Underground Secrets (The Underground #1) (9 page)

“Welcome to Evo!” Gemma yells at him.

We all sit, talk and laugh for the first hour we are here in the booth. We get a good buzz going before any of us dare to take on the dance floor. I am definitely feeling good with the bottle of wine I had at home while getting ready and the two mixed drinks I’ve had here thus far.

John, the guy Gemma has been talking to, has yet to show up and though it looks like Gemma doesn’t give a damn, I can tell it’s bothering her. Every once in a while she will look at her phone, probably waiting for a text from him.

“Gem, wanna go do a shot and then hit the floor?” I ask.

Brightening instantly, she nods her head vigorously, then stands up and grabs my hand.

“Before we make our way down, does anyone want to do a shot with us? We’ll bring it back to you,” I ask and everyone besides, Kelli looks at me like I have grown two heads.

“No!” Everyone but Kelli, who gets up and stands beside me, shouts to me in unison.

“Bunch of sissy light weights! All of you!” I throw over my shoulder as I walk away.

Getting to the bar, Gemma whistles to the bartender, Eddie, like she is hailing a cab in New York. I give her a look.

She shrugs her shoulders, “What? If we tip him well he’ll serve us quickly all night and I’m totally over that little thing a few weeks ago. I mean, what am I going to do? Convince him he has to be straight and that I’ll take him to bed to prove it?”

“What thing?” Kelli asks.

“Remind me later and I’ll tell ya about it,” Gemma whispers to her as Eddie approaches.

I laugh at that-hard.

We each give off our shot orders and he returns quickly placing them in front of us. Gemma is between Kelli and me, so I lean back and give Kelli a look. She looks back with a sad smile, then we both leaned in a little closer to Gemma.

“Gem?” I softly say her name. Like I am about to tell a child its pet goldfish, Ralphie, has just died.

She looks at both of us and then shakes her head, “Uh-uh. No way chicks. I’m totally fine with John being a no-show. Honestly. He either has a good reason or he’s a looser like the rest of them. No need for a pity party ladies.”

She waves her hand like it doesn’t bother her, then quickly lowers it to grab her shot. She holds her shot in one hand and uses her other to push our shots in a little closer. We both grab them and hold them up with her, “To a spectacular fucking night! And may you bitches not say a word about Johnywhogivesafuck!” She downs her drink fast and calls for another.

“Whoa chick, slow down.” Kelli says waving Eddie off. I toss mine back, as does Kelli.

“Okay, I won’t say another word. I’m here to talk or just to listen to you vent, okay?” Kelli tells her.

She nods and smiles. I take the queue and I lift my eyebrows and bounce them up and down. Pretty much dancing my eyebrows to tell the girls it’s time to hit the floor.

“Gotcha! Let’s do this!” Gemma grabs my hand and I grab Kelli’s. We make it down the stairs when I realize I forgot my purse.

“Shit! Hey I forgot my purse up at bar. I’m going to grab it and drop it off at the table with the rest of them. Be right back!” They nod and wave me along, already dancing towards a more open spot
. Good luck with that
. Luckily for me, my purse is right where I left it seemingly untouched. I open it and double check. Thank goodness, that was lucky. Everything is still there. I snap the middle button and head towards the booth where the rest of our crew sits.

“Woo! So, I just accidently left this on the bar top. Would one of you mind keeping an eye on it while I go and dance?” I ask, with it sitting on my opened hand.

Alex grabs it. “Not a problem, go dance and have fun girl, but when you take a break I think I’ll be ready for that shot you had offered.”

“What? You’re not going to come dance? That’s absurd!” I shout over the noise, teasing her.

“Umm… yeah, dancing and I would be like a lion and a kangaroo having tea and reading the Sunday paper. Shit isn’t happening. I am a horrible dancer!”

Well, wasn’t that’s a very different analogy.

“Nonsense! I’m sure you’re not
that
bad.”

She narrows her eyes at me, “Oh, but I am my friend.”

“Fine. You suck. I am not going to force you.” I stick my tongue out at her like a child, then I look over at Henry and Tom. “Guys?” giving them my best pouty face which probably doesn’t look as cute and sweet as I am going for; but hey, I try.

Tom shakes his head at me, “Nope, not unless Kelli drags me onto the floor, which I’m sure she’ll do here real soon.”

Okay, so Tom is a no for now. I look over at Henry with what I’m sure is a look of pure hope in my eyes. He smiles big at me.
Bingo
!

“Okay boss, here’s the deal,” he leans in close like he’s has a secret to tell me, “Let me finish this drink and I’ll join you lovely ladies out there.”

“Deal!” I lean down to his level and shake his hand with excitement. I have never seen Henry dance before. So this should be fun.

I look over at Tom and Alex, “I’ll see you guys in a bit,” then over to Henry and point at him, “and I’ll see
you
in less than a bit!”

I walk back towards my girls slightly swaying at this point. I stop to search the crowd of people dancing on the floor, and as I do, I step on a puddle of spilled alcohol and fall on my ass.

“Great, because this look is classy,” I say to myself.

“I think it looks adorable,” some guy responds.

As graciously as I can, I stand up to look at who’s speaking to me. Let me tell you, I’m pretty sure graceful was not a part of what I probably looked like getting back up. With my back facing the stranger, I turn around to give the guy who was clearly enjoying the show a mouth full and…

No. Fucking. Way.

Wes.

“Yes way.”

Shit, did I say that out loud
? I must’ve, unless he can read minds. In that case, that would not be good. Not one single bit. Stupid alcohol.

“Uh… yeah, I slipped on spilled alcohol.” God, if I thought he was good looking sober… well you only guess what I think of him tipsy.

Not knowing what to do, because once again, his green eyes are staring at me, I say something super cheesy and lame, “So... you come here often?”

He laughs and shrugs with his hands in his pockets, “Not really.”

Okay, not sure what to do now.
Walk away Marlie. Walk away
.

I turn to walk away. Forgetting about the puddle of alcohol on the floor, I begin to slip on it again, but he catches my arm in time. I freeze. What is this guy’s deal? Can’t he just leave me be? Do I need to get a damn restraining order? It’s like he’s everywhere I am nowadays. It’s unreal. But at the same time, there is a small flutter in my stomach telling me that I might be excited to see him. I’m just going to chalk that up to being tipsy and him being fucking edible looking. Like. All. The. Time. I look back up at him and jerk my arm free.

“Thanks,” I say and start to walk away. Again.

“Wait,” he says.

Breathe
.

Why do I find it so hard to breathe around this guy? I don’t even know him; except for he’s shown up three times where I’ve been in the last two weeks since we’ve met. I stop, taking slow breaths, but do not turn around. I just turn my head to the side. “Yes?”

He is behind me now. Not so close to make me freak, but close enough to talk to me without having to yell across the room. Good, he has remembered my personal space. He is close enough that I can smell him. Smell of man and cologne. Not a lot of cologne, which is nice. Just a faint smell. Shit, it could be his deodorant. Man does he smell heavenly. I can feel the heat rise from my toes all the way up to my cheeks.

“I know you want to be left alone, but I was wondering if you would care to have a drink with me. My treat?” He moves himself in front of me and holds my gaze with his eyes.

My first instinct would be to tell him to “Fuck off”, but I promised Gemma I would give more men a chance; at least a shot at a friendship without shutting them off or erecting a wall like always.

I have alcohol in me, so I guess you can say I’m feeling a little nicer at the moment. But this guy, Wes, he oozes danger, power, and playboy status. Though, at the same time, in the few short times we have talked, he has come off as nice, and genuine. Put all those together and that can make a deadly combination.

I narrow my eyes at him, “Sure, but only one.”

“Deal.” he turns and walks towards the bar. I follow, but not before noticing his fine back side. He’s wearing a black leather jacket, dark blue jeans and a gray t-shirt that clearly is tight enough, it probably outlines every muscle on his torso and arms. “Fine as hell,” would be a shame if it isn’t his middle name.

Shaking my head out of my little daydream, I see Wes slipping a guy a bill. How much? I’m not sure, definitely enough to get him to vacate the seat he was just occupying. Wes takes that bar stool and I hop on the one next to it. Which is kind of a hard thing to do when you’re wearing a leather mini skirt. Not only does it make a weird ass noise when I try to slide across the vinyl stool cover, but it also keeps getting stuck and doesn’t want to slide easy.
Should’ve worn pants! Damn you, Marlie
.

“What’s your drink of choice?” Wes asks while waving the bartender without even glancing at him.

“Bud Light, bottle.”

He smiles at me, “A beer drinker huh? I wouldn’t have pegged you as that.”

He orders us both Bud Light’s.

“Well, what did you think I’d drink?”

The bartender places my beer in front of me and I snatch it off the counter and take a big un-lady-like swig or more like a chug. I said I’d have a drink with him, I didn’t say I’d sit here and babysit it. He takes a drink from his, which for some reason I find hot. Not to mention, he seems to have a love for same kind of beer I do. How the hell can someone make a simple task, such as taking a drink, so damn sexy? He looks me up and down making me feel hot and nervous.

“Wine.” He tells me.

“I like wine. It would be my second choice of drink, but I feel with wine you have to drink it slow and savor the flavor or something like that.”
Savor the flavor
? What the hell? How does he make me talk like that? “I also like vodka mixed with something. I’m not really picky in the mixed drinks department, so long as it tastes good.”

I take another drink and look at him. Shit. I shouldn’t have done that. Those damn eyes of his. So pretty. “I guess my drink of choice depends on my mood, where I’m at, and who I am with.” I shrug my shoulders, “Besides, beer is what my dad had in the fridge growing up, so that’s what I would take to drink - before I got caught.”

He laughs at that, “What a rebel.”

“Hey! I did plenty of bad things when I was younger,” I protest. Not to mention now but I won’t mention those. He smiles at that and it in return it makes me smile. For the first time since I met Wes, I don’t feel so defensive. I kind of feel relaxed. Now, if only I could stop saying dumb things, that would be nice. “So… if you don’t come here often, then what brought you here tonight?”

He takes another drink, “Work.”

“What kind of work brings you to this place?” I ask and then think about it, “Wait, do you own this place or something?”

“Nah, I work in security. Actually, I own a security company. I have a guy here tonight who is a certain NFL player and he sometimes hires us to babysit him. He can get a little out of control with his booze and it’s our job to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid, like fight and have it get out to the press.”

“Wow, that’s impressive.” I wonder how old he is. Maybe in his thirties? Even though he doesn’t look much older than me.

“Thanks.”

“So how old are you, if you own your own company?”

“I’m twenty-eight and it was my father’s business before he passed away.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.” Something we have in common, and if he’s like me with my mother, he doesn’t like talking about it.

“It’s fine. It was years ago,” he says tightening his jaw.

Okay…

I start to change the subject but I notice his attire is not one of a security guy. “So… if you’re working, why don’t you look like… ya know… Why don’t you have a uniform on?” He looks at himself and smiles.

“I own the company, so a suit is usually what I wear and technically I am not working tonight. I have a few new guys working and I want to make sure everything goes smoothly. Besides, we don’t do uniforms in my company.”

“Ah, I see. I was just making sure you weren’t stalking and bringing me more soap.” I look at him with a smirk on my face as I watch him nearly choke on his beer with a little bit dribbling to his chin.

I kind of want to lick it off.

He wipes the beer from his chin and starts to laugh. A very carefree laugh. It’s adorable. “That’s not funny.” But he’s still laughing. “Okay, so maybe I did come off as a bit of stalker.”

“A bit? Please! I was about to join the witness protection program and move to a different country!”

“Now you’re just being cruel.”

I try to hide my smile, “Maybe. Maybe not.”

“And you? What do you do?”

I tuck my hair behind my ear and show him my earing. “I make jewelry. Gemma, the one you met at Bello’s, started a jewelry company with me called GemMar Makings. I make the jewelry and she runs the business.”

He leans in close and goes for my necklace, placing his fingers beneath the jewel. “This?” he asks in a seductive whisper.

It reminds me way too much of someone I used to know. It should make me feel sick thinking of this guy Wes like that, but for some reason it doesn’t. Jesus. Why does he have this effect on me?

“Yes,” I breathe out.

This isn’t good. Why the hell did I decide to have a drink with him? This was a bad idea in so many ways. I mean, besides the fact that I’m clearly attracted to this man, the way he presents himself makes me think there’s more to him. I just can’t figure out if that’s a good thing or bad.

He lets go and his fingers brush gently against my chest when he pulls away, making me shiver with an unexpected need. Yeah, this was a bad idea, but something deep in the back of my mind screams at me to stay sitting here with him.