Charlie
Twisting in front of my floor-length mirror, I resist the urge to change and bail. Resisting is easy when it’s not your choice.
Club NS. Tonight. Midnight. Blend in.
That’s all the information in the text message. The number was from the same one that messaged me at the soccer fields. I think it’s okay to save this under Clint.
I pull down my red dress and slide on my black suede wedges.
I got lucky because Sam is staying over at Max’s tonight. I wanted to just blurt out yes right away, but I thought it might look suspicious, so in the end I lied and told Whit I was meeting an old friend for drinks when she mentioned the idea.
Now, I’m headed down the steps in a dress that screams “I need to make some cash” and with a heart that is ready to pop like balloon after it’s poked with a needle.
“Club NS,” I tell my Uber driver, and I’m pretty sure my stomach will turn the entire ride there. I just need to go in, tell Jimmy once more I don’t have the money. There aren’t many more ways I can say it. Should I ask where he thinks it is? Maybe if he tells me, I could get it for them and they’ll back off. Damn it. I wish it were that easy.
Smoke engulfs me as I enter the club, and my eyes are already beginning to itch. I can’t scratch them, though. It would ruin the ridiculous amount of makeup I’m wearing to play the part. I tug my dress down, again, and look around the room. Dresses too small and heels high enough to roll an ankle surround me. Perfect, I fit the part just as they said I should. Now, though, I have no idea what to do next.
I pull my phone from my clutch. It’s one minute after and there isn’t a new text telling me what to do.
I survey the room again, but there is not a sign of Clint from where I’m standing.
I squeeze my way to the bar. If I’m going to get through this night, a drink won’t kill me. It’d help more than anything I’m sure of it.
I hold up my hand and the bartender looks at me, or, more accurately, his gaze stares at my chest. I resist the urge to pull up my top. Anyone could be working with Clint and watching me in this place. If I act like I’m uncomfortable here, that won’t fit with everyone else who is drinking and dancing.
“What can I get you?” he asks.
“A vodka Red Bull, please.”
With my drink in hand, I turn, resting my hip against the bar.
I don’t even know who to look for. Clint himself or someone else? Jimmy?
“Charlie?”
I spin fast at the sound of Jett’s voice. His eyes widen as he takes in my appearance.
Shit.
His eyes slowly move from my legs to my eyes, and his surprised look turns cold.
“What are you doing here?” he almost growls. He grabs my arms, his neck craning in all directions. “You shouldn’t be here,” he goes on before I can answer him. He’s pulling me toward the entrance of the club; I jerk my hand back.
“I’m not leaving.”
“Charlie, you can’t be here.”
“Yes, I can.”
“Please don’t fight me on this.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I shout, but it’s barely audible over the increased volume of the music. I turn to head back to the bar, but he reaches for me again and spins me to face him.
“Did you follow me?” he asks, leaning in.
Is he insane? “What? No, why would I do that?” I say and take a step back.
He steps forward. “Don’t shake your head and laugh. This isn’t funny. You need to leave, Charlie. Please.”
His intensity is starting to worry me.
“I can’t leave,” I tell him and move out of his hold. “Can we just talk about this later?”
His huff brushes over my lips, warm and minty. I hadn’t realized how close we were until just now.
“No, we can’t. This isn’t the type of place someone like you should be hanging around,” he says.
“Someone like me,” I snap. “What does that mean?”
“It means, you don’t belong with the people in this type of place.”
“You’re here,” I point out. He shakes his head but doesn’t comment.
“Why exactly are you here?” he asks.
When his gaze flashes around the room again, his Adam’s apple bobs, and his hands fidget between his ball cap and neck. His eyes slowly meet mine and the worry and fear in them aren’t a good sign.
“Jett, why are you here?” I ask. If he isn’t going to answer my questions, I’m not answering his.
“Charlie, I can’t … fuck!” he shouts. This time he laces his hand with mine and leads me through the club. We pass tables and booths of people, the dance floor, and a second bar on the far side of the room.
“Where are we going?” I ask, but like before, he doesn’t answer me.
He pushes open a door, and I catch sight of the restroom sign just as he tugs me inside. It’s a single bathroom. He flips the lock and when he faces me, his eyes are filled with a heated glare.
I’d ask him what his problem is, but I can’t. I need to be on the other side of that door more than I need to know what crawled up Jett’s ass, and before I do something crazy. Like kiss him again.
I move to step around him, but he sidesteps and stops in my way.
“Move,” I say.
“No.”
“Je—”
His name isn’t even off my lips before his hands grip my hips and tug me toward him, his mouth colliding against mine.
He presses us back up against the wall and pushes himself against me so that I can feel how much this is affecting him. I don’t have it in me to stop him, and even if I did, I wouldn’t want to.
I run my hands through his hair, his hat falling to the ground as his tongue slides past our lips to tangle with my own.
His fingers dig into my sides, and the connection makes my hips beg to be as close to him as I can. Everything disappears. The bathroom. The threat. The whole reason I’m here. The same way everything does when I’m with him. I never want this feeling to stop.
Right now, it’s just Jett and me.
A moan escapes me, fueling his hands to go crazy, roaming everywhere they can reach. Inch by inch, they raise my dress higher.
I tilt my head back; his mouth sucks and nips down my neck to my chest.
It’s been so long since a man made me feel like I’m on air. Like I could lose control and not feel an ounce of guilt over it.
I gasp loudly when Jett pulls one of my legs to wrap around him while his hand glides between my legs, pulling my thong to the side.
“Fuck, you’re so wet,” he breathes, sliding a finger inside me.
“Oh god,” I cry out.
My cell phone chooses this moment to ring. My eyes flash open and I shove him back.
“What the hell?”
I dig inside my clutch, ignoring his question.
Clint: I’m pleased to see you can follow instruction, but it seems your other plans for the evening have taken precedence. Next time, I hope you understand your priorities.
A picture of me and Sam heading up our apartment stairs pops up. Those are the clothes we wore today.
Clint: Till next time.
“Shit!” I scream.
“What, what is it? What happened?” Jett asks, trying to pull my phone from my hands.
“You,” I answer and jerk the cell out of his reach. As much as I don’t want to say the next words, I have to, at least until Clint and Jimmy are gone for good. “Stay away from me.”
“Charlie, I …”
I’m out the door before he can finish. I could have been one step closer to getting the past behind me and I wasted it because I was moments away from having sex with my neighbor’s brother in the bathroom of a club.
I’m wiping the tears away as I rush for the door, Jett calling my name behind me, and I’m almost to the parking lot when my eyes meet the person I came here for.
Clint shakes his head at me. I stand frozen under his gaze until something behind me distracts him.
“Leave,” he says, passing me.
I do as he says, and next time, I’ll make damn sure I do as he asks.
Jett
Kissing her in the bathroom of the club where I meet Clint is not okay. I don’t regret letting things turn sexual with her, but I could have gone about it completely differently. A club bathroom. Really, Jett? And she still never told me why she was here in the first place.
What in the hell was I thinking?
I’m still asking myself this when I step back into the club, with no sign of Charlie to be found. I called after her, but she was quick to dash out of here; hopefully, she’ll be home soon and far away from this place. Far away from me. When I reach the booth in the back of the room on the second floor of the club, Clint’s usual spot, I don’t see him right away.
“Distracted?” Clint asks, stepping up to my right.
Doing my best to ignore the villain on my shoulder telling me that Clint saw me with Charlie, I try to act normal. “Not really,” I say, holding up an empty beer bottle and signaling to the waitress. “Just tired of waiting.”
“Who are we waiting on?” he asks.
I glance to my left and stare right at him. “For what you told me to be here for.”
“Oh right. Yeah, change of plans. We’ll discuss it another night.”
Motherfucker.
“You’re kidding.” I force a laugh.
When I met with Captain today, I told him as much as I knew. Including where I would be tonight and who I was meeting. This setback isn’t going to make me look good. Captain will think I’m not getting the job done. I can’t have that.
“Does it look like I’m kidding?” Clint asks, his eyes fixed on the chest of a woman just on the other side of him. “Besides, you looked busy earlier.”
“What?” I bark.
He was watching me.
“You know, when you pulled that leggy and plump-assed woman into the bathroom.”
My hand curls into a fist as I force myself to look away from him. The last thing I need is for him to set eyes on Charlie. It’s the last thing she needs, too.
“Whatever. I’m out.” I stand as four woman slide into Clint’s booth. “Meet at your place tomorrow to discuss whatever is postponed?” I ask.
“So many questions,” Clint says, shaking his head.
I don’t let my gaze falter from his.
“No,” he says, rolling his eyes at me and giving his full focus to the redhead on his right. “Word got out that Jimmy is in the area. He’s lying low for a bit till it passes.”
What the fuck?
“How long?” I ask.
“Could be a few days, weeks even. I don’t fucking know.”
I nod, pretending it doesn’t faze me. “Cool. Let me know if you need anything till then.”
“Oh, I will. I have something in mind, actually, now that you mention it,” he says. I open my mouth to ask him what, but he’s too busy cramming his tongue down some woman’s throat to pay me any more attention.
I weave my way through the club, ready to get out of here and home where I can think. I’m almost to the door when I bump into a man on the way out.
“Sorry, man, I …” The words on Wade’s tongue halt when he makes eye contact with me. Those same eyes go as wide as they can, telling me all I need to know. I don’t stop to talk. Captain was the only person who knew I’d seen Jimmy. If Wade is here, that can only mean one thing.
Fuck.
I call Captain as soon as I’m outside and glance around the entrance to be sure I don’t see anyone I know.
“You got the details?” he asks in answer.
“Did you report a sighting of Kincaid in town and then send Wade into the club as backup?” I ask.
He sighs loudly into the phone.
“In my position, I’m obligated to make those reports, Jett.”
“You could have just blown this one opportunity for me!” I shout and then glance over my shoulder. I’m far enough away from the entrance, I should be good.
“Your opportunity still comes with rules to follow.”
“Jimmy went into hiding till this blows over. It could be weeks now before I have any new information.”
“Fine. Great. That will let you get back to the case you’re actually assigned to.”
I bang my fist on the bed of a random truck in the club’s parking lot.
“Jett, the chances of him leading you to the money aren’t high enough to go on with this. If anything, he’d probably use you and kill you once you got him what he wanted. You’ve read his report. Murder isn’t something this guy thinks twice about. Which is exactly why we need to do this by the book and have extra eyes on you at all times during any meet you have with Kinkaid.”
“Thanks for the faith.”
“I’m looking at the reality of the situation. Which is exactly what you should be doing. Call me when you have an update.”
The fuck I will.
“Sure thing,” I say and press end.
If sharing information on the Kincaid cash is going to set me back each time I do so, there is only one thing I can do. Keep everything I learn on the down low and only call in back-up when the money is located.
I can do this on my own. I don’t need a babysitter. What I do need, however, is to figure out what to say to Charlie. If my mind is a mess thinking of how I treated her, I’ll never be able to focus.
And I need to focus.
I need to focus sooner rather than later.
I hop inside my truck and head home.
Tomorrow, I’ll straighten out this situation with Charlie and then I’ll head to Clint’s to find out what he needs me to do.
Everything will work out just fine.