A flick of my fingers settled my hair down my back in a long, silken fall. It had grown a lot in the time I’d been with Mason, Trent, and Nick, hanging almost down to the middle of my back. High school Katy never would wear it loose like this. Alpha Prime loved the long ringlets though. In the middle of making love, one or all of them would pull on it, tugging gently or playing with the locks all the while giving me a scalp massage.
I squirmed again on top of the chair, but for a whole different reason this time. Oh god, the men had me entranced even just thinking of being with them.
But right, I was here for business.
“So Darren.” I tucked a curl behind my ear. “What do you want to talk about?”
The waiter came back with our drinks just then. Once he left, I took a sip of my rum and Coke and waited to see what Darren had to say.
“You look real nice, Katy. Even better than in high school.” He tried the smile on me again.
What the hell?
“Um...thanks? It hasn’t been that long.”
Didn't he want to talk about publishing or something?
“There's something new about you, though,” he mused, leaning closer and looking about ready to tumble off the stool and over into my lap. “Your hair looks all shiny and stuff, like a wild animal in the sun.”
A wild animal in the sun? What was going on? The old Darren was never this lyrical or flattering. He was more of the grunt and nod type.
“I'm not even sure what to say to that,” were my puzzled words. “Is that supposed to be a good thing?”
“Hell, yeah.” He reached across to table and grabbed a thick curl. I jerked my head back and my hair slithered from his hand. He kept on talking. “Back in the day you just seemed like some frumpy girl ready to get in the kitchen and cook her man some food. Real domestic, you know. Like your old lady. But now, though, you're like pretty cat. So attractive.” He grinned at me with his crooked yellow teeth and I flinched, repulsed by the wolfish grin.
His smile was definitely aimed at the wrong Katy. She was dead and gone.
RIP. Definitely don’t miss ya.
That smile of Darren’s made him seem so desperate, and more than a little creepy. I needed to get outta here stat.
Darren wobbled on this stool toward me again. “Take me up to your room and show me how wild you got since high school.” He grabbed my arm and then squeezed my breast.
What was he smoking? No way.
I almost fell off the chair. Disgust ran down my spine, but my parents' lessons about manners kept me from showing it.
“No, thanks, Darren.” I jerked out of his grip and my seat wobbled alarmingly. “I'm not interested.”
“Are you serious?” He looked like I just insulted his mother. “What do you mean you're not interested?”
I pushed my drink out of the way of Darren's flailing hand. He was just about to knock the thing over. “I don't want to invite you up to my hotel room. I don't want to have sex with you, or whatever you think is going to happen up there. Honestly, I think you should probably go home now,” were my gritted words.
Darren bared at his yellow teeth at me. “You can't be for real.” He gripped the edge of the table and leaned over it. A huff of his bourbon breath rushed over my face. I cringed. He rushed on, voice rising higher and higher. “You should be getting on your knees to thank me!” he announced with a princely air. At that moment, the bartender stared over at us from his station, as if sensing trouble. The man frowned, yet did nothing as Darren continued. “I was the only guy who wanted to be with you in high school. Because of me, you didn't have to spend your entire four years as a blob of pus.”
“What?!”
This guy was crazy. I didn’t have to put up with this because this is no way to treat a woman.
“Darren, you're just being super rude,” I warned and grabbed my purse, getting ready to leave.
“Where the fuck do you think you're going?” He lurched toward me and shoved his hands under the table. Long, gangly fingers clamped down on my thighs, squeezing hard enough to leave bruises.
“Ouch!” I stared at Darren in shock as my legs throbbed from the pain.
But the man was on a roll. He jumped from his stool and groped me harder, in full view of everyone at the bar. Darren was always strange, but never did I think he would do something so heinous. On a mission of disrespect, his hands shoved up my dress and fumbled towards my crotch.
No! No!