Finally, her warm fingers are in mine, and that electrifying sensation shoots up my arm. I can’t help but smile at her before I turn around to head inside. I don’t want to let go of her, but I do.
The club is hopping, and it will cost me a lot of money to send all of these paying customers home. But then, that necklace the beautiful redhead is wearing also cost me a lot of money. She’s worth it.
As we head inside, I tell Ethan, “Kill it.”
He looks at me for a second with his eyes bulging out of his head, but then he nods, and I’m hardly in the door before word spreads and my team goes about sending all of the clubbers home.
Dylan makes an announcement. “We’re sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but the club has just been rented out for the rest of the night by a very prestigious client. If you’d like to rent out Club Limelight for yourself, give us a call, but for now…you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”
“What’s happening?” Meg asks, turning to look at me.
“It’s your birthday party,” I say with a shrug. “Let’s celebrate.”
I can tell she doesn’t know what to say, so I leave her standing there, contemplating, and head to Carter. “Only make your best concoctions for us, Carter.”
“Anything for you, bossman,” he says before running a hand along his hair, which cracks me up.
The club clears out, and Dylan drops one of his favorite tunes. I turn around to see my crew on the dance floor, killing it, and I can’t help but look at Meg. She’s smiling so brightly, I know I made the right decision. That smile is worth millions.
CHAPTER16
MEGHAN
All of this for me? I can hardly believe it. Not only did Hunter give me a lovely necklace, but he let us have the night off. And then, when those douchebags started grabbing us on the dance floor, he literally kicked their asses.
Now he’s brought us back to Club Limelight and cleared the floor so we can party. Carter is behind the counter making some excellent drinks while Audio Anarchy drops some sick tunes. This is the best birthday I’ve ever had.
Allie brings me a fruity drink, and we pick up right where we left off at the other club, all of the waitresses dancing together. Of course, Hunter let the backup staff stay, too. I don’t know these people, but they sure seem to know how to have a good time as they join us on the dance floor.
Most of the guys aren’t dancing, though a few are. Ethan is in the middle of it, which doesn’t surprise me, but the moves he’s performing are obviously meant to be funny. He’s always joking around. When he starts the “water-sprinkler,” everyone loses it laughing. Mia actually spits her drink across the floor, and someone has to go get a mop.
I glance around and see Hunter leaning against a wall, talking to that other big guy who never smiles. His name starts with an O…Omar or something? I don’t know what his job here is, but like most of the other guys who are always in the back, he looks tough. At least some of the other guys are friendly, like Kaleb and Cameron, though Kaleb is always shoving food in his mouth, and Cameron is obsessed with video games to the point I saw Leah take his phone away once last week. Still, they always speak to me. Omar just kind of grunts.
Not that I care at the moment. He’s not the big, tough guy I’ve got my eye on. It’s the boss standing next to him I can’t help but stare at. Not only is Hunter wickedly handsome, but he is also a mystery to me. I need to know more, to unravel him.
All I really know is that he’s rich, owns this club, and has some sort of mafia/gangster connections that allow him to beat people up and make them disappear without going to jail. But he doesn’t seem to just kill for sport. No, he only does it if he has a good reason. He’s kind of like Batman…or Robin Hood.
Before I even know what I’m doing, my feet are moving in his direction. I set my empty glass down on a table and walk over to him. I’ve had a bit to drink tonight, but the fight sobered me up, so I know exactly what I’m doing when I stop in front of him and wait for Omar to finish his sentence.
“Hey, Meg,” Hunter says, a lilt of a question in his voice. “Are you enjoying your birthday party?”
“I would enjoy it more if you’d dance with me.” My voice sounds sultry even to my own ear.
Hunter arches an eyebrow over a sapphire eye. “Uhm…sorry to disappoint you on your birthday, Meg, but I don’t dance.”
I can’t help the smirk that takes over my face. “You own a club, but you don’t dance?”
He shrugs. “I own pots, but I don’t cook either.”
That makes me giggle in a way that has me questioning my sobriety. But I am sober. I run my fingers down the front of his shirt and reach for his hand. “That’s fine. Don’t dance then. Just come out to the dance floor and rock with me.”
His mouth falls open like he wants to say something else, but he doesn’t. Instead, he takes my hand, and we walk out to the dance floor, but not to where everyone else is jumping around, showing off their best moves. No, Hunter creates our own special place for us, and when he wraps his arms around my waist, I get as close to him as I can, my hands on his shoulders near his neck.
The scent of bergamot and pine has my knees weakening, and it doesn’t hurt that he feels like a wall of chiseled marble beneath my palms. My skin feels like it’s on fire where his hands are resting, and he’s not even touching me directly. Thoughts of what it would feel like if his hands were on my hips without this stupid skirt in the way have me biting down on my bottom lip.
I have to focus on something else, so I say, “Thanks again for the necklace. It’s absolutely gorgeous.”
“You’re welcome,” he says with a sheepish grin. “I wasn’t sure what to get you, but I thought a diamond was fitting for someone like you.”