I thrust an arm out, intending to catch her.
She steadies herself before I get the chance and shrugs away from my outstretched hand. I feel air rushing into my mouth, though I hadn't realized I'd opened my mouth. Well, I am gawping at her slack-jawed, baffled by her abrupt exit.
"I'm sorry," she says, shaking her head. "I can't do this."
Before I can speak a single syllable, she bolts out of the booth.
Chapter Three
I try to leap off the bench, but my kilt gets caught up on the velvety fabric, slowing me down. By the time I race out of the booth, I can't see Calli anywhere. A redhead wearing a backless green dress ought to be easy to spot. I scan the crowd—all right, I might be frantically searching for her—while I barge through groups and brush past individuals, desperate to catch the lass before she vanishes from my life forever.
What had I done? She legged it like she was fleeing from a ravenous beast.
Though I sprint out the doors and into the car park, I don't see her. Where did she go? In those high heels, I doubt she could run faster than I did. I jog down every row of cars, hunting for a sign of the lass who captivated me, but she's not in any of the vehicles parked here.
I've lost my dream girl.
Shuffling back toward the club's main doors, I let my head drop forward and my shoulders slump. It figures. I find the woman I want to marry, and she runs away from me. I pushed too far. I must've done. But I didn't feel like I had. How does asking her permission for a kiss lead to a panicked escape? I thought I was being a gentleman, or at least the closest I can ever really get to behaving like a gentleman.
Somehow, I cocked it up.
I've just rounded a corner, halfway to the club's entrance, when a flash of red hair snags my attention. It's her. She's getting into a taxi.
Though I run faster than I ever have in my life, I arrive three seconds too late. The taxi has just pulled out of the car park and is rushing down the street. I didn't even get a glimpse of the name of the taxi company, so I have no way to track the lass down.
Or do I? Calli came to the club for a bachelorette party. Her cousin's party.
I head back inside the club. Some people, the ones I'd almost run over in my desperation to catch up to Calli, glare at me or give me baffled looks. I am not sprinting this time. I walk at a normal pace. Well, slightly faster than normal, but still just walking. I ignore all the gawpers and push through the swinging doors into the hidden hallway and straight to the door Calli had shoved me through earlier. The door is closed, and I have no desire to burst in on those wild lasses stabbing more paper cocks onto paper laddies. That sight had been rather disturbing.
So, I knock on the door.
Nothing.
I hear music, but it doesn't sound like the stripper's pounding boom box. Assuming they didn't hear me the first time, I knock again.
The door swings inward, and the lass who had urged me to take it all off stares at me. Her eyes go wide. "Oh. It's you."
"Aye. May I come in? I need to speak to the bride."
"Sure, come on in." The lass moves aside to let me pass her while she shouts, "Tara! Kilt Boy is back. Do you think he'll show us what he's got this time?"
The lass wags her eyebrows at me while grinning.
"I only need to speak to the bride," I say, feeling a wee bit uncomfortable. What if these tipsy women abduct me and make me their sex slave? I stifle a groan. Aye, I'm so bloody irresistible that women can't stand to let me go. Calli had no problem doing that.
The wee elf who had called me Kilt Boy earlier, and who treated me like a sexual predator, rises halfway off her chair and flaps her hand at me. "Over here, Aidan."
At least she's not glaring at me anymore.
I wend my way through the crowd to where Tara sits on a plastic chair, set apart from her mates. I sit on the chair beside her. "Thank you for speaking to me. I'm sorry to interrupt your celebration."
"Don't worry about it. The party's winding down, anyway."
Relaxing a little, I dive in. "The reason I'm here is that I'm worried about Calli. She took off so fast I couldn't catch up to her, and I have no idea what I did wrong."
"She's okay, I think. Calli mentioned you guys kissed, and I'm sure that's what has her freaked." Tara sighs. "She's not big on dating. Don't know why. But based on what little she told me, I'm guessing you two had an instant connection, and it scared the bejesus out of her."
"Oh. Are you sure she's all right?"