Vince laughed and threw his hands up. “Hey, bro, I’m not judging.”
Nick finished his whiskey and poured himself another round. For the next fifteen minutes, he half-assed conversed with Vince. In reality, it was the lady in the black dress that commanded his attention. She seemed to be having a good time, and he was surprised by how much that pleased him. His eyes were glued to her thick, swaying hips as she danced in place next to her friend. If he were a bolder man, he would go over to the table and pull her away for a private moment. Since he wasn’t, and his wife’s brother was sitting next to him, he nursed his drink and pretended to listen to his brother-in-law. But the farce ended when Rebecca broke away from the table and headed toward the bathroom.
“I’ll be back,” Nick announced.
He jumped from the sofa and hurried past Gary. He carefully weaved his way through the crowd of animated bodies with the intention of heading her off at the pass. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as careful as he’d thought. He was nearly four feet away from Rebecca when he felt a shove.
“Excuse you!” a half-dressed blonde screeched, grabbing her head.
Nick frowned. Had he bumped into the woman? He glared at her angry expression, wondering what her issue was. Her narrowed eyes lowered to his chest. After following her heated gaze, he noticed a strip of long, blonde weave hanging from his chest. Nick’s mouth flew open. He couldn’t decide if he was horrified or amused when she snatched the stray bundle of hair from one of his buttons and stomped away.
The sound of laughter over the music caused him to look over his shoulder.
“Smooth, Detective Cato,” came from the sweet mouth of the woman he’d been eyeing all night.
Nick turned and shrugged.
“Your shirt made of Velcro?” she teased through a giggle.
For some reason, the crinkle of her eyes and the sound of her laughter were endearing.
“Miss King, how are you?” he greeted with a grin.
“I’m good, Sergeant. Fancy meeting you here. Doesn’t really seem like your kind of place.”
“It’s not,” Nick admitted. “I came for someone.”You.
“Oh,” she said, looking around for his companion.
Nick pointed toward the VIP section at Vince. “My brother,” he lied.
“Oh, okay. Well, you guys have a good night,” she said, backing away. “It was good to see you under better circumstances.”
“Yes,” he agreed, thinking of a way to keep her from leaving. “Miss King?”
“Rebecca, please,” she insisted.
“How about Becky?” he asked with a grin.
She smirked at him with knitted brows. “Notever, Detective Cato.”
Nick laughed and nodded. “Rebecca it is, but only if you call me Nick.”
“Okay, Nick. I can do that. But right now, I need to visit the ladies’ room.”
She turned to walk away, but Nick grabbed her arm. She turned around, blinking in confusion.
“Can I wait for you here? Have a drink with me?”
She relaxed and gifted him with a beautiful white smile. “Sure. I’ll be right back.”
When she turned and made her way to the facilities, the club lights illuminated the reddish tones of her bouncy hair. As he stood waiting for her like a backstage groupie, he thought of her beautiful smile and how it hadn’t gone unnoticed that behind that smile was a hint of sadness in her almond-colored eyes.
“Oh, wow. You’re a giant piece of man-candy.”
Nick looked down into the fiery green eyes of a scarily thin brunette. “Hello,” he said perplexed.
He could smell the tequila coming from her pores as she tucked her arm in his and rested her head on his shoulder. “Ma’am?”
