For a second, Sawyer glanced at the other woman, but his gaze immediately went back to the dark-haired woman companion. His cock tightened.Whoa.When was the last time he’d had a reaction to a woman like that? Years.

“The blonde is Jesse’s friend,” Eric said.

Sawyer spared him a glance, and his friend laughed.

“It’s written all over your face. You’re interested.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m going to do anything.”

“Why not? Come on, Sawyer, you’ve been living like a monk.”

“You know why.”

“Gina was a first-class gold digger and bitch.”

Sawyer couldn’t argue with that. “And I let myself be blinded by her.” He wasn’t proud that she’d somehow strung him along perfectly. He’d always thought he was smarter than that.

“Gina was good, but in the end, she showed her true colors.”

“True.” Sawyer’s gaze returned to the woman in the booth. What was it about her that held his attention? Brad, one of the servers, went up to the table with several plates and arranged them on the table.

The woman Sawyer was intrigued by gestured to the food and chatted with Brad. It seemed like she was asking about the food. Sawyer wished he could hear the conversation. Brad walked away, and she picked up one of the sliders and took a bite. Her eyes closed as she chewed.

Sawyer couldn’t help himself; he was entranced by this woman. He kept his gaze on her face as she swallowed, and pleasure lit up her expression. His gut tightened. He was restless tonight. Something was missing from his life. When had he become so disenchanted?

When he opened the nightclub, he’d decided to offer food along with drinks. Some thought he was crazy to offer more than snacks, but he found people enjoyed having food with their drinks. Not that they had an extensive menu, mainly finger food and salads. They made therealmoney on the alcohol.

Sawyer glanced out at the crowd again. Maybe he’d take a walk on the main floor.

He glanced over at the DJ. He’d decided to keep the DJ on the second floor. It kept people from coming up to the DJ with requests, but it was also where he and Eric shared a big office in the opposite corner.

The rest of the second floor was turned into seating for any of his or Eric’s special guests who didn’t want to be on the main floor. They could enjoy the view and talk in private or go downstairs and dance if they wanted. Investors who knewSawyer and Eric often wanted a place they could take clients to that was more causal than a formal restaurant. Sawyer didn’t mind. They paid him well for it.

“I’m going to go walk around downstairs,” he said.

“Enjoy.” Eric grinned at him, and Sawyer ignored him. It wasn’t unusual for one of them to walk the floor and check in on things.

***

Gabby took another drink of her champagne, sated and relaxed. The sliders were perfect, the fries crisp, and charcuterie board was great, a mixture of cheeses, fruit, crackers, and jam. It was everything a person could want in a nightclub. Simple, but with flavors that pleased the senses. At least for her.

The dance floor was semi-crowded, but the place was hopping. “How did you meet Jesse and find out about this place?”

“I met Jesse a few weeks ago on one of the singles outing groups I went with. We started chatting, and he told me where he worked. When the weekend rolled around, I stood in line and came into the club.”

“That line was enormous.”

“Jesse told me it’s always like that. People want to be seen at The Vault.”

“Why is that?” Gabby was curious.

“Probably something to do with the billionaire owners.” Lindsay waved her hand toward the DJ area. “Not that I cared about that. Jesse is so much fun.”

“Ah.” Gabby wiggled her eyebrows at her friend.

“Stop.” Lindsay slapped Gabby on the arm and laughed.

“Evening, ladies.”