Colin held up his hand in surrender. "Just putting in my two cents."
"Yeah, well keep it."
Gary returned right then with the drinks. He glanced back at the stage. "What do you think? Isn't she fucking hot?" he asked as he sat down to watch the dancer.
I wanted nothing more than to sit and drink myself into a stupor. I leaned back, and my heavy-lidded gaze drifted lazily toward the stage. I stared at her incredible body and legs as she spun around the pole. Something about her, her muscular legs, smooth skin and the way she moved was familiar. I sat forward with a jolt and was drunk enough to knock the table. Colin and Gary looked back at me. Bucky was too focused on the dancer.
Gary chuckled as he elbowed Colin. "Guess she's got Ro's attention, too."
Colin laughed. "She's hot, that's for sure." He looked at me for agreement, but I was too busy holding myself together. Every mix of emotion went through me as I watched the woman who had stolen my heart dance nearly nude for everyone in the room, including my brother and his idiot friends. Bucky was just about drooling as he watched her dance.
Colin tapped his shoe against mine. "You all right?"
I shook my head. The music was coming to an end. I wasn't sure which was worse, the heartache as I realized how much I missed her or the anger of knowing a bunch of pricks were sitting with hard-ons as they watched her on stage. My first instinct was to walk out, but I had just enough booze in my bloodstream to push me to a stupid decision. I pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of my wallet. The music ended. Cheers and clapping echoed through the small room. I walked up to the stage just as she leaned down to pick up a silky top that had landed near the tip jar.
I stared up at her as I pushed my money into the jar. She glanced up with a friendly smile, a smile that faded fast. Her lips turned down, and she gazed at me with those amazing brown eyes, brown eyes that knew how to look right into my soul. She swept up the shirt and the rest of her clothes and hurried off stage.
I walked back to the table. My tablemates were staring at me as if I'd grown horns. Bucky was wearing a stupid grin. "At least I got a wink from a lesbian. You scared that cutie off as if you were showing her vampire fangs. I guess the Wildes aren't all badass when it comes to women."
"What the hell just happened?" Colin asked. "She ran off that stage so fast. What the hell did you say?"
"Didn't need to say a fucking thing." I gulped the rest of my beer and slammed the bottle down. "I'm leaving."
"What? How you getting home? What's goin' on, Ro?" Colin asked.
I stood up. "I'll walk."
"It's like five miles," Bucky said.
"Yep, five good miles to clear my head." I turned to leave. A shiny, spruced-up prick with a big fat watch and expensive bottle of scotch was sitting in the dark corner by himself. It was easy to match him with the Maserati outside. He stared at me as if he knew he didn't like me, even if he didn't know me. I reached the door and stopped. "Nope, fuck it." I turned around and knew damn well I was going to regret the decision, but my ego and the unfamiliar ache in my chest won the argument.
I headed down the small, dark hallway that led to some of the back rooms. The management had helpfully written "dancers only" on a door. I grabbed the door and opened it.
Two women were standing with Rachel, comforting her as she blotted tears from her eyes. They looked up in surprise.
"Can't you read the door?" the woman, Bucky's new friend, asked angrily.
"I need to talk to Rachel," I said.
They looked at Rachel. She nodded that they could leave her side. I got angry glares as they slipped past me into the hallway.
I stepped inside the dressing room and shut the door. I figured I had less than a minute before the giant bouncer came storming in to throw my ass out. It was all I needed. The crazy thing was that what I was thinking of saying and what actually came out of my mouth were two entirely different things. But seeing her, standing there looking so incredibly beautiful, big brown eyes shiny with tears, my mind and my ego switched directions.
"I fucking need you, Rachel. I need you in my life."
twenty-seven
. . .
Rachel
My throat was so tight I couldn't get words out. I took a deep breath. "Don't you see, Ronan? It's impossible. This is me. This is my other job. And I need it to survive." I looked pointedly at his taped hand. "We're both in dire straits when it comes to just basic survival."
He walked toward me, and it took all my willpower not to jump into his arms and beg him to carry me straight out of the bar. "I'll figure a way. I'll work three jobs if I have to. I can take care of you and Jack."
"And my mom. I come with an entourage." My eyes were still bleary He reached up and wiped a stray tear with his thumb. I closed my eyes and held my breath as his finger dragged along my cheek. What the hell was it about the man that he could cause such a profound physical reaction with just the edge of his thumb? I looked down. "Your hand?"
"Just a broken finger. I'll be back on the job in three weeks. I'll find another job to do at night, in a warehouse or something. Then you can quit this one."