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When she showed up in his office, for one brief moment I worried she’d seen us kissing. Then I didn’t give a fuck. And now, either way, it’s clear she has a purpose. Did she seek me out? Follow me from Ridge’s office?
Whether this run-in is by design or coincidence, it’s clear I’m not going to like what she has to say.
“Lacy.” She snaps her coral-painted fingertips a mere inch from my face. “You in there?”
Slowly I step back from her, square my shoulders, and narrow my gaze into what I hope looks like the sharp, unforgiving edge of a knife’s blade. “What do you want, Chastity?”
“Oh, so you do know who I am?” She brushes a nonexistent stray hair from her face.
Every strand on her head is firmly slicked back with the ends of her bob curled up in a flip. She’s pretty in a “I just sucked on a lemon” sort of way, and if I didn’t know him, I could almost understand what Ridge sees in her.Almost.
She glowers at me expectantly and I remain mute. Her question isn’t worth a response.
Impatient, her nostrils flare and she straightens her shoulders on ahumph. “If you know who I am, which you clearly do”—her lips pucker tightly—“then why are you sniffing around my husband?”
My smirk spreads a mile wide at her blatant misgiving. “Husband? I’m guessing you mean Ridge?”
“Of course I mean Ridge. There’s no one else I’d be talking about.”
An irksome flush creeps from her neck into her face, and this time, I don a full-on smile. If she could see how easily she’d pass for a cock’s comb—the crown-like, fleshy crest found on the top of a rooster’s head—I’m pretty sure she’d faint right here on the spot.
“Well then, did I miss something? Did you two have a wedding ceremony because last I heard, y’all were engaged?” I further exaggerate my sarcasm on the final word just so she knows that I know she’s full of shit.
The reddening of her face deepens. “Listen here. You stay away from him, you whore.”
She strides past me, nose in the air, and as much as I want to slap her or lob a few nasty words of my own at her, I can’t be bothered. I couldn’t care less what she thinks of me, but it does make me wonder if she knows that Ridge and I have slept together. And if so, does this mean she knows about the baby?
What’s left of the hour before my shift rushes by as I finish my errands and make it behind the bar with a minute to spare. Any thoughts of Ridge, Sage, or even that pesky fly, Chastity, have no room in my head.
Oz’s is much like every other night. Time stops for no one. The men keep coming in, drinking, and dropping cash. And as exhausted and achy as I feel, I hardly have time to breathe let alone take a break.
I moan in relief when closing time arrives and the bar is clear of customers. Jem, our stage guy and all around handyperson, flips on most of the lights, and one of the girls hollers, “Hallelujah. Quitting time.” A few laugh, offering similar sentiments.
Throughout my shift, I usually try to keep the bar tidy to lessen the time needed for cleanup at the end of the night. I’m almost ready to leave when a dark shadow eclipses me.
I stuff tonight’s cash from the register into an envelope before looking up. Ridge stands on the other side of the bar, giving me a devilish, lopsided grin.
Broad shoulders, wide solid chest, and the corded muscles in his arms on display, I don’t know where to look and yet, I can’t help but drink him in. Every single muscle in his body is precisely defined. I should know.
My palms burn and the tips of my fingers tingle. I’ve had my hands on every square inch of him.
Screw my life.I slam my eyes closed to shut out the vision of him and hopefully kill the churning desire growing within me.
When I open them again, I busy myself with grabbing a cloth to wipe down the bar. “How’d you get in here? We’re closed.”
I’m already rankled before he even opens his mouth, not needing his confirmation of how he smooth talked his way past Gentry, or more likely, threw him some cash to look the other way. The bouncer has two kids from two different women, lots of mouths to feed. Money gets you anything, especially in a place like this.
“I have my ways.” He slides onto a bar stool, and the heat of his gaze warms me from head to toe. “I wanted to take you home.”
My head snaps up to look at him. “I’m getting a ride with Kelly. I’m fine.”
“Fucking right you are—finest damn thing I’ve ever seen.” His smoldering blue eyes peruse my chest, hair, eyes, and eventually land on my lips, lingering there. “But I want to take you home. I want us to finish our conversation from earlier.”
“Nothing else to say.” I spin away from the bar, but he’s quick.
Long, calloused fingers curl around my wrist, firm but gentle, keeping me in place. “Lace, come on, we aren’t done. We’re only getting started.”
He pushes from the stool and leans his broad frame over the bar. His nose lingers only a breath from mine, and his dark gaze dips once more to my lips. They are slightly parted, begging for air to fill my lungs.
