Page 11 of Night's Fall
For a person with my disposition, it was so much better than thePinkClub, it was startling.Ifit didn’t cost a fortune,I’dhappily be here on the regular, chatting with my chicks, drinking fun drinks, and hopingCatran into someone she could love with all her heart, who loved her that way in return.
“I spy a couple of stools, let’s hit it,”Catsaid, and forged along the plush soot carpeting under our feet, her trajectory: the bar.
I tried not to look to the booths as we moved, which probably cost more to reserve, which meant there were likely very rich, very famous, very aristocratic or (maybe!) very royal people sitting in them.
I was an avid people watcher and had a job whereIwas frequently around celebrities, soI’dhoned my skills to such a pointI’dtake it as a personal fail if it came off as gawking.
Mostly, the sensationIfelt when entering the club, more precisely from seeing that male at the back of it, had unnerved me, andIdidn’t think it was a good idea to revisit that feeling.
Therefore,Ifocused on the fact that there were really no other shoesIcould wear with this dress, butIstill lamented wearing them.I’dbarely been standing for fifteen minutes, andIwanted to unstrap them and donate them to the nearest resale pane.
Thus, when we hit the two open barstools,Ieyed there being only two with a very unsisterlike intensity, because neitherCatnorGaylewere wearing footwear that was comfortable, and at that point,Imight engage in physical combat to claim one.
“Take mine,” a deep voice said as a male slid off the stool next to one of the empty ones.
I looked up at an exceptionally handsome black-haired, black-eyed demon.
He smiled at me, and that was exceptionally handsome too.
On this thought, my stomach twisted so brutally,Inearly bent double with the pain.
“Lord of hellfire, you okay?” the male demon asked me, bending from his tall height to look into my face and reaching out, possibly to guide me to the stool he vacated, but before his hand even touched me, he murmured, “Shit, the heat coming off you is mately.”
The pain had subsided, soIlooked at him, bemused at his words. “Sorry?”
“Is your mate here?” he asked while glancing around.
My attention immediately went to the booth, now directly across from whereIwas standing.Ivaguely noticed the people in it were sliding out, all but that one male who was sitting dead center at the back.
I still couldn’t see his face in the shadows, butIcould see the breadth of his shoulders, which were astonishingly wide, and considering my vocation,Inoted again the cut of his suit, which was superb.
I could also feel his pull.
Whoever he was, he was somebody.Somebodyimportant.Somebodymagnetic.
Gods, maybe he was even the prince.
The prince was tall.Hehad very wide shoulders.He’dhave reason, even in an exclusive club, to hide himself in the shadows.
And he always wore impeccably tailored suits.
“She doesn’t have a mate,”Gaylesaid, helping me hike my rear on the stool.
Once settled,Igazed up at the demon, who’d had a fae friend, with thick, leonine hair and lilac eyes, join him to stand in front of us. “Justto make you being kind enough to give me your seat even more awkward,Ihaven’t been out in a while because of some…life stuff.AndI’mnot really a going-out type of person anyway.SoIthink my body’s just having some difficulty getting into the swing of things again.That’ssomeTMIwhenIdon’t even know your name, butI’dratherTMIthan you thinkingI’mweird.”
Okay, so, maybeI’drather him thinkIwas weird than blurting semi-personal stuff two minutes into not quite meeting the guy.
Ugly side effect of being shy number one: you often blathered stupid things that made you seem weird.
Side effect of blathering stupid things that made you seem weird: in order not to put yourself in this excruciating position, you became a homebody.
He grinned again, my stomach reacted with a pinch again, but fortunately not as strong this time, and he said, “Honestyis never too much.Andwe’ll rectify part of that.I’mBash.”Hegestured to his friend. “ThisisTay.”
Cat inserted herself into the conversation, thank the gods.
“That’sLaura, this isGayle, andI’mCat.”
“Ladies,”Tay’sdeep voice rumbled over us.
