Page 12 of A Smooth Operator

With my head down, I brushed past them and just walked away. I needed a restroom, so I followed the signs, feeling humiliated.

"Hey." Lani grabbed my arm. "What was that? Why are you being so rude?"

"Me? Rude?" I couldn't fucking believe it, and I didn't even swear. "Lani, you think I want to date a married man who's way older than me and looks like that?"

"You think you can do better?" Lani crossed her arms.

I shook my head. "I have to go."

I walked into the restroom, and thankfully, there wasn't a queue. I went into the handicap booth and locked the door shut. I did my business and washed my hands the whole time, aware that I wanted to lie down in a fetal position and cry.

I stayed there for a good ten minutes, hoping that Lani was not prowling around, waiting for me.

I snuck out of the restrooms and looked around for exits. The path to the front door was filled with mines—Lani, Tommy, and Jer.

I walked around to the back of the club and hoped there was an exit there. I opened a few closed doors and got nowhere.

Finally, I opened a door that looked promising and froze.

It was a storage room, and inside on a desk was Marina leaning over and Remi's employee, the handsome guy I'd seen earlier, pounding into her from the back. She was naked waist up, and his hands were on her tits, squeezing as he said, "Fuck, your ass is so tight, babe."

Marina's eyes went wide when she saw me.

I took a step back and bumped into a warm body. I was about to flee when I saw that the warm body that I had collided with was Remi.

My quiet Friday evening plans were obviously blown to smithereens.

Chapter 5

Remi

Now, I'm sure we've all thought about how we'd react when we saw the person we were with getting nailed from behind by someone we thought of as a friend and nightclub manager. Alex had been with me since I opened Paint the Town Red.

"Remi," Marina screamed.

"No, darlin', his name is Alex. Don't hurry on my account. Y'all take your time, you hear. Come on now, Echo, let's get you a drink, luv."

I put my arm around Echo and shut the door on Marina's shocked face.

I steered Echo into my office and locked the door. I had no idea why I brought her with me. It was impulse. She was there, and I needed someone to lean on.

As soon as we were in my office, I collapsed on my leather couch.

I dropped my face in my hands.

""Don't hurry on my account." Is that what I just said?" The shit that came out of my mouth sometimes was unbelievable.

"It was actually funny," Echo replied.

I looked at her and saw amusement but also compassion.

"What can I say? I'm a funny guy." I was in shock. There was a whistling sound in my ear like a bomb went off. I thought I was in love with Marina. She was planning an engagement. I'd just fucked that girl four hours ago, and here she was getting it in her ass from Alex.

It was all too much. But as I assessed my feelings, I realized that it hurt more that Alex would betray me than Marina.

Alex and I worked together. He was a friend and colleague.

"You got some alcohol in here?" Echo wondered.

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