Scent of a White Rose (2 page)

My dad had arranged for my friends and I to be
driven in one of his company limos to a concert in Masen, the big
city that's about two hours away. We didn’t have a curfew, but we
were expected to stay with the staff that came with the car. I saw
it for the compromise it was; he was letting me go, but with
supervision. I guess he’d always been protective, even before Mom’s
death.

After the concert, we were driving back into
town when Jillian loudly announced that she had to use the
restroom. The only place around was the nightclub just up the road.
It was called “The Rising Pit.” I think it had some sort of dance
floor in the middle that went up and down using hydraulics. I had
never been there, but a few friends of mine had gone and said it
was very cool.

Once we reached the nightclub, Jill bounced out
of the limo, accompanied by one of the “car crew” as we had taken
to calling them, thanked the driver for stopping, and proceeded to
make a beeline to the club's front door.

Jill disappeared behind the door, and as I
watched it swing shut, a man stepped outside carrying a girl in his
arms. I watched from the car as he placed her on her feet,
steadying her before letting go. I could tell that she was crying.
He was talking to her in what looked like a very gentle manner. She
rubbed the tears from her cheeks and then she nodded her head in a
“yes” motion. The guy smiled, and I thought I was going to die.

Right then the clouds broke, and he looked like
an angel bathed in moonlight. He was so gorgeous. He had to be
about 6’ 2”, and solid muscle from the looks of him. Not bulky like
those beefed-up body builders, but very athletic. Wide shoulders,
broad chest, thin waist, and what I was sure would be strong,
muscled legs. With the moonlight shining on him, I could see he had
dark blonde hair with golden highlights, cut short and sharp. I
hadn’t realized that I was half hanging out the open window of the
limo, when he suddenly turned and looked right at me. My breath
caught, and I thought I would die…again!

His eyes were so beautiful and so mesmerizing.
The intensity of his gaze was piercing. They were an amber color, a
rich brown with golden highlights, mixing together like swirled
caramel and honey. He was easily the most beautiful thing I’d ever
seen.

Right then Jill came barreling out of the
nightclub with her escort closely in tow. She was saying something
like, “I only wanted a quick shot,” and the rest of us started
laughing from the car. As she started to walk past the beautiful
man, he reached out and tapped her gently on the shoulder. She
stopped and he started speaking to her. She kept glancing at the
car and then back to him with a huge smile on her face. After a
brief moment, he handed her something, then disappeared back
inside.

I was so anxious to see what this impossibly
gorgeous guy had said to my friend. I was sure it had to do with
her only using the facilities instead of being a paying customer or
something along those lines, as it was obvious that he worked
there.

When Jill got in the car, she sat there for a
moment with a “cat-ate-the-mouse” grin on her face. Then she handed
me a business card. It was shiny and smooth and had the nightclub's
logo on the front. I turned it over and found a hand scribbled note
that read, “Roses are red, but I'll be blue, if I'm denied the
pleasure, of meeting you. ~ Christian.”

My jaw dropped. Jillian was still smiling at me
as my other friends started to pass the card back and forth.

Jill proceeded to tell me that he had asked her
my name and then scratched out that poem so fast that she could
barely see his hand move. He had also included his phone number on
the back, and asked that I call him after sunset in two days, which
of course, I did.

I started seeing Christian every week, visiting
during his breaks and getting seriously serious within those first
three months. But then Mom died and everything changed.

My dad, Jeremy Reynolds, is the Vice President
of a marketing company here in town, but all his best clients came
from the big city. He has to take an overnight business trip once a
month to schmooze his big city clients and this is now the only
time I get to see Christian. Dad has me stay overnight at Jillian’s
house whenever he leaves town. So with Jill’s help, once a month I
lose all sense of morality and sneak out to see my boyfriend.
Yeah…it sucks.

* * * * *

CHAPTER THREE

Deviant

(Rose)

After I focused my attention long enough to
actually get dressed, I came up with a plan to ditch the
driver/babysitter after school. It would take some bad behavior on
my part, and then some sweet talk immediately after, but I thought
I could pull it off.

At school I was your average college student.
Never stood out much, kept my nose in the books, and made pretty
good grades. But not today. I was completely disruptive, chatting
when I shouldn’t be and constantly dropping stuff and apologizing
loudly. And I was smacking my gum so much that it was actually
starting to hurt my jaw.

Finally, I got what I wanted. Mr. Thompson
looked up with an exasperated look on his face and said, “Rose
Reynolds…see me at the end of the day.”
YES!!

I felt like a deviant over making this much
trouble for one of the few teachers that I actually liked. But I
knew that Mr. Thompson’s only pet peeve was a student who disrupted
his lectures, and that is exactly what I'd just done to
perfection.

Immediately after my last class, I made my way
back up to the 3rd floor to Mr. Thompson’s classroom. He was
waiting for me at his desk, nose buried in his day planner. “Ms.
Reynolds.” He acknowledged my presence with a kind, but
semi-frustrated tone. “I was not pleased with the way you were
constantly interrupting my class today. Is there an explanation
that you can give that will keep me from tacking on an additional
500 words to your thesis?”

As I sat down, I tried to make myself look a
little shaky. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Thompson. I think it had something
to do with my low-blood sugar. It doesn't happen too often anymore,
but after my mom’s accident, sometimes I would just forget to eat
and then I would end up all shaky and hyper. I’m really sorry.”
Sincerity was dripping from every word.

Did I say deviant before? I meant criminal. I
had actually played the “My mom was killed card” with my history
professor just so that I could go make out with a guy
.

After Mr. Thompson dismissed me with a
sympathetic look and a feather-light warning, I made my way to the
first girl’s bathroom I could find. I freshened up my makeup and
changed my jeans and t-shirt out for the dark blue sundress I had
stuffed in my bag. The black flats I had on were going to have to
do. Since I was taller than average at 5’10”, I didn't wear heels
very often anyway. Looking in the mirror, I thought I looked pretty
good. The sundress hugged my curves just right, and I certainly had
plenty of curves for it to hug. My light blonde hair hung just past
my shoulders.  I wore it straight most of the time, but today
I had braided it for school. So now when I shook it out it was nice
and wavy. I loved that trick.

Taking one last glance in the mirror, I applied
a final dab to my cherry flavored lipstick. “Time to go see my
man!”
Yep, I was giddy!

As usual, I had arranged to borrow Jill’s car
for my trip to see Christian. She’s such a good friend. She
completely feels for me and the strict rules I have to live by. So
whenever I can squeeze out from under my dad’s thumb, she’s totally
supportive.
Huh…not sure if that makes her a good friend or a
bad one.

After I parked next to Christian’s car, a ’67
Mercury Comet Caliente (Yes, it lives up to its name –it is a HOT
car!), I checked my lipstick one last time before embarking on the
search for my man.

I opened the club's front door and it took my
eyes and ears a minute to adjust. The lighting was dark and
seductive, and the only sound present was a slow mechanical
grinding.

As I looked around, I noticed that I was alone
on the main floor. Then I pinpointed the source of the noise. The
stage in the middle of the room was moving. I couldn’t tell if it
was going up or down, and honestly, that was of no interest to me.
Instead, I was completely focused on all of the people coming out
from underneath it.

I could barely make out the circular staircase
that ran around the inside wall underneath the stage, but that’s
where everyone that I recognized as The Rising Pit’s staff was
coming from: Bobby, the sexy, blonde DJ; Tori and Dominique, the
adorable, redheaded bartenders who were sisters; the gorgeous
owner, Evangeline; her muscular, right-hand man and bar manager,
Dax; and Christian, head of security, and my boyfriend.

They were all talking and joking, looking more
like family than coworkers. Finally the stage had rose all the way
up and locked into place with a loud bang, sending shock waves up
my legs. Startled, I sucked in a quick breath.

Everyone at the exact same instant snapped their
heads in my direction. There was no point in acting shy. They all
knew I was Christian’s girlfriend. So I cleared my throat, cocked
my hip, and gave a little wave directed just at him.

Christian looked surprised, happy, and wary, all
at the same time. Once everyone got over their initial shock of
seeing me, they dispersed, leaving only Christian and Evangeline to
stare in my direction. Before moving off, Evangeline whispered
something in Christian's ear. He still had his eyes pinned on mine
and a sexy smile on his face, so I figured whatever she had to say
to him couldn’t be all that bad. I certainly didn’t want to get him
in trouble for showing up unannounced, but come on, it’s a
nightclub…party central, and the front door
had
been
open.

Evangeline headed towards the back of the club
where I assumed her office was. Christian stood there for a moment
longer, not moving a muscle, and looking like a Greek God. He was
eyeing me up and down, admiring my dress I guess. His sexy smile
just kept growing, so I hoped that was an indication that he liked
what he saw.

He finally made his way over to me and wrapped
me in his arms. “Wow, this is an amazing surprise!” he whispered in
my ear as he pulled me close, nuzzling my neck at the same
time.

“Yeah, I escaped and thought I’d ditch my
friends and come see you instead. This once-a-month shit is for the
birds,” I said in a husky voice and reached around and grabbed his
butt.

Christian and I had made out enough that we were
comfortable touching each other, but I needed to let him know it
was okay if we took things all the way. As a matter of fact, I was
aching for it. It’s not like I was a twenty year old virgin for
Christ’s sake.

He jumped a little as I squeezed his perfect ass
with my hand, then looked around to see if anyone was watching…and
they were.

He promptly grabbed my hand, flipped off Bobby
and Dax, and pulled me out the front door back into the night.

“I’m really glad you came, but you should have
called. We’re not allowed to have guests here until after 8 p.m.
when the club opens,” he said as we walked to the corner of the
parking lot.

“I thought the club was open. The front door was
unlocked and the outside lights were on.” I was feeling rather
defensive.

Right then, Terrance, one of Christian’s
security staff, stepped out of the woods just a couple of cars down
from where we stood. Christian’s eyes narrowed on him, and I could
tell by the tension suddenly radiating from his body that he was
pissed.

“Terrance, is there a reason why you’re out here
and the club's standing wide open?”

Terrance looked flushed, but all he said was,
“Sorry, boss. I forgot something in my car.”

I don’t think Christian bought it, and I sure
didn’t. He hadn't been in the parking lot when I pulled up.

“We’ll talk about this later,” Christian said.
Terrance gave him a clipped nod and headed inside.

“Maybe he was making out with his girlfriend in
the woods,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood and steer his
attention back to the “making out” part of my plans. It must have
worked, because in the blink of an eye Christian’s hands were all
over my body, and his mouth crushed against mine, our tongues
fighting for dominance. It was amazing.

“Wow, I guess you really like this dress,” I
panted between kisses.

“I love your dress, but I’d love it more if it
was on the ground,” he growled.

His voice was lower than I’d ever heard before,
and there was an urgency in the way he kissed me. He grabbed the
hem of my dress, raising it slowly as he kissed, sucked and licked
at my neck.

This is definitely what I wanted tonight…but
outside, against my friend's car wasn’t exactly the sensual fantasy
I had envisioned.

Right as Christian settled himself between my
legs and started reaching for his belt, the club's front door
slammed open. I turned my head to find Evangeline staring right at
us. “Christian,” she snapped, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we need
to finish opening.”

Christian’s hands went still, and he slowly
raised his head from the side of my neck. He had the most serious
look on his face and even though it was dark outside, in that
moment, it seemed like he was darker too. His eyes were smoky and,
they had lost their honey swirl. Even his hair seemed darker, like
the highlights had completely disappeared. Suddenly, I wasn't too
upset that Evangeline had interrupted.

Christian quickly shook his head and kissed me
one last time. He was himself again. “Sorry babe. I gotta go.”

Feeling relieved, I smoothed my dress back into
place. “No problem. I guess I should head home anyway, in case my
dad comes home early. Sorry if I got you in trouble. Next time,
I’ll be sure to call.”