Chapter Seven
Scarlett
I didn’t go out very often. To go out, you had to have money, and that was running thin for me. But Lily had offered to buy me a drink or two, and I could always get a few more from willing guys. Of course, I wasn’t going to let it get any further than a drink and some casual flirting.
For one, I wasn’t on birth control. I couldn’t imagine how bad it would be if I ended up pregnant with someone else’s child after Evan was paying me to get pregnant with his. But mostly, it was about Evan himself. After last night, I didn’t want someone else. I’d gotten a taste of his dick–literally–and I wanted more.
Lavo was a two-story venue with Italian food served at tables on the top floor and live DJs, bars, and a hell of a lot of grinding on the dancefloor downstairs. The energy in the room was contagious, and I felt good. The crowd moved to the music like it had a pulse, and the air was hot and humid, the way it got when too many bodies were crammed up against each other.
“I need alcohol,” Lily said, and I followed her through the throngs of people where we had to wrestle for a space at the bar. “What are you having?”
I shook my head. “Just a Coke for me,” I said.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why?”
“I have a headache, and alcohol will just make it worse. I can party sober.”
Lily raised her eyebrows at me but ordered a Coke as I’d asked. It wasn’t about a headache, of course. I felt fine. I had suddenly realized that I was trying to get pregnant. Alcohol wasn’t going to help that along, and if after last night I was already in the process of conception, it was better not to drink now.
Lily paid for the drinks and handed me my Coke.
“Prude,” she teased.
“Responsible,” I countered.
Lily rolled her eyes. “I miss the days we didn’t have to be.”
I nodded. “Yeah, but the adult life looks good on us,” I said. “We look hot.”
Lily laughed. “That’s because of what we’re wearing, not because we’re any good at running our lives.”
She was right, too. She looked fantastic in an electric blue dress that made her green eyes pop. I wore a black dress that was so tight it looked painted on, and it made me feel sexy, tucking in all the bits that felt excessive. Lily had told me that I didn’t have any, but we’d agreed to disagree.
I felt good in heels, too. It made my ass look great, and my ass was already my best asset. Last night, Evan had told me so himself. He loved my ass. I didn’t blame him. I loved my ass.
“Let’s go dance,” Lily said.
I nodded, and we headed onto the dancefloor, moving through the writhing bodies. We moved to the music, and I let myself go, letting the music flow through me. We were on the dancefloor for a while, and I finished my coke. Lily was still sipping her drink–a vicious cocktail that wasn’t going to be done anytime soon.
“I’m going to get water,” I said to her. “I’m dying of thirst.”
She nodded and danced. A guy pressed himself up against Lily, and she started grinding against him, moving her body with his in a simulation of sex. I pushed through the crowds toward the bar, finally managed to get one of the bartender’s attention, and asked for a glass of water.
“I hope you’re only drinking water because you’re pacing yourself for a long night,” a gruff voice said next to me.
I turned. Jeff Powell stood next to me, looking like a blast from the past. I recognized him only because I’d seen him a handful of times when I’d been over at Lily’s and he’d come to speak to Evan. I wasn’t sure exactly what he was to Evan–a friend, an associate, a partner–but I didn’t like the guy. He wasn’t much older than Evan, but his hair was completely gray, so he looked like he had at least ten years on Evan. He wore jeans with a collared shirt tucked into it, making him look like someone’s dad on teen patrol rather than someone who was here to party.
Still, I’d heard the guy had a track record, so he had to have something going for him.
“I’m drinking water because I’m thirsty,” I said.
Jeff looked me up and down, and I felt his stare like a physical touch. I shivered. I didn’t like the way he looked at me, like he was trying to figure out what was beneath my clothes.
“Well, if you’re not that drunk, you’ll remember it all afterward.”
He grinned at me. Was that his attempt to pick me up?
I turned toward the crowd, but Jeff slid his hand down my arm, holding onto my wrist. I didn’t want him touching me.
“Let me go,” I said.
“Come on, honey,” he said. “I can show you a much better time than this.”
He looked at me with hungry eyes. There was no way I was going to sleep with this guy. Sure, I’d slept with Evan, and Jeff was the same age, but there was something about Evan that was attractive as an older man, and something about Jeff that was creepy.
“No, thank you,” I said.
“Jeff, let her go,” someone said behind me, and we both spun around to see Evan. Relief flooded through me. His face was serious.
“Don’t cockblock me, man,” Jeff said, but he let go of my wrist, and I folded my arms over my chest.
“You’re not going to take this one home,” Evan said in a voice that told me he wasn’t messing around. Jeff must have heard it, too, because he pulled a face.
“Since when are you such a fucking grandpa?” he asked.
“You know Scarlett Forbes,” Evan said.
Jeff blinked. “Who, now?
“Scarlett,” Evan said, nodding toward me. “You’ve met her.”
Jeff shook his head. “I’m sure I would have remembered.” He looked at me with eyes that were full of something I didn’t like again.
“Maybe you don’t remember because you haven’t slept with her. Those are the only faces that stay in your drunken memory. So, take a good look now and walk away, because that’s not going to change.”
Jeff frowned. “You’re a real dick, Evan,” he said, but he turned around and walked away. I blinked at Evan. He was being protective. It was sweet, but confusing.
“Thanks for that,” I said.
Evan shook his head. “No, don’t thank me. I apologize that my friend was so rude to you.”
“Men will be men,” I said.
Evan shrugged. “I thought you were with Lily?” he asked.
I nodded. “I am.” I spotted her pushing her way through the crowd toward us. “In fact, here she comes now.”
“Dad?” Lily asked when she reached us. “What are you doing here?”
Evan shrugged. I noticed how he changed around Lily, becoming more of a father figure than the handsome guy that had saved me from a jerk a moment ago.
“Same thing you’re doing here, I imagine, sweetheart.”
Lily pulled a face. “Well, that’s just weird. I’m not going to party with my dad. Come on, Scar. Let’s go.”
I shook my head. “We don’t have to leave. This place is big enough for us to do our own thing, right? Besides, there’s nothing wrong with chatting.”
Lily grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side enough so that the music blocked what we were saying from Evan.
“You can’t ditch me for him, Scar. It’s my dad. At a night club. And you want to, what? Talk about the job thing again?”
I shrugged. I had nothing to fall back on but the story Evan had told her last night.
“No,” Lily said, determined. “We’re not staying here.”
I wanted to point out that she couldn’t tell me what to do, but not without making it look suspicious. And she was right. Under any other circumstance, I would have agreed with my friend instead of hanging out with her dad. The fact that I had fucked him was beside the point.
“Okay, I won’t talk to him anymore. Let’s just stay.”
Lily shook her head. “I want to get out of here, Scar,” she said. “When will we ever be old enough to party with my dad?”
I had to agree with her. There was only one reason why I wanted to do this, and I couldn’t tell her what that was. It wouldn’t be fair to her anyway. So, I nodded and said, “Yeah, okay. We can go.”
I hoped we could say goodbye to Evan, but that wasn’t going to happen. I had to settle for waving at him as we walked past. I hoped he would understand, considering that we were in this together.
We didn’t go to another nightclub. Lily was suddenly over it, and I had to admit, so was I. We end up going back to her apartment. She was the manager of a communications company, and her apartment was proof that she had climbed the corporate ladder while I had taken time to get my Master’s degree. Sometimes, I was jealous of her success. She didn’t have anything other than a bachelor’s degree, but her life was on track and going somewhere fast. On the other hand, I had put in an extra three years of study, and I had gotten nowhere.
I pushed the thoughts away. There was no use crying about something I couldn’t change. Besides, once the pregnancy was done and Evan paid me my money, I would be richer than I had ever dreamed I could be. Seventy-five million dollars could put anyone’s life back on track.
Of course, I would have to explain how I came by that money, but that was a problem for later. Right now, dreaming about the money was plenty to pull me through. That, and fantastic sex with a guy had been fantasizing about for a very long time.
Lily and I lay in her bed, watching a movie. It was a chick flick we had decided on together, but I couldn’t concentrate on what was happening. Evan was on my mind, and I flashed on the sex we’d had last night. There was something about Evan that made shiver every time I thought about him. He was confident and accomplished, and it showed in the bedroom. I knew he’d been with many women, but I had been with more than a few men myself, and that didn’t bother me. Maybe it should have, but Evan was no more to me than a means to an end.
“Lily?” I asked.
“Yeah?”
“Why aren’t you dating right now?” I asked, looking at her.
She thought about it for a moment. “Because men are full of shit.”
I nodded. “Makes sense,” I said. “Do you think you’ll ever find someone?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “If I do, I won’t turn it down, but I’m happy with where I am in my life right now.”
Maybe that was my problem. Maybe I felt unfulfilled because I felt so lost. Maybe if I started a career and it went somewhere, I wouldn’t feel this way. The only problem was, to start a career, I needed someone to give me a chance.
Then again, after this job with Evan and his baby, I wouldn’t need to work again in my life. I would have enough money to see me through.
Was this the life I was meant to lead?
“Why are you asking?” Lily asked. “Did you meet someone?”
For a moment, I wasn’t sure how to answer her. Was I going to say yes, but lie about who? Or was I going to lie about all of it?
“Not really,” I said, shrugging. There was no good way to answer. Better not to say anything than to accidentally slip up. For now, Evan was my secret. And what a hot secret it was.