“That’s our cue to leave,” Claire said.
I turned to see that she had already risen to her feet and packed her purse up.
“I gave my card to the hostess ahead of time,” Claire said, winking at me. “In my line of work, sometimes you gotta bolt fast.”
Now I’ve engaged in plenty of flirtations. I’ve seen the batted eyelashes, the hair twirled around a finger, the coy smile, but I had never had a girl wink at me. And for some reason, that half-second movement from Claire made my stomach drop right to the floor.
She was too good to resist.
I stood up and followed her as she whisked Kim away. All the while Trey was mopping up his shirt, so he never actually saw Claire. It was expertly done.
Once we were out on the sidewalk, we speedwalked until we were a few blocks away. Then Kim let out a big whoop.
“Fuck, that felt good!” she said. “I’ve always wanted to throw my drink at a guy!”
“You killed it,” Claire said. “Looked like you’d done it a million times.”
The girls high-fived, and I couldn’t help but grin. Kim had been a true showstopper, but my eyes kept lingering on Claire’s face and the way her button nose scrunched up when she smiled.
I had rules about never going for the women who made me feel too much. The ones who stirred up blind desire. That was reckless. That kind of desire had led to the mess with Sara.
But if Claire was going to wear that dark red dress and do things like wink sassily at me while she said something badass, I was going to throw every single rule out the window.
“You get what you need?” Kim asked.
“I got more than enough,” Claire said. “Thanks again for all your help, this is my new record for tying up a case.”
I stiffened. Claire spoke with a tone of finality as she patted her bag. As if she was getting ready to call it a night. Go home. Tie up her case. And I would never see her again.
As if she read my thoughts, Kim grabbed Claire’s arm.
“Well then you havegotto let me buy you a drink,” Kim said. “You’ve got a new record, and I’m newly single, that’s worth celebrating.”
Claire chewed on her bottom lip as she considered.
“Comeon,” Kim begged. “You have to at least have one drink out of pity for the poor girl who got duped by an asshole. I never would have figured it out if not for you.”
“Ok, just one drink,” Claire said with a laugh.
Kim jumped up and down and squealed in excitement. “Ok, let me call a car to take us to Hive. I need to dance.”
Claire’s eyes widened when Kim mentioned one of the biggest clubs in La Playa, but she didn’t turn away.
“You would have figured Trey out,” Claire said. “And it wouldn’t have taken you very long.”
“Probably,” Kim said with a shrug.
Kim knew the bouncer at Hive, so we were able to cut the line and buy drinks in no time.
I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t help but notice the way Claire’s pale face seemed to shimmer beneath the disco lights. And the way she scanned the room with an excited gleam in her eye, as if anything could happen at any moment, and she would be ready to leap into action.
When she reached up to push her hair off the back of her neck, I was tempted to run my finger down her nape, just to feel how smooth her skin was.
After one round, Kim declared it was time to dance. She strutted out towards the dance floor like she owned it. Within minutes, she was dancing with an eager guy.
“Is she always the life of the party?” Claire asked me.
“Dunno,” I said, liking the way she leaned in towards me as if we were co-conspirators. “I haven’t gone out with her a ton.”
