She sighed heavily. “No. It’s not you.” She groaned and leaned her head in her hands. “I shouldn’t have had those shots. I’m a lightweight.”
“Your break time, mate.” Alistair slapped him on his shoulder as he passed.
Craig nodded. “Right.” He walked to the end of the bar, lifted the latch and stepped out onto the club floor. He moved through the crowded bar area and pushed his way to where Rain sat. There were a number of guys who’d eyed her up over the course of the night, but for whatever reason none had approached. The guy standing next to her looked like he was getting ready to try his luck. Craig gave him a look that persuaded him otherwise, and then he gently rested his hands on Rain’s slender hips.
She jumped in surprise and tilted her head back. “How did you get back there?”
He grinned at her confusion. “Magic. Come on.” He tugged on her gently and to his surprise she willingly slipped off her stool. “Let’s get some water in you.” He took her small hand in his and tightened his grip as he led her back behind the bar. Ignoring Joss and Alistair’s inquisitive looks, he guided Rain through the back hallway and into their staff break room. He pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge and then led her to the battered table and chairs in the corner.
Once he had her seated with the water, he got his sandwich out of the fridge and offered her half.
“I’m not hungry.” She waved it away, staring at him in suspicion.
“Eat,” he insisted. “It’ll soak up all those shots.”
“Four shots,” she corrected him as she took the sandwich. “You’re making it sound like I’ve had loads.”
“Four is a lot on top of wine. Especially for a lightweight.”
“I know.” She looked sad. “But I got sick of waiting.”
Aha! “Sick of waiting for what? Or who?”
Rain’s eyes searched his. “Why are you so keen to know?”
“Because I’m intrigued.”
“But why?”
He laughed. “Why is the sky fucking blue? You intrigue me and that’s all I know.”
“There is a scientific reason for the sky being blue. Something about the elastic scattering of sunlight in the atmosphere or something . . .” She shrugged.
Still amused, Craig shook his head. “If you want a scientific reason for my intrigue then let’s call it chemistry. We have it, whether you want to admit to it or not.”
She seemed to consider this. “Just because we have chemistry doesn’t mean we have to have sex. Best friends have chemistry. It’s just a different kind.”
“Then we’ll pretend we’ve got that kind if it makes you more comfortable.” He winked cheekily at her.
Rain rolled her eyes but she couldn’t hide the smile quirking up the corners of her lips.
Needing to touch her, Craig reached across the table and took her hand in his. “Tell me what’s going on. Why Club 39?”
“Are bartenders like priests and doctors? We can tell you anything without fear of reprisal because of the confidentiality thing?”
Chuckling, he nodded. “We’ll go with doctor since I’ve played ‘doctor’ before but never ‘priest.’ Never met anyone kinky enough yet.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, making her laugh.
She had a throaty laugh and it made his cock twitch. It also, however, caused a pang in his chest area. He felt triumphant whenever he made her smile or laugh.
Fuck, he murmured inwardly at the revelation.
“Fine.” The laughter in her eyes dimmed. “I’ll tell you why I’m here. I’m here to get revenge for my sister.”
For a moment Craig had a sudden fear her sister was someone he’d slept with and then never called again. Had he dated a Darcy? He couldn’t think. Shit. “Your sister?”
“Darcy. Let’s just say when she was younger I didn’t protect her from a situation that I should have. It took her a long time to forgive me and for us to rebuild our relationship.”
Craig squeezed her hand, unhappy with the guilt he saw in her eyes.
“Nine months ago Darcy started dating this postgrad student. Angus York. I disliked him from the moment I met him, especially when he made it clear that he was attracted to me. But Darcy was in love so I buried my head in the sand. And once again I let her get hurt. I didn’t protect her.”
Uneasiness swept over Craig. “What did he do?”
Pure, undiluted anger blazed out of her dark eyes. “He convinced her to make a sex tape and then he showed it to his friends at a party.”
“Son of a bitch,” he hissed, thinking about his own sisters and how he’d murder any man who humiliated them like that.
“Darcy . . . she couldn’t handle it. She was betrayed and heartbroken. She broke up with him and fled to Australia. She’s out there just now, staying with a friend, trying to get over it so she can come back home.”
“That’s awful,” he murmured, taking her hand in both of his now. “I’m sorry that happened to her.”
Rain scrutinized him and the tension in her shoulders suddenly relaxed as she said, “I believe you mean that.”
He squeezed her hand. “I do. I have sisters. If that happened to them I’d want to kill the bastard.”
“Oh, I want to kill him but I’ll settle for a little justice instead.”
“And what’s the plan for that?”
“Angus comes here a lot.” She gave a bitter, rueful smile. “Well, he’s supposed to appear here a lot but so far I’ve seen no sign of him. My plan was to ingratiate myself with him . . . find a way deep enough into his life to get something on him . . . something I can use to ruin him like he ruined Darcy.”
Craig gave her a sad smile. “You don’t seem like the revenge sort, Rain. Perhaps this isn’t the best idea.”
She pulled her hands out of his hold, her defenses flying back up around her again, and he cursed himself for not treading more carefully. “I failed my sister once before. I won’t again.”
“But how is this the best plan? Surely this guy will be suspicious of you trying to be pals with him?”
She raised an eyebrow. “You underestimate this man’s arrogance.”
Craig gave her a nod and sat back to finish his sandwich. As he did Rain nibbled on the sandwich he’d given her and he studied her. The truth was he admired the determination he saw in her tired eyes. This wasn’t something she wanted to do, but it was something she certainly felt she needed to do.
All because of her loyalty to her sister.
And that, Craig could admire.
“You’re staring,” Rain murmured.
Because you’re absolutely fucking beautiful . . . and I have a feeling that beauty runs deep. “There’s a lot to stare at,” he murmured back, taking a casual swig of his water.
He didn’t want to scare her off. He wanted to put her at ease. For whatever reason this woman brought out his protective instincts. Craig didn’t want her going through the drama of dealing with Angus. If it were him he’d punch the arsehole and move on. He thought that was a much healthier way to deal with it. The lengthy process of revenge that Rain was discussing would take its toll on her.
He didn’t want that for her.
I want her spending all her free time on far more pleasurable pursuits.
Like getting to know him in the biblical and non-biblical sense.
“Stay until closing. Let me walk you home. No funny stuff,” he reassured. Let me change your mind about everything. Life was never too short for justice, but revenge, yes. Life was too short for revenge. And life was too short to ignore the kind of connection between them.
For the first time ever Craig felt more than the impulse for sex. He wanted to know everything there was to know about this woman, and if that meant giving the whole dating thing a go then so be it. He’d slowly convince Rain to give him a chance, and while he was doing it he’d distract her from this tiresome need for revenge.
“You’re very determined and stubborn, aren’t you?” she said, eyeing him thou
ghtfully.
“Probably about as determined and stubborn as you,” he said.
She gave a huff of laughter. “I don’t know about that.”
“Will you stay, then?”
“No funny stuff?” she said softly.
“I promise.”
Slowly she nodded.
Pleased, Craig relaxed a little and guided her back to the bar after his break. He shooed a customer off Rain’s vacated stool (to the annoyance of Joss and Alistair) so he could keep her in his sights.
It turned out, however, he’d let himself become too relaxed, because when he went to retrieve something from the stock room and returned, she’d disappeared. His hope was that she’d gone to the restroom, but when she didn’t appear after ten minutes he asked Joss to take a look for him. She returned shaking her head and gave him a sympathetic pat on the back.
For the rest of the night his colleagues kept their distance and Craig did nothing to improve his tips—flirtation and quick quips dried up on his tongue along with any sign of his earlier good mood.
Rain
There were a crazy amount of butterflies in my stomach.
I hadn’t felt this nervous about something since I was trying to convince Darcy to forgive me all those years ago.
Standing on George Street, staring down at the entrance to Club 39, there was a huge part of me that wanted to turn around, go home, and snuggle up with a blanket and a cup of tea.
Angus was in there. For definite this time. I knew this because I’d actually lowered myself to stalking him on social media.
I shivered in the cool night air and turned to stare longingly down George Street. Black cabs moved up and down the street¸ picking up and dropping off passengers—girls dressed to the nines and guys eyeing up all the girls dressed to the nines.
Laughter echoed down the street, mingling with the sound of engines and heels clacking on concrete.
I could just disappear into the night. Another girl in a pretty dress and heels.
But I couldn’t.
Throwing back my shoulders and ignoring that sick uneasiness in my stomach, I made my way carefully down the stairs to the basement club.
“Evening.” The doorman smiled at me.
I nodded hello and ventured inside to face one man I hated and one man I liked too much.
Leaving Craig last Friday had been cowardly, but at the time I saw no other way. As much as he assured me there would be “no funny stuff” between us, I read something else entirely in his eyes. For whatever reason, he was interested in me. However, I’d seen him with all of his female customers. I’d never known a bigger flirt than Craig Lanaghan, and I wasn’t the kind of woman who could handle that.
Craig would only end up hurting me, intentionally or not.
But I shouldn’t have just left like that. I should have said something.
Now I had to venture into his bar, feeling guilty not only about disappearing on him but for my future intention to ignore him. There was no room for flirtation in my life. Not with Craig.
Pity . . . because I’d much rather flirt with him than with Angus. My whole being rejected the idea, but needs must. Angus would respond to flirting more than anything. He had this huge ego and unfortunately it was my job this evening to stroke the damn thing.
Taking a deep breath, I strode casually into Club 39, my eyes sweeping the bar and deliberately bouncing quickly off Craig. To my relief and distress I found Angus standing not too far from the right side of the bar, where Craig was busy serving a customer.
Determinedly, I kept my gaze fixed on Angus. He was standing with a group of friends, some of whom I recognized. One was a girl I’d once seen him flirting unashamedly with at a party hosted by Darcy and me. The other two were his friends, and I’m sure they were part of the group he shared the sex tape with.
Fury roared through my blood.
Keep calm and smile.
I fixed a small, amused smile on my lips as I approached Angus.
His gaze flickered over the shoulder of the girl he was talking to and it widened slightly at my appearance. I sashayed around the girl as though she didn’t exist and stepped deep into Angus’s personal space. Admittedly he was far too handsome for his own good. He had piercing gray eyes framed by jet-black lashes and a perfectly symmetrical face that bordered on pretty.
“Rain.” I heard the surprise in his voice. “Fancy seeing you here.”
“I was just leaving with some friends when I saw you,” I lied. “How are you?”
He mirrored my amused smile, and I wanted to punch the expression off his face. “I’m good. A little surprised you’re talking to me after the drama your sister caused.”
Fucking rat bastard dickhead traitorous villainous arsehole!
I waved his comment off and rolled my eyes. “Darcy being a drama queen. Again. You know she took off on me. We have a business to run,” I complained.
There was a hint of suspicion in his eyes but still he nodded sympathetically. “Left you in a lurch. What a surprise.”
Fucker fucker fucker fucker fucker FUCKER!!!
I sighed wearily. “It’s not the first time.”
“Still, she is your sister. And I never really got the impression you liked me.”
Hiding my tension I gave him a lazy smile. “You were my sister’s boyfriend. I wasn’t allowed to like you.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I had to keep my distance with you because . . . well . . . let’s just say I’ve been accused of trying to steal Darcy’s boyfriends in the past.” My insides twisted so badly at my lies I froze inwardly, wondering if it was possible to keep this pretense up. It was much, much harder than I thought it would be.
But Angus wasn’t going to make it easy on me. He raised an eyebrow at my lie, looking intrigued by it. “Any truth to it?”
His friends snickered at the question and I gave him a mock look of admonishment, wishing I could just turn my back on this whole damn thing. Somehow I gathered the strength to flirt back. “I don’t need to steal men from my sister, Angus.”
But my words escalated the flirtation as Angus raked his heated gaze over my body in a way that left no room for me to be wrong about what he was thinking. “I bet you don’t.” When he brought his gaze back to mine, I’m not sure I succeeded in keeping the revulsion out of my eyes, and that’s when I realized I wasn’t ready to do this yet.
“Well, I suppose I’d better catch up to my friends.” I took a tentative step away from him.
“Stay.” He grabbed my wrist to stop me and brushed his thumb across my skin. Try not to be sick, Rain. “Let me buy you a drink.”
If ever there was a man more arrogant than this one I was yet to find him. I’d hoped he’d buy my lines about Darcy, but at the same time I couldn’t believe any man could think so much of himself as to be blind to the truth standing right in front of him. He saw what he wanted to see because he couldn’t imagine a woman wouldn’t be attracted to him. This was my opportunity to take him down and I couldn’t believe I was wimping out.
“Come on.”
I smiled, hoping there wasn’t a tremor in the gesture. “Okay. You’ve twisted my arm.” Almost literally, you bastard.
“Red wine, right?”
He’d been paying attention to me. That should have made me happy since it meant his crush on me would make my revenge easier. But it didn’t. It made me uneasy because my plan had never been to seduce the bastard for my revenge. And yet that’s where this hellish endeavor was quickly taking me. Fuck. “Yes.”
He turned toward the bar and my eyes automatically moved there too.
My gaze clashed with Craig’s as he stood mixing a drink.
He looked angry.
I looked away quickly, finding refuge in Angus’s friends. “I’m Rain.”
“I remember,” the tallest bloke said, grinning at me. “I’m Jack. This is Mike and—”
“I’m Lola,” the pretty blonde sneered at me. “You
’ve not got much in the way of sisterly loyalty, have you?”
I felt more than a flash of guilt for the lies I’d perpetrated tonight, but I smiled through her accusation. “Darcy’s never been that loyal to me. Plus . . . she did make the sex tape. It’s not like Angus filmed her behind her back. She’s a grown-up and she made a grown-up decision. Now she has to live with the consequences.” Please forgive me, Darcy, you beautiful girl you. Hopefully she’d never have to know the things I’d said and done tonight.
Lola narrowed her eyes on me. “How convenient for you that they broke up.”
“Lola, sheathe the fucking claws already,” Mike moaned.
I shot him a grateful smile. “Some cats don’t know how to.”
The guys laughed and Lola’s expression darkened. “Very nice.” She gulped back her drink, slammed the empty down on the nearest table, and scowled at me. “I’m suddenly not feeling so great. I think I’m going to go home.” Thirty seconds later she was gone.
If only she knew what a favor I was doing her. “Something I said?”
Jack laughed. “Lola doesn’t like women who are hotter than she is.”
Dick. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Oh, you should.”
An arm draped around my shoulder, a glass of red wine appearing before me. “Here you go,” Angus murmured in my ear.
That familiar queasiness roiled in my stomach and I stubbornly kept the feeling out of my expression. “Thanks.” I took the glass, and thankfully Angus removed his arm from around me.
“Where did Lola go?” he said.
“She was being a bitch to Rain. Turns out Rain can handle bitches.” Mike winked at me and I fought the urge to punch the licentious look off his face. It would seem that creeps hung out in packs.
Angus chuckled. “She thought I was going to shag her tonight. Plans change.”
I ignored his burning stare and the almost uncontrollable urge I had to throw my wine in his face. I’d never considered myself a violent person but if I’d had the strength I would have beaten the shit out of this guy and been done with it.
I felt the press of his hand on my lower back and had to force myself to relax into his touch. I glanced up to find him smiling down at me. “What?”