Chapter Eight
Kylie
Kylie was just finishing up making sure the bar was fully stocked when Remy sauntered into the VIP lounge. She couldn’t help the way her eyes watched his every move. The man was sex on a stick and he knew it. Not for the first time, she felt dampness pooling between her thighs just from the dark look in his eyes when he looked her over. It was embarrassing as hell because she knew he could smell her arousal.
“We need to talk, cher. Come sit wit’ me a minute. Please.”
If he’d left the please off, Kylie would have told him to go to hell. She’d spent five years being ordered around by a man; she wasn’t going there again. “This better be good,” was her response as she walked around the bar to join him at one of the empty tables.
Remy reached out, slowly, and took her hand in his once they were seated. “I know what you were tinkin’, when you saw me earlier. Dat woman I was wit’, she’s da wife of an old friend. She came to me because he’d gotten hisself mixed up wit’ da wrong people, yet again, and needed me to bail his ass out. I’ve been bailin’ his ass outta trouble since high school. I’m hopin’ dis time he learned his lesson but it’s doubtful.”
“It’s a little hard to believe that with the way she was clinging to you.”
“I know, Kitten, but dere’s only one woman I want and I’m lookin’ at her right now. I know you feel da mate connection just like I do, even if you don’t want to admit to it. I don’t know what’s got you so scared, but I’m not givin’ up. Let me take you to dinner tomorrow, when you’re off work.”
She opened her mouth to turn him down, but what came out was something different. “Okay.” He was right. She was scared. She was terrified that, beneath the surface, he wasn’t the sweet, protective man he seemed to be. She was terrified that, if she let him in, she wouldn’t find out the truth until it was too late. Did she really want to live her life that way? Did she really want to go through life afraid to let anyone get close again? If she was completely honest with herself, the answer was no. So she decided to take a chance and hoped she didn’t live to regret it.
Remy
When he’d stepped into the VIP lounge, his gaze traveled over Kylie, what he could see of her with the bar in the way, and he felt his body react to her nearness. He’d never responded to a woman quite the way he did her. He craved Kylie the way an alcoholic craved their next drink, or an addict craved their next fix. Addicted to her. Yeah, that’s what he was, and he hadn’t even tasted her yet. “I’m not givin’ up.” No truer words were ever spoken. He would fight to his dying breath to win her over and get her in his life, if he had to.
When she agreed to go to dinner with him, Remy blinked. Had he heard her right? Did she really just say okay, without any fuss or without trying to get out of it? “Did you just say yes?” At her nod he flashed her a wicked smile. “Damn, woman, I never know what to expect from you. Here I was tinkin’ I was gonna have to sweet talk you into it and you proved me wrong.”
“When Emelise and I were talking earlier, I told her I would give you a chance to prove…well, to prove that you’re different. It scares the hell out of me, but maybe she’s right. I can’t live my life afraid of letting others close.”
Remy studied her for several minutes. “Prove I’m different from what, cher? What has you so afraid? I’ll admit, Lily told me dat someting bad happened in your past, but she didn’t know what. Talk to me, Kitten.”
Kylie tensed. Lily talked to him about her? Maybe she was just trying to warn him so he would understand why she kept pushing him away. “I can’t. Not here. Not now.” She knew that was a conversation best had when she didn’t have to work.
“Alright. I won’t pry. Not tonight, and maybe not tomorrow night, either. Whenever you feel ready to tell me, I’ll be right here to listen.” He could all but feel her pulling away, and the last thing he wanted to do was make her put her walls back up.
“Thank you.” Kylie glanced at her phone for the time and sighed. “Doors open in a few; I better get behind the bar.”
“I’ll be here in case dere’s any trouble.” He had someone lined up to take over as bouncer in a few days so he could focus on the resort hotel he’d been hired to design, but for now he was it. He winked and moved away as the first customers came up the stairs.
Before too long, there were too many people for Remy to stay focused solely on Kylie, but he glanced her way every chance he got.
By the time the club closed for the night, Remy had escorted three people out for groping one of the servers, he’d had to kick a couple of guys out of the VIP Lounge once he realized they’d slipped in with a group that had VIP access, and he’d helped a group of women who’d gotten way too drunk get home safely by calling them a cab. “I was beginnin’ to tink dis night was never goin’ to end.”
Kylie laughed at his grumbled words. “You’d think it was a full moon tonight with how crazy people were. What were those guys doing, the ones you kicked out of the Lounge? From the bar it looked like they were trying to set up a beer-pong game in the back corner.”
“Dat’s exactly what dey were tryin’ to do. Dat’s how I knew dey weren’t on da VIP list. You did good tonight, keepin’ up wit’ da rush when da other girl got sick and had to leave early.”
“Thanks. The bar I worked in back home, I was the only bartender on Friday nights. I mean, sure, it’s a small town, but Friday nights everyone and their grandmother came into the bar. I learned real fast how to stay on top of things. It’s all a matter of prioritizing and multitasking your ass off.”
Remy cocked a brow. This was the first time she’d really talked about her hometown to him. She’d mentioned it before but she’d given very little information on it. “A small town,oui?I can imagine it still got crazy on da weekends. Were you happy dere?”
“Yeah, Frenchville, Maine is a small town.” Kylie shrugged. “I suppose I was. At least, most of the time.”
“You’re a long way from home, Kitten. I look forward to findin’ out what brought you to N’Orleans.” He winked at her. “Lemme know when you’re ready to go and I’ll give you a lift back to da compound.”
“I just have to finish up here, so, ten minutes?”
“I’ll be right over dere.” He pointed to the table closest to the stairs before he went to it and sat to watch her finish counting her tips. He knew she’d done really well. Almost every person who ordered a drink dropped some money in the tip jar.
Kylie
Kylie really wasn’t sure what to make of Remy Delacroix. Sometimes he was almost playful; other times he was so intense he almost scared her. His constant shift in attitude kept her unsettled and made it hard for her to get a handle on her reactions to him. When he looked at her as if he was imagining what she looked like naked, it made her want to strip just to see his eyes darken with lust. Then there was the pet name he’d decided to give her. Kitten. Every time he called her that it made her feel warm and…happy. No one had ever given her an endearing pet name before.
