Take a Risk (Risk #1) (10 page)

Her chest tightened with every aftershock that vibrated through her. It took him at least a minute to shift back enough to look at her.

‘I wasn’t planning that,’ he panted and exhaled a smile. He smoothed her damp hair from her temple.

‘The best moments in life are often spontaneous,’ she said, kissing him once, then he kissed her. ‘I have a shift to finish.’

He took another look at her body then put her on her feet. Lyssa fixed her skirt and tied her top. ‘I should check on my brothers.’

‘You should,’ she said.

Colt came toward her, and Lyssa thought he might kiss her again, which could maybe lead to more intimacy. At that moment, the locker room door opened and a naked Crystal came in with a couple of other girls. They were chattering and laughing and paid no heed to her or Colt.

Blithe adrenaline bubbled up in her and she pressed a hand to his arm. ‘Go and check on your brothers.’

He nodded and a twitching smile came and went so repeatedly that she felt he had the same excitement in him that she was experiencing. This was a new bonding experience. Their connection was strengthening and she wanted to explore it further.

‘Ok,’ he said and she wished he’d kiss her again. Instead, he did as she said and left the locker room.

Taking herself into the restroom, she cleaned up, all the while smiling and giggling like an idiot because this had the potential to be something real.

Lyssa didn’t finish her shift. She only served two tables and then Blaser told her she could head home. As much as he was preoccupied with his own issues she could tell that her boss felt guilt over what she and Destiny were subjected to by Marshall and Zeke, not that there was much of a trauma.

Destiny had been due to go on stage, but Blaser had given her a free pass and another girl took her place, leaving Destiny free to go home as well.

Lyssa wasn’t going to draw attention to herself by protesting his invitation to leave early and skip cleaning up. Others would jump at the chance to bunk off, and she wouldn’t raise suspicions by refusing to do so. After agreeing to leave, she went through her usual routine of showering and changing her clothes before she went home. She tried to tell herself that she wasn’t procrastinating, but she was – in hope of seeing Colt.

But she didn’t come across him and she wasn’t going up to his office to find him. She was wise to what adding pressure to a man in the early stages of a courtship could do. She didn’t want to scare him off by appearing too clingy. Many women made the mistake of believing they had to rush to make a mark on a man, but Lyssa wanted to savour this burgeoning stage of what she hoped would be a lasting relationship.

So she had bid goodnight to Blaser. If Colt wanted to follow her home he could and she would gratefully receive him.

Except he didn’t come to her that night.

The police came at midday on the Friday. She gave them a full statement and answered all of their questions. Since starting work at Risqué Lyssa had stopped seeing patients on a Friday, switching her schedule to allow her to sleep in later. Then during the day, she worked on compiling her notes and writing her book.

At lunchtime, which was later for her on a Friday, she picked up the phone to call Suzette. With all that had happened at the club last night, and in her relationship with Colt, Lyssa hadn’t realised how long it had been she’d spoken to Suzette. But she hadn’t heard a peep from Suzette since the night of the window incident.

The phone rang and rang, which was unusual because Suzette usually answered on the second or third ring. By the seventh ring, Suzette picked up.

‘Hello?’

‘Hey,’ Lyssa said, noting immediately by Suzie’s tone that something wasn’t right with her friend. ‘It’s lunchtime, are you busy?’

‘Actually, yeah, I am.’

She could understand that because Suzette worked full time while maintaining a relationship and planning a wedding.

‘Sorry,’ Lyssa said, usually Suzette was never too busy for her. For the chance of a chat Suzette would put other tasks aside. ‘Should I call later?’

‘No,’ Suzette sighed. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be a bitch. Pete and I had a fight.’

‘Another fight?’

‘Several actually, we’ve been fighting since we left your place.’

‘About what happened?’

‘He doesn’t want me coming to your place anymore,’ Suzette said. ‘He’s not wild about us hanging out while a madman is watching you – those were his words.’

‘Wow,’ Lyssa said, leaving the kitchen she sat on the couch. ‘He doesn’t want you to associate with someone who could put you in danger.’

‘Trust you to react with that damn, calm doctor voice. You should be pissed. I’m pissed. He has no right to tell me who I can spend time with.’

‘Not explicitly,’ Lyssa said. ‘But he has a right to voice concern and you should listen to that concern and appreciate that he cares for you so deeply.’

‘Maybe he’s just being a jerk and trying to exert dominance. If I let him away with that now, what will it be like when we’re married?’

‘You have to show that you won’t be bullied, but you also have to be open to compromise. You’re merging your life with another person’s. Both of you will have to make sacrifices.’

‘You’re ok with this? You want to throw away our friendship because some guy’s throwing his weight around?’

‘We’re not talking about throwing our friendship away. I’ve voiced my own concerns about your safety during this, so maybe Pete is right. We can talk on the phone whenever you want, but I have a feeling this will be over soon, the police are taking things more seriously now.’

‘Will that last? What if they don’t find him quickly?’

‘Then we’ll revisit,’ she said, mustering a smile. ‘You’ll never guess who I missed a call from this morning.’

‘Who?’ Suzette asked.

Her friend’s need for gossip outweighed her melancholy. ‘Archie.’

‘No way,’ Suzette gasped. ‘Your ex-husband, Archie?’

‘Yes. I was busy—’ with the cops ‘when I missed the call on my cell.’

‘Are you going to call him back?’

‘No,’ Lyssa said. ‘I haven’t heard from him in two years. If it’s that important he’ll call back.’

‘What do you think he wants?’

‘With Archie, who knows? He’ll be boasting about something. He’ll be starting a new business, or marrying a new model, or something.’

‘He’d phone you for that? Does he think you’ll be jealous? Maybe he’s experiencing some issues that he needs your professional services for.’

Suzette had relaxed enough now to laugh and because it was at the possible misfortune of Lyssa’s ex-husband she had to smile at the solidarity.

Archie was seventeen years her senior, but he’d never had regular sexual dysfunction issues that she knew about. Treating him would broach on the unethical, though they hadn’t had a personal relationship for years. Anyway, she wasn’t sure she’d want to coach him through issues like that.

‘If he does then he’s on his own,’ Lyssa said. ‘He can afford the best in the business.’

‘And that’s you,’ Suzette said.

‘You’re biased,’ Lyssa said. ‘But thank you for saying so.’

‘I wish we could make plans to get together. But I don’t want to get into another fight with Pete. Thank you for being so understanding. Maybe you’re right. Maybe if we lay low for a week or two he’ll start thinking about something else.’

‘I’m always here to talk, call if you need me.’

Saying goodbye felt solemn, like it was final, though she knew it wasn’t. Things would get back to normal between them as soon as the stalking stopped. Then she could reveal to Suzette all that they hadn’t discussed: the study at Risqué, her work with her book so far, and Colt. Lyssa couldn’t wait until that day, when everything could be out in the open.

‘It makes no sense why I feel so anxious about this,’ Lyssa said to Ruger who’d been propped at the bar since she arrived an hour ago.

‘Because your best friend’s fiancé is trying to push you out.’

‘He’s not,’ Lyssa said. ‘It’s reassuring that he cares so deeply for Suze. I wouldn’t want her marrying someone who didn’t.’

‘Just because something makes sense doesn’t mean it’s easy to take.’

‘That’s logical.’

‘Not everything is rational,’ Ruger said. ‘You feel marginalised.’

‘You’re good at this,’ she said. A hand on her waist made her turn and she saw Colt at her back then Blaser shouted from behind the bar.

‘Cherry,’ Blaser called. ‘Stop moping and clear your tables.’

‘Moping,’ Colt said. ‘Why are you moping?’

‘She got dumped,’ Ruger said, bringing his beer bottle to his mouth.

‘Ha, ha,’ she sneered sarcastically and slipped past Colt to clear the tables in her section that Blaser had indicated. She was in a routine with the other waitresses and they had a roster as to who worked each section each night, which changed at each new shift.

‘Put that down,’ Colt said, sweeping up beside her and taking the empty glasses from her hands. He linked their fingers and led her through the room to backstage and up to his office. ‘Sit down.’

He took off his jacket and pitched it to the loveseat, then sank onto the couch beside her.

‘Have you got something to say?’ Lyssa asked.

‘First off, I didn’t dump you.’

Though it wasn’t his intention he managed to make her feel better. ‘Ruger wasn’t talking about you.’

The apology on his face snapped to a frown. ‘How many other dudes are you seeing?’

‘He was talking about Suzette. Pete doesn’t want her to come over to my place anymore.’

‘Suzette dumped you?’

‘Yes,’ she said, picking his hands up by his wrists she slithered in close to lie against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. ‘All Ruger can do is talk to make me feel better. You can do this.’

‘I can get physical?’ he asked, leaning forward to scoop her legs over his lap and with one arm still around her he removed her shoes and tossed them to the floor.

‘Probably not a good idea to do that while I’m on shift,’ she said as he began to massage her toes. ‘I might ask you to massage other places too.’

‘Why did you run off last night?’

‘Blaser said I could go home early.’

‘I could’ve come home with you… I thought we started something in here last night.’

‘We did,’ she said, bringing his arm back around her torso. ‘I wasn’t going to pressure you. I’m going to ease you into falling for me.’

‘I’m not good at casual sex,’ he admitted. ‘I had a fling after I was divorced, it lasted about three months. I like to know I’m the only guy with access to the goods, if you get me.’

‘I get you and you’re the only one with access to my goods,’ she said, tipping her chin up so that she could look at him. ‘And this doesn’t have to be casual.’

‘Then you better start letting me spend the night,’ he said, broadening his smile, which he brought down to kiss hers.

‘Tonight?’ He nodded. ‘You’re not worried about being seen coming in and out of mine?’

‘He doesn’t watch the house,’ Colt said. ‘I don’t know how he does it. But I’ve seen no evidence that he monitors your doors.’

‘Or we could stay at yours… where do you live?’

‘A couple of streets away from here, in an apartment building that my cousin owns, Blaser manages it.’

‘Blaser? Downstairs? Your brother?’

‘Yeah, he owns a garage as well. He’s a mechanic by trade, he used to chop cars.’

‘He’s a busy guy, isn’t he? How did he manage to get himself in trouble with Gary?’

‘That goes back to when they were teenagers, it’s a long story.’

‘One I shouldn’t ask you to tell me while I’m working,’ she said. ‘Maybe you’ll tell me another time?’

‘Sure. No running off tonight. I’ll take you home… we’re not hiding from this guy. I’m not working for you anymore; I don’t need to conceal my identity. If he wants to come after me then let him.’

‘Don’t you go looking for a fight,’ she said. ‘I was worried about Suzette’s safety when she spent time with me. I have to give you the same warning.’

‘Don’t you worry about me, Cherrypop. I’ve got my brothers watching my back and I know what I’m doing.’

‘Ok. Your apartment is closer and I’d love to see it.’ Exaggerating the flutter of her eyelashes made him smile out a laugh.

‘Whatever makes you happy, Miss. Lys.’

Rising from his embrace, she sought out her shoes to slide them on again. ‘The quicker I get to work, the quicker time will go and we can get home… to bed.’

Colt stayed at the bar with Ruger throughout the rest of the night, but his attention was never far from Lyssa as she buzzed around the room and back to the bar to fill orders. Occasionally they’d exchanged banter, but it was the touches that affected him the most. She’d come over and loop her arm around his, or she’d rest her head on his shoulder. Or she would relax her body on his back when she wound her arms around him. Lyssa wasn’t afraid of publicising their association, she didn’t touch other men in the establishment in the way she did with him.

Blaser filled an order for her and put the last glass on her tray. As Lyssa slid it from the bar Colt squeezed her ass, earning him a smile. He kissed the ball of her shoulder before she spun to leave and serve the drinks.

‘We’ve got rules about touching the girls,’ Blaser said from his side of the bar. ‘You do it again and I’ll have to call security.’

‘I didn’t see her complaining,’ Ruger said. ‘I think our brother has got himself a girlfriend.’ The mocking grin and pronounced nudge Ruger gave him made Colt laugh.

‘You move fast,’ Blaser said. ‘She’s a good girl. Shame she sucks as a waitress. It’s a good thing that she’s sexy, that ass could hypnotise a guy.’

Colt had noticed the sway of her hips himself and he was proud of the confidence she exuded in this environment that was alien to her. The ambition in her was admirable; she’d go to any lengths to follow her dream. This book she was planning was something she’d wanted to do all of her life and now she was pursuing it.

Blaser filled another order for another of the girls then came back to him and Ruger at the same time that Lyssa came up behind him. At least he hoped it was her because the female lifted the hem of his shirt and trailed her fingernails up and down his lower back.

Ruger leaned back, making an obvious show of watching her actions, Colt kept his elbows on the bar and slurped his beer.

‘Are there rules about the girls touching customers?’ Ruger asked Blaser.

‘Are you feeling left out?’ she asked. Leaning toward Ruger, she kissed his cheek.

‘Hey,’ Colt said, while his brother grinned like an idiot. ‘No more of that.’

‘He’s easily riled,’ Ruger said. ‘You’ll have to be careful what you do with those lips from now on.’

‘Yeah, the only male they’re allowed to touch is me,’ Colt said.

‘So I can make out with women?’ Lyssa asked.

Ruger swung around, leaving his weight on one elbow while he observed the rest of the room. ‘There’s plenty here to choose from, pick any one you want to. Any girl is fine with me as long as we get to watch.’

‘We?’ Colt said.

‘You’re going to keep that show all to yourself?’ Ruger asked. ‘My birthday is coming up.’

‘No, it’s not.’

‘It could be. She didn’t know any different, I could’ve got away with that,’ Ruger shrugged. ‘You’re a spoil sport.’

Blaser sauntered over. ‘You can head off early if you want,’ Blaser said to Lyssa who propped her cheek on his upper arm.

‘Why do I get to head off early?’ she asked.

‘You’re doing management, you can pretty much do anything that you want to now,’ Blaser said.

Lyssa picked up Colt’s arm and hooked it around her so that she could move in against the bar. ‘Your assumption is that I’m starting a relationship with your brother in order to get perks here at work?’

‘I’d have thought that the perks came in the bedroom,’ Ruger muttered into his beer bottle.

Colt resisted the impulse to smack his brother because Lyssa was intent on Blaser and probably hadn’t heard Ruger. Colt recognised the earnest, blinkered expression on her face, so she hadn’t been offended by Ruger’s glibness, not that he’d ever actually seen her offended. It was as if the training she had kicked in and she believed the comments said more about the speaker than who they were speaking to.

‘What other reason would you have to date such a loser?’ Blaser said, not missing an opportunity to rib his twin.

‘It couldn’t be that I’m just immensely aroused by this knockout hunk of man?’

Now both Ruger and Blaser were laughing, her eyes narrowed and he knew she was about to launch into some deconstruction of their reaction, so he brought up his hand to plant it over her mouth.

‘Why don’t you get your shit together and we’ll bail,’ he said, lowering his hand to her taut abdomen.

‘I have to have my shower, will you wait fifteen minutes?’ She glanced over her shoulder at him.

‘Shower at home,’ he said.

‘I shower here because…’ Her saucy smile grew and she relaxed forward to kiss him. ‘Ok.’

After another kiss, she left him to retreat to the locker room backstage. Blaser went to fill an order for one of the waitresses.

‘Why does she shower here?’ Ruger asked.

‘A creep is stalking her and might sneak into her house while she’s vulnerable in the shower in the middle of the night.’

‘No danger of any stalker sneaking in while you’re there,’ Ruger said. ‘You’ll be the one doing the sneaking.’

‘That’s the idea,’ he said, finishing his beer. ‘I hope the bastard makes a move, I’d love to take him down.’

‘Don’t borrow trouble. This guy could be crazy and he won’t like the idea of her having a boyfriend.’

‘Lys has already said this to me.’

‘She’s a               smart cookie. A very smart cookie.’

‘She has a medical degree, that’s not an easy get,’ Colt said. ‘Smart, sexy and sassy, I’ve hit the jackpot.’

‘Sassy is less important to me,’ Ruger said. ‘I like my women compliant.’

‘Do you enjoy wearing women’s clothing?’

Both he and Ruger turned to see Lyssa standing behind them wearing her backpack and therapist’s expression.

‘Excuse me?’ Ruger asked.

‘Do you enjoy wearing women’s clothes or shoes?’ she asked. ‘Or make regular visits to the beauty salon?’

Ruger turned to Colt. ‘What is she talking about?’

‘Men who feel the need to exert dominance over a submissive woman can have control issues or may have been a victim of sexual assault or have a history of abuse in childhood. Or sometimes the need to display overtly masculine traits can be a disguise for what may be deemed feminine fetishes, such as wearing lingerie, or make-up, or—‘

Colt’s laugher cut her off dead; Ruger was so stunned that his face was completely suspended in disbelief.

‘I think he’s going to be stuck like that for a while,’ Colt said, still trying to stop laughing.

‘What’s funny?’ Blaser asked on his approach.

Colt put a hand on Lyssa’s hip to guide her out. ‘Ask Ruger to show you his pink lace thong,’ Colt said, maintaining pressure on Lyssa’s hip when she tried to pause to say more. But he got her out of the club and one of the bouncers went to get them a cab.

‘I didn’t say that to upset Ruger,’ Lyssa said, taking his arm to bring her body close to his for heat.

‘Maybe you got it right on the button. But I’d rather not know too much about my brother’s fetishes.’

They waited a few seconds. ‘Not all fetishes are unhealthy,’ she said. ‘We all have sexual preferences.’

‘We do?’

‘If it elicits an erotic response or you have a fixation, which causes arousal, on any object, or a non-genital part of the body, then it’s classified as a fetish. Do you have a fetish?’

‘Will you pander to it?’ he asked, bringing her around into his arms and pulling his jacket around her to hold her.

‘I might,’ Lyssa said. ‘I am quite open when it comes to sexual matters. Are any of your preferences illegal?’

‘Aren’t you professionally prescribed to report it if I admit that they are?’

‘You’re not a patient,’ she said.

The tolerance in her expression was so patient and non-judgemental that he realised then just how good she was at her job.

‘Are you going to let me read your book?’

She twisted around, remaining in the same space but putting her back to his front. ‘Eventually, when it’s finished.’

‘Am I going to be in it?’ he asked. If he was going to be her sexual partner he had a right to know if their antics would be shared.