Run to Love (Triple R Book 1) (9 page)

As I drove to the nail salon today, I’d thought about adding Two Fine as a possibility. Willow and I used to be regulars but hadn’t been there in a while. Hopefully the crowd kept up the reputation of a twenty-something meat market and the cute West O guys came out to play.

I’m ready to play all night long.

Already after ten when we got inside the front door, the band rocked a popular song. We paraded to the dance floor and danced in a group. Jace noticed a high-top open up in the back by the bar, and she practically elbowed down two big guys to claim the seats first. Jace always won the table game, and when she didn’t, she turned on the charm until she did. Willow and I finished out the song, and the band blabbered about needing a short break to fix equipment.

I plopped into the pleather-covered high-top chair, feeling the need for a glass of water as my mouth dried from the exertion of dancing.

“Did you order a round?” I asked Jace.

“Yeah, lemon-drop martinis for you two, and waters all around.”

“Whoa!” Willow fanned herself. “Okay, now that’s a breed of gorgeous you don’t see every day.”

Jace glanced behind me toward the bar. “Not gonna lie, that even gets my lady parts humming.”

The waitress placed three waters on the table. “Be right back with your martinis, ladies.” Her sage-green eyes glowed in the florescent neon bar signs.

I downed a long drink of the water while Willow and Jace continued their drooling and ogling over whomever or whatever was behind me at the bar.

“What?” I turned around to see for myself.

“He went behind the other side.” Jace waved across the room at a table of girls she apparently knew.

The waitress returned with our martinis. “That’s fourteen dollars, ladies.”

I pulled out money and paid, waving off Willow’s offer.

“Thanks,” the sun-kissed, brunette waitress acknowledged my payment and tip with a friendly smile.

I sipped the martini. Perfect. Both tart and sweet and so so lemony. Delicious.

“Say, before you go…” Willow stopped the waitress as she turned to the bar. “The bartender,” Willow pointed with her head. “What’s Ponytail’s name?”

The waitress laughed. “Why? You want his number?”

“Maybe, but for now just a name to go with the fantasy bang I’m already starting in my head.”

The waitress rolled with laughter, appreciating the humor in Willow’s drunken clarification. I took another look but still didn’t see the guy Willow was blabbering about. I sipped my drink faster than I should’ve but it was so incredibly tasty, fresher and more balanced than the usual concoction served here.

The waitress regained her composure. “Ponytail goes by Jude.”

My heart crashed to my stomach. I sucked in a breath and carried the drink into my lungs, experiencing the sting of the alcohol and the waitress’s words all the way down.

The waitress offered a concerned look at my coughing, but continued, “Jude Saylor, but I’m sure he’d love to hear you call him Ponytail. Really nice guy and as far as I know he’s available.” She walked away shaking her head and mumbled on a giggle, “Ponytail.”

I was still choking on my drink with my back to the bar. Now I really didn’t want to turn around. There couldn’t be two Jude Saylors in Omaha and someone probably didn’t steal his identity to bartend, and the ponytail thing would be a huge coincidence.

Wasn’t he supposed to be on a date with Emerson? But he also said he worked a second job, right?

“Prez, are you okay?”

I continued to sputter after clearing my throat for the tenth time.

“I need to go to the bathroom. Be right back.” I scuttled around the corner away from the bar to clear my head and catch my breath.

And to panic.

Chapter Eight

I shook my head while I filled her beer order. I didn’t do random hookups and especially not at the bar where I worked. That was asking for trouble.

“The three of them are gorgeous,” she teased. “You might want to rethink your not-from-the-bar stance.” She walked away with two pints.

“I’m up for a twosome, Jude.” Emerson slurred every word. After only two vodkas with lime, all 110 pounds of her was officially trashed.

Kanyon chuckled. “I think this one is up for some water.”

I agreed with him without saying a word and poured a glass full of lemon-lime soda, throwing in a lime for good measure. I traded the glass with the actual alcoholic version while Emerson’s head was turned. Her glazed-over eyes came back, and she smiled a drunken crooked smile.

She took a long sip through the tiny straw. “Mmmm, this is delicious.”

“Glad you like it.” I walked toward the back to see what Sage thought was so special that I had to see for myself.

I rounded the corner and stunning emerald eyes met mine. I smiled, but Presley didn’t smile back. She diverted her eyes from mine. Her eyes stayed down and a tiny furrow of her eyebrows appeared as she made her way back to the high-top table. Okay, what was that?

I caught up with another bartender. “Rahl, I’m going to take my fifteen.”

He acknowledged my declaration with a short-tempered grumble.

The band started back up.

I crossed to the other side of the room. “Good evening, ladies. The waitress tells me I’ve warranted a nickname but she won’t tell me what it is.”

I never took my eyes off of Presley—her eyes, her hair, the clothes. I was close to crawling across the high-top table and pulling her to my body and covering her with my scent caveman-style.

All three of the girls stopped talking, and everyone but Presley smiled pleasantly. She fidgeted with the cocktail napkin under her drink.

“Hi, Presley. Want to introduce me to your friends?”

The two girls glanced from me to Presley and back again. Presley’s face paled and her chest rose and fell quickly. It was a beautiful sight.
She
was a beautiful sight.

I reached out my hand to a young woman with stunning dark blue eyes and funky purple hair. “Hi, I’m Jude Saylor, Presley’s personal trainer at Triple R.”

“Holy shit!” Her volume made me jump and then chuckle. She spun to Presley. “And I don’t owe you twenty dollars! I guarantee you owe me forty dollars and I imagine you lied to me about that second Depping!” She turned back around, regained her composure, and reached out her hand. “Hi, I’m Willow Harper.” Her eyes sparkled with some inside joke between her and Presley.

“Nice to meet you, Willow. And you are?” I offered my hand to the blonde with eyes a shade darker than baby blue. They held to mine. I smiled because even her eyes smiled at me.

“Hi, Jude, Jace Zelensky and you’re Presley’s trainer … hmmm. Interesting. Very interesting.”

“Nice to meet you, Jace.” I rounded the table to Presley, leaning down to her so she could hear me. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. How are you and how is Emerson?” Her eyes flashed to mine but found something else to stare at across the room.

Fucking great.

Presley hopped down from her chair as if she was going to make a break for somewhere that was nowhere near me.

Moving closer, I leaned in and asked a question in her ear. “Can I talk to you in the hallway, Presley?”

              “I don’t think…” She moved her upper body away from mine. “I just want to have a little fun with my friends tonight.” Her normally delicate voice sounded tight and forced.

“I understand, but I think you have the wrong impression of what’s happening with Emerson.”

Her perfume saturated the air and a craving to touch her caused my biceps to jump.

Presley’s eyes widened. “None of my business. I came here to dance so I’m going to go do that. Have a good night, Jude.” She skirted around me and clutched Willow’s arm, dragging her to the dance floor.

I stood stunned. I wouldn’t follow her. I wasn’t that guy. She had to know I was interested, but she skittered away like a mouse. The evasive moves didn’t bother me. She didn’t owe it to me to listen to my excuses. I didn’t know Presley was going to end up here. It was a public bar and Emerson was here because of my inability to think before I spoke. That made the fallout my fault. Still, I wished I were the one on the dance floor with her.

“So, Ponytail, I’ve seen that look before. You’re interested but in what?” Jace said with protective female undertones flowing through the question. Her eyes looked me up and down, as if she was measuring the size of my manhood. Not the manhood in my pants, but the one in my head and heart.

Talking to the girlfriend was a crapshoot. Either she found you completely objectionable or she would go to bat for you. Let’s see which it is.

“Ponytail? Did Presley come up with that?” I watched her dance. Her curls bouncing up and down like a Slinky, and her hips swaying to the beat. Every gyration, bounce, and side-to-side shimmy had my crotch taking notice.

“No, Willow did, but I’d bet Prez was the first to think it. I know she’d kill me for telling you, but I don’t want to see her get hurt again. She’s been through hell when it comes to guys and people in general. She needs someone who can understand her and treat her right, almost better than she treats herself.” Jace followed my gaze back to the dance floor. She shook her head and sighed. “Unfortunately, she’s trying to find that connection by getting laid tonight.”

“What?” My hands fisted at my sides, and my nostrils flared.

Jace brought her gaze back and viewed my reaction. “Obviously, you heard me. She’s attempting what generally turns out to be a disastrous effort to forget what she really wants. Which, I’m imagining, is all you, Ponytail.”

“But I … I…”

I can’t get away from work. I can’t imagine she normally does that. I can imagine being the one with her. That’s not going to happen. Shit!

My brain viciously mauled the fact that Presley wanted to have sex with anyone that wasn’t me. What could I do to change her mind or did I even have a right to? I had a feeling anything I said to her tonight was going to be the wrong thing.

I stared at Presley. She laughed and enjoyed herself on the dance floor with Willow.

“Don’t worry. I’ll do everything I can to keep her from making the thinking-with-her-vag mistake. For her sake, not yours. But if you’re into Emerson, who is a raging bitch and treats Presley and most people like crap, then leave Presley alone. She deserves better.”

Emerson who?

I glanced to the bar.

Right, that Emerson.

“I have to keep Emerson on my side because of her position at the gym. That is the only reason she’s here.”

“Fucking bullshit.” I heard the words but when I turned back Jace didn’t look like she had said it. She stared across the room.

“Jace...” I touched her arm, and she brought her attention back. “I won’t wait. I’m interested in Presley, and if she gives me a chance, I promise to treat her right.”

“All right, I’ll give you a chance to prove it. Let’s hope she does, too.”

I motioned to the bar. “I have a friend keeping Emerson company. If you’re interested in meeting a nice guy I’m sure he’d enjoy a break from the monotonous crap spewing from Emerson’s drunken mouth.”

“I like the ladies, too,” Jace said unapologetically.

“Figures, the beautiful and interesting ones do.”

She tipped her head and smiled. “Save those silver-tongued lines for someone with emerald eyes and ebony hair.”

“Will do.” I couldn’t help but like Jace. She didn’t mess around when it came to her friends.

“Hey, Jude! Less sizzling hot girls and more help!” Rahl yelled over the bar and gave the wooden surface a loud slap.

Jace rolled her eyes at him. Rahl raised his eyebrows back at her, and Jace shook her head with a smile.

I chuckled at the bar’s resident ogre. Rahl was always a little grumpy with me, but I couldn’t say why. I hadn’t gotten to know him well, but there was always a grey cloud hanging over him. He was the Eeyore of great bartending.

“Guess my break is over. Have fun tonight, Jace. Thanks for your help.”

“You’re welcome. Don’t piss the info away, Jude.”

I trekked back behind the bar and helped Rahl through the rush of orders, all the time keeping one eye on Presley on the dance floor.

Kanyon snapped in my face to get my attention. “Who’s that?”

“The black-haired girl is Presley. She’s one of my new clients. The other girl is her friend.”

“She just a client?” he asked in a low tone.

“What are you two little girls whispering about?” Emerson snapped.

“Nothing,” we both said.

“I don’t think these,” Emerson hiccupped, “shrinks are doing anything. I’ms outta here.” She slithered from her stool and fell to the floor, laughing uncontrollably. “I fells … down.”

“Great.” I gave Kanyon a dude-help-please stare.

After cussing me out under his breath, he stood and lifted her up, holding her at arm’s length.

“I guess I get the privilege of driving No Tolerance Barbie home?”

“Please.” I grabbed her purse, pulling out her driver’s license and apartment key. “She lives around the corner on 180
th
and Harrison.”

“Fine, but you owe me one, like introducing me to the gorgeous purple-haired girl when I get back.”

“Willow.”

“Willow’s a bitch!” Emerson slurred while swaying on her legs. Kanyon’s arm tightened around her waist.

I lowered my voice to Kanyon. “No, she’s not.” Even after a short meeting I could tell Emerson was way off on that one.

“Where are you taking me?” Emerson stared up at Kanyon.

“You’re going home.”

“Yous gonna stay with me?” Her glazed eyes rolled across Kanyon’s chest as she pawed at his shirt.

“You have a roommate?”

“Yeah, but I don’ts do threesomes and she wouldn’t wants your penis. She likes baginas.” Emerson wrinkled her nose, then smiled crookedly. “But I might wants your…” She ran her hand down Kanyon’s shirt, past his waistband to his crotch. He gripped her wrist before she assaulted him in public.

When drunk, most people went the opposite of what they were normally, but not Emerson. She continued to spew evil bile like a broken water pipe and someone direly needed to find her shutoff valve. Told me how miserable she actually was.

“Then I’ll drop you off in her capable hands.” Kanyon carried Emerson next to his hip, dwarfed by his six foot three inch frame. “Be right back.”

“I’ll buy your next round,” I called out.

“Next
two
rounds,” Kanyon clarified.

I nodded in agreement as he scooped Emerson up in his arms like he was carrying a sleeping child. She laid her head on his shoulder.

“Bye, Jude!” she yelled from across the room as Kanyon kicked the front door open, spinning to give me one last ‘you fucking owe me big time’ glance. 

The band pulled in a full house, and the next forty minutes flew with no breaks. People needed potions to ease their pain or stimulate their happiness. I recognized both kinds of need in Presley, which had me wondering the real whys of her pain. What got to her? What hidden secrets would I find with time and effort?

I thought the risk was worth the effort so I tried a friendly gesture. I made another round for the girls and paid for the drinks myself, asking Sage to say, “Congratulations, Presley! Ponytail got this one.”

Sage rolled her expressive eyes and delivered the pale yellow libations. Willow and Jace smiled and waved in polite appreciation, but Presley bit her lip, breathed deeply, and stared at the glass sitting in front of her. Her hand slowly inched to the stem, and she sipped. A smile crossed her face, and her eyes flashed to mine. It wasn’t a clear expression of acknowledgement, but it would be enough for now.

“Hey, where’s the barkeep who forces his so-called friend to drive a tiny beast from hell home?” Kanyon’s voice boomed across the bar.

“Light or dark?”

“Dark. That girl is
definitely
from the dark side.”

I chuckled at his play on words, filled a pint, and handed the beer off to him. “How bad was it?”

“She got really handsy in the truck, almost found an empty lot and took her up on her insistent and slurred offer, but I don’t do a trashed girl, ever. Little tipsy and feeling no pain … sure. Drunk … never. Plus, I don’t think anyone could fuck the nasty out of that woman. She’s Satan’s handiwork in the flesh.” He acknowledged my agreeing glance with a shake of his head. “Emerson’s roommate gave me shit that she doesn’t take care of passed-out or puking blondes, because unfortunately, the roommate has to be up at four in the morning. I dropped Barbie off on the sofa and told the fuming brunette, ‘sorry, but that’s why I don’t have a roommate.’ I think Emerson slurred that her roommate’s name is Kai? She works at Triple R?”