Sugar and Spice (4 page)

“What are you looking at?” Brooks asked.

“Nothing!” he answered, too loud and too late. Brooks’ gaze landed on Liam before swinging back toward him. Ryan watched all the color drain from her face.

“Oh,” she whispered.

Ryan could hear the pain behind the single syllable and he fought against the urge to walk across the room and beat the hell out of her so-called boyfriend.

25

Mari Carr

“Crap,” she said, glancing over her shoulder once more before turning back around to face him. She picked up her martini and drained it. She cleared her throat and he could see anger in her gaze. “Do I have the word ‘frigid’ written across my forehead?”

Ryan shook his head slightly, certain he’d heard her question wrong. “Excuse me?”

“Frigid, Travers. F-R-I-G-I-D. Is it tattooed up there in some way that only men can see?”

“I don’t understand what you’re asking, Brooks.”

“What is it about me that makes the men I date think I’m not worth waiting for?

What the hell is wrong with getting to know someone before you hop into bed with them?”

“I’m not sure,” Ryan answered slowly. Her question had caught him off guard.

“I mean, even
you
didn’t think I could handle one night in a lousy sex club. What’s wrong with me? What vibes am I sending out?”

Ryan stared at her for several seconds, his mind whirling over how on earth to answer her. How could he tell her that until tonight, he’d seen her—or maybe he should say he’d
failed
to see her—the same way as the asshole across the room? Shit. Bringing her here had been a mistake of mammoth proportions and things seemed to be spiraling continually downhill.

“There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“Oh stuff it, Travers! After nearly twenty years of friendship, the least you could do is level with me. Clearly men don’t view me as sexy. Am I right?”

She thought she wasn’t sexy? Christ, he’d been sporting a hard-on since she’d opened her damn front door. Even now, he was silently reciting his times tables in an attempt to stop thinking about exactly how he’d like to peel that tight leather skirt off her. Ryan picked up his drink and followed Brooks’ example by tipping it up and chugging it down…fast. The strong liquor burned his throat and when he tried to speak again, his voice sounded gruff, guttural.

26

Sugar and Spice

“Brooks, I can honestly tell you that right now, you are the sexiest fucking woman in the room.”

His answer seemed to take the wind out of her sails and her anger quickly turned to something worse—sadness.

She nodded for a moment and he waited patiently as she seemed to try to pull herself together. If there was one thing he loved about her, it was the fact she didn’t wallow in self-pity. She was a confident woman with none of the usual hang-ups his past lovers seemed to suffer. She knew her value and didn’t need constant reassurances about her appearance, her intelligence or anything else, for that matter.

After several tense, quiet moments, she took a deep breath. “Thanks…again.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied, relieved to see the return of her composure. God, she was a graceful woman. How had he missed this for so long?

“Well, I think I’m ready for my tour now. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Her words washed over him like ice-cold water. “What tour?”

“Of the club. Surely there’s a hell of a lot more to this place than just the bar.”

“I’m not taking you on a tour. Shit, you’re lucky I brought you this far.” The words flew out of his mouth and he cursed his thoughtlessness, especially when her eyes narrowed in anger again. This time her fury was directed at him.

Somehow he preferred it when she was pissed at the idiot lawyer.

“I see,” she said through clenched teeth. “So you lied to me.”

Ryan refused to crumble under her anger. She’d tried to use intimidation on him since they were kids. He’d never let her get away with it then and he sure as hell wasn’t starting tonight. “I told you I’d bring you to the club and I have, but I’m telling you right now, Brooks, this is all you’re going to see of the place.”

“How about the ladies’ room? Are you going to let me see that?”

Her question caught him by surprise. “Of course you can go to the bathroom.”

“Where is it?”

27

Mari Carr

He couldn’t understand her easy acceptance of his refusal to show her the rest of the club. “Back out the door we came in. First door on the right.”

“I’ll be back, Travers, and then I want you to take me home.”

“Brooks—”

“And after you take me home, you can go fuck yourself.”

Okay, so maybe she wasn’t taking his refusal so well. Great, this is what he got for trying to be a good friend. Well, two could play the pissed-off game. “Fine, Brooks. I’ll settle the tab.”

28

Sugar and Spice

Ginny stormed back to the front entryway and violently shoved open the door to the ladies’ room. She watched the two women inside take one look at her face before giving her a wide berth and leaving her alone in the most spacious restroom she’d ever seen. No doubt they’d seen the steam coming from her ears.

Damn Liam! The lying, two-timing scum sucker. She recalled his oh-so-apologetic voice on the phone this morning.
I have to work late. Big case. I really have my hands full
with this one.
Oh, his hands were full all right. Full of that blonde slut’s lousy boob job.

She hoped he got silicone poisoning from all that disgusting slurping and mauling he was doing. Son of a bitch.

She stood in front of the mirror and tried to still the blood pulsing through her body. She had an overwhelming desire to ram her fist into something. That was one of the problems with hanging around her male friends so often. The only way she knew how to feel better was to hit something. Why couldn’t she just cry and get it all out of her system like a normal woman?

The thought of her friends infuriated her even more. Fucking Travers. Regardless of his words, he had lied to her. He knew why she’d wanted to come to the club. If she’d just wanted a goddamn drink, they could’ve gone anywhere.

She glanced up at her image, disheartened by what she saw. She’d felt so pretty an hour ago, sexy, hot. Now she just felt old.
Some birthday.

Looking in the mirror again, she saw the reflection of a second door on the opposite end of the room from where she’d entered. It opened and a woman entered. A smile crept across Ginny’s face as she glimpsed for just a moment what was obviously another entrance to the rest of the club. Hopefully, a much more interesting part.

29

Mari Carr

Screw Travers. She was a grown woman and she was going to give herself the birthday of a lifetime. She pinched her cheeks, fluffed her hair, took a deep breath and decided tonight was her night. If he wasn’t going to give her a tour, she’d show herself around. It would be better that way. If she met a man, Travers would no doubt find something wrong with the guy and scare him away.

Tonight she was turning over a new leaf, living a little. Hell, maybe living a lot if the room behind door number two delivered. It
was
a sex club, after all.

Walking over to the door, she slowly opened it and stepped into a world she’d only read about in the sexy books she kept under her bed.

The large ladies’ room clearly accommodated two parts of the club and she found herself in a dim circular room with a stage in the center. Around the darkened stage were several tables, not unlike those in the bar area. However, there was other furniture in the room as well. Chaise lounges, long couches and overstuffed armchairs were scattered amidst the more staid seating.

Ginny was grateful for the darkness as it appeared to be a full house tonight. Most of the seats were taken by couples or groups in various states of dress—or undress, as it were. Feeling rather conspicuous standing alone, she quickly scouted and found an empty table by the back wall. She claimed it, anxious to begin observing her surroundings in relative privacy.

Geez, she thought with glee. She could watch the activities of the room all night and never need whatever show was apparently going to take place on the stage. She could barely believe her eyes.

On one of the couches to her left, she watched two women wearing chains on their ankles and wrists—and nothing else—give a man dressed in black leather chaps a hell of a blowjob. Every now and then, he flicked a whip against their asses and Ginny could hear their grateful moans as their tongues tangled together against the man’s rigid erection. She wondered briefly what it must feel like to be lashed with a whip and she felt the slightest fluttering of excitement at the thought of being chained.

30

Sugar and Spice

At the table in front of her, a woman was sitting with her legs spread apart while a naked young man knelt between them, lapping at her pussy like a thirsty dog at a pail of water. The woman held something that looked like thin reins in her hand. Ginny squinted and realized the small chains were attached to the man’s nipple piercings. The woman tugged at the chain—hard. Ginny thought she must surely be hurting the man but he certainly didn’t seem to mind, if the stiffness of his cock was any indication.

She’d never thought of herself as someone who enjoyed watching others engage in sex, but her body was certainly telling her differently right now. She squeezed her thighs tightly together, trying to still the sudden ache of desire.

Holy hell, what on earth could happen on the stage that would top what was happening in the audience?

“Excuse me. Are you alone?”

Ginny jumped slightly at the sound of a man’s voice. Glancing up, she saw a handsome man dressed in an elegant three-piece suit. The sophisticated clothing seemed strangely out of place in this room full of leather and flesh.

“You startled me,” she said breathlessly, slightly embarrassed by the fact he’d caught her gawking.

“I’m sorry. I thought you saw me approach.” The man gave her a smug grin that let Ginny know she’d been busted. He knew perfectly well she hadn’t seen anything but the lust-fest going on around her. “I’m Marcus Steele, I manage this club.”

“Ginny Brooks,” she answered, wondering if perhaps he’d come over to toss her out. Technically, she
was
crashing this party. Travers was the club member and he certainly hadn’t invited her to see this room. He probably thought she’d bailed on him and had taken a taxi home. The thought of him frantically searching for her brought a smile to her face. She was still more than a bit miffed at him.

“Ms. Brooks, it’s a pleasure. May I join you?”

31

Mari Carr

“Um, well, sure.” Obviously he wasn’t intending to throw her out, but at the same time, she was a little uncomfortable at the thought of sitting with a gorgeous stranger while every other person in the room was engaged in some form of down-and-dirty sex.

Of course, when she thought about it, the whole evening had taken a surreal turn.

Travers’ unusual compliments, Liam’s almost comical, sloppy lovemaking in the bar and now this. She was beginning to feel like she’d stepped out of her own life and was presently starring as Alice in Hornyland.

“It’s not common to find such a beautiful woman alone here.”

“Yeah, well, about that. You see, I came here with a guy. I mean, just as friends and we sort of decided to split up, do our own thing, you know, before meeting back up again.” Ginny fought not to roll her eyes at what sounded—even to her ears—like the biggest pile of shit ever shoveled.

“I see.” Marcus nodded. “I must admit I’m surprised any man would leave a woman as lovely as you alone. This friend of yours, perhaps he’s gay?”

Ginny burst out laughing at the thought of Ryan Travers as a homosexual. She was fairly certain a more masculine man had never walked the earth. He was a football-watching, NASCAR-crazed, beer-guzzling, pizza-ordering man’s man from the word go and she didn’t even want to know how he’d react to Mr. Steele’s comment.

“I’ll take that as a no?” Marcus asked.

“Definitely a no. My friend is absolutely, positively
not
gay.”

“Blind perhaps?” Marcus leaned closer and Ginny grinned at his obvious attempts at charm. Not that they wouldn’t have worked on a lesser woman, but Ginny Brooks had endured millions of Travers’ gorgeous, heart-stopping moves. Her immunity to such antics was almost perfect.

“Not blind either,” she answered matter-of-factly. “He’s just not interested.”

As soon as she spoke the words aloud, she felt an unfamiliar pang of disappointment. Travers hadn’t touched her in a sexual way since the night they’d gone 32

Sugar and Spice

camping after graduating from high school. She’d harbored a small crush on him for about a year after that—until he’d come home the following summer and proceeded to cut a swath through all the hometown girls before returning to college. According to Anderson, his dating record at home was only surpassed by his dating record at college.

At that point, she’d resigned herself to their continued friendship and it really didn’t take her long to recover from the crush and move on.

She hadn’t thought of Travers as a man she could be attracted to for over a decade.

However, if she was being honest with herself, he’d gotten under her skin tonight. His sweet words, his charisma, his charm. They’d all snuck under her defenses and struck a chord.

Shit. What the hell was she thinking? There was no way she could actually desire Ryan Travers. He was her arrogant, immature, cocky friend and nothing more. That damn martini must have been more potent than she’d realized.

“Well then, he’s a fool, because I can assure you it’s simply not possible for him to find a more attractive woman in this club.”

“Ooh, very nice,” Ginny purred and she watched Marcus’ eyes narrow slightly. No doubt he expected her to be easily swayed by his empty flattery.

“You’re an interesting woman, Ginny Brooks. Can I buy you a drink?” he asked.