Okay this was weird. “Don’t you think you should dry off? Don’t you need to be at work soon?” She needed to get him away from her and quick.
He smiled, revealing perfectly straight teeth, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Too cute for words. One minute he looked like the boy next door and the next he was a sex god, and she wanted to beg him to fuck her. “Yeah, I do. What are you doing tonight?”
She shrugged, wished like hell she had a more exciting answer. “No plans. Just hanging out here.”
“You should come out with us after work. We’re going to a new club tonight,” he suggested as he walked back into the bathroom.
“Right, you so don’t want me there.” She followed him, she couldn’t help herself, and she stopped in the doorway, watched him as he studied himself in the foggy mirror.
His gaze met hers in the reflection. “Why not? You need to get out and have some fun. Sitting around here drowning your sorrows in ice cream is not the way to spend a weekend.”
“I’m allowed some mourning time,” she said defensively. A little pissed he had mentioned the ice cream bit.
“That guy isn’t worth the amount of time you’ve mourned. Trust me.” Lifting his arms, he slicked his dark hair back with both hands, the towel slipping lower with the movement. If it went any lower, she’d catch sight of bare ass and her gaze dropped, hoping for a slip.
“You’ll be getting off too late anyway. I’ll probably be asleep by then.” She inwardly winced, wishing she hadn’t used the term getting off. How awkward could this get? And why did everything have to turn sexual when it came to Austin?
“I’m done by midnight at the latest, just when the clubs really start hopping. Come on, you should go.” He smiled, his gaze locked on her in the mirror, his hands linked at the back of his head. In this position his biceps bulged, his chest puffed out. He wasn’t overtly muscular, but he was long and lean and she found his body incredibly sexy.
“Is it a gay club?” She felt bad for asking, but she had to know. The last thing she wanted to do was watch him hit on or get hit on by a bunch of beautiful boys.
“Nope. Scarlett told me about it. It’s a huge place, some sort of warehouse downtown, and they play great dance music. I really want you to meet Scarlett. Say you’ll go. You can meet me at the theatre and we’ll make you up, and then we’ll all hit the club. Come on.”
“Make me up?” Oh, boy. Now he wanted to change her look because he didn’t think she was pretty enough. She needed to put an end to this right now.
“Make you hot.” He dropped his arms and turned to face her, grasping the side of his towel once again. “You’re going.”
“Austin…”
“You are. Meet me at the theatre at eleven thirty. Say yes, Michaela.”
Well, when he commanded her like that how could she resist? “Fine, yes.”
His smile grew. “You won’t regret it.”
She didn’t think she would.
Chapter Two
The club was busy. The line to get in wound all the way around the side of the old industrial building. Michaela shivered when the surprisingly cool late summer breeze hit her, and she wished she had something more substantial on.
Austin’s friend Scarlett had helped her dress, allowing her to rummage through the heaping closet that she kept at the theatre. Scarlett was nice, pretty in an exotic way that Michaela would never be but had always yearned to look like.
Long, dark curling hair, tilted espresso brown eyes and lush red lips, Scarlett looked like some sort of gorgeous hippie of yesteryear. Flowing skirts and gauzy tops, layers of necklaces that clanked noisily when she walked, Scarlett even wore a tinkling ankle bracelet that sang an endless tune with her every movement.
She found Michaela a jersey dress that looked straight off the disco floor of Studio 54. Electric blue with spaghetti straps, the fabric draped over her breasts, crisscrossing to tie at her right hip and with a full skirt that ended at the knee. She’d never worn anything like it before, and she felt kind of ridiculous.
“Do I look stupid?” she whispered in Scarlett’s ear.
“You look beautiful,” Scarlett whispered back, a smile curving her ruby lips. “I bet you’ll garner a lot of attention tonight.”
Michaela nibbled on her lower lip. She didn’t necessarily want to catch a bunch of attention tonight. She’d rather catch just one man’s attention.
But he wasn’t interested.
She was nervous. She couldn’t help it. She’d gone out to clubs before, mostly with her girlfriends though she’d also gone out with Austin. Tonight there was something going on, though, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. The energy between her and Austin had shifted, subtle but definitely there.
The sexual energy had amped up. The way he looked at her, his blue eyes smoldering when they landed upon her more than once when she first came to the theatre. The appreciative whistle he gave when he first caught sight of her in the dress had warmed her from the inside out, sent her pulse skittering and her clit throbbing.