CHAPTER ONE
Mack
MACK’S PHONE BUZZED in his pocket. He pulled it out and read the display, smiling as Kim’s name came up on the screen. “Hey, babe.”
“Hi, Mack. Sorry I’ve been MIA,” Kim said. “I had a couple of shows.”
“Yeah? I thought maybe you were dead in a ditch somewhere.”
“Right, like you’d ever let that happen,” Kim pointed out. “If you’d really been worried, I would’ve been tracked, located, and the perpetrator killed before they had a chance to get to a second location.”
“Yeah, that’s probably true.” Mack chuckled. “What’s up?”
Mack met Kimberly Church when Booker claimed her best friend Dani and subsequently married her. Kim rode fancy-ass horses and, although Mack knew nothing about horses or that side of her life, he knew Kim enough to know she was up to something.
“A couple of friends and I wanted to come to the club tomorrow night. Will you be there?” she asked.
He frowned. “Booker’ll lose his shit if Dani comes without him, Kimmie.”
“It’s not Dani,” Kim promised.
“Which begs the question, why are you plannin’ somethin’ without her?” he asked. “What the hell are you up to?”
Dani and Kim rarely did anything without each other. Mack always thought it was a little strange until he got to know Kim and her history. She’d had a rough beginning in life and Dani and her family had helped exorcise a lot of Kim’s demons. Not all of them, but enough for Kim to function.
“She’s busy.” Kim groaned. “Mack, seriously. She’s not part of this. Just a few friends getting together for a good time and if you’re there, I get to see you too. Bonus.”
He shook his head with a smile. “Yeah, I’ll be here.”
“Thanks, bud.”
“But no leaving with some random douchbag, yeah?”
“I can handle myself,” she argued.
He glanced out the one way mirror and down at the club floor unusually packed for a Thursday night. “Fuck me, Kim, you cannot. Do I need to remind you about three weeks ago?”
Kim had walked out of the club with one of their regulars, and he’d attacked her in the ally. He didn’t get far because Knight followed them and beat the shit out of the guy, but not before the asshole had ripped Kim’s dress down the front. She seemed to lose her mind when Knight was around and Mack knew his brother was getting fed up with her desire to find trouble.
She sighed. “No. You didn’t tell Booker, right?”
Both Mack and Kim knew if he did, Booker’d tell Dani immediately and then Kim would be screwed.
“No, babe, I didn’t tell Booker, but you keep up with this stupidity, I will. Better yet, I’ll tell Dani.”
Kim let out a quiet hiss. “Logan Reed, you better not!”
“I fuckin’ will, Kim, but for now, your secret’s safe.” He turned toward his desk. “What are the names of your friends?”
“Darien and Pauley,” she said. “I think Darien might bring a friend as well.”
“You’re bringin’ guys in? Not typically your style, babe.”
“No, they’re sisters. Their dad wanted boys, it’s a long story.”
“Okay.” He didn’t admit it, but he had a thing for girls with boys’ names. It was sexy as hell.
“Anyway, you’ve met Pauley. She’s the bartender at the restaurant.”
“Yeah, the hot redhead.”
Kim giggled. “Do you actually know the names of the women you meet or are they all classified by hotness and hair color?”
Mack chuckled. “I’m thinkin’ I’m not gonna answer that.”
“Chicken.”
“I’ll make sure you’re on the list.”
Kim sighed. “Thanks, Mack.”
“Hey,” he said, his tone softer. “I’m lookin’ out for you, yeah?”
“I don’t know why,” she grumbled.
“Need me to break it down for you?”
“No, what I need is for you to go back to being Mack the dawg instead of concerning yourself with my sex life. I know you’re watching out for me, honey. But outside of that, I’m good, okay?”
He gave a reluctant smile. She was right. He was inserting himself somewhere he didn’t belong. “Okay, babe. I’ll butt out.”
“Thanks. And thanks for the entry.”
“No problem. Talk to you later,” he said, and hung up.
* * *
Darien
I slid my leg under my bottom and settled my laptop squarely in front of me. Still no email informing me I was about to be published. Even so, I thought I might attempt to write something else. However, this was the third time I’d changed positions in an effort to shake out the cobwebs in my head.
“To sex or not to sex?” I asked, hoping someone might answer me. I was alone in the apartment I shared with my sister, but I was desperate.
I stared at the blinking cursor and tapped my fingers on my keyboard. It took me about thirty-two seconds to let out a frustrated groan and dump the computer on the sofa cushion beside me. My fluffy, snooty Llasa Aapso, Barney, raised his head but didn’t move any other part of his body, considering he knew Mommy had at least three of these outbursts a day. I don’t really know why I bothered, no one would ever want to read anything I wrote anyway.
“Don’t judge me,” I demanded.
Barney yawned and settled his head back on his paws. Damn him and his cuteness. I needed to focus, not coo at his adorability.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you, little doggle,” I said, and rose to my feet. Maybe some water would help... or a shot of tequila.
As I grabbed a glass from the cabinet, my sister walked into the apartment and dumped her purse on the kitchen counter. Pauley was tall, well, taller than me. She stood a whopping five-foot-eight to my five-foot-six. She and I had the same hair color, a deep, Irish red, but where hers was thick and glossy, mine was curly and unmanageable. We both had gray eyes, but that’s about where the similarities ended. She was glamorous and confident, fully in touch with her sexuality and could use it to her advantage.
Me... not so much.
“Hey, Pauley,” I grumbled.
“How goes the fascinating world of old people?” she asked, and opened the fridge.
“I know more about the bombing of Pearl Harbor than I ever thought I would.” I smiled. “But Mr. Akerman gets so excited when he’s telling his stories.”
I had started working at the nursing home pretty much right out of high school. Pauley and I lost our mother four years ago and there hadn’t been money for college, so we looked for jobs right away. I was lucky enough to find a position working with the elderly which I just happened to love.
“I envy your life.” Pauley pulled out a beer and twisted off the top.
I rolled my eyes at her sarcasm, especially considering, she was deathly afraid of old people. “How was the restaurant?”
“It was good.”
Pauley waited tables five days a week and tended bar two nights a week to help fund her ‘around the world trip in style’ she’d been promising to take since she was six. With the amount she made working weekends, she probably didn’t need her day job. But that was my sister. She was sexy as hell, friendly, and made more money in a day than I made in a week.
“Any word from the agent?” she asked.
I let out a pathetic groan. I finally finished the book I’d been threatening to write and sent it off to a couple of agents. One had requested the entire manuscript, but that had been six weeks ago and still no word. I was pretty much resigned to the fact it was obviously total crap and I’d never hear from her again.
“Uh-oh, that doesn’t sound good. You probably should have let me read it before you sent it off.”
I shook my head vigorously. “And have you tease me mercilessly? No way!”
The truth was, no one but Millie had read any of it and I had sworn her to secrecy.
Pauley chuckled. “Have you yelled at Barney yet?”
I frowned. “I don’t yell.”
“Okay... have you snapped at Barney yet?”
I wrinkled my nose. “I apologized.”
Pauley giggled. “You know it’s weird that you talk to your dog like he’s a human, right?”
“You know it’s weird you think it’s weird that I talk to my human companion, right?” I poured water into my glass and smiled. “How much did you make in tips tonight?”
“Almost four-hundred.”
“Dollars?” I squeaked.
Pauley laughed. “No, pesos.”
“Ohmigod, sissy. I think I need to change careers.”
“You’re too sweet for this job, honey.”
“Suck it, Pauley,” I snapped. We’d had this conversation a hundred times over. My sister was five years older than me and took her “maturity” seriously. But I was twenty-two and paying half the rent and utilities, so I was getting a little sick of her seeing me as just her innocent baby sister.
“You know, you could always self-publish,” Pauley said. “Lots of people are doing it and if you find someone who can do a cover for you or whatever, it’d be a good way to find out what the masses think.”
“You might be onto something,” I said. I’d actually thought about self-publishing before, but I’d always wanted to do it right and that meant finding an editor. Easier said than done.
“Tell you what. If you want to do research and find out the costs to publish, I’ll put money in. Consider it an investment. You can pay me back when you make a profit.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, why not?”
I hugged her. “You are my absolute favorite sister.”
“I know that already.” She giggled. “Anyway, subject change. You said you and Millie got turned away from Blush a few weeks ago, so I wanted to know if you want to go with me and Kim tomorrow night?”
“We didn’t just get turned away, sissy. We were humiliated.”
More accurately, I was humiliated. The bouncer had looked me up and down and laughed before shooing me away like I was a stray cat begging for scraps. My best friend, Millie, on the other hand, was told she could enter; however, she showed solidarity and left with me.
“Honey, you’re a grown-ass woman, you’re not really still mad about that, are you?”
“Oh, now you acknowledge I’m a grown-ass woman when you just told me I’m too innocent to work as a bartender?”
“They aren’t mutually exclusive.” Pauley tipped her beer toward me. “But I’m a little surprised you’re still mad.”
I sighed. “I’m not mad, just a little irked.”
“Well, get over it and come out with us tomorrow.”
“And have them kick me out again? No thank you.”
“Kim knows one of the guys who runs it. She promises you’ll get in. Call Mill and see if she wants to come too.”
My curiosity beckoned. I’d always been the girl who wanted what was forbidden, but my need for self-preservation generally warred with that curiosity and I typically did the safe thing. Truth be told, I was the biggest chicken on the planet, but I wanted to know why this club was so exclusive and why it was so hard to get into... and more importantly, why I wasn’t good enough to be admitted.
“Okay, fine,” I said.
“Awesome. Kim said she’d come over around eight-thirty or so and help you... I mean, us, get ready.”
I let out a frustrated groan. “I can dress myself, sissy.”
Pauley didn’t respond.
“Suck it, Pauley.”
She giggled again. “Eight. Be showered and ready to be pampered.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“I’m on the early shift, so I’ll be here around eight-fifteen to supervise.”
“You’re going to work for all day and then still be ready to go out?”
Pauley snorted. “Who are you talking to?”
“Right.” I smiled. “Forgive me, oh royal big sister.”
“Better.” She sipped her beer again. “Did you eat?”
“Hmm-mm,” I mumbled.
“Cheetos?”
“Don’t talk to me like you know me,” I responded.
“I brought home your favorite.” She glanced at the counter. “Shit. Left it in the car. I’ll get it.”
“I love you!” I called, as she grabbed her keys and headed out of the apartment.
* * *
Friday evening, I arrived home and fell onto the sofa. Barney gave an excited bark and jumped onto my back, leaning down to sniff my face. I was tired and when I say tired, I mean close to death. My phone buzzed in my purse and I answered it with a muffled, “Hello.”
“You don’t sound good,” Millie said.
Millicent Magrew had been my best friend since our senior year of high school. I think we would have been friends before that, but she transferred schools one week into the year, and had attached herself to me. I adored her.
I groaned, still unmoving. “I don’t think there’s a part of my body that doesn’t hurt.”
“Bad day?”
“No, not bad, per se. One of my ladies tried to get out of bed on her own and fell. I had to help her up and wacked my leg against a nightstand.”
“Where the hell were the orderlies?”
“They were busy.”
“Translation, Darien tried not to be a bother and overdid it.”
I sighed. “Probably. I have to say, despite the fact she’s almost ninety and her mind doesn’t work very well, she’s frickin’ strong and fought me until she remembered who I was. Now I just want to lie here and die.”
“So, no Blush?”
“Oh, right. I forgot,” I admitted. I pushed myself up to a halfway seated position, pulling Barney onto my lap and giving him a gentle squeeze. “I think if I can catch a quick nap, I can rally.”
“You’re going to nap at six o’clock at night?”
“I’m going to try and nap at six o’clock at night.”
Millie giggled. “Okay. Well, I’ll be at your place at seven-thirty.”
“Sounds good.”
“See you then.”
“’Bye.” I dropped my phone in my purse and smiled down at Barney. “Potty time for you, little beast, and then sleep.”
I took Barney out and then he curled up beside me on my bed and we napped until Millie’s banging on the apartment door (and Barney’s subsequent barking) woke me.
I pulled open the door to my best friend, the incomparably gorgeous Millicent Alissa Magrew. It really wasn’t fair that I was surrounded by women who should be on some form of a catwalk, not working day jobs and slinging drinks to dirty old men. Millie also worked off and on bartending, although, she was an accountant by day and only took bartending jobs if she wanted to save for something specific.
Millie was almost six-feet tall without heels and when she walked into a room, all eyes were on her. Her father was white, her mother was black, and she had this dark mocha skin that made every woman hate her and every man want her. She’d been named after her great-grandmother and I used to joke that her parents had to give her such a weird name; otherwise the rest of us peasants couldn’t exist with such perfection in our world. We would all combust.
“You look gorgeous,” Millie quipped as she gave me a quick hug and pushed into the apartment.
“Bite me,” I said, smiling as I locked the door.
Millie slipped off her flip-flops, and dropped her bags on the floor. “Shower.”
“No, hi, how are you? How was your nap?” I asked.
“Hi, how are you? How was your nap? Shower.”
I giggled and grabbed an apple from the bowl on the table, before heading to the bathroom.
“Don’t wash your hair,” Millie called as I closed the door.
“Gross, but okay,” I called back.
I took extra time to shave my legs and exfoliate my skin, so by the time I slid a robe on and made my way into the living room, Pauley was home and Kim wasn’t far behind.
“I’m going to do your makeup and Millie’s on hair duty,” Pauley said. “But right now, you need to choose which dress you’re going to wear.”
“I was going to wear—”
“Nope,” Pauley said, cutting me off.
“You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Millie said. “We’ve got two choices for you.”
She lifted a deep blue, one shoulder, cocktail dress that would barely cover my butt and another one shoulder, black dress with a skirt that flared slightly at the hem. I chose the black since it stopped just above the knee and would look great with my cherry red, strappy four-inch heels. Plus, it covered my ample rear-end and somewhat minimized it. Now, my boobs on the other hand were going to be a problem. “What am I supposed to wear for support?”
“This,” Pauley said, and held out a weird plasticky looking bra thing.
“Um... ”
Millie giggled. “It’s self-adhesive, hon. The directions are in the box.” Which she handed to me and I took a minute to look it over.
“Make-up, then dress, then hair,” Pauley said, and the make-Darien-hot-plot was on.
Kim arrived ten minutes into my makeover and I glanced at the three women helping me get ready and wondered why they bothered. With them with me, I wouldn’t be seen anyway. Kim was tall, almost five-foot-ten, with legs that I’d kill for... or, at the very least, maim for. She had long dark hair and big brown eyes, and tonight she wore dark red lipstick that drew focus to her full lips, especially since the rest of her makeup was minimal.
“I change my mind,” I grumbled. “I’m not going out with you three.”
“What? Why?” Kim asked.
“I think it’s pretty obvious,” I ground out.
“You’re an idiot,” Millie said.
“No, I’m not! I’m right.”
“What am I missing?” Kim asked.
“She’s feeling self-conscious because she thinks she’s ugly,” Pauley provided.
“You’re a fucking nut,” Kim said.
“I don’t think I’m ugly,” I corrected. “I’m just kind of plain looking compared to you.”
They looked at each other and then laughed.
“What?”
“It’s a good thing we made you our project tonight then, ugly duckling.” Pauley grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet, turning me to face the full-length mirror.
“Holy crap.” I gasped. “What did you do to me?” I leaned forward. “I look hot!”
Pauley giggled. “Yeah you do.”
My dark red curls fell in soft waves around my shoulders, teased away from my face and made a little bigger... okay, a lot bigger... than I had ever worn it, but it gave me a sexy look that I was really digging. I had smoky eyes and a light lip, which drew focus to my eyes. Even though the silicone bra felt weird, it did what it was supposed to do (kind of) and the dress hugged every curve. Pauley loaned me the red clutch that matched my shoes and Kim had painted my nails the same color. To say I felt a bit like slutty Cinderella was an understatement, and I loved it.
“Feel better?” Pauley asked.
“Hells yes. I feel great.”
“Let’s go before she changes her mind,” Millie demanded, and we made sure Barney was locked in my room, and headed out.