Chapter 9

Grant

Jack’s club was busy tonight. Much more than I expected it to be, considering it was a Tuesday night. I had only gone in the first place because I assumed it would be a quiet night. But, as Jack informed me the moment I arrived, it was ladies’ night and that meant one thing.

“God, the amount of tang in here tonight is unreal!” Jack shouted into my ear as I pulled up beside him.

The club was Hot Damn, and it was one of the many that Jack owned. On the weekends, it usually catered to a higher-class clientele, the type that had money to burn, but during the week, it became a free for all. Which was probably another reason that it was so packed.

I was glad for Jack. He’d be raking in money tonight hand over fist. And the crowd wasn’t a problem for me anyway. It was Jack’s club so we were able to escape into the VIP section, away from the masses. The VIP section was its own private balcony, overlooking the dance floor below. It had its own bar and its own set of thirsty women for Jack, myself, and the other VIP’s to enjoy.

“Seriously!” Jack yelled into my ear again. I was barely paying attention to him. “What is with you tonight?”

The moment I arrived, Jack pulled me upstairs and bombarded me with gaggles of drunk women. They had names like Cherry and Crystal, and from the looks on their faces and the outfits they wore, they were at the club with one thing in mind. But, despite all that, I just wasn’t interested.

“It’s the new store,” I shouted back. “It’s got me preoccupied!” That was only half the truth. Although it was the store that I had been thinking about, there was one aspect of it in particular that had my mind working overtime.

“Oh yeah? I thought that was all taken care of? You got the hiring out of the way, right? What was it? Kendra, right?”

“Yeah. I figured that out a few days ago. She agreed.” I really didn’t want to go into detail about it with Jack of all people. This was because I knew he would want to know one thing.

“You fuck her yet?” he asked bluntly. As he did, one of the girls, it may have been Amber, fell onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her on the back of her neck as he did.

I was glad for the distraction. I was a pretty useless liar, and I knew that he would be able to read my face like an open book. As such, I chose to look away toward the dance floor, rather than answer.

“That’s a yes,” Jack laughed. “I haven’t seen this one before though. She must be something, to have you acting this way. I might have to come in and—”

“Don’t,” I warned before even realizing that I had. “I mean... it’s my new business. Please don’t come in to the store looking to score? Okay?”

Jack stopped laughing. Instead, he stared at me with a concerned look on his face. So concerned, that he even pushed Amber off his lap. He swiveled in to better look at me. “You’re not... you’re not falling for her again, are you? Tell me you’re not falling for her? Oh please, tell me you aren’t—”

“I don’t know!” I shot back. I could feel my blood rising as Jack taunted me. “You know how she broke my heart back in high school? Maybe these are just leftover feelings, you know?”

“You want my advice?”

“Not really.”

“Revenge pussy. It’s the best kind. Sleep with her. Use her, and kick her out when you’re done. Better yet, if you can somehow recreate the way she dumped you, all the better!” Before I had a chance to reply, another two girls approached Jack, grabbing him by the hands and pulling him up. He didn’t even try and fight it.

I was glad they distracted him. I needed a chance to think. The truth was, I had no idea how I felt about Kendra. The sex the other night was unreal, for me at least. She was so god damn sexy that I could barely control myself. The way I acted afterward wasn’t ideal. I knew I could have handled that better, but I could sense myself opening up to her. I had to stop it before it began.

I just wished that it was easier, and that I knew how I felt.

As Jack danced around the VIP section, making out with the two girls, and really, any of the other girls that were there, I turned my attention to the dance floor below. It was a writhing mass of bodies, all moving in rhythm to the music. Usually, I would scout the floor for a potential target before making my move. But not that night. That night, I just couldn’t get into it. Just then, a curvy woman caught my attention. Damn, she was hot. Although she seemed familiar. Holy shit.

It was Kendra on the dance floor with a friend of hers. I had no idea how long she had been there, but now that I had spotted her, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She looked good, too. Dressed casually in a pair of tight jeans and a black tank top, her hair in a ponytail, I couldn’t believe it took me so long to spot her.

I wasn’t the only one either. Judging from the way the other men on the dance floor slowly made their way closer and closer to her and her friend, I could tell that they were all equally as enamored by her. And really, how could they not be? She was fucking stunning.

What was odd to me was how much I hated it, too. Watching the other men move toward her, readying themselves to pounce, left me with a churning feeling in my stomach. There was one guy in particular. A sleazy looking grease ball that I could just tell was working up the courage to approach. All I wanted to do was walk down there and punch him in the face.

Unable to watch any longer, I was on my feet, making my way from the VIP section down to the dance floor. I pushed through the masses of people, not caring how rude I was being. Not caring that I knocked people down or stepped on toes. I had to get to Kendra before anyone else did.

“Hey,” I said the moment I was within range. It was just in time, too, as the sleazy dancer was less than a second from doing the same thing.

“Oh, hey!” she said, clearly surprised to see me. She looked even better up close. She had a radiance about her that she hadn’t had before. I wondered whether it had anything to do with the sex. She told me at the time it had made her feel confident. It was clearly still working.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as I moved into her. There were so many people around us that I was forced to push my body into hers. As I did, she continued to dance, not breaking for a moment.

“What do you think?” she replied, smirking just a little. She had been drinking. That was clear.

“Well, I hope you’re not impaired for tomorrow. You have a big day.” It was a douche thing for me to say. I could have told her how good she looked or asked how her day was. But no, I instantly reverted into asshole boss mode.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, not looking in the least put-off. “I’ll be fine.”

As she danced, our bodies ground against each other. As good as it felt, I couldn’t block out the swarm of men surrounding us, as if they waited for me to disappear. I didn’t like it. Not one bit.

“I’m in the VIP section upstairs. It’s a little crowded down here for me. Do you want to come up? Your friend, too, of course.”

“No, I’m fine here,” she shot back. As she did, she turned around on me and danced with her back to me.

I saw red. Only for a second, but it was enough. I grabbed her by the arm, spinning her back around. “That wasn’t a request,” I said, voice firm.

For a moment, the two of us stared at each other, and I had no idea how she was going to react. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she pulled her arm from my grip and told me to go to hell. But, after a moment, she smiled and nodded her head.

Kendra leaned over to her friend and whispered in her ear. Her friend didn’t look too happy, but she nodded at Kendra and went off to dance with some guy. I took Kendra’s hand in mine and led her through the dance floor toward the VIP section.

The feel of her hand in mine sent chills up my arm. I didn’t want to let go, but I reminded myself of the dynamic I had created between Kendra and me. Clearly, she liked being dominated. She liked a firm, commanding man to tell her what to do. That was exactly what she was going to get.

“Who is this?” Jack cooed the moment he spotted the two of us. In less than a second, he had ditched the women he was with and was by our side. Another second and he had Kendra’s hand in his own, kissing the back of it.

I knew Jack well enough to know what that look in his eyes meant. Even with my hand in hers, he still visualized a way to seduce her away from me so that he could have her. A fire burned in my stomach, and I wanted nothing more than to throw Jack off the fucking balcony.

“This is Kendra,” I said, keeping my temper in check.

“This is Kendra?” he asked in an over the top, shocked manner. “Grant, I had no idea she was so... so out of your league!” He barked a laugh, which Kendra joined in on.

Again, I saw red. I couldn’t believe how jealous Kendra made me. This whole thing was meant to start off as a way to mess with my ex, but it was spiraling out of control. If Jack wasn’t my best friend, I would have hit him as hard as I could, without a care for the consequences. It made me think about the new store and what it was going to be like with her working there, with men trying to fuck her all day long. Maybe this whole thing wasn’t such a good idea.

Kendra’s friend suddenly appeared out of nowhere, saving me from doing something I might regret. “Hey, Kendra. Can we go?”

“And who is this?” Jack said again, diverting his attention from Kendra to her friend. He offered her the same wicked smile he had Kendra.

“I’m Liz,” she said, eyeing Jack with a look of disgust. Clearly, she wasn’t as impressed by him as others were. “And you are?”

“I’m Jack. This is my club. And I assume you know Kendra’s boss, Grant? Is that how you know Kendra? From the new store?”

“What new store?” Liz asked.

Interesting. For some reason, Kendra hadn’t told Liz about the new job. This was confirmed by the look on Kendra’s face the moment that Jack had spoken. Her face dropped, and she looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there.

“We’ve got to go,” Kendra suddenly cut in. “Grant, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She pulled her hand from mine, quickly turning to leave.

“Hey,” I said, grabbing her by the arm. “I want you to call me the moment you get home. Understand?” It wasn’t a request, but a demand.

Again, I wasn’t sure how she was going to react. But to my relief, she nodded briefly before turning and scurrying away with her friend Liz.

“Damn,” Jack said, throwing his arm over my shoulder as I watched Kendra disappear. “You have it in for that one bad. Don’t try and deny it. I saw the way you looked at me when I spoke to her. Thought you were going to knock my lights out.” He laughed again before galloping away, drawn into the arms of another woman.

He was right. All I wanted to do was follow Kendra out the door to her home and fuck her. All I wanted to do was make sure that no other guy touched her, or even looked at her. I wanted her all to myself.

This was going to be dangerous.