Julie must have realized her remark had gone a way she hadn’t meant. “Sorry, let me just get my foot out of my mouth.” She grinned sheepishly at Charity.
Charity didn’t care. She knew Julie and knew she didn’t mean it as a jab. “Let’s use the guy for free drinks and then bust out of this joint. Poor guy will probably be heartbroken, but I’m sure he’ll survive.”
It was past ten o’clock by the time they finished at Cherie’s. They continued joking around and headed out of the bar.
“Charity, lead the way to our next stop.” Simon made a grand gesture of trying to bow and nearly stumbled on top of Julie. She kept him on his feet and then nearly fell from laughing at him.
“We’ve apparently enjoyed Bob the bartender’s services tonight.” Elijah slipped his arm over Charity’s shoulder. “Where’s this club you were talking about?”
“Follow me.” Charity’s arm found its own way around Elijah’s waist. She glanced back to make sure Julie and Simon could follow them and then checked her watch “It’s already ten, the club’s going to be busy. Last time I went, the place was already crazy by nine p.m. It’s going to be awesome.” She giggled in excitement. “Hidden Beat awaits.”
Chapter 14
The beat from the music reverberated against her chest. Charity couldn’t wait to get onto the dance floor. They walked past people talking and drinking by tall tables. Julie tapped her shoulder and pointed to an empty one on the far side. Charity looked back to Elijah and Simon following close behind. They nodded and headed to the bar to get drinks.
Julie leaned her elbows on the table and glanced around the room. “This place is awesome! I can’t believe I never knew it was here.”
Charity bounced her head to the music, absorbing it like a drug. “An old buddy of mine bought the bar about eight years ago and redid the whole thing. Every year, just before summer starts, he repaints it some funky color or design.” This year the walls were painted a charcoal grey with mirrors everywhere – the walls, ceiling, even parts of the ground had some kind of mirror flooring.”
“It’s super cool. Where do you know the owner from? How come I haven’t met him?” She giggled. “Maybe I don’t want to know.” Julie stared at the people dancing. “The dance area is huge. There are some die-hard boogie boppers out there.”
“Boogie-boppers? Seriously?!” Charity laughed; her friend’s use of words always cracked her up. “Kyle, the guy who owns the bar, and I met at a jazz class. He loves dancing. Used to be a dancer for a big UK pop singer. He met his wife here and bought the bar when he retired.”
“Really?” Elijah came up behind her, his warm body pressing with just the exact right amount of pressure against her derriere and back. He brought his arm around and handed her a drink. “Spiced rum and Coke.”
“Thanks.” She took a long sip and smiled when a new song started. A proper dance version of Battlefield. It had a heavy bass and great beat line. The drinks of the evening were giving her liquid courage. She set the drink down and pulled Julie away from Simon. “Come on, let’s dance.”
She heard Julie tell the boys, “Wait till you see this.”
Without looking back, Charity slipped by a group of guys and down the five steps to the dance floor. Julie was close behind. Grabbing Julie’s hand Charity led her to the middle of the floor. She waved to Elijah and Simon drinking their beers at their table.
Charity threw her arms into the air and let the beat take her away. Every class she’d ever taken threw a bit of its knowledge into her movements. In no time, people had moved away to give her space and watch her move. Julie was a decent dancer and the two of them mimicked and challenged each other with moves. Charity clearly outshone, but didn’t care. She just wanted to dance and have fun. It was the same story every time.
She could feel Elijah’s eyes blazing through her and she wished he was down on floor dancing with her. She’d make more than just his eyes smolder.
A cute guy moved his way between Julie and her. He danced with the two of them. He grabbed Julie’s hand, spinning her into him and then letting go of her as she twirled away. Julie bowed and dramatically fluttered her fingers in Charity’s direction so she could have a spin as well.
Charity offered her hand to the cute guy’s extended one. He twirled her around and then pulled her to him, wrapping both arms around so she couldn’t step away. His dancing turned into rough, hard grinding and the dirty grin on his face was unmistakable.
Similar situations had happened before when she went to clubs to dance. It had never happened at the Hidden Beat, though. It ticked her off… big time.
Resisting the guy would be useless. She knew exactly what to do. Moving to his jagged thumping, she shifted slightly to the left and dropped down to match his grind and slipped around to face him. His hot breath hit her face like venom. Driving her knee as she rose up, she nailed him right between the legs. The guy fell and writhed on the floor, holding his balls.
“Sorry ‘bout that. You might want to put some ice on those.” She spun and banged into Elijah, whose arm was drawn back. His eyes were dark and his face red with anger. Calm him down. She slipped her arms around his neck and pulled him to a less busy part of the dance floor. His chest heaved and his jaw crushed so tight she could see his facial muscles twitch and clench. She touched his cheek. “It’s fine. Dance with me.”
His hands slipped around her waist but his gaze travelled over to the not-so-cute dancer now limping his way off the other side of the dance floor. “I should punch the shit out of that guy.”
Charity laughed, the moment’s adrenaline running its course and calming now. “That’d be smart, doctor. And break your wrist or fingers for some schmuck? How would that work for performing surgeries?”
Elijah stared down at her, his eyes intense. “Good point.” His hand ran over her derriere. “So this is the reason for these firm muscular glutes?”
“Are you liking my assets?” She pressed closer to him, still easily carrying the beat of the music.
“Damn right.” His fingers trailed up and down her sides, sending sparks deep inside her. Music could drive her crazy but his touch went further. “You do realize you just let your little secret talent out and now I’m going to bug you to dance just for me.”
She playfully punched his shoulder. “I like dancing, but I’m no strip dancer.”
“Lap dance then?” He raised his eyebrows.