women were after him for that or if it was his handsome face and fitted shirt over his toned body.

He bought drinks for the girls still talking to him, and I wondered if he would take one or both of them home tonight. I knew it was his usual routine, but today, it left a bad aftertaste in my mouth.

Today, I didn’t like it.

I wanted to take him by the collar and tell him,
You deserve better than those girls. Don’t do it.

But I had no right to. I couldn’t be protective when this was the lifestyle he’d chosen to live. Most importantly, because he wasn’t mine, I had no right to challenge what he decided to do.

When he caught my stare, his smile disappeared. His face turned serious while the barflies continued to laugh around him. As they tried to get a reaction from him, he ignored them completely while he stared at me so intently that his look alone sent shivers down my spine. I felt a gravitational pull toward him, his eyes beckoning me forward, and in that brief second, it was as if we were the only two people in the room.

I finally shook myself out of the trance and broke the awkwardness in my usual Bethany way. I shot him a cheesy smile, pointed to the girls, and gave him two thumbs-up. He didn’t return my smile. Instead, he slowly and painfully tore his eyes from mine, which left me feeling empty.

Standing behind Brian, I placed my arms around his waist. He pivoted around to wrap his arms around me, and he placed a kiss on my lips. I tasted the beer he had just drunk as he tipped me back.

Bringing me forward, he leaned down and nuzzled my ear. “For my birthday, I want to take you home,” Brian said, lightly tracing his fingertips at the small of my back, just under my tank top before the top of my jeans.

Instead of my hormones raging at his words, my first thought was Kent.

Brian pulled me in tighter against him as he kissed me more deeply. I felt his tongue enter me. I knew he was starting to feel the alcohol because this was not typical Brian behavior. He wasn’t normally overly affectionate in front of other people. Part of me thought he was staking a claim on me because Kent was here.

When Brian released me, I wasn’t sure why, but my eyes flipped toward Kent’s direction. His mouth was set in a straight line. The women continued to talk to him, but he was oblivious to their one-sided conversation.

The feeling of butterflies fluttering in the pit of my stomach was back, and I looked away. I was physically by Brian, standing next to him with his arms around me, but my thoughts were at the opposite end of the bar.

Thirty minutes passed, and I noticed that Kent had bought more rounds of drinks. More women were surrounding him. He pounded back shots, and by the speed he was going, I would have to ask Brian or one of his friends to carry Kent out.

“Excuse me, I’ll be back,” I said to Brian. One glance at his glossed over eyes indicated he was equally wasted.

I moved toward the opposite end of the bar to control the train wreck I knew was going to happen.

When Kent glanced up, he smiled slyly. “Beth, let’s have a shot.”

The girl beside him giggled like an idiot, and I moved past her to get into Kent’s face. “I think you’ve had enough. At least pace yourself,” I said, taking the drink out of his hand.

“Don’t ruin my fun. I just started,” he slurred with a drunken smile on his face.

A busty blonde maneuvered in front of me, leaning into him. “Yeah, don’t ruin his fun, honey. The party just started.” She placed her hand on his inner thigh and peered up at him through her fake eyelashes. “Unless you want to take this party to your place,” she said, brushing her chest against him.

Women had no shame. I felt my temperature rise as I glared at the little skank in front of me. I turned to face Kent and shoved the girl off of him. “Just so you know, you’re not driving,” I stated.

“Bitch,” she snapped. Her sweet face turned vicious as she lifted her hand to smack me.

Kent blocked her path and gripped my hand as he pulled me through the crowd. Before I knew it, we were outside the bar. The brisk air hit my arms, causing goose bumps, and I jerked my hand away from his to wrap my arms around myself.

“What are you doing?” he asked, leaning closer to get in my face.

“Nothing. I’m just telling you, if you’re going to take that whore home, you can’t drive,” I snapped, rubbing my shoulders. “Where are your keys?” I placed my hand out and narrowed my eyes at him.

His eyes moved to my lips before slowly dropping down to my low-cut top. Finally meeting my eyes again, he gave me a look that was so intense and so hot that it bore straight into my deepest core, warming me in the cool air.

He shook his head. “I’ll be fine,” he said, turning away from me.

I grabbed his arm and jerked him to face me. “I want your keys, Kent. Give me your keys. Don’t be stupid!” I yelled.

People turned toward my direction and I didn’t care that I was causing a scene.

He took a step forward, grabbed both of my elbows, and pulled me into him until his face was inches from mine. “Why are you doing this to me, Beth?” he yelled.

I could smell the liquor on his breath. He was so close that it was unnerving. He looked to my lips. “What do you want from me?” he whispered.

I felt that electricity, that zing between us again. The hold he had on me, just with his chestnut eyes catching my emerald ones, was intense. I fell silent. I couldn’t form words. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.

“What do you want?” he whispered again.

One of his hands slipped from my arm to my waist, grazing my flesh between my tank top and jeans. Warmth spread throughout my whole body, initiating from where his hand met my skin. His fingertips dug into my back, my bare skin, pushing me closer to him.

“Your keys,” I said breathlessly, looking into his chestnut eyes.

“Come with me. Drive my car home. Make sure I make it back okay. Leave with me,” he said softly, looking at my lips.

A few more inches, and it would be so easy to feel his lips against mine.