Perfect Opposite (9 page)

One elbow supporting my weight against the bar, I turned, expecting to meet his disapproving face
. The absence of any real light in the club meant his features were mostly lost to the shadows, except that two fires burned in the darkness, a pair of glittering gray eyes. Making an effort to look defiant as the bartender brought over another drink, I reached for it and emptied the glass in one dramatic gulp, throwing my head back in the process.

“Even if that’s just what I planned, it’s
not your problem,” I croaked.

Turning my back to him to show how little I cared what he thought, I moved to face Beth and Paolo on the other side.

I was pretty far gone after four hits of tequila in just one hour. Paolo was telling some story about a casting for Armani
and though I couldn’t make much of it out, I laughed myself silly all the same. Meanwhile, I was distracted by the effort it took to give Alex the cold shoulder. He stayed real quiet but stuck to me like glue all the while. It’s no small thing to ignore a frowning mountain of a man when he casts a constant shadow over you. Not to mention the fact that he was giving off real negative vibes and studying every guy who even passed close to me.

I glan
ced at him covertly a few times and couldn’t help but wonder what he would have been doing that night if he didn’t have to play nanny to me. Out somewhere else with his girlfriend? Did he even have a girlfriend? If he did, I sure felt sorry for the poor thing, having to put up with him.

The more I thought about it though, the more likely it seemed that his bad side was reserved exclusively for me. He and Beth got along fine. He never snapped at her or acted rude. I’d even seen them chatting in the mornings, shooting the breeze over the papers. So
, the problem was me.

Well, I hate you too, dickhead!

I drained another shot glass and leaned in towards him, the scent of his cologne seeming to act like a drug on my already altered state of mind. Closing my eyes, I did my best to imagine him as the male lead in some romantic comedy, but even soaked in alcohol, my brain couldn’t make the leap. With his sharp features, slightly crooked nose and ever present dark scowl, he could only play an arch villain.

Alex couldn’t be described as a classically handsome guy, not according to the guidelines most people measure by. He had something else, a quality that’s often mentioned but never
defined well... some mysterious energy, a magnetism to set the better judgment of women off balance. The truth was - he was stunning. In the same way a huge feline predator was stunning.

Every girl who passed us that n
ight took a double take at Alex and then stared at him as if he were a perfect thanksgiving dinner. You could almost sense their mouths watering. I didn’t blame them, to be honest. His body was perfect for a life-drawing workshop, or an anatomy class. Added to this there was the heady mix of don’t-mess-with-me attitude and all those signals that screamed of danger. Then there was a certain distance to Alex, something that put him just out of reach. So there you had it; a cocktail to knock any unsuspecting girl off her feet. Luckily for me, I’d met his kind before and, as the saying goes, it’s ‘once bitten, twice shy’. Which didn’t mean I couldn’t rattle his cage just a little.

My elbow still resting on the bar, I leaned the side of my head against my hand and watched him pointedly as he scanned the room, wisps of smoke rising around his head.

“Aleksey ...” I pronounced his name carefully and leaned in even further “Are you having a good time?”

“Never better.”

“Well, I'm glad to hear that
.” I sugar coated as I twisted a free strand of hair around my finger, “I've been thinking, you know... shouldn’t you have a gun with you? I mean, you are my bodyguard, aren’t you?”

“What, and scare all these kids here?” he laughed.

I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t like the idea that he saw me as a kid... Being careful not to lose my footing, I got up from the chair, stood in front of him and hooked two fingers inside a pocket on his jeans. Edging forward so that our bodies made contact, I held his gaze, tracing circles first on his wrist and then his arm with the tip of one finger.

“You didn’t answer my question, Alex...” I
batted my long, black lashes once and passed my tongue over my top lip in an effort to be seductive.

Pleased to find that he’d directed his attention to my lips, I smiled broadly, blinking again in a show of looking innocent.
In an instant I felt his arm come around my waist, drawing me to him, still holding my gaze with a look of such intensity that all other thoughts just fell away. He let his head tilt ever so slightly towards mine as, mesmerized, I continued to stare, my heart now pounding like a jackhammer, threatening to burst inside my chest.

It seemed like we were alone in the crowded room; the music had vanished and the only things in the world were his gorgeous lips, slowly moving forward to meet min
e. Suddenly, someone rushed past with some drinks and bumped him. And just like that - the moment was gone. He turned his head away so that I saw his profile and lit a cigarette, professional disinterest apparently restored to his features.

“You should stop fooling around...” he said stiffly.

“Whatever you say, sugar.” I flashed a big smile and turned back to my stool.

Regardless of what he said, I was sure Alex didn’t think of me as a child.

The first beats of Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy the Silence’ resounded from the speakers above, followed by shrieks of delight from the crowd. Grabbing Paolo by the arm, I made for the dance floor, my steps a little unsteady. Letting myself get carried away by the music, I moved and twisted to the rhythm and the persistent notes. I swayed awkwardly at one point,
but Paolo caught me and put his arm around my back.

My eyes wandered to where I’d left Alex and I saw that he had company in the form of a tall redheaded girl. With one hand on her hip she was doing her best to look alluring. Getting more up close and personal by the second, she brought her pouting lips to
his ear and whispered something, licking of his earlobe in the process.

Ugh... that’s disgusting.

Alex smiled, put an arm around her and looked over at me as he planted a kiss on her slender neck. I quickly turned my head and tried to discard the twinge of jealousy I felt, burying my face in Paolo’s shoulder. Closing my eyes I imagined being a normal girl who had no need for secrets or bodyguards, without hitmen out to get her, or death waiting around every dark corner.

The song ended and Paolo guided me back towards the bar, supporting my arm so that I didn’t fall. My head was spinning and my feet were killing me in my heels, so I was really looking forward to sitting down again. We were only a few steps away from our place at the bar when Tyler appeared in our way, traces of red lipstick on his face.

“Sasha... You look great... as always.” he smiled in the irresistible way he had and I felt a falling sensation in the pit of my stomach.

“Tyler... You make me sick.
”

When he heard my words the sweet smile quickly faded from his features, morphing into a rather twisted scowl, which didn’t suit him at all. In a single motion he shoved Paolo out of the way, almost knocking him to the floor in the process, and grabbed me by the arm.

“You won’t talk to me like that!”

“Ty!”
I cried out and tried to wriggle free, but his grip only tightened so that my arm started to hurt.

In a flash the pain was gone. As was Tyler who was suddenly eclipsed by a pair of br
oad shoulders dressed in black.

“So, we meet again, pretty boy...”

I changed my position slightly, to see Tyler clench his fingers into fists as Alex fixed him with a cold stare.

“You again.”
Tyler barked, “Maybe I should introduce you to my pretty fist, huh?”

To see Tyler looking that aggressive frightened me quite a lot, but when I studied Alex a little more closely my fear suddenly had a new focus. His face was expressionless, as I’d come to expect, but the look in his eyes... it was murderous. If I hadn’t known who this man was, I might have thought the devil himself had arrived in town.

“Oh, I would love to see you try, pretty boy.”

“
You asked for it!” Tyler motioned to the back door and started to move towards it.

Alex gave a barely perceptible nod and followed him out without a word, and I realized the night was already ruined. Tyler was the sort of guy who knew only one way to leave an argument – standing over another guy bloodied on the floor.

Ignoring Paolo, who was shouting behind me, I rushed after them, trying not to trip over my own feet on the way. On the other side of the door I found myself in a small yard used for deliveries. I leaned back against the door we’d passed through and felt it click behind me.

Regaining my balance, I looked up in time to see Tyler swing a powerful fist towards Alex’s head and shut my eyes tight, afraid to witness what was bound to follow. I prayed that Tyler wouldn’t go too far and imagined the drive to the emergency room with Alex bleeding in the back. Tyler was known to be an animal in a fight.

When the crack of Tyler’s fist against bone hadn’t
reached my ears, I cautiously let my eyes open again, blinking to clear the image before me. It took a few moments to process what was happening, my eyes now wide open in disbelief, mouth hanging open.

Tyler was swinging punch after punch, purposefully and with aim, but found only air with every swing. With
stunning agility, Alex somehow avoided every blow in a display that ought to have been impossible for someone his size. Not only did he avoid the punches, he appeared completely nonplussed by them. Even his mohawk was unruffled.

“Stop it!” I
yelled, hoping that by some miracle this fight might end without any blood getting spilled.

“Go back inside.
” Alex said under his breath, glancing over at me but also, somehow, dodging another mighty swing. I was pretty sure I caught a slight smile on his face, like all this somehow amused him.

The last person who’d got into a fight with Tyler had ended up a real mess, in hospital for several days with concussion and a broken jaw. He’d literally never come off worse in a fight and yet, as I watched, he was growing more and more frustrated, hotter and sweatier with every swing that failed to find its mark. With
cat-like grace, Alex moved swiftly to duck or swerve everything Tyler could throw at him. And all the while, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he might be just playing with Ty.

A
fter dogging a couple more swings, Alex seemed to decide that the ‘fight’ had gone on long enough. I noticed a change in his posture as his back straightened and a force seemed to gather within him, propelling him forwards.

One fast, hard punch was all it took. Alex shot out one fist, bringing with it a loud, dead thud as it made contact with the middle of Tyler’s face. I watched in horror as Tyler fell to his knees and brought both hands up towards the bloody mess on his face. Bright red blood flowed through his fingers and quickly started
dripping down onto the ground. A lot of it.

When Tyler raised his eyes to look over at me, Alex grabbed the back of his shirt collar and yanked it roughly, so that their eyes met.

“Look at her one more time and you’ll wish you’d never been born.” he barked, clenching his jaw, the bones flexing to become pronounced on the side of his face.

“Are you crazy?” I shouted, “You broke his nose!”

“He’ll survive.” Alex let go of Tyler, who collapsed on the asphalt and doubled up.

“You... you're insane!”

“I hear that a lot. Come on, get inside,”

“And leave him like that?
No way!”

“Are you fucking deaf?
Inside, now!”

“We need to call the doctor. What if...”

Without any warning, Alex bent down, grabbed me around the thighs and lifted me up over his shoulder, leaving my head to hang down over his back, the way a fireman might bring someone out of a burning building. At first I was so shocked that I couldn’t make any sound, then when it was obvious we were moving towards to door to the club I started to howl.

“
Savage! Let go of me!” I started pounding his back with my fists.

Not paying any attention to my thrashing, and even less to Tyler, who was
groaning, covering his face on the ground, Alex brought me inside the club and approached Paolo, who looked bewildered.

“We’re t
aking her home in your car.” I heard him say, my guts starting to hurt me as they pressed down on his shoulder.

“What? Wel
l OK,” Paolo answered stupidly and ran toward the exit as Alex strolled behind as if there were nothing wrong with that scene at all.

I tried to locate Bethany in the crowd, but from my unfortunate vantage point I couldn’t make her out at all in the crowd. As we passed through, people looked at us bemused, glancing from me to Alex, and then back to me. It wasn’t surprising they kept looking, since I guess they all had a right royal view of my panties.