Chapter 2
Envy felt the heat slide over her like a second skin as she descended the steps. She tried to relax her tense muscles and moved onto the dance floor. Taking several steps in Trevor's direction, she felt like she was in a mosh pit of sex, as fingertips softly touched her bare skin and unfamiliar bodies slid against hers.
The dance floor was darker than the other clubs she’d been in or worked at and she found she liked the privacy. It wasn’t so much individual couples dancing as it was a group mingling of warm bodies. Feeling the change in the atmosphere, she slowly raised her hands letting her own fingertips brush across strangers in the darkness. The adrenaline rush that followed pounded through her to the beat of the sultry music.
Not looking forward to confronting Trevor, she took a moment to close her eyes and simply move with the music that could only be described as the sound of lust.
As she felt the fleeting touches growing bolder, Envy opened her eyes and found herself staring at several male chests, some showing skin through unbuttoned shirts and some covered in tight material that was just as seductive. She didn’t dare look up into their faces for fear of making eye contact.
Becoming a little heady, she started backing up and didn't mind when they followed her in the seductive dance. Feeling the cold iron of the dance cage against her back, she slowly looked up at it on the small platform. Her eyes locked with the guy inside the cage as he drew the girl who was with him down onto her knees under him in a submissive posture.
The whole room seemed to fade away as their gazes locked and held. The way he was looking at her made Envy feel like she was the one submitting. He had ice blue eyes with a very thick black ring around his irises. She didn’t think she’d ever seen eyes so startling or intense. She could have stared into them for hours and still wanted more and that scared her.
His look gave Envy the impression that he knew what she looked like naked. The way his eyes roamed over her body and lingered in certain places… made her feel like his hands were touching those same places. The urge to throw herself against the cage bars and beg him to take her hard and fast was almost too much to resist.
Jerking her gaze back from the possessive sight, Envy tried to remind herself she could leave the dance floor whenever she chose.
Trevor wasn’t having fun even though he tried to go with the flow of the dance and blend in as much as possible. But hot girls and dancing weren't the real reasons he was here. He kept his gaze on the guy in the cage because that was his true mark.
The guy's name was Devon Santos and he was the last person to be seen with Kelly Foster; the 20-year-old girl who’d been found in a nearby alley last week. She had been in that same cage with Devon the last night she’d been alive.
So far he’d learned that the murder victim had just quit working at a club down the strip called Night Light. She’d only worked at Moon Dance for one night… the night she died. Hers wasn’t the only death he was following but it was a lead. Whoever had dumped her body had made sure to leave it near the cougars and jaguars like a gift.
Devon was part owner of this club, along with his two brothers, Nick and Warren, and their only sister, Kat. Rumor had it that the two clubs had a silent feud going on and that the two families had actually been rivals since both their fathers had gone missing over ten years ago.
Trevor’s eyes narrowed, knowing the real reason why there was animosity between the clubs. These weren’t normal clubs; they were owned and run by shifters. The club Kelly had been working at was run by were-cougars. She'd left there and came to work for were-jaguars, only to turn up dead the next day. That was just too much to ignore.
If the humans knew shape shifters lived among them, there would be panic… but they had been a part of society for a long time without the secret getting out. As long as they abided by the laws of the human race, there was no need to cause mass chaos by outing them. Human mentality would return to the dark ages if that ever happened.
The theory within the black-ops CIA paranormal command was to deal with it the same way they dealt with UFO’s and Alien encounters; lie, hide, and cover it up. There were much worse things out there besides the shifters that fit in well with humanity… other, more dangerous creatures that humans only made bad horror movies from and some that humans were still clueless about.
But when people started turning up missing or dead, his team was dispersed to try to figure out what was going on.
Seeing Devon abandon the girl in his cage and move closer to the bars to stare down at someone, Trevor shifted his gaze. He instantly felt his blood pressure rise by several degrees when he spotted Envy leaning back against the same cage surrounded by a withering mass of guys.
What the hell was she doing here? He left his dance partners without a second thought and shoved his way through the crowd toward her.
Devon growled low in his throat when the girl that had caught his attention raised her hands to grip the bars behind her. He could smell her heat over everyone in the whole club and it called to him. Wrapping his hands over hers, he let his fingers trail seductively down her arms through the bars of his cage.
Just as Envy was about to look back up at the erotic dancer, someone grabbed one of her arms and jerked it down from the cage. Her lips parted when she saw who it was. She’d completely forgotten about Trevor! The seductive mood broke and she was angry again when she remembered why she'd come to Moon Dance in the first place… revenge.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Trevor snapped a bit too harshly, trying to pull her away from the cage and Devon’s dangerous reach. If the jaguar was the killer, then the way he was looking at Envy marked her as his next target.
Envy kept her other hand clenched tightly on the bar simply because she didn’t like the way Trevor had decided to manhandle her. He was acting as if she’d done something wrong instead of him. Smiling her sweetest smile, she informed him, “I came to dance… just like you did.”
Trevor’s lips thinned knowing she’d seen him dancing with the other girls, but what she didn’t understand was that he was just using them as a cover. He didn’t even care enough to ask their names. He and Envy glared into each other’s eyes for several heartbeats before he sighed.
Bending down close to her ear, he whispered, “I can explain.” He hadn’t wanted to tell her who he really was because, just like her dickhead of a brother Chad, he was afraid she’d only assume he was using her to gain better access to the bars where she worked.
“Come on,” he tried again to pull her away from Devon’s heated gaze. He took a second to glance up at Devon and if looks could kill he would have been a bloody spot on the floor. He gave the look right back then returned his attention to his girlfriend.
Envy shook her head at him. She just bet he would explain. “I came to dance. I can dance with these nice guys, or you can start moving and join us.” She raised a delicate eyebrow, as if it didn’t matter one way or the other to her.
Trevor slowly turned his head and glared over his shoulder at the lustful guys still hanging around waiting to see if they stood a chance. “Scram,” he told them, in a deadly tone, as he slipped closer to Envy. If she wanted to dance, then by god, she was dancing with him.
Envy pouted at him but secretly wondered why he was acting so jealous when he’d just been dancing so provocatively with two other girls. “You're no fun.” She finally released the bar to run her hands over her own body, nonchalantly slipping the small taser out of her pocket, and then ran her hands over his ribs.
Devon stood to his full height, staring down at the little redhead who'd caught more than just his attention. He didn’t like the smell of the guy who was trying to claim her. He smelled like old gunpowder and that meant he had a weapon hidden somewhere on him. He reached out and unlatched the cage, telling the female dancer to go take a break.
Touching his finger to his ear, Devon listened to his brother inform him through the almost invisible com-link that the girl at his cage had a taser and had plans to use it on a guy. He looked across the dance floor toward the black light that lit the steps seeing Nick standing there ready to interfere, if needed.
It had been Warren’s voice on the com-link, so Devon figured his oldest brother was watching from one of the night vision cameras hanging under the catwalk above him.
Looking back down at her small hands now roaming the guy's body, Devon felt the sudden need to take the guy's head off. That was until he saw the glint of silver as her hand traveled down toward his hip. His lips hinted at a ghost of a smile deciding not to interfere just yet.
“Let me handle this,” Devon whispered into the com-link.
Chad and Jason smiled at each other knowing it was getting ready to go down, and then took off for the steps leading to the dance floor.
Trevor suddenly realized Envy hadn’t told him she was coming here either, so why did he feel so guilty? “I asked you what you were doing here,” he repeated, and this time his voice was steady, as he moved against her. Bad move, he almost lost his train of thought, as most of his blood rushed to his groin, giving him a hard-on for the first time since he’d stepped foot inside the club.
Envy pushed her body against his seductively so she would have a chance to step back really fast. “I came to give you something,” she answered and put all the heated desire she was feeling from the dance floor into her eyes to distract him.
“I hope it goes with the same thing I have for you,” Trevor groaned, as he felt her hand cup his groin.
“Let's find out,” Envy hissed, as she pressed the taser against his raging hard on and jerked back just as he spazzed and dropped to his knees without a sound. “Oops!” Envy pouted and quickly slid the taser back in her pocket before turning to flee in the other direction. The last thing she wanted to do was to be still standing there when Trevor found the strength to stand back up.
As Envy made her way through the darkened dance floor, someone snagged her arm in a firm grip. Thinking it was her brother; she didn't look up right away but followed trustingly. Just as she did glance up, a small door was opened and she was pushed through it.
Envy barely had time to turn around before it was shut and locked behind her. A dim overhead light flicked on revealing TV monitors and the guy who had been in the cage. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.
“I thought maybe it would be best if you watched your handiwork from the safety of the office,” Devon smirked, as he pointed at one of the screens.
Envy glanced toward the screen thinking the sight of Trevor holding his crotch would make her laugh… but instead, she felt really bad for him. It made her heart feel like it had dropped a couple of inches. Seeing him in pain, she was suddenly glad the monitor didn’t have sound because she was sure she didn’t want to know what he was saying.
She watched in silence as Chad and Jason appeared from the crowd and helped him the rest of the way up from the floor. She couldn’t tell what was being said, but when Trevor pushed Chad away from him with more strength than he should have had seconds after being tasered, her eyes swung to the door ready to bolt back out there before one of them got hurt.
Seeing the dancer shake his head warningly as he stood between her and the door, Envy glanced back at the monitor surprised to see it was actually Jason who grabbed Trevor in an arm lock while Chad placed handcuffs on him.
Feeling a little more than angry with herself for being so childish, she started for the door to tell Chad to let Trevor go. Again, the hand gripped her arm. She glared down at it refusing to meet his eyes, when it was obviously her fault for starting this. The guilt only added to her anger and renewed her courage.
“After seeing me just taser a guy, do you really think that’s a good idea?” She jerked her eyes up to his and tried not to lose her breath from the impact. Now that she had a closer look, his eyes were even more amazing than they’d been behind the bars of the cage.
“Whoever those guys are, you might want to let them get him out of the club before you go back to dance.” Devon warned again, watching the flame shoot into her eyes. He could almost see her fur bristling with the need to go rescue the guy she had just wounded… not that he had any intention of letting her. “What’s your name?”
“Why?” Envy pulled her arm out of his grasp. “So you can have the owners ban me from the club?”
“Not likely,” Devon growled darkly at the thought. “But you might want to keep that taser in your pocket for the rest of the night.” He watched her glance back at the monitor to see that her victim was gone.
‘Damn it,’ Envy sighed mentally, as she leaned back against the door feeling the vibration of the music through the wood. She bit her bottom lip knowing she’d gone too far. She remembered the other reason she’d come to Moon Dance tonight and wondered if it was a good time to ask for a job. Why not bite the bullet? She mentally shrugged. “Do you know if they're hiring here?”
Devon couldn’t help the slow smile that spread across his lips. What he’d give to get her in that cage with him for a little while so he could try to tame the fire within her. “Do you dance?” he asked hopefully.
Envy’s eyes widened as she remembered watching him in the cage and her thighs went up in flames… but sadly, so did her cheeks. “No,” she whispered, a little too huskily, “No dancing. I tend bar at some of the other clubs in the area and was going to put in an application while I was here.”
“Pity,” Devon smirked, as he stepped forward and opened a drawer from the desk. He pulled out the application and handed it to her. She still hadn’t told him her name, but if he had her fill out the app, then he’d have all the information he needed. He also wanted to make sure she hadn’t worked for Night Light.
He was getting tired of them sending people over here snooping. It was Quinn that had ended the friendship between the cougars and jaguars, so the cougars could just leave them the hell alone, as far as he was concerned.
Someone at Night Light had sent the last person they’d hired, and now that she’d been murdered, the cougars were looking toward Moon Dance for answers… and so were the cops. Just his luck, the only night she’d worked here, she had asked to be put in the cage with him.
Devon rolled the chair out from under the desk knowing the fastest way to make her stay longer was to give her what she wanted. “You can fill it out now. Maybe you’ll have another job by the end of the night.”
Envy sat down but looked back up at the monitor with a frown. “Do you think the owner saw me taser Trevor?” she bit her bottom lip, picturing in her mind how it must have looked. “I really wish I hadn’t done that.”
Devon leaned over the back of her chair as if looking into the monitor with her. Putting his lips close to the shell of her ear he asked, “If the owner did see and asked you about it, what would you say?” He inhaled slowly, as her scent wrapped around him, heating his blood.
Envy started to turn her head to look up at him but stopped. The sensations he was causing with his nearness had spread out across her shoulder and up the side of her neck. “I was just being mean,” she breathed, feeling heat pooling again in her midsection. This guy was dangerous to her senses. She didn’t know whether to turn around and lick him or run for cover.
The corner of Devon’s lip hinted at a smile but he didn’t move from his position, “So, you go around tasering guys all the time for no good reason?” He could smell her arousal spike and it was making his pants uncomfortably tight.
“No,” Envy was glad for the distraction when she grabbed an ink pen from the little holder in front of her and started filling out the app. “Only the ones that really deserve it,” she answered, not wanting to talk about it.
Devon stood to his full height and fought the urge to pull her out of the chair and sit her on the desk facing him. As it was, he was already rubbing her silky hair between his fingers where it had spilled over the back of the chair.
He stayed silent while she filled out the application and he read it over her shoulder taking in every word. Envy Sexton, and the cougar and vampire clubs were thankfully missing from the extended list of clubs where she worked. He knew with a couple of quick phone calls he could free up most of her time by telling the other clubs to leave her off the schedule. He didn’t feel like sharing this little wildcat.
Envy finished the app and started to stand up but Devon placed his hand on her shoulder to keep her there. He quickly took the paper from her and started for the door.
“Stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes with an answer,” Devon reached for the doorknob but paused when she spoke.
“What’s your name?” Envy asked, wondering if she shouldn’t just give the paper to the owner herself. Maybe she could even get the interview out of the way.
“Devon Santos,” he answered, then disappeared out the door before she could stop him.
He’d known Nick was waiting right outside the door because he could smell him. Handing the paper to Nick, Devon informed him, “We have a new bartender.” He waited as Nick looked the paper over knowing his brother was looking for the same things he’d already checked.
Nick had run off a couple of vampire groupies and one vampire who'd slipped in and it had ruined his mood for the night. He hated vampires and any human that was stupid enough to hang out with them. Not seeing any indication that this girl was associated with them and smelling his brother’s arousal the girl had caused, Nick decided to let Devon handle his own affairs.
He finally handed the application back, “Tell her to leave the taser at home.” Nick eyed his brother for a moment before adding, “Kat said the guy she tasered was her boyfriend and the guy who hauled him off in handcuffs was her brother.”
“That boyfriend of hers had a gun. I could smell it.” Devon shrugged, even as his eyes narrowed, “Maybe he wasn’t so good of a boyfriend.”
“You might want to be careful around that one.” Nick shook his head, as even more interest flared within his brother's eyes. “If you want her, then you’re in charge of controlling her while she’s here.” Nick gritted his teeth when he caught a whiff of vampire. Without another word, he took off back up the stairs.
Envy glanced around nervously and saw an elevator she hadn’t noticed before. She raised a delicate eyebrow seeing it had a keypad instead of a simple button. She tapped the pen on the desk wondering how long she should wait. She still needed to find out if Chad really arrested Trevor or just made him leave the club.
She glanced around the desk to try to get her mind off it for a moment. She was a born investigator just like her brother, though Chad tried to hide that fact. Truth was, Chad would make a great detective. He told everyone he was just a beat cop but that wasn’t anywhere near true. He was the leader of the SWAT team.
She finally looked down at the paper she'd absentmindedly picked up. It was a supply receipt. Her gaze trailed across the billing information to see the name at the bottom. She slammed the piece of paper back down on the desk. Devon Santos… damn him. He was one of the freaking owners and had let her think he was just a dancer.
At that moment the office door opened and Devon stepped back in. “When do you want to start?”
*****
Nick rushed across the dance floor and up the stairway leading to the entrance. He pushed open the door with more force than necessary and glared at the man trying to get past security. Since most of the bouncers were shifters, they could smell a vampire even when there were no outward signs.
The fashion sense of a normal vampire around the city seemed to stem from the Goth crowd. In the last few months, however, about ten wearing business suits or just regular club clothes had attempted to get in. That’s the reason they relied so much on scent now rather than appearance. Rule number one… no vampires were to pass without one of the owner’s permission.
“What’s your business here?” Nick asked, trying to sound professional because of their human audience. The man tilted his head to the side and gave a wicked smile that made Nick’s stomach churn.
“I’d like to go in.” Raven said, as his pupils enlarged, using his powers to enthrall anyone that was capable of falling under the vampires compulsion spell.
Nick eyed him up and down. The guy had black hair with dyed neon pink ends that hung low over his face. He was young; probably not even twenty-five, with very pale skin and heavy eyeliner around his eyes. His lips were done up with black lipstick, even his nails were painted black.
“Sorry mister…” Nick stood very still watching the vampire’s every movement. No matter the size or age, vampires were dangerous and not to be underestimated.
“Raven, call me Raven,” the man answered, wondering just how far you could push a jaguar.
“Sorry Raven, we’re at capacity.” Nick explained, as he wrapped his fingers around his two shot derringer, that was deep within the pocket of his leather jacket. It had hollowed-out silver bullets filled with holy water. The corner of his lip hinted at a sadistic smile, as he felt the wooden blade of the bone handle knife attached to his forearm.
“Then why are these people all still standing in line?” Raven asked, seeing the golden tint start to override the jaguar’s irises.
Nick smiled but it felt like he was gnashing his teeth. “They have reservations.”
Raven’s eyes shone in the dim light for a moment looking like they were glowing ominously with inner fire. Nick descended the three steps to street level and placed himself between Raven and the crowd of humans, then he leaned close to Raven’s ear.
“Leave now, vampire,” he whispered with cold calm, as he pressed the point of the wooden dagger against Raven’s ribs where no one would see it. “You’re not getting in.”
Nick straightened up and folded his arms in front of him so it would be but a quick jerk to stab him with the dagger. “I’m sorry sir, have a good evening.”
Raven smiled again, this time almost pleasantly, “Oh, I plan to.”
He turned away from the door and started walking down the street with his hands buried in the pockets of his black jeans and whistling an ominous-sounding tune. When the jaguar leaned down to whisper in his ear, Raven had seen his master slip past them and into the club. He hadn’t seen Kane for some time. In fact, this was the first time in several weeks, even though he’d felt his sire’s eyes on him many times.
What surprised Raven was that Kane would willingly walk into the den of his enemies. The Master had told him the story of being buried alive by the leader of this jaguar clan. Did his master have a plan of his own?
‘They framed you my master, but this time I’m making sure the blood is on their hands.’ Raven whispered to himself before blending in with the shadows. He knew he wouldn’t have to wait long. He could still smell the blood of his latest victim as the scent floated on the breeze toward Moon Dance.
*****
Kat watched as Chad and Jason helped the unfortunate boyfriend out of the club… in handcuffs. They always said curiosity killed the cat, but she just had to find out what they planned on doing with him. If nothing else, just to keep her from wondering about it for the rest of the night.
Going out one of the side doors, she stayed in the shadows as she followed them. With her heightened senses, she didn’t have to be all that close to hear what they were saying.
Chad and Jason blocked Trevor in between his car and the cop car so the jilted boyfriend couldn’t stomp back into the club after Envy. Chad removed the handcuffs knowing he really couldn’t arrest him without a legit reason… that is unless Trevor pushed him.
“I bet it was you who told her I was here!” Trevor growled at Jason. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the hard on you carry for her. Just couldn’t keep your nose out of it, could you?”
Chad threw his arm out when Jason took a threatening step forward. “Jason, I’ve got it from here. Why don’t you go back in and see if you can find Envy? I don’t want her out here until Trevor's gone.”
“You can’t stop me from going back in there. I’m working!” Trevor hissed without thinking.
“Yeah, we saw what the hell you were working on,” Jason’s hands fisted at his sides, but with a pointed look from Chad, he knew he’d best go inside before Trevor wasn’t the only one in cuffs tonight. Spinning on his heels, he tossed one more remark over his shoulder for Trevor's benefit, “You’ll find us on the dance floor… wrapped around each other.”
Trevor shot forward but Chad shoved him back against his car. To Chad’s surprise, Trevor was a lot stronger than he looked and it was a struggle. “I warned you not to be screwing my sister unless you told her who you really were and the real reason you are always hanging out at the clubs. Hell man, Envy thinks you're nothing but a damn frat boy. If you wanted to impress her, then you should have told her the truth. One thing she’s never been able to stomach is a liar. Especially if they are lying to her.”
Kat narrowed her gaze on Trevor. What was all that supposed to mean?
“You know as well as I do that if I’d told her I was working under cover, she’d have always wondered if I was using her when I hung around the clubs with her.” Trevor thundered, as he righted himself but didn’t try to go back toward the club again. If he used his real strength then Chad would be a dead man and Trevor would be no better than the people he hunted.
That knowledge did a lot to calm him down long enough to rein in his animal instincts but he couldn’t help still being pissed. “She fucking tasered me!”
“You deserved it because you’re a lowlife, cheating boyfriend. Hey, it's what you get for not telling her the truth. You’re done for the night unless you want to go haunt one of the other bars. Besides, Envy still has the taser,” Chad smirked. “I’d advise you to leave her alone for the rest of the night… or better yet, the rest of her life if you can’t come clean with her.”
Trevor gritted his teeth but didn’t say anything else. Chad couldn’t tell him to stay away from Envy, but letting her cool down was probably smart advice.
“Fine, but that,” he pointed at the club, “is not a safe place for your sister to be hanging out and you know it!” He jerked his car door open, forcing Chad to take a step back to avoid being hit by it. Slamming the door behind him, it took only seconds before he was burning rubber out of the parking lot.
When Trevor was far enough down the road so that Chad couldn’t see his car lights, he grabbed his cell phone and tapped in the number to someone who owed him a favor. He pulled over at the closest store and parked behind a transfer truck so he wouldn’t be noticed.
It frustrated him to leave her back there after the way Devon had looked at her. Even if Devon wasn’t a murderer, that look was not a good thing. Chad thought he could strong-arm him when it came to Envy did he? Let's see how he likes it when he finds out he’s the weaker one. He’d fix Jason too while he was at it.
Kat shifted deeper into the shadows when Chad turned and looked in her direction. She frowned, knowing it was impossible for him to see her… he didn’t have the night vision shifters did. She blew her hair out of her eyes and waited while he just stared toward her, then sighed when he finally turned and went back in the club.
So, Trevor was an undercover cop and Chad’s sister didn’t know it… obviously neither did Jason. The stickler was Trevor said he was here working on a case. Kat gritted her teeth knowing it had to be the murders. She needed to tell Warren to hurry and find out who was leaving a trail of blood before they got the blame.
*****
Envy slowly stood up wondering why Devon didn’t just admit he was an owner and could very well hire her himself. She hated it when people lied to her, but she didn’t know him and he didn’t owe her anything, so she swallowed what she was about to say. Too bad it wouldn’t stay down.
“That was awfully fast,” she looked at him expectantly, as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“I put in a good word for you. Sometimes they listen to me.” Devon watched her curiously, smelling her scent change. She was angry with him. It smelled good.
“Maybe that’s because you’re the owner,” Envy’s small smile vanished.
So that was why she’s mad. She doesn’t like it when she feels like someone is hiding something from her. He’d keep that in mind. Devon slowly dipped his head in a small bow, “I am only one of the owners. Me, my two brothers, and my sister all own this club. We do try to run things by each other when we hire new people.”
Envy glanced up at him suddenly feeling bad. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” she gave up with a sigh and lowered her arms.
“At least your taser stayed in your pocket,” Devon smiled, hoping to lighten the mood.
Envy blushed and felt the need to get out of his sight before she made an even bigger fool of herself. “I’ve been working mostly in the afternoon and I’m off tomorrow, so if…” she nervously informed him, as she kept the exit in her sight and started moving toward it before this became the shortest job in history.
“Tomorrow night then,” Devon opened the door for her, as she inched her way toward it. “At seven.”
He watched her run and let her go because he knew he could catch her if she ran too far. He closed the office door and turned to the monitor to watch her make her way around the outer rim of the dance floor toward the stairs. His eyes narrowed as one of the guys from earlier grabbed her arm to get her attention. Devon started toward the door but Kat slipped inside it before he could go after Envy.
“That girl with the taser...” Kat started but was cut off by a hard look from her brother.
“Her name is Envy and you get to show her the ropes tomorrow night. I just hired her as a bartender.” Devon crossed his arms over his chest, as he leaned back against the edge of the desk.
“Put your claws away,” Kat tilted her head when Devon glanced back at the monitor and tensed. Following his gaze, she smirked seeing Jason and Envy in the middle of the screen. “My my, doesn’t she just have a lot of admirers tonight.” She knew it wasn’t exactly true but she wanted to catch Devon’s reaction. She got her answer when the thin plastic on the back of the computer chair cracked where he was gripping it a little too hard.
Devon snapped his eyes toward Kat, “Why are you in my office?”
Kat just smiled at him. This was going to be so much fun. She walked over and pointed at the screen. “This guy, his name is Jason Fox and I spent quite a while chatting him up at the bar before his two friends showed up.”
Devon cocked an eyebrow at his sister waiting for her to get to the point.
“Jason was the one that called her so she would come to the club. He actually asked her out.” She smirked when the crack in the chair broke the rest of the way off in Devon’s hand. “I don’t know what she told him but Jason said, ‘Then why the hell is Trevor making out on the dance floor with someone else?’”
“So, he’s the reason she showed up,” Devon drawled, dropping the piece of plastic on the desk. “I’m sure you have a point here somewhere.”
“Yes I do, but it’s so much fun watching you squirm,” Kat decided to get on with her story, when he gave his patented go-to-hell look. She was definitely going to buy the rights to that expression someday. “Anyway, it was all a setup from what I heard. Her brother gave her the taser knowing she was mad enough to use it on her cheating boyfriend, but the truth is, Trevor wasn’t really cheating on her.”
“What?” Devon growled, not liking where this was leading.
Kat spent the next ten minutes filling her brother in on everybody’s dirty little secrets. Just for kicks, she didn’t forget to leave out the fact that Jason had a serious long-term crush on Envy.
Chapter 3
Jason pulled Envy into his arms, “You owe me a dance.”
He was so glad she wasn’t the type of person that would shoot the messenger. If it weren’t for him, she’d still have a boyfriend… granted it would be a cheating boyfriend but then that’s why he’d made the phone call in the first place. “Sorry,” he whispered in her ear, as he pulled her tighter against him and started to move with the music.
Envy rolled her eyes letting him off the hook without a second thought. “Nothing to be sorry for.” She trailed her fingers down his spine as she moved against him. “I’m free again and I landed me another job in the process.”
She smiled as she glanced around the dance floor again. “This place is a little different from the clubs that I’ve worked at but I think it should be interesting.”
Jason didn’t say anything for a moment as he felt the leather covering her breast glide across the front of his shirt and felt himself swell. He was glad she didn’t know what she was doing to him because he had a feeling if she did know she would stop.
“Want to come rock climbing Saturday morning?” he let his hands trail down her sides then gripped her hips.
“Rock climbing? That sounds fun. It’s been a while,” Envy nodded, then her eyes widened when Jason pulled her forward and she came in contact with something long and hard pressed against the softness of her belly. She gulped as her eyes flashed up to meet his.
“Where’s Chad?” she breathed, knowing she’d done it again. She hadn’t meant to. Jason had been and still was one of her favorite people in the whole world; the last thing she ever wanted to do was screw that up by sleeping with him. She loved him too much for that.
“Last time I checked, he was taking the trash out,” Jason sighed when she pulled back from him. He placed his fingers under her chin and raised her eyes to his, “Trevor doesn’t deserve you.”
“Chad didn’t really arrest him did he?” Envy asked, grabbing Jason by the hand and leading him toward the steps. She’d avoided this conversation for years and she wasn’t ruining her track record now.
“No, I think being tasered was enough punishment… that and losing you. Chad was just making sure he found his way to his car,” Jason smirked. At the top of the stairs he noticed Chad was standing at the bar next to the door waiting on them. Keeping Envy’s hand in his, he led her in that direction.
The guilt was making Envy’s chest hurt. She really wasn’t a mean person at heart, and what she’d done to Trevor had been a very bad thing. It had only felt good for a moment and now that moment was gone. She kept her eyes lowered, too ashamed to even look at her brother.
Chad took one look at Envy and knew it was time to take her home. “You ready?” he asked, taking a step away from the bar.
“I can take her home,” Jason offered, then quickly added, “If she wants to stay with me for a while.”
Chad could see the hope flare in Jason’s eyes and wondered if he was doing the right thing or setting their dearest friend up for a fall. He felt his phone vibrate on his hip and held up his hand, “Hold that thought.” Seeing that it was the police station, he worked his way toward the door so he could hear more clearly.
Envy blew her bangs out of her eyes, knowing as bizarre as this night already was, she had a feeling Chad had just been called into work. She watched him pocket the phone as he walked back toward them.
“Will you be okay with Jason?” Chad asked. When she nodded, he placed his finger under her chin and lifted it. “You did the right thing with Trevor so chin up. I probably won’t be home until the morning, so don’t wait up.”
Envy gave a small smile as he walked away. They had both touched her chin in the same way and told her that this was Trevor’s fault and not hers. She loved Jason because he was just like Chad and that’s why she would never give into the knee-jerk need to date Jason for real.
Just as Chad left through the front doors, Jason’s cell phone started buzzing. She turned and watched him as he answered, then frowned as his face turned serious. She knew he was on call this week and silently wondered if it was the rangers needing him in the middle of the night. In her opinion, that couldn’t be a good thing.
When his eyes locked with hers, she could see his shoulders slump in disappointment.
“Envy I’m sorry, I gotta head out. Come on, I’ll take you home on the way.” Jason shoved the cell phone back into his pocket like it had become the enemy. He’d hoped to get a few minutes of alone time with Envy one way or the other.
Envy frowned because she knew that home was probably not the direction he was heading. “Thanks for the offer Jason, but I think I’ve caused enough problems for one night. Besides, I start working here tomorrow so I’m gonna hang out and watch the bartenders.” She shrugged and pasted an excited smile on her lips that made her face hurt, “Who knows, I might even pick up a few tips while I’m here.”
Jason nodded reluctantly knowing he needed to hurry, “Okay, but you’ve got my number if you need me.”
Envy waved her hand at him, “Yes I do. Now go to work. Work hard, make money, and take me out clubbing soon now that I’m single.”
Jason smiled brightly at her and quickly made his way out the door.
Envy let the numbness filter in, as her smile faded, then turned back toward the dance floor, looking it over again before heading to the bar. She slid onto one of the soft cushioned stools and leaned her elbows on the bar top.
She sat there staring down at the bar for several minutes before she noticed the clear surface rimmed with neon lights changed colors periodically. There were bits of some gray colored stones embedded in the thick Plexiglas that shone like they were covered in glitter. The ‘glitter’ was mixed in with the Plexiglas in such a way that, if the lights were black, they would have looked like stars against a twilight sky.
A glass suddenly appeared in front of her with a long-fingered hand holding it. The nails were painted a pretty shade of red, with black slashes along the nails of the ring fingers, that looked a little like claw marks.
Envy looked up in surprise at the woman in front of her. She had long, slightly curly black hair and an exotic look that made Envy blink. She was beyond beautiful. Her skin was a warm bronze and her eyes were an odd shade of blue. Not the striking blue she’d seen on Devon, but very close.
“It’s on the house.” Kat said and pushed the drink a little closer. “All bartenders get free drinks and my brother just hired you, right?” she smiled, wanting to get to know the girl that had turned her brother's head so quickly. It wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but Devon never took girls seriously because he was surrounded by hundreds of them every night. But this girl had rattled his cage.
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