“No, I mean yes, my name is Candace, but no, nobody has ever called me Candy.”
“They should.” His eyes darken. There’s something unspokenbehind his gaze. Something that has my core tightening and has me wanting him to look at me like that again.
“I’m uh, looking for someone—my boyfriend.”
“Ah, there it is.” My confession confirms his suspicions. “Well, which one is he?” He stands tall, crossing his arms across his chest, flexing in a way that makes me wonder what it would feel like to have those meat sticks wrapped around my body.
Closing my mouth, I try my best to get my shit together. I hope to god he didn’t notice me gawking at him. I peer around the room, looking for my target. It takes me a minute, but then I see him. Jason sits lounging with his buddies from work, legs spread wide as a half-naked woman rolls her body on top of his lap. He places bills in the back of her thong and tucks his arms behind his head, enjoying his view of the dancer’s ass bouncing over his cock.
Tears spring to my eyes. What am I even doing here? The security guard follows my stare to see my boyfriend having the time of his life.
“This was a bad idea.” I turn on my heel and head out the door.
I don’t know why, but I hear the guy follow me out. Sitting down on the curb, I wrap my arms around my legs in an embrace.
“Crying over a fuck head like that isn’t gonna do you any good. Forget him. A woman like you deserves more than what that piece of shit has to offer.”
I laugh through my tears and wipe them away with the sleeve of my sweatshirt.
“You don’t even know me.”
“I know a prize when I see one.” Heat crawls up my cheeks, and I’m almost certain they’ve turned a bright shade of pink. “Why don’t we get you back inside and order a drink? You’re shivering like a scared little dog.” He extends his hand for me to take, but I don’t move.
My eyes flicker from his hand to his face, trying to figure out this stranger I met less than ten minutes ago.
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
He exhales a breath, and his eyes soften.
“I don’t like seeing a pretty girl sitting outside, crying in the cold because of some pompous asshole that doesn't know how to treat his girl right.”
I stare at him for a moment. I’m not used to a man showing me so much kindness. It does things to my emotions that I can’t seem to unravel. Nodding my head, I take his hand and let him pull me to my feet.
He towers over my body with his intimidatingly solid frame. I can see his built physique through his tight black T-shirt, his biceps practically bulging out of the sleeves. I want to lick his muscles. Just a taste.What is wrong with me?
“I don’t even know your name.” My voice is small, weak with embarrassment of this man witnessing the disaster that is my life.
“Knox.” He flashes me a panty-melting smile and guides me back into the club, leading me straight to the bar.
THREE
KNOX
I thought I was ready—thoughtI had prepared for every possible outcome that could've played out tonight. I was gonna finally give this fucker what he deserves. But nothing could've prepared me for her. She was not on the list. She was not supposed to be here.
My eyes are fixated on Candace, this beautiful creature sitting on a barstool next to me. Hair as pink as cotton candy and eyes as blue as the Caribbean Sea. There's a dullness to them, though. Like the light from within them has been robbed. I've seen eyes like hers once before, once sparked full of life and joy, suffocated and stolen by the hands of another.
I shouldn't be so transfixed by her, but I can't help myself. Something about Candy draws me in, like there's a magnetic pull between us, and I know she can feel it too.
I've studied her boyfriend for months. Learning his routines, his habits and getting to know the people in his life behind a set of binoculars, always out of sight. I've seen this Candy before, though she had no idea I even existed, until tonight. I watched her go from a magnificent enigma to the shell of a human being that sits before me.
I swore to myself I wouldn't involve her. That I’d do the task I was set out to do and keep her out of it. But when I saw her pull up in that parking lot tonight, shivering like a little Chihuahua, and throwing her sassy attitude my way, I knew she still had fight in her. And I knew that I was so screwed—that there’s no way in hell I’ll be able to stay away.
CANDACE
Blowing hot air into my cupped hands, I try to warm them with myself up with my breath. Knox sits on the barstool beside me and orders us a couple of shots. I can feel his eyes on me, trailing the length of my body. And when I dare steal a glance in his direction, his eyes never waver. They meet mine as if catching him staring just amuses him even more. He’s shameless.
Kream by Iggy Azalea featuring Tyga thumps through the speakers, and from where I’m sitting, I have a direct view of Jason and his friends. He doesn’t see me since his face is buried between the dancer's ass cheeks. I scoff at him in disgust.
