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Chapter Four
Ven
I can hear the nightclub before I can see it. A pulsing, throbbing song flung across the night, sending a vibration up my jawline and through my heart. Jaco at night is a rainbow split open and bleeding into the streets. Electric blue, popsicle red, and papaya orange streak the darkness. Tall, modern buildings stand beside beach huts with thatch roofs. Roosters strut the streets alongside Ferraris.
There’s a long line outside that curls around the building, but Ryder saunters past everyone to the bouncer at the head. He’s throwing off so much sex vibe that no one’s even mad about it. This guy could murder someone in plain sight and everyone would adore him for it. Unsurprisingly, the bouncer takes one look at Ryder and lets us in. As we head through the door into the club, Ryder turns back to throw me a victorious grin, catching me in an eyeroll.
“Oh, would you rather wait in line, Ven?” he asks coyly. “I’m sure finding Luciana can wait another hour or two.”
He’s glamoured himself out of his swim trunks and into a pair of designer jeans and a sexy white tunic open halfway down his chest. It’s everything I can do not to stare at his abs. They’re otherworldly.
So, I cross my arms over my chest and glare. “Is this how your life always is?”
“Usually better,” he says. “Because the people I’m hanging out with aren’t killjoys.”
“I’m not a killjoy!” I snap. “I teach yoga for crying out loud. I’m usually very relaxed. And fun! All my friends think so.”
I realize I’m blabbering and shut my mouth, but Ryder’s already grinning as he watches me make an idiot of myself.
“Why don’t you find a table,” he says, “While I go get us some free drinks.”
He winks and wades through the crowd.
This guy is challenging in about a hundred different ways at once. I sigh and turn my attention to finding a seat. The interior of the club is massive with an industrial-style vibe. There are four bars around the perimeter between which are scattered high-top tables, and the middle of the place is just one giant dance floor. At one end, a DJ sits behind a high-tech set up with several turntables and speakers. Lasers dance through the air. It’s so loud I can barely hear myself think.
Even though it’s barely past sundown, the place is packed. I’m halfway through doing a loop of the room to find a free spot, unsuccessfully, when I catch sight of Ryder flagging me down from across the room. The half I’d already been through. He’d managed to get us drinks and convince someone to give up their table in that amount of time? I sigh. His charm has perks, I can’t deny it.
When I sit down, he slides my drink over to me. “Guaro sour for the lady.”
“How’d you know?” I ask, surprised.
He smiles. “I could taste it on the air earlier.”
The way he says taste makes me shiver in an embarrassing place. Focus, Ven! This is going to be harder than I thought. I mean, his arrogance is incredibly vexing, but he is obscenely gorgeous. And then there’s his magic swirling around me, even when he’s not trying to send it my way. Warm, tantalizing, exotic. Like the ocean itself is trying to seduce me.
“So,” I say. “You’ve told me you have a plethora of talents. What exactly are they, besides the sex thing?”
“I love a woman who’s not afraid to say plethora.” He shoots me a grin.
“Why should I be? Men who get intimidated by smart women aren’t my type of men.” I take a sip of my guaro sour, which is incredibly strong. And delicious. “Wow.”
“Yes. Mariella makes the best drinks in Jaco.” He raises his own glass to his lips, which contains a liquid that almost matches the blue-green of his eyes. “Pixie liquor,” he says in response to my questioning gaze. After downing about half the drink in one gulp, he leans back in his chair. “Talents. Let’s see, I have enhanced senses. Sight, smell, taste, etc. I can track auras. They leave behind a trail I can follow for up to a few hours before it fades. I can convince just about anyone to do anything I want them to do. Other than you, of course.” He winks. “And I have a vast network of underworld connections. I suppose you could say I’m a bit of a spy.”
“Ah.” I try not to look impressed, even though I am. “And what’s our exact plan, now that we’re here?”
He shrugs. “First, we observe.”
“Observe what?”
“The people of course.” He waves a hand at the expanse of bodies surrounding us. “Who’s doing what, who’s talking to whom, what strange things are happening.”
My brow wrinkles. “Aren’t we going to ask around? See if anyone saw Luciana?”
Now it’s Ryder’s turn to roll his eyes. “The fastest way to get people to quit talking is to show up and start hammering them with questions. So, we’re going to drink, then we’re going to dance.”
My heart flutters. “I am not dancing with you.”
“You don’t dance, either? I’m really starting to doubt how fun you supposedly are. You know, fun people don’t have to point out how fun they are.”
