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The music was now going full blast into a whole techno dance song. People were going crazy, and so was I. My hands were in the air. I was twirling, trying to catch some of the confetti in my mouth. Kennedy was laughing next to me, trying to cover my mouth.
We’d been dancing for the last two hours, along with some other ladies. Gage joined periodically, but he was off with some girl. I looked, craning my neck, and yep, he had a girl pressed back against the bathroom hallway wall.
Caden and Shay were behind us, still at the table, but standing at the end and half leaning.
The bar wasn’t that big.
The dance floor was right next to our table, so we weren’t far from them. The other ladies had both leaned over at one point during the dancing, asking who we were, who the hotties were behind us.
I didn’t blame them.
Caden had these seriously dark and beautiful eyes. A snake tattoo on his arm that looked like a real one, enough where it startled a few people. Chiseled cheekbones that hadn’t softened with age. His very no-nonsense demeanor that gave him an air of authority. I’d be checking him out too if I wasn’t married to him.
And Shay was right next to him.
Tall. Broad shoulders. Dark blonde hair and blue eyes that looked trimmed with ice. The guy could walk any runway, plus he’d been a D1 quarterback. The athleticism still emanated from him. Two of the ladies were in their fifties, and the other three were in their forties, but I swear one didn’t look like she should be in a bar.
She was also dancing like a zombie trussed up as a puppet.
It was hilarious and infectious, and soon I was dancing the same. Kennedy bowled over in laughter before she’d go back to a slow grinding motion, and shooting looks at her husband behind her.
I understood.
I knew Caden would be hot for me whenever, and looking at him now, his head was inclined towards Shay as he was speaking, his eyes were firmly on my ass. I gave it a few bounces, and his gaze lifted to mine, surprised.
A slow grin spread over his face, knowing and piercing.
Oh yeah. We’d be hopping on the bed later tonight.
Abruptly the music cut out, and a voice boomed over a microphone. “Ladies and ladies! Gentlemen, too. Are you ready for the extravaganza tonight? It’s going to be amazing. It’s going to be outstanding. It’s going to be life changing! Are. You. Readyyyyyyy for Miss Mermaid Kailaniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii?”
The dance techno came back on, but it was heavier, louder, more rocketing through the bar.
Another burst of dry ice filled the bar and awoosh. A startled sound came from the other corner of the room, and inside the aquarium was a mermaid.
She was swimming around, dipping, doing rolls. She was doing a whole performance, swimming up, disappearing and then diving back down. Dark pink hair. Rosy cheeks. Dark eyes. Pink eyeliner and a shimmering pink lipstick. She was wearing some kind of velvet bikini top. It could have been because it was in water, but somehow it looked like a deep red velvet, matching her rosy cheeks. And her fin was made of shimmering scales that matched her hair, her lips, and her dark red top. As she continued to flip around the water, which ran the entire length of the other side of the bar, her tail was like a cascade of every color between red and pink, all the different variations.
She was breathtaking.
Then, suddenly, the music cut out and a clip of old school cheers that sounded like they’d been recorded from a basketball game came on. The spotlight swung back to the stage and there were more mermaids there, but they were sitting on chairs and each held a pair of pom poms, the colors all matching their shimmering tails.
They performed a whole cheer along with the music before the spotlight turned off. The music changed again. Slow. Intense. And it was building, like earlier. Building. Going slow until the spotlight came back on, and it began flashing in rhythm with the music, highlighting different spots through the whole bar. The aquarium, as the mermaid held her own set of pom poms. Back to the stage, the cheerleader mermaids swished their pom poms around in an intricate motion. To the back corner and a new performer was there, but this one was on stilts and standing all the way up into the top corner, half bent over the bar. He looked like a character out of a Tim Burton movie. Then, to the far corner and another person was on stilts over there. As the music sped up, the spotlight matched it, going around and around the room until it was at a dizzying speed, until the very end when the lights flooded the room and all of them began doing a dance in unison.
Hands came to my hips and slid around to the front. The excitement was swirling inside me, but at feeling Caden behind me, I drew in a steadying breath and leaned back, always knowing he’d be a place of shelter for me. I tipped my head up and found him already looking down at me. His eyes were watchful, taking me in as I was taking in the show. He lifted a hand, his finger coming to my bottom lip and as the show continued around us, he dipped, his mouth finding mine.
Another place, another night, I’d be turned around and clambering up in a heartbeat. The ache was there, but I just opened my mouth, his tongue slipped in and I savored the moment. Warm sunlight. That’s what he was giving me. We kept kissing for another beat before there was a change in the music. Caden lifted his head, and I glimpsed Kennedy and Shay making out in the corner, her front against his as he was leaning back against the wall by our table. His hands slid into the pockets of her jeans, her arms wound around his neck, but the voice came back over the microphone, drawing my attention to the stage.
A guy was there, rich and long black hair wound around his neck like it was a scarf, and folding down over his chest. He was big, almost as big and muscular as the bartender, but not quite. Dark eyes. Dark lips. He was dressed in pinstripe suit, with dramatic ruffles coming out of the end of his sleeves. He looked like he was in a mermaid tail, too, but was dressed like it was a giant pant, like a sleeve for his legs with matching fabric as his top. He raised a hand up, a microphone in it when suddenly a startled gasp came out of his throat.
His eyes were riveted behind us, and people began noticing, looking as well.
A couple was in the doorway, who looked so striking and matching but in total opposite ways. The beauty of them had everyone pausing in the door, for a millisecond. He was tall, lean, and powerful. Dark blond hair. Sapphire eyes. A full scowl on his face, as he took in the entire bar. There was a darkness that came off him in waves, and as if feeling it, the female next to him glanced his way, a tender slight frown on her face, and she put her palm on his chest. At the touch, he caught her hand, but kept it in place, and lifted his head, his nostrils flared like he was a lion taking a whiff of his future prey. Instead of going on a hunt, he turned his head her way and his eyes softened. The shift was remarkable to watch, but it still sent a shiver down my spine because whoever this guy was, he was dangerous in a killing sort of way.
I leaned fully back against Caden, who was also watching the couple.
Everyone was, even Shay and Kennedy had stopped kissing to notice the change in the club.
The female was still looking at her mate, and it was so obvious they were mates. Or soulmates. My heart pounded against my chest because I had that, what they had. I had that with Caden. Kennedy and Shay had that too. But this couple, it was like they were communicating without words. The beauty of her was also staggering. Dark black hair. A heart-shaped face. Slightly reddened cheeks that were high on her face, frostbitten green eyes. Her hair grazed over her shoulders, and as if both had come to a conclusion, their heads turned as one. She skimmed a glance over the bar, biting her bottom lip slightly, but the guy flashed a dark glare at the bar, as if the look itself was a command for us to look elsewhere.
