“If she doesn’t remember, I’ll be sure to remind her the next time I see her,” Mace laughed.
“Let’s get you home, pretty girl.”
*
Raelyn
It was going on nine thirty, and I did have to work in the morning.
We said bye to Mace and headed to the door. Playboy’s hand was splayed on my back, and he guided me through the crowd and tables. I watched the woman on stage for a couple of seconds and had to appreciate how easy she made sliding and flipping all over the floor and pole look. If I tried that, I would have ended up on my ass and panting like I had run fifty miles.
“You sure you’re okay to ride?” Playboy asked once we were out of the club.
“Yeah. All I have to do is hold and try to lean into the turns.” Easy peasy. I looked around to see if Leona was still here, but they must have taken off pretty quickly.
“What’s wrong,?” Playboy asked.
“Uh, I was just wondering if Leona was okay. I hope she holds onto Barracuda.”
Playboy climbed on the bike, and I got on behind him. I had a slight check of my balance and feared I was going to tip over when I lifted my leg, but I managed to mount the bike without biting the dust.
“She’ll be fine, pretty girl, but if you are worried about her, we can give Barracuda a call when we get home.”
That was nice of Playboy to offer. I didn’t intend to sound as if I was doubting the fact Barracuda would take care of her. He definitely was arrogant, but along with the arrogance, he seemed completely competent.
The drive back to my house was entirely too short, and I had been half tempted to ask Playboy to take the long way home.
We pulled into my driveway fifteen minutes later and parked behind Leona’s car.
Playboy followed me to the front door, and I quickly unlocked it. I wasn’t sure if he intended to come inside or if he was just walking me in.
I got my answer when I turned around to invite him in and he pulled me into his arms. His lips were on mine and his hands roamed over my back. I grabbed onto his shoulders and just enjoyed the kiss.
I was panting heavily when we finally came up for air. “Wow.”
Playboy brushed my hair from my face. “Yeah, kissing you is wow, pretty girl.”
Well, that was good to hear. I would hate for me to be enjoying Playboy kissing me and he actually hated it.
“Uh, did you want to come in?” My tone was breathy, and I took a deep gulp of air.
“You got work in the morning?” he asked.
“Uh, well, yeah.” That didn’t mean he couldn’t come in for a little bit. Hell, he could come in for a long bit just as long as he came in.
“Raincheck, pretty girl. I don’t want to keep you up two nights in a row.”
My hopes sank. I kind of liked him keeping me awake for two nights in a row. Tonight, I was hoping he would keep me awake doing something other than watching a movie. “Oh, okay.” I tried to hide my disappointment.
I didn’t do too well.
Playboy wrapped me up in his arms and pulled me against him. I buried my face in his chest and inhaled deep.
“You make it mighty hard to leave, Raelyn.”
Good. He made it mighty hard for me to not want to be around him. My attraction and dependency to a man I knew only days was slightly scary. If I was already feeling that I didn’t want him to leave now, I could only imagine what a few weeks of knowing each other was going to be like. “Then don’t leave,” I whispered.
He squeezed me tight and sighed. “I’ll touch base with you tomorrow, okay?”
Huh. That didn’t sound promising at all for him to stay. “Or you could just stay the night and then you could just touch base with me when we wake up.”
“So fucking tempting.” He pressed a kiss to the side of my head and stepped back. He dropped his arms, and I instantly felt cold.
How? How in the hell was he doing this to me? He said it was hard for him to leave, but it didn’t really seem that he was struggling with it that much.
“Sleep sweet, pretty girl.” He gave me one last longing look and then turned down the path back to his bike.
I watched his retreating form and held back the urge to run to him or call out his name. I had told him to stay. He knew I was catching feelings for him.
Maybe that was why he was going.
He wanted to stay the night but he didn’t want my feelings that went along with him staying.
The more Playboy was around, the more I was getting attached to him.
I could tell he had heartache written all over him, but I couldn’t seem to run away from him. I couldn’t step back and act like I wasn’t feeling anything.
His bike roared to life, but I didn’t move. I didn’t go into the house.
I watched his headlight bounce across my car and then turn as he backed his bike up.
I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth. Never had I wanted something more in my life.
Playboy revved his engine, and then, he rocketed out of my driveway.
His words echoed in my head as I opened the door and dropped my purse on the floor. There was no way I was going to sleep sweet if Playboy wasn’t with me.
*
Chapter Nine
Playboy
Body snatchers…
We forgot to call Barracuda about Leona.
I had been hoping I could try to clear my head, but Raelyn’s message was there when I pulled my phone out after I got back to the clubhouse.
Barracuda sat at the bar with a drink in his hand and a frozen pizza in front of him.
“You might want to cook that,” I advised.
He flipped me off. “I was working on it.” He grabbed his pocketknife and sliced the plastic off.
“Leona get home okay?”
Barracuda shrugged. “I’ll let you know.”
“Uh, what?” I asked.
Barracuda grabbed the frozen pizza and moved around to the other side of the bar. “She was rambling on about having pizza.” He opened the pizza oven and slid the pizza in.
“So, you brought her back here for pizza?”
Barracuda nodded. “Yeah.”
I wasn’t normally one to question Barracuda seeing as he was the prez, but it seemed a little out of the norm for him to not only give Leona a ride home, but to detour to the clubhouse seemed crazy. “Are you feeling okay?”
He slammed the pizza oven shut and grabbed his drink. “Never better.”
I sat at the bar and set down my phone. “Raelyn asked me to check to make sure Leona made it home.”
Barracuda sipped his drink. “And?”
“And what the hell am I supposed to tell her?”
He shrugged. “Whatever the fuck you want to, brother. I’m not worried about Raelyn. That’s your deal.”
That didn’t help me whatsoever. All good. Barracuda took care of her. Not exactly a lie. He was taking care of her, it just wasn’t at her house.
Okay. Thanks. I had fun tonight. Getting tipsy at a strip club was fun? Maybe Raelyn fit into the club scene better than I thought.
Me too, pretty girl.
“You wanna tell me what the hell is going on with her or is that none of my business?”
I shrugged. “Not much to tell.”
“See, that’s where I think you are wrong. I think there is a whole hell of a lot going on seeing as I haven’t seen you in this club with a chick since last Friday.”