Page 48 of Twisted Hearts

Dinner came. We ate. Talked about a little of nothing with a whole lot of quiet, but that was to be expected, too.

Now, I was fighting against going hard as she worked the bar. It was Sunday, a slow night, which meant she had time to come talk to me in between drink orders, but I was more fascinated watching her move behind the bar. She worked like she’d done it for years, not just a week, but it was more than her ability to pick up on mixed drinks quickly.

It was thewayshe moved. Elegantly. Like she’d learned how to walk with books piled on top of her head in order to glide like a runway model. That sway of her hips, the curve of her ass…

All while I sat there with a glass of water in front of me and tried to forget about the way electric heat had spread through my veins as soon as she’d slammed her mouth to mine.

A dream.

She had been having a sex dream about me, and after the day she’d had, after the weeks she’d had and the relationship with a guy I couldn’t wait to punch in the face and who I was now focused on helping her forget permanently, it was the absolutelastthing I’d figured she would dream of.

It also told me that however he’d hurt her, whatever he’d done to her to make her describe him as the biggest asshole in all the ways men can be to women, she wasn’t so damaged from it she wasn’t interested in someone else.

And dear God, I wanted that someone to be me.

“You asked for a minute of my time?”

Malcolm Lawrence, from what I’d learned, was a stand-up guy and a good businessman. He now owned three different bars around Raleigh. The other two he had up and running were so far in the black this man probably could have bought the city and everyone in it. He came from a two-parent home in Alabama and was a middle child. His older brother was a mechanic, and his sister was a hairstylist; both still lived in the same town of three thousand where he’d grown up, and he’d received a football scholarship to play for Clemson. Upon graduating, he moved to Raleigh, where Connor Quinten played for the Rough Riders, and together, they had opened their first club, Connor being the major investor.

No arrests. Nothing sketchy in his past. It was amazing what a few searches could find if you knew what to look for.

None of that meant I trusted him with Addi completely. If she was in trouble, I’d make damn sure anyone she surrounded herself with wouldn’t be a threat.

“Yeah.” I turned on my stool and stood. “Shawn Blakely.” I held out my hand, and he took it, glancing at Addi. Addi had given him my name the other night outside, but we hadn’t formally met. “You got an office, somewhere private we can chat?”

“This about Addi?”

“It is.”

He eyed me like he didn’t trust me. Worked for me since I didn’t know him enough to trust him, despite learning all the great things about him. When it came to Addi, I didn’t trust anyone. When I didn’t expand, he nodded and stepped back.

“There’s an office in the back. It’s not much, but at least it’ll be quiet. Need a drink?”

I grabbed my water and pocketed my cell phone. “No thanks. Don’t drink on the job.”

At that, his brows rose. So Addi hadn’t explained her problem, and he didn’t know who I was yet. That was good. I preferred it came from me rather than having Addi need to talk about it more than she wanted.

I followed him around the bar, my gaze drifting to Addi while I did. I’d already told her when I talked to Malcolm to not leave the bar for any reason whatsoever until I got back. I waited until she nodded, acknowledging what we’d talked about earlier.

Her bottom lip found its way beneath her teeth, making me swallow down a grunt at the reminder of how she tasted.

I didn’t drink on the job, at least not in public, and I never got involved with people whose lives were held in the palm of my hand.

Shooting fifty-fifty so far wasn’t bad, because there was no way in hell I wasn’t going to explore that kiss, or that dream, in much more explicit detail at a later date.

Even if it meant waiting until I got her free and clear from the shitshow she was in.

The music quieted once we reached the hallway, and we walked past a door to the kitchen. Metal doors swung and banged, and clanks and clunks of food getting prepped filtered out. Two heavy wooden doors for restrooms and then the office. Malcolm pulled out his keys and unlocked it, pushing it open. He held it with one hand and stepped back, letting me enter first.

I scanned the small room as I stepped in, and instinct had me putting my back to the wall as soon as I could.

As soon as he entered and the door closed, the only sound in the room was a quietly ticking clock on the wall.

“I hung out with Jaxon a little bit while he was here last weekend, so I know you work for him and I know you’re new.”

That saved me the time it would take to introduce myself at least.

He moved to perch his ass on his desk, arms crossed, looking like he was ready to pummel someone on Addi’s behalf. “Is she in trouble?”

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