By the time we arrived at The Pink Diamond that night, I was exhausted. I sang my set like usual, powering through the songs with only minimal effort. There wasn’t as much applause as usual, but I didn’t even care. All I could think about was going home and going to bed. The past twenty-four hours had wreaked havoc on my body and my mind, and I just wanted to get some rest.
After my set, Zed was waiting for me outside of the dressing room. “We need to stick around here for a while,” he told me quietly. “I need to check out some of these douchebags over by the bar. You get a drink and don’t talk to anyone, okay?”
I nodded, pressing my arms together, so it looked like I had cleavage. Infuriatingly, Zed walked away without even looking. I’ll show him, I thought wearily. Being more exhausted than usual was making me feel cagey, and I thought smugly about how angry he’d been earlier when he’d caught me talking to Mark. Mark was cute, but there was no way in hell I could ever be interested in him after Zed. It was so funny that Zed didn’t see that, too.
Instead of changing into my street clothes, I decided to keep my dress on. It was an emerald green silk mini-dress—a gift from Jackie. One of her clients had bought it for her, but she couldn’t wear it on the job because that would have been too obvious, so she gave it to me. It fit me like a glove, and for once, I actually felt pretty good about the way my body looked. The only downside was that the fabric was so tight around my hips that I could barely walk. So far, I’d been sort of shuffling around. I caught a lot of looks from men, and I felt self-conscious until I realized they were checking me out. Maybe there was something to be said for my shuffling after all.
“Lily, doll, you were great,” the bartender gushed as I hopped onto one of the stools. “You sounded wonderful tonight. So raw and perfect!”
“Thanks,” I said, feeling a blush creep across my cheeks. “I’m glad you think so.”
He nodded and poured me a drink with vodka, lemon soda, maraschino cherries, and grenadine. “Trust me, doll,” he said in a hoarse voice. “You’re better than half the birds that get up there. And not a single man could take his eyes off you in that dress. How come you’ve never worn that getup before?”
I felt my blush deepen and I looked away, searching for Zed. “I dunno,” I lied. “I felt like something different for a change.”
The bartender nodded appreciatively. “Keep it up. Let me know when you want another one.” He gestured to my drink. “It’s on the house.”
“Thanks,” I said with a grin. My life wasn’t very glamorous, but I did always enjoy this perk. The drink tasted sweet and a little tart and I sipped at it, feeling tired. It was late, and I hoped that Zed would be done soon. Another one of these and I’d be asleep.
“Hey there,” a smooth male voice said. I turned around and saw a pale guy with long dark hair sliding onto the stool beside me. He had gorgeous blue eyes that looked like chips of ice and skin so pale that he looked bloodless. He was possibly one of the only people that I’d ever seen who was paler than I was.
“Hi,” I said, sounding timid. “Enjoying yourself?”
“I was,” he replied, grinning at me. “When you were still up on stage, that is.”
I blushed. “Thanks. I’m Lily. Lily Sanders.”
I hadn’t offered a hand, but he pried my fingers away from my drink and brought them to his mouth. “I’m Seth,” he said, gazing up at me. “Seth Mullen.”
“Do you come here a lot?” I asked. When he started laughing, I realized how cheesy I’d sounded. “Ugh,” I added. “I’m sorry. I don’t get out a lot.”
“You should get out more,” he advised. “And no, I don’t come here very frequently. But if you sing all the time, I’ll be in every night.”
“Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays,” I told him. He pretended to write down the days on his arm, and I laughed. It was the first time I’d really laughed all day and I was amazed at how much better and alert I felt. I knew Zed would be angry with me for talking to someone, but fuck him. I deserved to have fun, too.
“You’re charming,” Seth said. He kept grinning at me, showing his rows of even, white teeth. “You wanna take a little walk with me?”
“Uhm,” I hesitated, looking down. “I’m not sure that I should,” I admitted. “I’m waiting for someone here.”
“Boyfriend?”
I shook my head. “No,” I said after a pause. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Seth grinned at me again. I felt the little hairs rise up on the back of my neck. I was glad that I hadn’t said yes, but suddenly I found myself wishing that I’d lied about Zed being my boyfriend. Seth slid off the stool with a feline grace and stood next to me. He wrapped his arm around me, and even though he smelled good, I still felt uneasy.
“I should go,” I said politely. “It’s been a long day.”
Seth locked eyes with me. I watched as he reached up and knocked his drink over in my lap. It was wet and freezing cold and I yelped, jerking backward but not falling off the stool. Seth grabbed a bunch of napkins and dumped them in my lap, rubbing them in with his hand. There was an uncomfortable pressure on my groin and I tried to push him away, but he kept touching me there.
“I have to clean up the stain,” he said. “I have to—”
Suddenly, I watched Seth jerk back as if yanked by an invisible force. A second later, I saw that Zed had grabbed him by the back of his collar and thrown him to the side. In an instant, Zed swooped his arm under my legs and lifted me off the stool. He carried me out of The Pink Diamond and over to Freddie, the doorman.
“Watch her,” he growled out at Freddie. Zed disappeared back inside and I cringed. Freddie looked down at me sympathetically. He took off his black tux jacket and wrapped it around me and my wet dress. It didn’t do a lot to block the cold, but I felt more protected already.
“Are you okay, Miss Lily?”
I nodded with haste, tears forming in my eyes. “I’m fine,” I replied in a shaky voice. “Just some jerk guy, that’s all.”
Freddie nodded. He kept his hand on my shoulder and stood right next to me until Zed burst out of the building. I watched him shoot Zed a furtive look, but Zed just gave his head a quick jerk to the side. With growing disappointment, I realized that meant Seth had gotten away.
In the car, I broke down in tears. “I’m sorry!” I wailed. “I’m sorry! He came up to me and started talking and I didn’t think anything bad would happen!”
Zed softened. “You can’t put yourself in those situations, Lily.” His knuckles were white from clenching the wheel. “You have to be smarter when it comes to your safety.”
I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “I know,” I said tearfully. “I’m sorry. I don’t want you to leave me alone.”
“I won’t,” Zed said through gritted teeth. “Believe you me, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
That night, Zed slept on the floor of my bedroom. I didn’t even resist when he brought up the idea. Sex was the last thing on my mind at this point; I just wanted him to protect me. Still, when I fell asleep, I had raunchy dreams about him all the same. I dreamed of Zed carrying me out of the club and fucking me across the hood of his car. I dreamed of Zed following me into the shower and ripping my towel off, having his way with me as the water soaked us both. I dreamed of Zed pinning me down on the couch and fucking me raw with abandon until I cried out and pleaded for him to stop.
The next morning, Zed was snoring on my floor when my alarm went off. I quickly disarmed it and went into the bathroom, staring at myself in the mirror. My skin was flushed and sticky and I realized with horror that I looked like I’d just been making love. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Zed kissing me, Zed spanking me, Zed making fierce love to me. I had to do something to get rid of that mental image.
Even though it was risky, I decided to go for a run around the apartment complex. Running was the only thing that ever calmed me down, and if I was careful, I could do it before Zed woke up. He won’t even have to know, I told myself. It’ll be my little secret.