The Key West Anthology (23 page)

Chapter Twelve

Easton

This had been one of the longest weeks of my life. I hadn’t intended on being in Miami as long as I had, but things kept happening that changed daily.

I found some holes in the way Ricochet was being operated and decided the entire place needed a makeover. I spent the week weeding out those I felt weren’t a great fit and replaced them with more capable employees. I promoted a couple members of my staff to assistant managers to help out Sarah and Terrance. Sarah made sure I understood she was unhappy about my choices, but I honestly didn’t give a shit. This was my place, and I would run it the way I saw fit. If she didn’t like it, she could hit the road.

After I felt I was fully staffed with reliable, strong men and women, we advertised a VIP night. We would open on Friday and only allow in an exclusive, approved list of guests. It would bring us to maximum capacity and allow us to have a fresh start, to move forward from the shitstorm this place was on the road to becoming.

I’d sent out my personal invites and was looking forward to my friends’ arrival. One particular guest was my main focus, but I’d keep that hidden when the group arrived—the best I could anyway. As I waited for them, I stood on the second floor, looking out at the dance floor beneath me. The balcony had a great view of the entire space and the main entrance.

The moment the door opened and I spotted Jett escorting Quinn inside, my heart began to race. Avery, Callie, and Kade entered after them, and my stomach tensed at the idea of Harper turning down the invite.

I pushed off the wall and worked my way toward the stairs, then descended to the first floor. Just as I was crossing the room, Sarah hooked her arm around mine and turned me to face her. “Where are you rushing off to?”

“My guests are here,” I stated clearly.

“A girlfriend?” she asked.

I wanted to tell her to mind her own fucking business, but I bit my tongue. “A woman that I’m interested in, yes.” I looked down at her hand that was still securely wrapped around my arm. “Are we done here?” I tilted my head to indicate I was referring to her hold on me.

She released my arm and forced a smile before turning and walking away.

I continued toward the entrance and greeted Jett and the rest of the group. Harper was hidden toward the back, standing close to Jude’s side.

I knew from Jett that Jude was more of a brother figure to her than anything else, but seeing her that close to him still made me jealous. I stepped to the side and allowed them all to move past me. As Harper stepped in front of me I reached out and touched her hand. She looked up at me, and I leaned in farther and trailed the tip of my nose along the side of her neck.

“You look gorgeous,” I whispered before placing a soft kiss just below her ear. Goose bumps covered her skin, and I smiled with the knowledge that I affected her. Before this night was over, Harper would have no doubt of my interest in her. I planned on making it obvious to her and everyone around her that I wanted more than friendship.

I was expecting a fight. I knew she would push but I was prepared. I had no intention of backing down and bowing out. I’d been wanting more since that night in the hot tub, and this was the beginning stage of conquering her.

I made sure to snag the space next to her when we all sat around the large circular couch just off the dance floor. I also placed my arm around her shoulders and slid in as close as our bodies would allow. I ignored the others’ strange looks and Jett’s hawk eyes as he analyzed the placement of our bodies. I took a chance and looked down at Harper, only to find her staring up at me.

“Do you mind?” she asked.

“No, but thanks for asking.” I waved over Jessica, the waitress who covered this area. “These are my guests. Get them anything they want, on me.” She nodded in understanding and began taking their orders.

I lightly traced Harper’s exposed shoulder with the tips of my fingers as I took her in slowly.

She wore a tight, light blue dress that shimmered in the lighting of the club and hugged her body in all the right places. She was petite and fit perfectly at my side. She had attempted to move away a couple times, but I wouldn’t allow it.

After Jessica took everyone’s order, Quinn and Avery dragged Jett off to the dance floor, and Callie followed closely behind. They waved for Harper to join them, but I lowered my arm, wrapped it around her waist, and gripped her hip, holding her against me.

I laughed when she whipped her head to the side and glared at me. “Did I say you could touch me?”

I grinned and stared down at her. “Did I say you could crawl onto my lap and grind against me back in the hot tub? Did I say you could rush off and leave me aching and hard?” Her mouth fell open slightly and she seemed unable to formulate words. “That’s what I thought.”

“Did I say you could reject me that night and make me feel like an idiot?” She yanked my hand from her waist and stood up. “No, I didn’t, but it never stopped you from doing it anyway.”

So that’s what she thought. That I was rejecting her.

She made it to the dance floor with me on her heels. I gripped her waist and turned her to face me. “Reject you?” I was holding back my irritation the best I could. “I never rejected you, Harper. I just didn’t want to take advantage of you. I wanted you to be able to remember what it felt like to have me inside you.” I was well aware of the fact that my declaration had an audience. I just no longer cared.

“I didn’t want some cheap fuck in a hot tub while you were so drunk you could barely hold your eyes open. I didn’t want to have to explain to your brother why I took advantage of you in that state. And a wanted to be able to look myself in the fucking mirror the next day and know I wasn’t some fucked-up sleaze who would pull a move like that.”

Harper looked at me, shocked at my words. I had envisioned this night going a different direction. Instead I was standing in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by our friends, while I aired our issues loud and clear.

“If that’s what you call me rejecting you, then you’re right, I should just leave you the hell alone.” I backed up and looked over her shoulder. Jett was looking back and forth between the two of us, like he wasn’t sure which of us to go to, so I decided to make things easier on him. I turned around and walked to the opposite side of the bar and ordered two shots. I had to clear my head.

Chapter Thirteen

Harper

“Can I just say that Easton Black just tipped the charts? He is certifiably panty-melting hot.”

I rolled my eyes and hung my head. “Shut up, Callie.” I groaned. Right now, the last thing I needed was for her to point out the obvious. I was an idiot. I was undeniably dense.

I didn’t want to face Jett, but I knew I would have to. I could feel his towering form hovering behind me. I just wasn’t sure if he was angry at me or at his best friend. I knew who he should be mad at. After all, I was the dumbass who took a perfectly good night and created drama.

“I’m gonna go talk to him.” The sound of Jett’s voice made me jump in surprise. He stepped up to my side, and I continued to stare at the floor, his black boots being my newest focal point. “He and I had a talk that night. I told him not to hurt you. I explained to him that if he just wanted someone to hook up with, he should keep moving. Maybe I should have been having that conversation with you instead.”

I blew out a breath as my brother walked away from me. His words stung, but they were deserved.

I snuck off to the bathroom with the girls following closely behind. “Harper strikes again,” I announced as they closed the door behind them.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Quinn said.

“Let me clue you in just a little,” I said as I sat down on the bench near the sinks. “I’m a bitch.”

“Duh,” Avery said as she leaned against the wall next to me. “Tell us all something we don’t already know about you.”

I smiled and looked at each of them. Callie and I had been best friends since first grade. She knew most of my secrets and was well aware of my fears and most of my faults. I’ve kept a few of those hidden, though, from everyone besides Jett, Alexis, and my parents. Through Jett, I have now gained two more very special people as friends. Quinn and Avery have quickly become constants in my life, and I’ve grown to love them and trust them as well.

“I wasn’t always a bitch.” I shrugged my shoulders and took in a deep breath. “I learned at a young age not to trust men. I have a very hard time accepting that one could want me for more than just sex.”

When I looked up again, I found their smiles had now changed to looks of concern.

“Do you remember in eighth grade when I left for the summer?” I asked Callie.

“Yeah, you went to your aunt’s for a couple weeks when your parents went to Italy, right?” she asked.

My eyes filled with tears, and that was so unlike me. I never cried. “Yeah, I did.” I took a deep breath and looked back at her. “That summer everything changed. My aunt had remarried, and her new husband had a teenage son. He was eighteen. I thought I was so cool when he started paying attention to me. Alexis was always the one that guys noticed. I was the kid sister that tagged along.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and continued. “My aunt’s a surgeon and she was always on call. Uncle Ross owns his own business, and sometimes it required last minute trips that would keep him away for days at a time.

“I remember the first night when Mark snuck into my room. He just sat on the side of my bed and talked to me. He told me I was pretty.” I hmphed, remembering how gullible I was. “After that night, he kissed me.” Quinn sat on the bench next to me and placed her hand on mine in support. “Each night he would push a little more, touching me. I told him to stop one night when he tried to go even further. That was when the sweet boy changed in to an overpowering man.”

A tear dripped onto our joined hands. “That was the night I realized men couldn’t be trusted. Since then the only two I have never questioned are my father and Jett.

“Alex blamed herself for not going with me. She went with her best friend’s family to California for the summer. Jett was already pushing himself night and day to create his future. For the longest time my parents couldn’t look at me.” That was when the tears fell heavily. “I thought they were disappointed in me. I thought they blamed me for what happened. But it was because they felt they failed to protect me.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Callie asked as she knelt before me.

“I figured if I ignored it, then it would be easier to forget about it. But the only thing it did was help me build walls around myself—walls that turned me into the bitch everybody knows today.”

“No,” Quinn said. “The Harper I know is strong and confident. She is amazing and someone I have grown to love very much.”

“I am pretty great,” I declared, and it brought a smile to everyone’s face.

Callie was still kneeling before me with her hands on my knees. “Tell me he paid for what he did.” I nodded and she lowered her head to my lap. I could feel her shaking against me, and I tried to refrain from breaking down too. Only it was hopeless. I had hidden behind the image I’d created for so long, pretending to be unbreakable, but on the inside I was barely hanging on.

Sharing my story with friends who would still love me the same when I was done was something I needed. The timing was off and completely unplanned, but in the end I felt lighter.

“Well, I’m a total buzzkill,” I said as I stroked the back of Callie’s hair. She lifted her head, and I wiped her tears away. “What do you say we go hit up the bartender for some shots? I’m thinking we need to liven up this night.”

I had to get us all out of this funk I had created. Tonight was supposed to be fun, and I had completely demolished that in ten minutes flat.

We all stood up and began cleaning up our faces, passing around makeup as we touched up mascara that had smudged from all the tears. When we were finally presentable and put back together, we shared a group hug and exited the bathroom.

I spotted Jett and Easton still perched at the bar to our left, on the end farthest away from us.

“Hey, I need to go apologize to Easton. Can you order for me and I’ll join all of you soon?”

The girls agreed and I walked to the bar. It was time I admitted I was wrong, an action I was unfamiliar with performing, because let’s face it, I was rarely wrong.

Chapter Fourteen

Easton

“She’s difficult. I tried warning you ahead of time. Though you should know. You’ve been around enough to witness it.”

Jett chuckled as I arched my brow at him. He was right. “I know she’s difficult. She’s stubborn and sometimes borderline insane,” I said. Jett was grinning like a fool. “She is the most unreasonable, pigheaded woman I have ever met in my life. Most men would turn and run in the opposite direction, but I can’t.” I was trying to find a way to explain the desire I felt for Harper, but I didn’t truly understand it myself. “She’s challenging, and nothing in life should be easy. That’s what my father always said. The things worth your time are the things you fight for.” I tipped my beer back and took a pull. “I have no doubt that Harper would be worth the fight.”

Jett stood from his barstool, slapped his hand on my shoulder, and squeezed firmly. “Well, be prepared to fight, because that stubborn-ass woman you’re referring to has been standing behind you for the last three minutes.”

I hung my head and shook it. The ass just sat there and let me go on and on while Harper stood over my shoulder. This could go one of two ways. I was either going to get bitch-slapped or she was going to accept what I had to say. Who the hell was I kidding? I was getting slapped.

I slowly turned in my chair and lowered my beer to the bar. “Before you hit me, let me get prepared.” I held out my hands and positioned myself on the stool. When I looked up to find her smiling back at me, I grinned in return.

“I’m not going to hit you. Even though the comment about me being borderline insane makes me want to kick you in the nuts, I’ll let it slide. But just this once, because I owe you an apology.” She stepped in closer and leaned against the bar. “I’m sorry I acted like a bitch.”

“You didn’t act like—” She placed her finger against my lips, and I stopped talking.

“Yes, I was, and you didn’t deserve it. You have been nothing but good to me. Sometimes—” She bit her lower lip and shook her head lightly. “Who am I kidding, all the time I tend to judge men before I give them a chance. I formulate an opinion based on my past, and it’s not fair.”

“I’m not Ian,” I whispered against her finger.

She lowered her hand, and I caught it with mine and threaded my fingers through hers. “I know that, but it goes back farther than that. Maybe one day I’ll share the story with you, just not tonight.” I could tell by her red eyes that something had happened since I left her on the dance floor. I wanted to push her to tell me, but I reined it in. Tonight wasn’t the time.

“Okay,” I said. “Can we start over?”

“Start over from where, exactly?”

“From the moment I told you how gorgeous you look tonight.” I smiled, pulled her hand up to my mouth, and placed a kiss against her palm.

“Yeah, I really liked that moment,” she admitted, and I had to agree; it was a good moment.

***

After Harper and I joined the rest of the group, things seemed less tense. Everyone was drinking and enjoying the night. I was glad I had sent drivers to pick them up at my place. Their cars were safely parked in my driveway, and we would be escorted home by two awaiting cars parked outside.

Harper had relaxed and now sat tucked securely against my side. Her hand kept landing on my thigh, probably without her realizing it.

“So how many of these places do you own?” Jude asked.

In all the years I’ve known Jude, I’d rarely heard him speak in complete sentences. But give the guy a little alcohol and take away his kitchen knives, and he became Little Mr. Social Butterfly.

“Three,” I replied. A few heads turned, and I refrained from returning their stares. “This one, another in New York, and the third is in LA.”

“Impressive.” Jude nodded.

“Very impressive,” Harper whispered and I turned toward her. She was looking up at me, and our mouths were only inches apart.

“Thank you,” I replied as my eyes shifted to her lips.

“Come on, Easton. Be honest with your guests.” Sarah’s voice broke the mood Harper’s appreciative stare had put me in. “The other two locations aren’t just regular clubs, they’re strip clubs.”

Kade hooted, and Jude looked at me curiously. Their actions didn’t bother me, though. It was the rigid shift in Harper that made me glare up at Sarah.

She knew what she was doing. She had an agenda, and she was now checking off the items on the list. “The club in LA was bought for Easton on his twenty-first birthday. It’s amazing.” Sarah’s eyes locked with Harper’s and I tensed. “I should know. I was with him when his father handed him the keys.”

“Was there something you needed, Sarah?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“No, just thought I’d stop over and introduce myself to your friends.” Everyone was eyeing her now, and the girls were glaring at her. “Easton and I used to date.” She paused and her gaze shifted to mine. “Or have sex. However you want to categorize it.”

I lunged from my seat and gripped Sarah’s arm forcefully. I had heard enough. As I dragged her down the hallway toward the office at the end, I kept reminding myself that her father was Ray, the man who could kill me with one hand if he chose. But he was also the man who loved me like a son and knew just how conniving his daughter could be.

When we entered the office, I slammed the door behind me and spun to face her. “Do you fucking like your job?” The anger in my voice caused her to jump. “Because I’m questioning my choice to keep you here.”

“I was just joking.” She smiled.

“Bullshit. I’m not the same idiot that fell for your lies a year ago. I’m the man that can barely tolerate your presence.” I glared at her. “Now answer my question. Do you like your job here?”

“Yes.”

I took a step toward her, and her throat bobbed as she swallowed. “If you ever pull another stunt like you just did, you’ll be out on your ass. I don’t give a shit what Ray or anyone else has to say about that, do you get me?”

She nodded.

“What we had, what we were, that shit is so far gone. You had your chance, but you couldn’t keep your legs shut, so you made your choice. I made a lot of mistakes, and one of the biggest ones I ever made was you.” I stepped back. “You and I never will be anything other than associates, but I can see that isn’t going to work. I think you need to look at your options, Sarah.”

Her face fell. “You’re firing me?”

“No, I’m accepting your resignation for thirty days from today.” I turned and walked out, leaving her staring at my back.

I should have done it a long time ago. I’d only allowed her to stay as a favor to Ray. He had done so much for me, and the guilt from firing his daughter would have driven me crazy. Plus, I was the one that chose to date an employee and the one that pursued her in the beginning. But after the stunt she pulled tonight, I knew the choice to keep her was the wrong one. Sarah was nothing but trouble, and if she was around, she would only cause issues for Harper and me later.