Page 83 of Torn In Two

Hayden had said the after-party would be held down here, and there was already a steady stream of people handing over their tickets and slipping inside the doors.

I didn’t want to go home and sit in my empty apartment alone. All I’d do was replay every interaction over and over again, and hate myself a little more for every stupid thing I’d said to a woman who was never going to see me as anything more than a friend.

I didn’t want a friend tonight. I wanted something more. Someone to take home. Someone who would make me remember there were plenty of other women around.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I followed a loved-up couple to the doors, handing over my ticket to the woman manning the entrance. Her long dress sparkled in the spotlight above her head, a long split up one thigh and another plunging deep between her breasts.

She scanned the slip of paper Hayden had given me, then gave it back, pointing at a number on it. “There’s a corresponding locker to your left as you walk in for your clothes and personal belongings. And showers just inside the doors if you want them at any time.”

I blinked. Showers? What on earth would I need a shower for? Lockers seemed like overkill too. I could just hold my jacket if I got hot.

My face must have displayed my confusion because the woman laughed at me. “Are you okay?”

I squinted at her, wondering if I’d heard her wrong. I’d had quite a bit to drink tonight. “I’m just wondering why I’d need a shower?”

She bit her lip, trying to hold back a laugh. “Do you have any idea what you’re walking into?”

I shook my head. “I’m starting to think I don’t, actually. Want to clue me in?”

The woman leaned in, nipples brushing against my chest, her lips at my ear so she could whisper into it. “It’s a sex club, honey. Welcome to the real side of Sinners.”

26

KARA

TEN MINUTES EARLIER

Hayden’s food lit up every taste bud in my mouth. The explosion of flavor was like nothing I’d ever tasted before and made me realize exactly how bland and boring my own cooking was.

I’d offered to cook for this man. How embarrassing. My plain boiled potatoes and slow-cooked stews didn’t deserve to call themselves food in the face of this sort of flavor.

But my thoughts drifted away with the fruity pink cocktails I’d been drinking all night, and I moaned, shoveling another mouthful of saucy chicken into my mouth.

Hawk shifted an inch closer, his hand coming to rest on my leg.

I flinched at the unexpected touch, glancing at Grayson, who was eating his meal intently, studying his fish like he might be able to decipher every ingredient used to make it as tasty as it was if he stared at it hard enough.

Hawk leaned in, his lips dragging their way up my neck to my ear. “That’s the noise you make when you come.”

I blinked, sure he’d said that way too loud for Grayson not to hear.

“I think I’m going to leave you to it,” he mumbled, confirming my suspicions. “Maybe go check out the after-party or something.”

His chair scraped along the floor as he pushed it back and stood, dropping his napkin to the table.

I went to say something, but Grayson walked away too quick for me to get a sound out.

“Thought he’d never leave,” Hawk mumbled against my skin.

I elbowed him. “Don’t be mean. You’re the one who invited him here tonight.”

“That was before I saw you in that dress and wished I hadn’t opened my big mouth.”

The dress was one I’d found in the stack of clothes Bliss had donated to me. The old me would have never dared to wear something so…attention-grabbing. But it was a special occasion, and I’d wanted to fit in with the rich women from Providence who had flocked to the restaurant, perhaps because it was the new hot place to be seen…perhaps because they were looking for the spice hidden behind the thick wooden doors down the hallway.

The alcohol swirled inside me pleasantly. I laughed, liking the way Hawk looked at me, the way he touched me, even if he had just made things awkward with Grayson. Every touch of Hawk’s fingertips left warmth in its wake. The music in my ears had my hips swaying unconsciously to the beat. Or maybe that was just my body seeking out his. I glanced toward the hallway where Grayson had disappeared, fighting the building urge inside my body to crawl into Hawk’s lap.

I forced my focus onto something more mundane. Something more appropriate, since we were in public and Grayson could hit those doors, realize what was beyond them, and turn around and walk back out any second now. “Grayson was amazing today, wasn’t he? His stories about the hospital and his patients are so inspiring.”

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