CHAPTER 17
TILLIE
“I know a quiet little place off the strip a little, away from all this touristy shit,” Richie said, as he led me to his truck, which was absolutely huge — big and black with fat tires so tall he had to help me up into the cab. As I waited for him to run around and get in, I inhaled deeply, the musky scent of his truck smelling exactly like him.
“So, vacation, huh?” he asked, as he started up the truck.
I hesitated, wondering how much of my pathetic life story I should reveal right away. For some reason, I wanted to impress him, but there was absolutely nothing impressive about me in any sense of the word. Not yet, anyway.
“It’s a celebration of sorts, I guess.”
“What are you celebrating?”
“Being single.”
“Oh, I see,” he said. “Nasty divorce?”
“Not so much, just a long time coming.”
He nodded, concentrating on the road.
“How long have you lived in Los Angeles?”
“A little over thirty years. I moved there from East Texas as soon as I turned eighteen.”
“East Texas? I don’t hear an accent.”
“I did away with that as soon as I could,” I answered, thinking about the girl I used to be, with a thick drawl that I’d picked up from my mother, God rest her soul. She’d been gone around ten years now, the booze finally catching up to her.
“That bad, huh?”
“That bad,” I nodded. “How long have you lived here?”
“Born and raised, so almost fifty years.”
“There’s no way you’re fifty!” I replied, my eyes raking over his body. He looked way too good for fifty, and unlike any fifty year old I’d ever seen.
“Thanks for the compliment, but I’m afraid that dreaded birthday is just around the corner. Next month, in fact.”
“A Gemini?”
“Yep.”
“Me, too. When’s your birthday?”
“June nineteenth.”
“Mine’s the second,” I said, a little thrill shooting through me. I’m a strong believer in astrology and two Gemini’s together is like a spark to a flame. No wonder we’d connected.
“Sweet,” he nodded. “We’re here.”
He pulled up to a small nondescript building with a flashing neon sign that looked like a card. The Ace of Spades.
“My buddy works here,” he said. “They’re open all night.”
It was dark and quiet with a group of red velvet booths lining the side wall. We slid into one and a man with blonde hair and a thick five o’clock shadow walked up.
“Richie, what the hell, dude, I haven’t seen you in ages!”
They shook hands and Richie nodded.
“Haven’t been much in the partying mood these days, Mike,” he said.
“Well, glad to see you. What can I get you two?” he asked, smiling over at me.
“Just a beer for me. Tillie?”
I’d been drinking for hours but when in Rome, I guess.
“I’ll have a beer, too,” I shrugged.
“Two cold ones on their way,” Mike said, leaving us alone.
Richie turned his full gaze on me again and my stomach flipped. In the car, he’d been focused on the road, but now, there were no more distractions from the club and we were all alone. The electricity between us was almost more than I could handle.
“Tell me more about yourself, Tillie,” he said.
“Not much to tell,” I smiled. “Like I said, I grew up in Texas and moved to LA.”
“And then you got divorced. That’s all I know. What else?”
I scanned my brain, trying to figure out what to say.
“I guess you could say I’m trying to figure myself out. Honestly, I lived under my ex-husband’s shadow for a very long time.”
“How long were you married?”
“Twenty-five years.”
“That’s a hell of a long time. Hell, that’s a success story these days.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said. “What about you? Ever married?”
“No, not even close,” he said. “Relationships don’t mix very well with my job.”
“I’d imagine you’d have the girls throwing themselves at you.”
“Yeah, key word there is ‘girls’. I used to enjoy that, and took advantage of it in my younger years, but these days, those casual encounters are more work than they’re worth.”
“So you live alone?”
“No. I live with three of my best friends.”
I nodded, again at a loss for words, because he’d not once taken his eyes off me and the heat from his gaze was practically melting my insides. I took a sip of my beer as soon as Mike brought it over, grateful for something to do and grateful for the cool liquid pouring into my overheating flesh.
“So, did you find what you were looking for?” he asked.
“Excuse me?”
“You said you were here to find yourself. Did it work?”
“Oh!” I replied. “I’m not sure, but I think I’m making progress.”
He nodded, slowly staring at me, a sly half-grin spreading across his face, those little wrinkles appearing at his temples. I tore my eyes away, unable to take it anymore, but my gaze landed on his hands, which led to his muscular forearms, and then up to his biceps, trailing over his chest and down to his —
“So. This is a nice, quiet place,” I said, the words flying out of my mouth awkwardly and a little too loudly.
“I used to come here all the time. Mike used to work at the club. We’ve been friends for a long time.”
“You told him you haven’t been in the partying mood lately. Why not?”
“Oh,” he said, his eyes darkening. “Been a lot going on.”
“Like what?”
“I guess we have something in common. You might say I’m trying to find myself, too.”
“Did you lose yourself?”
“Not so much. I just feel like I’m getting older, you know? I won’t always look like this. Gotta think about my future, before it’s too late.”
“And what does that look like?”
He hesitated and looked away for the first time. I took the opportunity to take a deep breath, waiting for him to continue. My gaze raked over his face, drinking in his profile, his prominent jaw, the soft black hair that framed his face. The urge to reach out and touch it overwhelmed me and instead I balled my hands up into fists in my lap. I could still feel the oil between my fingers from earlier and a hot blush crept up my cheeks.
It was such a mind-fuck, really. To already know what his smooth skin felt like under my fingertips and yearn to know more all at the same time. So far, though, he’d been a perfect gentlemen and I wasn’t even sure if he was interested in me, to be honest. The oil rubbing was just part of his act, I reminded myself. He’s used to beautiful women throwing themselves at him. He was probably just trying to be nice. Hell, he probably just felt sorry for me being all alone in Vegas.
“To be honest, I’m not sure. I’ve got dreams of owning my own club. I know the business inside and out.”
“That’s a great dream,” I said.
“Well, we’ll see. I’ve got some things in the works. I don’t want to jinx it, so I won’t say more than that.”
“Good luck,” I smiled.
“Thank you,” he said, leaning over and placing his hand on my knee, the heat of his palm searing through my jeans. “I’m going to need it.”
His touch was so easy, so casual, and yet it made my heart skip a beat. I swallowed hard, my stomach flipping.
Would he rest his hand on my knee if he wasn’t interested?
I realized I had no idea how to play this game anymore.
I was going to need a hell of a lot of work.