The look that heated his eyes shot butterflies into Rubi’s stomach. He reached out and gripped the back of her neck in an affectionate squeeze. A warm, sexy smile lifted his mouth in that lopsided way that made her desire burn hotter. “No more driving for me today. And no more worrying for you, as adorable as it is. ”
She did worry about him, dammit. She didn’t look at the waiter when she said, “Cosmo, please. ”
Wes’s hand slid off her neck, leaving it cold…and empty.
“Moving away from your Sexy Bitch?” The waiter’s familiar voice held an edge of humor, and Rubi immediately knew who was serving them. She reserved a certain drink for each club she visited—one of her quirky compulsions.
A sense of equilibrium crept in. She pulled off her sunglasses and smiled up at the head bartender of Stilettos, a club she hit when she was feeling particularly unsettled…or, okay, desperate…and needed something quick and dirty.
She stood and gave Roméo a hug. “Hey. ”
His black hair was still long, his lip and eyebrow piercings subdued with simple silver studs. “Haven’t seen you for a while. You look…”—his dark eyes darted to Wes, then back to Rubi, and his smile turned sly—“tousled. ”
She ignored the innuendo. “Why are you working here?”
“Picking up some hours. Bills, you know?”
No, she didn’t know. Money she’d always had, and would always have traded any day over the last twenty-five years for real parents. But she did know all about financial struggle through Lexi, so she nodded.
She introduced everyone around the table. The men shook hands.
“I’m on at Stilettos tonight,” Roméo said to Rubi. “A lot of people have been asking about you. You should come by and say hi. ”
As soon as the club’s name was hanging in the air, dread settled in her gut. She lowered to her seat, her gaze searching out Lexi’s, and Rubi found her friend already staring at her with the same alarm in her eyes that danced in Rubi’s gut. But then…this might be a good thing. A way to illustrate to Wes that she wasn’t really what he thought or what he wanted.
“Stilettos?” Rachel said. “Really? Isn’t that a sex club?”
Roméo seemed to find this amusing, his grin growing. He shrugged, as if that didn’t fully describe the club—which it didn’t. “That’s what it’s known for, yeah. ”
“Sounds good,” Rubi said. Couldn’t hurt to get rid of some of this pent-up frustration. “I’ll stop by. ”
Rachel gasped and reached across the table to cover Rubi’s hand. “Can I come? You can pretend you don’t know me. ”
Rubi laughed. “You? Really?”
“Yes, me,” she said, sitting back with a scandalous little smirk. “I told you, I’m not as innocent as I may look—a little like Wes, here. ”
“Stick close to Rubi if it’s your first time there,” Roméo said. “Once you learn the ropes—so to speak—you’ll be fine. And a hit. You may not be as innocent as you look, but that makes what you’ve got going extra hot. ” He glanced around the table casually, as if this were a normal conversation. “Do you know what you want, or do you all need a minute?”
“Just a minute,” Rubi said.
When Roméo moved on to another table, Rubi forced her gaze to stay on the menu. Her stomach burned with discomfort. She didn’t need to see Wes’s face to know his outward ease had vanished. Tension radiated off him like electromagnetic waves.
“Rubi?” Lexi’s voice pulled her distant gaze from the menu. Roméo was back, setting down her cosmo. Jesus, how long had she been lost in her own head? “Do you know what you want?”
A new freaking brain. One without these hang-ups.
Rubi smiled at Roméo. “Salad. ”
He smirked. “Honey, we’ve got twelve different salads. ”
Crap. She scanned quickly and found one with candied pecans. When he turned away with their orders, Rubi picked up her cosmo and had to force herself not to down it in one gulp.
“You hang out at a sex club?” Wes asked, his voice deep…and irritated.
Rubi’s throat tightened around her drink, and she had to force herself to swallow.
“It’s only a sex club in the back,” Lexi was quick to point out. She turned that angelic smile on Wes. “I’ve been there. Out front, it’s just like a regular club. You know, a bar, dance floor. ”