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“You okay?” Stephanie asked. “You look like you ate something sour.”
“Caleb. He’s…”
Just in the nick of time, Presley caught herself. She couldn’t tell her friends he was in the building since he clearly wasn’t at Runway, and they couldn’t find out about Black Light. That left her with only one choice.
To lie.
“Caleb came home early. He left me a message and I’m going to go meet him.”
Okay, technically that wasn’t a lie. It was only part of the truth.
“No way! The night is still young. You can’t go yet.”
“Sorry, but I need to leave, but honestly, you ladies should too. Sydney, you don’t want to be tired and hungover tomorrow on your wedding day, do you? Brian will never forgive you.”
Sydney chuckled. “He’s out with his friends too. He better be keeping his hands, and other body parts, to himself. I told him I’ll leave his ass at the altar if I catch wind of any last-minute hanky-panky.”
The women all hugged her goodbye, promising to leave soon. Only after she was back out into the main hallway did it dawn on her that she had no idea where she was going. Caleb had always parked in the special Black Light parking lot to come in through the secret entrance. She was pretty sure there was a way to get down there from Runway, but she had no clue how.
Was she allowed to ask an employee? Surely, they knew of the secret club’s existence?
She saw several waiters but worried they might not be in the know so she kept looking until she got to the kitchen. The executive chef had to know about the existence of Black Light, right?
Gathering her nerve, Presley approached the attractive woman decked out in a trendy dress, looking like a celebrity chef.
“Excuse me. I’m looking for some help,” she asked, trying to keep her voice low.
“Sure, what can I get you?”
“No, I’m not looking for food. I’m looking for the way to get down to the other club… you know… the one downstairs…”
The chef’s eyes widened before glancing discreetly around to see how many people were listening to their conversation. Only then did she notice a small gold name tag that said Chef Avery.
“I’m guessing, since you’re asking, that you’ve been to this location before?” Avery asked cautiously.
“Many times, but I’ve always come in from the other parking lot with my boyfriend. His name is Caleb Edison, and we have a couple’s membership.”
“And is he expecting you?”
“He’s downstairs already and since he had to leave his phone in the locker, I can’t call him and tell him to come get me. Can you point me in the right direction, or should I just walk outside and all the way around?”
“Oh, shit, don’t do that. Even though the sun went down, it’s too hot out there and anyway, it looks like your feet would kill you in those shoes.”
“You aren’t kidding.”
Glancing around nervously, Avery put down the platter of appetizers she had just picked up and waved Presley to follow. She followed the chef out of the kitchen, down a short foyer, then looped back toward the grand front entrance. Only instead of going up the huge staircase, Avery waved Presley in the direction of a small set of stairs winding down.
Avery had to unclip the stanchion to let Presley past her, passing on a few instructions.
“Someone from security will be at the door at the bottom. He’ll do a membership check and then show you what to do next. Good luck finding your man.”
And off she went, back toward the kitchen before Presley could properly thank her.
The stairs were barely lit, and she assumed it was intentional so random guests wouldn’t just wander down there to see what was up. As expected, the door at the bottom was locked and Presley had to knock several times to get the security guard’s attention on the other side over the music playing.
As if she wasn’t nervous enough to see Caleb, the guy that opened the door freaked her out. He reminded her of a football linebacker.
“ID and membership card, please.”
