“That was subtle,” Cooper muttered under his breath from beside me when I got up to leave.
Casey closed the door behind us. Without saying a word, he turned down the well-lit hallway. Curious, I followed him. He led me out towards the stage where Mac stood expectantly. I smothered the disappointment. We were both working after all. It wasn’t like we could go for it in some random closet.
“Grace, your bass amp sounds patchy. I don’t know what happened because it sounded fine before we left,” she told me. Her eyes narrowed on the crew as if they’d had something to do with it. They all began to look busy when I stepped up on the stage. I picked up the plugged-in guitar and fingered the strings quickly, wincing at the distorted sound. “Someone’s on the way with a spare,” she shouted, her loud voice competing with the noise of the bass, “but you’re going to need to check the tuning before the rest of the band comes on stage. Are you cool with that or do you want Frog to do it?”
“I’m cool with that.” I plucked at the strings a bit more and then rested the guitar against the amp. “Just let me know when you need me.”
She gave me a thumbs-up. When I turned to leave, Casey called out, “Wait up, Grace.” I paused. “I go first,” he ordered.
I go first? After a night of hot sex, that was all I got? Obviously, because he was already walking away.
With a shrug, I followed behind as he headed back to the dressing room. Hurt at being ignored, I remained silent and kept my eyes focused on the lettering of his shirt. They strayed regardless, trailing across his broad, muscular shoulders and down to the firm, round ass that flexed enticingly as he walked. I almost moaned at the memory of how that ass felt beneath my hands when he thrust himself inside me last night.
“Wha—” I was so caught up in staring at his backside that when he grabbed my hand and veered us off course I stumbled. Suddenly we were going left when we were supposed to go right. “Casey?”
“Shhh,” I was told.
Heavy bass began vibrating off the walls. The Florence Bar had opened the doors to the public. That meant whatever Casey had planned, we had no time for it.
We turned another corner when he spun around and pushed my back against the wall. The beat pounded into me from one side, his body rubbing me from the other.
“I thought you were ignoring me.”
“This is me ignoring you?” He thrust his hips, letting me feel the hard heat of his erection against my belly. “I’m trying to do my job and I have to do it with you looking like this? Thanks for that.”
A slow smile overtook my face. “My pleasure.”
“Well, now you’ve got my attention,” Casey said with a smirk, “what are you going to do with it?”
That was a challenge I wasn’t backing down from. I grabbed his shirt in my fist and dragged him closer. “I’m going to kiss you,” I told him.
He slipped a warm palm around the back of my neck and brought his lips to mine, hovering with tantalising invitation but not quite touching. “Beg me.”
I pushed up against his erection, rocking my hips. “Is that how you want to play it? Because I think that maybe you should be begging me.”
Casey grinned and slid his other hand beneath my shirt. He spread his fingers wide and trailed them upwards until my breast filled his palm. “Did I hurt your feelings earlier, Slim?”
Casey thumbed my nipple over the lace of my bra. It peaked from his touch and shot hot, pulsing sparks between my legs.
“Yes,” I hissed.
The fire in his eyes softened at my admission. I dragged in a breath at the tender affection. “Damn you, Grace,” he breathed against my lips. “Beg me to kiss you.”
“No.” I rocked into him again. He responded by pinching my nipple until I rode the edge somewhere between pleasure and pain. I gave in.
“Please, Casey,” I begged.
It was all I could manage to say but it must’ve been enough because suddenly his mouth was on mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding on for the ride. He shoved me against the wall, grinding his hips, his hot, hungry tongue rubbing against mine until I gasped for breath.
He broke off, panting as his gaze dropped to my hotpants. He ran his hands over the pointed metal studs. “I’d spank you for wearing these if they weren’t so sharp. They’re so fucking sexy.”
Leaning up, I took his earlobe in my mouth and sucked on it. “I wore them for you.”
He groaned as I nibbled and licked along his ear. “Don’t ever wear them again when I’m working. I’ve been rock hard from the moment you stepped out of the goddamn car.” He rubbed his cock between my thighs to emphasise his point. “I would’ve given us away if I’d looked at you for a second longer.”
“Everyone knows about us anyway.”
“They do?”
“Well, everyone except Henry. I don’t think we’ve been as stealthy as we thought.”
“I’m good with everyone knowing. I’ll talk to Henry tonight and then it’s no more hiding for us.”
His lips were back on mine before I could tell him that we would be telling Henry tonight.
“Casey?”
We broke apart at the voice, Casey muttering a curse under his breath as he spun around. Over his shoulder, I glimpsed a woman watching us with arms folded and brows arched. He took a step backwards, pressing me against the wall behind him. I peeked over him at the woman watching us with a calculated expression.
“Morgan,” he replied. “What are you doing here?”
“We seem to keep missing each other. When I spoke to Mitch this afternoon, he said you were working here tonight. So here I am.”
Casey turned back around. “Grace. Go back to the dressing room. I’ll be there in a minute, okay?”
My eyes went back to the woman. Hazel eyes speared me with enough venom for me to recognise the look. It was the same look Selena used to give me when Dalton and I were together.
Was she an ex-girlfriend? I gave her an assessing gaze. Her red dress was three seasons ago. It would have looked nice if she wasn’t wearing it a size too small. My gaze fell to the red stilettos on her feet. They were nice shoes, I’d give her that, but they were too much for the dress. She should have gone with pale pointed slingbacks in nude. Dismissing her fashion blunder, I returned my gaze to Casey’s pleading eyes.
Knowing I was staking my claim and unable to stop myself, I put my palms on Casey’s chest. With Morgan watching, I took his bottom lip between my teeth and bit gently before kissing it better.
When I was done, I said softly, “Okay.”
“Thank you,” he mouthed.
A quick glance at Morgan confirmed her triumphant expression at seeing me walk away. I blanked my features carefully, not allowing her to see the sudden burst of fury. Instead, I winked, tamping down on the satisfaction when the gesture threw her.
“Nice shoes,” I murmured as I passed by her to reach the dressing room. “Enjoy your minute.”
“So,” Morgan spoke, dragging my attention from the door Grace just disappeared behind. She took a step towards me and I was surprised she could move her dress was that tight. It strangled her tits until they popped out the top, as though gasping for air. She folded her arms, thrusting them to greater heights. “That was Grace.”
My eyes narrowed at the sly calculation on her face. “What do you know about Grace?”
Morgan laughed before answering me. “I’m a detective, Casey. Did you forget that little fact?”
“You’ve been stalking me?” My entire body tensed. I realised then that I had no clue who this woman really was.
“Stalking?” Morgan cocked her head. “That’s a weighty accusation. Have I left notes on your car? Harassed you with phone calls? Turned up at your place of work?” She took another step forward and ran her finger down my chest until it hooked in my belt buckle. “Tell me, Casey … Do you feel threatened in any way?”
I unlatched her fingers from my belt. The flare of annoyance in her eyes told me she didn??
?t like that. “We had a good time once, Morgan. I think we should leave it at that.”
“I don’t.”
“You don’t?” I folded my arms, my glare turning feral. “What do you want, Morgan?”
“I want you to forget about Grace,” she snapped, “but I think the bigger question is what do you want, Casey? Oh wait!” She snapped her fingers and grinned. “You want that report I have at home, lying between the sheets of my bed, right where you should be.” She bit her lip and I knew she was remembering the first night we fucked. When I’d handed her a drink at the bar, I leaned in and spoke in her ear telling her that lip she was biting down on looked tasty and would she mind if I took a bite too. Half an hour later she was in my bed. Now I was left wondering why I’d ever thought fucking her was a good idea. Nothing was worth this big bunch of crazy disguised in a red dress.
“What do you think, Casey? Shall we do a trade?”
“What do I think?” I think if she’d asked me a few weeks ago I wouldn’t have hesitated. I would’ve slammed her against the wall, yanked up her dress, and shoved my cock inside her—giving her just what she was asking for. Transaction complete. See you the fuck later.
But that was before Grace.
“I think, Morgan, that you shouldn’t be back here.” Taking hold of her shoulders, I spun her around and led her out past the stage to the main room. The area was already at capacity—all seats were taken and the bar was crowded three feet deep with loud partygoers waiting on Jamieson to take the stage. A DJ sat in the booth, pumping “Do I wanna know” by the Arctic Monkeys while bodies ground together on the dance floor.
“I also think,” I yelled over the noise, leaning in close so Morgan could hear, “that there’s plenty of available cock in this room.” I looked pointedly at her tits. “If that’s what you’re looking for, then you should have no trouble finding one.”
She pressed close and rubbed those tits against my body. “I don’t want any of the available cock in this room. I want yours.”
“Mine’s not available anymore.” I took a step back and almost knocked someone to the ground. Twisting sideways, I steadied the girl behind me with a quick apology.
“Then I guess you don’t want that report after all.”
“Are you serious? You really want my cock that bad? Would it get you off knowing the whole time I was fucking you, it wasn’t you I was thinking about but some goddamn piece of paper?”
“I like your cock. No one fucks the way you do, Casey—hard and rough, just the way I like it.” Morgan went to place a hand on my chest, an eager smile playing about her pretty, painted lips.
I snatched her wrist before she could touch me. She hissed, biting her lip and I knew she was getting off on the roughness of my actions. I shoved her hand away. “Give me the damn report, Morgan.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You’ve told me what you think. You want to know what I think?”
I didn’t, but I knew I was going to hear it anyway.
Morgan scanned the room before she leaned in, placing that damn hand on my chest before I could stop her again. “I think you’re nothing but a whore,” she breathed in my ear. I froze. “I’ve been watching you long before Mitch introduced us. Drinking yourself into a stupor almost every weekend. Taking home a different woman every single time. None of them really want you—they just want to fuck a hot, muscled body with a pretty face. They get up the next morning and go back to their lives—careers, husbands, boyfriends, loving families—and they forget you exist. None of them want to keep you because you have broken, used-up whore written all over your face. Grace is no different. She’ll go back to her life and forget you too.”
I fought to keep my face blank. I didn’t want Morgan to see how the words hit home. None more so than Grace going back to her life as though I never existed. “You’re wrong, Morgan.” I shook my head. “Grace isn’t leaving.”
She isn’t going back to her life, because her life is with me. She just doesn’t know it yet.
“Oh, but I’m not. You see, her return flight is already arranged. She booked the ticket yesterday morning.”
Yesterday morning?
After being in my bed all night, her naked body stretched over mine like a lazy cat and her head resting over the steady thump of my heart, my first instinct had been to damn the consequences and keep her there. Hers had been to book a flight home?
Fuck you, Grace.
“Don’t you see?” Morgan placed a hand on my crotch and rubbed. Leaning in, she licked a path up my neck until she reached my ear. “Grace doesn’t want you either. But I do.”
Lips curled with distaste, I grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked her head back, detaching her mouth from my body. Morgan laughed, her gaze directed over my shoulder.
I turned, following her gaze, and cursed.
Grace was there on the stage and she was watching us. Her lips were pressed together, trying to hide the hurt, but I could see it in her eyes anyway.
Jake stood beside her, veins bulging from the hands fisted by his sides. Dismissing me with a look of contempt, Jake took hold of Grace. Cupping her face with his palms, he pressed his forehead against hers. It forced her eyes to shift from mine to his. Then he said something I had no hope in hell of hearing.
I shoved Morgan away—hard. “Don’t touch me again.”
She stumbled and a man nearby threw me a filthy look as he helped steady her. When she gained her balance, she looked at me, her lips pressed flat in a sneer. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“That you’re just like your loser father.”
“What do you know about my father?”
She raised her brows, triumphant. “It’s all in the report.”
With the band getting ready to play, the DJ’s music died off so I didn’t need to shout my next words. “I don’t know what your game is, Morgan, but you need to stop. You want the truth? Yeah, I used you, and believe me, I’m feeling real fucking sorry about that now, but you need to stop watching me and stop watching Grace. Not only is it against the law, it’s creepy.”
“Feeling real fucking sorry?” she echoed with an angry flare in her eyes. “Believe me, you’ll be sorry.”
“Is that a threat?”
“You can take it any way you want to.”
I jabbed my finger towards the entrance of the bar, furious. “Leave. Right now. I’ll get the damn report some other way.”
Morgan shrugged and spun around. Satisfied to see her disappear in the direction of the exit, I dragged in a deep breath of air that didn’t calm me one bit.
There was more than one pair of pissed off eyes to greet me when I reached the side of the stage. I ignored them. The only pair I cared about right then were the ones that refused to look at me.
“You didn’t just piss in one bowl of Cocoa Pops this morning, did you? You pissed in everyone’s,” Jared said from beside me.
I folded my arms and grunted, no doubt in my mind I was public enemy number one tonight. “Seems so.”
“You want to talk about it?”
“No.”
My eyes scanned the crowd as Jake kicked in with the drums, the loud, steady thump getting everyone’s attention. Relieved that I couldn’t see Morgan amongst them, I turned my eyes back to Grace. It was hard to look away, even when she was pissed at me. Her outfit was pure sex, and the way she plucked those guitar strings so confidently, her hair falling in her eyes, made her downright sinful. I dragged my eyes away and focused more on doing my job.
“You and Grace, huh?”
I raised my brows at Jared questioningly.
He shrugged and grinned. “I’m not blind. Does Henry know?”
“What do you think?”
His grin widened. “I’m gonna say no.”
“Let me guess,” I said, my tone sarcastic, “because I’m not dead?”
Jared chuckled. “Not yet anyway.”
A heated
argument off to the side of the crowd drew our attention. A quick check showed one of the Florence Bar’s security guys already heading their way. Satisfied the matter was being handled, I turned back to Jared. “You think it’s funny, do you?”
Amusement flashed in his eyes. “Yeah, I do.”
“I took five stitches to the head for you, asshole,” I growled in reference to the fishing charter incident.
“And so you should, because you’re one of my best friends, asshole. And when the time comes, which will probably be sooner rather than later with the way you were just eye-fucking Grace, I’ll have your back.”
My response was another grunt and we fell into companionable silence until the last note by Evie rang out into the captivated crowd. Wolf whistles, wild shouts, and heavy stomping followed the band off the stage. We rushed them to the dressing room, Jared leading the way and me bringing up the rear. Jake and Cooper closed ranks around Grace when we reached the dressing room, not letting me close.
“Grace.” My voice was firm as it rang out over everyone, including Henry. Her eyes cut to mine, wide with surprise that I would call her out in front of her brother. “A word, please?” I nodded at the door, indicating I wanted that word outside the dressing room.
Jake stood up, his body tense. “You don’t get shit, Daniels.”
The room fell silent and I folded my arms, keeping my cool. “That’s not for you to decide, Romero.”
Henry sat his guitar down and looked between the both of us. “What the hell is going on?” He stood up next to Jake, brows drawn with tension.
Grace pushed her way between the middle of the wall they created in front of her.
“Grace,” Jake muttered and went to push her back.
“No.” Grace swatted his hands away and gave me her attention. “I stood out on that stage and told myself that it shouldn’t hurt, that I shouldn’t be pissed, and I sure as fuck shouldn’t care…” she took a step forward until she was in my space “…because I have no right to feel that way. I’m leaving and you have your own life to do whatever you want with. But you know what? It hurts anyway. Not just because I thought better of you, but because I’m tired of being a chump. Being here in Sydney was a chance to put all that crap behind me, but now I’m getting it from you.” Her voice got louder as she spoke until she was shouting at me, her eyes welling with tears. “Damn you for making me feel that way all over again! It fucking hurts!”