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But Ihaveslept with a woman who was committed to another man. I have more in common with Sienna’s lover than Garrett in this situation, and that’s a bitter realization to have.
“You always were smarter than me, Oliver.” Garrett drains the rest of his drink. “Let’s go up on stage.”
I glance at my watch. “Would you hate me if I ducked out?”
Garrett laughs. Heartily. Uncontrollably. “Are you kidding me, Kensington? This is the view—” He waves an arm toward the stage. “And you’re ready to go?”
I stare at the women. Objectively, they’re all gorgeous. But I appreciate their beauty like I’m watching the scene on a television screen. Nice to look at, but not evoking any deeper emotion. One-dimensional.
I should tell him about Hannah, so my departure makes more sense. But I want to keep her to myself, to avoid having to answer any questions tomorrow. And honestly, I’m not sure if she’ll be waiting outside. I’ve never invited a woman to meet me at a strip club before, and I never thought I would.
“It’s been a long day. There’s all this shit with my dad…”
My voice trails, knowing Garrett will fill in the blanks. His relationship with his father is more detached than contentious, but he gets the dynamic. Aside from Crew, he has the closest sense of what my interactions with my father are really like.
“See you in the morning, yeah?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
Garrett claps my shoulder and then stands, headed straight toward the stage. The brunette he was eyeing earlier breaks away; her steps so smooth it looks like she’s gliding over. She leans down and whispers something to Garrett that has him nodding eagerly, her breasts right in his face. He helps her off stage and then follows her to a dark corner, where she mounts his lap. I have no idea if they’re going to have sex here, and I don’t stick around to find out. I pass Edmund, who’s approaching the stage now that Garrett has demonstrated you can lookandtouch, exit our private section, and then head toward the redExitsign.
Cool smoke blows around me as I walk past other groups similar to ours. There’s an excess of everything here; alcohol, lust, and enticement cloying the air with the scent of sin.
I take a deep breath of cool desert air once I’m outside the club, cleansing my lungs from everything inside. The line to enter Champagne Cabaret has grown, snaking along the sidewalk and around the corner into the alley.
The city is so bright it looks like daylight, a network of lights snaking up and down the block in a dazzling array. The cacophony of color is a contrast to New York’s monochrome skyline. It feels like the sun rising in reverse. Like the city is coming alive slowly, while the rest of the country is going to sleep. Each flash of blue or red or pink is an enticement, a call away from the dark sky that suggests sleep.
I shove my hands in my pockets as I start to walk down the street, almost slicing my finger on the playing card that’s still in my pocket. I glance around, looking for blonde among the people passing by me on the sidewalk.
A large group of laughing women pass by, and then I see her.
Hannah is leaning against one of the palm trees planted along the sidewalk, studying the flashing sign in front of the wedding chapel. The red and blue flashes on her face like the sirens of a police car.
Somehow I forgot how beautiful she is, in the few hours since I last saw her. The dress she’s wearing clings to every curve, the modest cut somehow sexy. Wind plays with the loose strands of her blonde hair as she stares at the sign.
I slow my steps as I approach, since she hasn’t spotted me yet. The foreign sensation of nerves settles in my stomach.
I was nervous she wouldn’t show, and the relief that she did is a heady, confusing feeling.
But I’m also nervous shedidcome. It’s been a long time since I was interested in a woman who had no idea who I am. More than interested, I’m intrigued by her. It’s why I made the risky request she meet me here, instead of giving her my room number.
I want to talk to her, not just fuck her.
Although attraction is definitely warring with fascination, as my eyes sweep over her body a second time.
An electric jolt races through my body, when her head suddenly turns, blue eyes meeting mine. My body temperature heats as her gaze moves lower, appraising me the same way I just looked at her.
I barely feel the chill in the night air anymore. When we make eye contact again, I see everything I’m experiencing reflected in hers.
“You’re late. Get a little distracted?” she says, once I’m only a couple of feet away. Hannah doesn’t straighten, letting the palm tree continue to hold her upright.
“Yes, but not in the way you think.” I exhale, kicking the edge of one of the concrete slabs that make up the sidewalk. Garrett’s confession lingers in my head, right along with the image of the stripper in his lap. It felt wrong, watching him make that decision. But that’s exactly what it was—his decision. None of my business. And I’m not exactly in a position to be looking down from the moral high ground. “The groom told me he walked in on his fiancée with another guy.”
Hannah’s eyebrows rise. “And he’s still marrying her?”
“He loves her. He thinks she still loves him, despite making a mistake.”
“Big mistake.”
