redeeming cupid 01 - struck by eros (12 page)

She swiveled her stool to face me. “Yes, but I’m stuck until my friends leave.”

Figuring misery loved company I said, “Me too.” And that was officially the extent of my small talk. I continued to twirl the ice cubes with the cocktail stirrer. “What’s your name?”

She took a swig from her beer. “Tammy. Yours?”

“Noel.” I had planned on saying more, but an arm wrapped around my waist and something I hoped was a cell phone poked into my hip.

“Hey, beautiful. Want to dance?” Beer breath and what had to be a half a bottle of Drakkar Noir nearly knocked me off my stool.

Great. A Rico. They were almost impossible to get rid of once they set their sights on you. I removed his arm from my body. “No thanks. I’m talking with my friend.” Tammy of the yellow arrow held up her beer and saluted him.

“One dance won’t hurt anyone.” His hand started to roam to some very personal places.

I blocked his hands to the best of my ability, but the guy had limbs to spare. “Not interested.” I was getting ready to knee him in the hairy balls when I spied Grayson walking with the proverbial Boy Next Door, Tammy’s matching yellow arrow high above his head. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and a deep set of dimples indented his flawless, sun-kissed skin. His purposely-grungy jeans sat nicely on his hips, and his tight T-shirt showed off his six-pack. Tammy got a cutie.

Rico grabbed my hand, pulled me from my stool, and headed to the dance floor. When we passed Grayson, he stepped to the left and blocked our path. “She’s with me.” He placed his hand on Rico’s shoulder to stop him from claiming me as his prize.

“Does she have your name tattooed on her ass?” Rico worked at removing Grayson’s fingers from his shoulder. “If not then I’m getting my dance.”

“Not going to happen.” Grayson wedged himself between Rico and me. “Move along.”

Rico gave Grayson the stink eye, but finally slithered away to find some other poor girl to bother.

“Saved you from death by crappy cologne.” Grayson’s lips turned up in a boyish grin that melted another layer of ice around my heart.

“Me and my nose thank you.” I managed a small lop-sided smile.

As a trio, we headed to Tammy, who had gone back to staring at her half-empty bottle, obviously not concerned with my abrupt departure.

I cleared my throat. “Tammy, I made some friends.” She turned and her green gaze landed on Grayson instead of the cutie next to him. Nothing unusual. Grayson had a way of making even the most handsome man look like…well, a Norm.

“Grayson?” Tammy exclaimed, hopped off the stool, rushed forward, and threw her arms around him. Grayson looked at her, but his eyes didn’t spark with recognition. “It’s Tammy. We met last month.” The smile slipped from her lips. “You don’t remember me?”

Grayson recovered quickly. “Of course I do.”

“I tried the number you left on my nightstand, but it didn’t go through.” She pulled him into the seat that used to be mine. “I’m so happy we ran into each other tonight.” Her hand left his and her fingers walked down his chest and settled in his lap. “I’ll never forget that night.”

My chest and stomach burned, heated with a spark of un-wanted jealousy, but a good dose of what-did-you-expect put out that spark right out.

Tammy reminded me that Grayson played fast and loose with relationships. A reminder that sank my growing opinion of him into the crapper. A reminder of why I would never fall in love with Grayson Adler. No one wanted a master-at-one-night-stands for a soul mate.

Fucking Grayson and his wandering dong. He needed to be castrated.

Guess it was up to me to fix this mess. I stuck my hand out at the man who was getting completely ignored because of Mr. I-Can’t-Keep-It-In-My-Pants. “I’m Noel.”

“Ricky.” His word stretched with a touch of Southern slowness.

I tapped Tammy on the shoulder. “Tammy, this is Ricky.” She completely ignored me. I tapped harder and cleared my throat. “This is Ricky,” I repeated with a little more heat in my voice.

She turned her head, but her eyes didn’t leave Grayson’s face. “That’s nice.” She stroked Grayson’s arm with her index finger.

Good lord, she was smitten.

This time I tapped Grayson on the shoulder. “Hi, I’m Noel.” Let’s see if he played along.

Grayson turned in my direction, a spark of mischief in his blue eyes. “Beautiful name, Noel.” Spoken in his best I’m-a-naughty-boy tone. I swear I orgasmed.

“Want to dance?” It was the only way I could think of to get him out of Tammy’s clutches and facilitate alone time for the meant-to-be couple. Hopefully she would come back to her senses once she was away from Grayson’s sex pheromones.

Grayson slid off his stool and placed his hand on the center of my back, before letting it slip to my ass and squeezing. I was tempted to slap it away, but instead I let Tammy see the womanizing piece of crap in action.

He leaned in close. “Nice save.” Then he guided me to the dance floor.

Once we were gyrating appropriately, I stole a glance at the bar, but Ricky sat all alone, watching the basketball game on the TV above his head instead of chatting it up with his future bride. “She’s gone.”

“She’s around. She slipped her key into my pocket before we came out here.”

Of course she did. I started looking around the crowded room for her yellow arrow. Suddenly, Grayson stepped in front of me, his arms out to keep me behind his back. Right before water splashed his chest. He saved me from the soak zone.

Tammy stood in front of us, an empty glass in her hand, a death stare aimed at me marring her pretty features.

“Ack. Grayson, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you.” She pawed at his wet clothes. “I meant to hit her.” The “her” was spoken with a lip raise of disgust.

“What did I do to you?”

“He’s mine. I had him first.” If it was up to me she could have him forever, but he wasn’t her soul mate, Ricky was.

“Go talk to Ricky.” I stepped out from behind my hunky man shield.

“I don’t want Ricky.” She grabbed Grayson’s hand off my shoulder and wedged herself between us. “I’ll blow you in the bathroom.” Like that was going to work.

Grayson rubbed the faint stubble on his chin in deep contemplation. “That’s a pretty good offer, Noel. Can you top it?” Hell. No. The man was a total slut.

What could top a blowjob in the bathroom?

A-ha. I leaned into his ear and whispered the one thing I knew would stop him dead and get him back to doing his job. His lips lifted and he dropped Tammy’s hand. Got him.

“Sorry, dear. I’ve had a better offer.” He leaned down and whispered something in her ear. “Unless you’re willing?” I was going to kill him.

Her eyes traveled the length of my body. “Only nasty sluts do that.” That made me a nasty slut.

“Maybe you should go talk to Ricky.” I pointed at the poor man at the bar. “He seems more your speed.”

Tammy stood on her tippy toes and kissed Grayson on the lips, lingering a little longer than appropriate. “This isn’t over.” Then she disappeared in the crowd.

Grayson pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight. His fingers pushed my braid off my shoulder, brushed his lips along my collarbone, up my neck, and then my jaw. His fingers made small circles on the bare skin of my shoulders. My girlie parts tingled in anticipation. Then my brain turned on, and knocked some sense into my over-sexed hormones.

I pushed out of his arms and kicked him in the shin. “We don’t have time for that. We’ve got a mess to clean up thanks to you.”

“I’m taking you up on your offer after we get our lovebirds together.” The look in his eyes was lazy and sexy and oh-so tempting.

Not that tempting. “That was not an offer. I just needed your head in the game.”

His hand slid to my waist and he pulled me close enough that I felt how much he wanted me through his leather pants. “You thought offering you covered in chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and tied to the bed was the way to do it. Because I can tell you that my head is anywhere but in the game right now.”

Horny bastard. “We have a job to do.” I pushed against his chest, putting a mental chastity belt between our bodies.

“What’s in it for me if I can get them together?”

Was he really negotiating? One look at his face and I knew he wouldn’t budge until I promised him something. “I’ll give you the blow job you’re missing out on the next time we’re at the hotel.”

“Not good enough.” His smile was tantalizing wicked. “How about something involving rope, handcuffs, and an un-breakable headboard?”

His verbal foreplay plucked my nerves in a good way. “Keep dreaming.”

The corner of his lips lifted in a gotcha smile. “If I get them together you have to go on a date with me.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he put a finger over my lips.

“A real date. One date to prove that there is more than hot sex between us. Dinner, movie, late night walk on the beach, whatever you want. But no sex. Even if you beg.”

“Ha.” The bark of laughter left my mouth before I could stop it.

“And you have to wear the bracelet I bought you.” He tapped my naked wrist.

He was serious. A real date. No Cupid-forced time together. We would be together because we wanted to, as in un-mandatory. As in no safety or excuses or walls to hide behind. Here in the club, away from my real-world drama, with his leather pants molding his ass and my libido set to turned on, I could think of a lot worse things than a date with Grayson.

“Fix your mess and you get one date.” One date to prove to Grayson that there wasn’t anything more than a physical attraction between us. That love was out of the question because Grayson didn’t understand what it meant to love someone beside himself. To prove to Grayson and Cupid that handing my heart to Grayson would be a huge mistake.

“Done.” He left me on the dance floor and went back to the bar.

I found a shadowy corner, leaned against the wall and watched him work his magic. He sat back down next to Ricky and called the bartender over. The bartender returned and placed two chilled mugs of beer in front of them. Both men turned on their stools and watched the mingling and flirting. Their lips moved and every so often Grayson would gesture to the dance floor.

“You owe me a dance.” Rico returned, and he didn’t give me an opportunity to respond. He grabbed my hand, and the next thing I knew we were in the middle of the dance floor, and he wore me like a second skin. The only good thing about my current situation was the view. I spied on Grayson and Ricky while Rico had his way with my leg.

Tammy walked up to the two men and wrapped her octopus arms around Grayson, who promptly removed them and placed them back at her side. He leaned forward and whispered something in her ear. A few minutes of silent conversation passed between them before she turned to Ricky, offered him her hand in greeting. Grayson leaned in and whispered something else, and she smiled. Getting up, he offered her his seat, and she sat. Then he walked away from the bar leaving them alone. Tammy and Ricky talked for a while, but the arrows didn’t pull a disappearing act.

A warm hand landed on my bare skin. I knew who it was by the way my libido lurched. “I’m cutting in.” Grayson twirled me out of Rico’s grasp.

Rico started to protest, but Grayson turned him around and gave him a shove in the opposite direction. Then he wrapped his arms around me and finished the interrupted dance.

“You owe me one date,” he whispered.

“What did you say to her?”

“That I was madly in love with you, couldn’t imagine myself with another female.” He finger-dipped below the edge of my low-cut dress, coming close to tracing the mound of my breast. “She’s a romantic at heart and completely understood.”

“So you lied.”

“Maybe.” That one word sounded like a lie leaving his lips. A lie I planned on ignoring.

I needed a change of topic, so I pointed over to the matching arrows. “Sad your groupie found someone new?”

His shoulders lifted and his head shook. “I’ve got plenty more.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.” I glanced back over at the couple and the arrows still hadn’t vanished. “How long do you think it’ll take?”

He spun me around and dipped me low. “Doesn’t matter to me. I could do this all night.”

We danced for forty-five minutes, even though Tammy and Ricky’s arrows had flickered and disappeared at the ten-minute mark. I had to admit I was having fun. Being with Grayson felt free. I didn’t have to try to impress him or be something I wasn’t. He was like a buddy; someone I could talk to without being judged if I said the wrong thing. A buddy whose dance moves reminded me of the way he moved in bed. Seductive and sensual and something I wouldn’t mind repeating for a second night in a row.

Grayson spun me around and that’s when I saw him. Len.

Standing at the edge of the dance floor. Gaze locked on me, like a laser set to pulverize. The ultimate cock-block.

The sight of him dumped a bucket of freezing water on my raging hormones.

I batted at Grayson’s hands and he let go. His gaze followed mine and he chuckled. Not a wow-this-is-funny chuckle, but a you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me kind. I had to agree.

Len looked even worse than he had the day before. Pale and sweating. His clothes were the ones he wore when he came by the house to get his things, and his hair stuck out all over the place. He swayed on his feet and I wondered if he was drunk. Doubtful, since Len was a one glass of wine kind of guy. I left Grayson standing on the dance floor and rushed to his side, zigzagging through sensual-sweated bodies moving to the groove.

Len stared down at my exposed thighs. I tugged at the hem of my dress, but without pulling the top down to expose more of my breasts, it wasn’t budging.

“Len, what are you doing here?” I placed my arm on his and guided him to the nearest chair.

“I followed you here.” His eyes were unfocused.

“Why”

“I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I’ve tried to stay angry with you. To forget about you, but I can’t. All I think about is you. I need you, Noel.” He face-fell into his hands.

Grayson watched from the sidelines, his expression guarded.

“We should get you out of here. Get you home.” Then I remembered he didn’t have a home to go to, and I didn’t have a car.