‘Hey-up,’ she murmured under her breath to me, chinking her glass in his direction. ‘I think I’m in here.’
And, this time, she was right. He came down and sat with us, talking exclusively to her, until I felt as awkward and uncomfortable as I’d felt the night before, when Liv had abandoned me at the bar.
Twenty Four
Kitty Hart was worse in the flesh than she’d seemed on the news. Fuck knows why Grace had agreed to come out with her. She was a liability with a large mouth and a love of publicity - good or bad, it didn’t seem to matter to her. I couldn’t believe she’d tipped off the tabloids. I’d had to push my way through a small army of reporters when I’d arrived, and I was still furious with her.
I didn’t care what she did to herself, but she was likely to suck Grace down with her, at this rate. I stood at the end of the bar out of sight, and watched them both, wondering whether to just go home. Grace had seemed less than impressed with me – again – and I was starting to think I was wasting my time.
For a start, she was smoking. I’d seen her cadge it off Hart, so I knew she wasn’t a real smoker. What did she think she was playing at? I’d teasingly nipped her nicotine-binge in the bud, but she hadn’t taken it well. I’d expected her to laugh, maybe protest a little, but then relent and start chatting. I was wrong. I wondered if she was always so defensive, or if it was purely aimed at me. She certainly seemed to have developed an intense and immediate dislike for me. It put me on the back foot; I was used to reactions like that from men, but seldom from women, particularly those I barely knew.
She looked just as awkward and prickly now, though, so maybe it wasn’t just me. Hart was fawning over some blond guy. He’d been standing alone, casing the room. As soon as they’d sat down, he’d moved over and stood above their table, leaning on the railing by the bar. I’d seen him in there before. He was a regular at the hotel. He might even be an escort, judging from his behaviour. I wondered if she had any idea what she was getting into. I didn’t get the impression she much cared. She was all over him, anyway.
Grace, on the other hand, was just sitting there, her leg crossed away from them, looking around the room. She looked bored to death, and I didn’t blame her. I was beginning to regret inviting them here in the first place. There were plenty of other bars and clubs I could’ve chosen, but I’d plumped for this one because it was quieter and more discreet than the rest. In hindsight, it was perhaps a bit too discreet. There was no crowd to blend into, no chance of just happening upon her as I walked around the club. If I was going to talk to her again, I was going to have to be obvious, and I didn’t much fancy that, after her reaction out on the terrace.
I wondered again what I’d done. She’d had it in for me from the moment she’d seen me in Max’s office. Maybe that was why I’d found her so alluring. It was rare for me to meet a woman that was a real challenge, and she was starting to become exactly that. I swirled the ice around in my glass, and looked over at her again. That was it. I’d treat her as a challenge. Then, even if she brushed me off yet again, I wouldn’t feel so defeated and I’d have my own permission to keep trying.
I was just about to go over and try, again, to talk to her, when some guy went over to her. She looked up at him, and then over at the group of guys he’d been sitting with. She shrugged briefly and smiled, before getting up and following him over to sit with them. I couldn’t believe it…I’d missed my chance. I could only watch in increasing disbelief, as she smiled round at them all and shook their hands. It was my own fault, I knew. I should have been quicker off the mark…been more direct with her out on the terrace.
She sat down between two of the guys, smoothing her dress as she did so. She had her back to me, and I could see the bones of her spine tracing a curve down the open back of it as she crossed her legs again. I wanted to reach out and run my fingertip down that spine, trace a line back up it with the tip of my tongue.
Even as I thought it, one of the guys put his hand to the nape of her neck, and did exactly that. He caressed her neck for a moment, before letting his fingers slide, trailing down her spine to the point where the silken folds of her dress met in the small of her back. It was such a subtle, predatory movement that it sent a shiver right through me. Even before I saw him flash a grin at his mate, I knew what he was after.
I started forward, ready to intervene, then paused as I realised she’d done nothing to stop him. In fact, far from protesting, she was laughing and shaking her head slightly, tipping it coyly to one side, as she smiled at him.
I sighed. It was the end to another perfect day. I might as well leave and get sorted for the morning. I might even squeeze in a run for the first time this week, if I left now. I threw one more regretful look in Grace Anderton’s direction, and made to go.
That was when I realised Kitty Hart and the blond guy had disappeared.
I looked around to see if they’d moved, but they weren’t anywhere to be seen. They weren’t at the bar or on the terrace, and their drinks were sitting empty on their table. I went to the door. Matt was on security there. It wasn’t his usual job, by a long stretch, but I’d wanted to make sure no undesirables got in tonight, and he was one of the few men I could still trust one hundred per cent.
‘The blonde one, Sir?’ He nodded at the lift. ‘She went down with some guy a few minutes ago.’
‘Are they coming back?’
‘No idea, boss.’ Matt looked awkward. He was good at his job, and he always hated not being able to give me a straight answer. ‘Jez got him his jacket though, so it doesn’t look like it.’
I stood there for a moment, wondering whether to just go. I knew it was the wise move. Grace seemed more than happy with her new pals, and I’d just end up standing there, torturing myself, but…there was something off about her behaviour. I didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of just leaving her there. Not now Hart had done a disappearing act.
I looked over at her again, and what I saw made my mind up. Another of the guys was leaning forward now, and he had his hand between her knees, pushing up between them. She barely seemed to notice. She was leaning back in her seat, and the guy that had been stroking her back was now nuzzling her neck.
As I watched, he whispered something in her ear. She gave a shy smile and nodded, and the whole group stood up. The guys pulled their jackets from the backs of their seats and started across the dance floor towards me…towards the exit…pulling Grace along with them.
I froze for a moment. I could hardly believe what I was seeing…and I’d thought Kitty Hart had gone off the rails! Well, she had, but she’d left with one guy and, even if I’d seen her go, there was nothing I could do to stop that. Girls left with guys all the time.
But one girl leaving with a whole group of guys…a group who’d been mauling her in a public bar. It didn’t bear thinking about. Even if I hadn’t had a vested interest, I wouldn’t have let that happen. Not in one of my clubs, and certainly not on my watch.
Twenty Five
I couldn’t help myself. I knew I was letting Liv down…letting myself down, but the moment they began to touch me, and hint at what they wanted to do to me, there was no way I could resist. I’d had my fantasy snatched from me last night, and now I had the chance to seize it again. Next time I went to bed alone, I’d have other faces with me in the back room of the bar…not Leo’s.
I’d agreed to go with them, back to one of their rooms, and I let them lead me out into the foyer. Just as we were about to get in the lift, I heard a voice behind me.