Page 5 of A Man After Midnight

Chapter Two

As Wren settled into the seat next to her, he gave the taxi driver an address. Just as the door closed with a click, doubts started playing through her mind. She just met the man, for heaven’s sake! Was he married? Was he an ax-murderer? Did he have any STDs?

Trying to be discreet, Caroline held her phone down at her side, the one not next to Wren, and sent a quick text to Aldy to let her know whom she was with and where they were going. As she hit the send button, Caroline became aware of his body pressed against hers. Her stomach lurched with anticipation and the thrill of excitement, even from just barely touching him. A mental picture of the both of them in bed together, his body thrusting into hers, sent her hormones into overdrive.

Perhaps Aldy had been right all along. Perhaps she did need a good fuck. Caroline took a deep breath to steady her pulse when he turned toward her with a wicked little smile.

“What’s running through that pretty head of yours?” he asked in a husky voice.

She curled her fingers into her palms, letting her nails bite into the skin, in an effort to bring her lustful thoughts under control.

“Are you married? Are you an ax-murderer? Do you have any STDs?” She repeated the questions that streamed through her brain, ticking them off on her fingers.

“No, no, and no.” He lifted his left eyebrow. “You?”

“Not anymore, no, and no.”

He took hold of her left hand, his thumb rubbing the indented skin on the back of her ring finger. She knew he couldn’t see it, but a tiny scar lingered from when her engagement ring had cut her once. Long, long ago.

“Not anymore, huh? How long?”

“Four years, but we’d been drifting apart for some time before the actual break-up.” She pulled her hand away and gave him a dismissive smile. “But you don’t want to hear about that. Why don’t you tell me where we’re going?”

Wren stared at her in a measuring sort of way. As if he were trying to figure her out. Perhaps he was. They were strangers, after all.

“Why did you come with me, Caroline?” he asked. “What makes me different than that asshole in the alley?”

“I … well, I…” She wasn’t able to pull her thoughts together in any decent, coherent way. What could she say? She was insanely attracted to him, and not the man in the alley? That sounded superficial as hell.

“It’s okay,” he murmured. “It was just a rhetorical question. So, the place we’re going is called Big Band Dance Hall. Seventeen men and women on a tiered stage, playing all the classics of Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington and Count Basie.”

Shock poured through her, and she thought she had to resemble a fish with her mouth opening and closing in surprise. “Really? Wow. My favorite piece of music is Moonlight Serenade.”

“I had a feeling you’d like the music.”

She eyed him up and down. “You don’t look like the type of man who enjoys that era in time.”

“Oh? What type of man do I look like?”

She raised an eyebrow as she folded her arms over her chest. “I’m not a fashionista, but I’m assuming that suit is something like Armani or Gucci. So I would have to say classical, perhaps Bach or Beethoven.”

“I do like Bach and Beethoven,” he admitted. “But my grandmother brought me up, and she was a regular taxi dancer who taught me all she knew.”

“Taxi dancer? Really? She sounds like a fun lady.”

“She was,” he said softly.

“Oh,” Caroline said, laying her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you. Me too.”

Just then the taxi came to a halt, and Caroline glanced out of the window. The outside of the building reflected the style of the 1930s, with art-deco lamps rising from the side of the brick building, an awning covering the opening, and a suited doorman. Wren helped her from the taxi and then placed her hand in the crook of his elbow. The doorman held the door open as they entered.

The foyer held a bar where various people stood mingling and talking, the bartender dressed simply in a black button down shirt and a small bowtie, hat and suspenders. Deep red carpet lined the floor and contrasted nicely with the dark wooden tones of the walls. The lighting was subdued, adding to the intimacy of the hall.

Several people waved to Wren and he greeted back with their names, confirming his familiarity.

“Come here often?” Caroline asked, voice tinged with a hint of sarcasm.

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