“No way,” I breathed out.
“Booker and Mack run it.”
I slipped my dress over my head, then turned my back so Jaxon could zip me up. “How did that never come up in conversation with Darien?”
Jaxon chuckled as he zipped me, kissing the back of my neck. “You can ask her tonight.”
I turned and slid my arms up his chest. “I plan to, but I’m not sure I’ll remember anything she tells me, you know, on account of the fact I’m going to drink until I have no worries.”
“You have worries?”
“It’s a figure of speech?”
“Is it?” he pressed, sliding his hand to my cheek.
I sighed. “Sometimes I hate how well you know me.”
“No you don’t.” He ran his thumb along my jaw. “What’s up?”
“It’s the specialist’s exam. I feel like I’m going to fail it miserably.”
“Baby, you got this,” he argued. “If you want, we can go through mine and I’ll grill you. The questions won’t be the same, but it’ll give you an idea of what to expect.”
“Really?” I breathed out in relief. “I have the study guide, but I still feel a bit lost.”
He smiled gently and nodded. “I got you.”
“Thanks, honey.”
“You’re welcome.” He kissed me quickly. “You ready?”
“I just have to put on my shoes.”
“Who are we picking up first? Kim?”
“Yes. Carter’s bringing Cassidy, but I was going to give her a ride home.”
“Sounds good.”
I pulled on my strappy blue sandals that not only matched my dress, but did incredible things for my legs, then I grabbed my purse and followed him out to his SUV.
* * *
After we picked upKim, whose best friend, Danielle was at her place as well, we headed into downtown Portland. Danielle’s husband was Booker, who was the VP of the Dogs of Fire, and he was actually working at Blush, so Dani decided to catch a ride with us. This meant we got to park behind the club in the private parking lot, which gave us easy access in and out.
Jaxon walked us in through the back door where Booker and Mack met us and guided us up to the VIP section.
“Oh, wow,” I rasped, turning slowly to take in the space. The VIP section was essentially a mezzanine above the dance floor. It was a huge, open space with a bar at one end, comfy sofas around the perimeter and chairs and tables in the middle.
So far, Kim, Dani, Payton, Macey, Bailey, and Darien had arrived. Knight, Booker, Hawk, Dallas, Brock, and Mack’s wives, respectively. We were waiting on Cassidy and Sadie who would be here in an hour or so. Apparently, Sadie used to be a nun and I couldn’twaitto find out how that worked.
“Ladies, Train and Cheese will be acting as your bartenders tonight,” Mack said, and I looked at the men standing by the bar and thinking how hot they were. “They’re also on hand should you run into trouble, although, I’m confident you won’t have any issues. You’ve got Knight standing at the bottom of the stairs and no one who isn’t authorized to be up here will get up here. If you want to go down and dance, feel free to leave whatever you want to up here, it’ll be safe. Booker and I’ll be in our offices, but if you need us, let Dare or Dani know.”
“If I want to grind on my man, you got someone to stand in for him?” Kim asked.
Mack rolled his eyes. “Sure, Kimmie, you wanna ‘grind’ on Knight, Train’ll take over.”
“Thanks, Train,” Kim said.
