“She’s just a means to an end, Zo. He doesn’t really want her.”
“I don’t care.”
“You totally do. Girl, you two have been catching each other’s eyes all night, and Cole has never looked at her the way he looked at you when we were dancing. The man could have burned holes in the guys around us at that moment. Cole has a temper underneath all that jolly good-boy bartender attitude, and it showed a little when he got jealous of those guys getting too close to you.”
“You’re delusional.” I shook my head in denial, but I found myself wanting to believe her words.
“Am I? Why don’t you go back there and see what he does? Bet he stops what he’s doing for you.”
I stuck out my hand. “Give me your mop and rag.”
“Why?” She curled a lip at me like I was crazy.
“Because”—I grabbed them as she held them out my way, then spun toward the back door—“I’m going to put them away. We’re done cleaning.”
Her eyes bugged out. “Seriously? Okay, Zoey, I was sort of joking. Do you have a plan?”
Nope.
I found myself doing the opposite of all my best-laid plans that night. I’d stayed well over the normal time I should have worked. I’d made friends and meaningful connections when I was well aware I wasn’t emotionally available. I’d even gotten behind a bar—a place I knew I didn’t belong. And now I stalked into the backroom, purposefully moving toward a man I was pretty sure I had maybe one tiny feeling for, knowing he would most likely be screwing someone else.
The door swung open without a creak, and I waved at Jude as I hurried down the hallway. There were a couple of doors that led to bathrooms and then one at the very end that was cracked with no light coming through.
I heard flesh pounding even before I reached the entrance.
My pussy clenched, my stomach dropped, and my nipples tightened all at once.
I made my last bad decision of the night and peered around the corner of the door.
There in the darkness, I saw milk-white legs spread-eagle on a table and Cole’s bare ass thrusting between them over and over again. His muscles tightened and glowed in the dim light. His back was sweating, and the way she dragged her nails from his shoulder blade down to the small of his back before moving lower to squeeze one butt cheek had me falling against the door frame.
Neither of them noticed me. They were too wrapped up in fucking, and I was too entangled in the moment to look away. My hand itched to find its way into my jeans and get off with him even knowing he wasn’t at all interested in doing that with me.
I bit my lip. It’d been too long, I told myself as my gaze fixated on his rhythm. This was why I stayed, why I felt a pull toward him, why I found him so damn attractive.
Just when I was sure he was about to finish, he stopped abruptly and stepped back to flip her onto her stomach, bending her over the table. He smacked her ass, and she whimpered out that she wanted more.
He entered her from behind and leaned his massive arms over onto the table for leverage. “Last time, Vivica. This is the last time.”
“Whatever you say, Cole,” she moaned.
He grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked it back hard enough for her to arch.
I didn’t expect the force or the zing of pleasure that shot through me at seeing it. I realized too late that I gasped aloud; I’d made an audible sound, and Cole’s head snapped around as he thrust into her again.
She didn’t know I was there, too lost in her own pleasure, but Cole’s stare locked on mine. His jaw ticked up and down as he ground his teeth together. His brows slammed down, and he jerked his head down the hall as if telling me, Get the hell out of here.
I breathed in deep and was as surprised as him when I shook my head no at him.
He growled and gripped her ass, thrusting into her again and again while staring at me.
My jaw dropped at his audacity, at the raw need I felt too.
I wanted to join them, wanted to be that woman, wanted any part of it.
My eyes fell to his slick cock, throbbing and thrusting into her again and again.
One thrust.
Two thrusts.
And a third one hard enough to make the table rattle beneath them. His neck corded as he groaned and then mouthed my name. I swear I saw it, swear he had imagined me instead of her.
It was enough to have me step away from him. I hurried back down the hall, grabbed my coat on the way out, and met Drake at the bar. “I’m not going to stay. I have to get up early.”
“No biggie. Here’s your cut.” He handed me a wad of dough that I didn’t bother counting. “We going to see you in a couple days?”
“If it works out with my schedule,” I mumbled, not at all sure I wanted to commit to anything after what I’d just witnessed.
Red bounded up and gave me a huge hug. She whispered into my ear, “I don’t even want to know, but you better come back. And thanks for your help. Text me so I have your number.”
I winced and glanced back at the back doors. Would he barrel out any second to accuse me of peeping in on them? “Um, sure, sure. Here’s my number.”
Instead of fumbling to get my phone, I grabbed a pen and a napkin to write it down. Then, I waved at them all haphazardly as I hurried toward the exit. Without looking back, I mumbled, “Nice meeting you guys. I’m happy I got to work with you even if I don’t see you soon.”
“Oh, you’ll be seeing us. Especially me, Zoey. Especially me.” Cole’s voice announced from behind me in that smooth voice that sent shivers down my spine.
One look over my shoulder and I caught him leaning against the door frame, arms crossed, hair messed up from sex, and eyes glaring at me.
He looked properly fucked with his T-shirt wrinkled and hair mussed, the thin sheen of sweat still covering his skin.
I probably should have told them all right then that I wouldn’t be back, but I backed out of the door and into the night without another word.
I needed to process what had happened before I did anything else. I did exactly that over and over again that night, imagining Cole over me instead of the other woman.
4
Cole
“She’s walking home alone,” one of the bouncers popped his head in to tell me.
I winced and pinched the bridge of my nose. I’d scared her off so fast she hadn’t even thought about her safety. “Follow her, huh? She doesn’t live far. Don’t make yourself visible.”
“You got it, boss.”
The girl I hadn’t even thought about as I fucked her purred from behind me, “Want me to wait until you finish up here?”
“No,” I ground out. “Like I said, last time.”
She scoffed and smiled into my neck. “If you say so, Cole.” She waved to everyone and walked out, swinging her hips so that every guy would look toward her ass.
I don’t know what I’d been thinking. Zoey had been out on the dance floor, getting close to other men after working with me a whole night and barely looking my way. I’d found myself wanting just a little more attention from the girl who gave me none. When she moved in that sweater to the beat of a song and some guy came up behind her, she’d froze, and my temper flared. Why the hell was she out there if she didn’t feel comfortable?