Club Thrive: Deception (The Club Thrive Series Book 3) Page 5

  “I am. Are you working until then?”

  I smile. “I am.” I copy his words.

  “I guess Sunday it is, then.” I pull him toward the door, because if I don’t at least attempt to leave, we’re going to stand around talking all night. “Do me a favor?”

  “What’s that?” I wrap my arms around his waist.

  “Text me or call me when you get home. I don’t want to worry.”

  “Sure.” I love that he’s concerned for me. Even when things were good between Noah and I, he never asked me to check in with him. I’m starting to wonder what I ever saw in him.

  He slips his hands into my hair and pulls me in for one more kiss. It starts out soft and sweet, but once again our tongues collide, it becomes heated. I pull away, biting my lip. “Good night, Slade.”

  “Good night, Kara.” I open the door and he watches from his porch as I climb into my car and drive off.

  I take a deep breath, holy shit, I can’t believe how worked up he got me, that was intense. I’ve only slept with two guys, but neither of them made me feel that way with just a kiss.

  I pull into my driveway and the lights are still on inside, telling me my father waited up. When I walk through the door, I see him sitting on the couch. “How was your date?”

  “It was good. He’s such a gentleman. He made me dinner.”

  My father has a smile on his face. “Good night, baby girl.”

  “Good night, Daddy.” I run the stairs two at a time, excited to text him.

  Kara: You’re in trouble.

  Slade: Why?

  Kara: My father asked about my date.

  Slade: What did you say?

  Kara: I told him you were a gentleman and that you made me dinner and that we made out on your couch for the last thirty minutes.

  My phone rings. “Hello.”

  “You’re so full of shit.” He has laughter in his voice and it causes me to burst into laughter.

  “I may be full of shit, but be prepared, because if you seriously want to see me, he’s going to expect you over for dinner.” I giggle.

  “That’s not a problem. I would love to meet your parents officially.”

  “Good, because I like you, and I know my parents will too. My parents really didn’t like my ex because of all the stuff he put me through.”

  He sighs into the phone. “I hate that he hurt you, and I want you to know that I’ll do what I have to, to show you that I’m not him and I won’t ever treat you as poorly as he did.”

  “Thanks.” My voice is barely above a whisper.

  “Good night, Kara.”

  “Good night.” I cut the call and squeal with excitement, and then silently pray he doesn’t hurt me.

  Chapter 5

  Slade

  I’m sitting outside scoping out Vixen for Logan. I’ve actually decided to call a few of my buddies to hang inside with me. I figure I’m less likely to be noticed if I go in with Zane and Brady. I want to establish a presence at the club, because I need to be able to get a private room. That’s the only way I’m going to figure out what’s going on. The place looks a lot better now that they cleaned it up, but Logan’s place has a more welcoming feel to it. The outside of this place is still dark and dreary, he must not have taken Miranda’s advice when it came to the outside. I’m parked on the street versus the parking lot, because I want Zane and Brady to be able to park next to me, and it allows me to scope the place without looking suspicious. I’m watching guys walk in and out of the place when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I look to see a text from Kara, and it makes me smile.

  Kara: Got to work safe. I’ll see you tomorrow.

  Slade: Want to do lunch and go to Stone and Miranda’s together?

  Kara: Depends what time I get out of here. Can I call you tomorrow?

  Slade: Absolutely. Don’t work too hard.

  Kara: You either. ;-)

  I smile down at my phone. Kara and I have been texting and talking since our first little date and things seem to be progressing nicely. There’s a knock on my window that scares the shit out of me. Clearly I need to pay more attention, because my boss just walked right up to my car without me even noticing.

  I climb out of the car, slipping my phone in my pocket. “I can’t believe you did that to me.”

  “I can’t believe you were so distracted that I was able to walk right up to your car without you noticing. What’s up?”

  I sigh. “I’ve started seeing someone. She sent me a text and I was replying, making plans for tomorrow.”

  “Well, do me a favor. Be more careful when you’re on a real stakeout.” He bumps my shoulder. He knows full well that I’m professional, and if I was on a real watch, I would be paying attention, not to mention I wouldn’t be alone.

  “Are we going to do this or what? I haven’t gotten me a good piece of action in a long time. I’m looking forward this.” Brady’s southern accent comes shining through. He moved here from Texas about a year ago, but his accent still shows through quite a bit.

  “Dude, you want good action, go to Heat. God knows what you’ll find here.”

  Zane laughs. “Don’t dog the girls. They have to make money too. It’s not their fault the owner’s a loser.”

  “True.” I laugh as we cross the street.

  We all slip our masks into place, becoming professionals. “Good evening, gentleman.”

  “Good evening.” We each pay our cover fee and head inside. We find a small table available not too far from the stage, and we watch as a group of girls dance around. There’s a drink menu on the table with the drink of the night and the other specials that are available. We’re all beer drinkers, so we each order a beer and ask the waitress to start a tab. I want my name to show up here so I can become known in the place, that way I won’t stick out and I can hopefully see what goes on in the back room.

  A girl comes out on the stage and Brady’s drooling over her. “Hot damn, come to papa.” He’s all smiles. Zane and I burst out laughing. Zane is married, and I have no desire to mess with this, not with Kara around. She’s fine enough, I don’t need anything else. We’re sitting back enjoying the show, and Brady is sticking bills in strings. I actually think he’s giving us more entertainment than the girls. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they’re pretty enough, and their dances are sexy, but something’s missing from the show.

  The waitress comes back over to check on us. “Excuse me, I heard that you guys have private rooms available. How does one go about getting a private show?”

  “You have to reserve the room in advance. There’s a fee based on the number of people and how long you want it. There are package deals you can choose from. I’ll bring you a flier when I come back around.”

  “Thank you very much.” I wink at her and she strolls off to check on another table.

  “I wonder what those package deals entail,” Zane says low enough for only me to hear.

  “You think he’s pimping?” I lean back in my seat, crossing my legs at my ankle. I wink at the pretty lady checking me out from the stage. I’m wearing jeans, black boots, and a black fitted t-shirt. I don’t wear much else when I’m not at work. The girl on the stage finishes up and another girl comes out. The music kicks on and she begins to do her thing. We continue to sit back, smiling at the girls and watching the show while Brady continues to feed them money.

  The waitress comes back over with another round of beers and the flier I requested. I fold it up and stick it in my pocket. The next time we come here we’ll be using the back room. I’ll be sure of that. The dancer that was checking me out comes out onto the floor and walks straight up to me. I’m trying not to make eye contact with her, but she steps in front of me.

  “Hey big boy. Wanna have some fun?”

  “I’m good tonight. Thanks, sugar.” I wink at her and she pouts. “Maybe another night.” She smiles and walks off. Lord it’s going to be a long night.

  ***

  Kara

  I walk into C
lub Thrive feeling like a new woman, ready to rock this bar. I’ve had an awesome week learning my new job as a trainer, and when I wasn’t at work, I was texting with Slade. He is such a flirt and manages to make me blush even over text. As promised, I just sent him one, letting him know I got to work okay, and now it’s time to hit the bar. I’m working bar two again tonight with Kelly. When I walk through the back entrance of the club, the break room is empty. I really don’t even know why we have it, no one uses it. When I get to the front, the DJ is in the booth doing a sound check. Kelly is behind our bar cutting fruit, and Mark and Joel are behind bar one getting things ready. Shawna and Beth come walking in for their shift on the floor. They can both mix as well, but for some reason Shane likes them on the floor and me behind the bar. I jump in to help finish setting up our bar. Shane appears with buckets of ice, dumping them into the bin for us. “Thanks, Shane.” He leans in to give me a hug and asks me how I’m doing.

  I smile. “I’m good.”

  “I bet you are. I heard you hung out with Slade the other night.” He gives me a big smile. “Good for you.”

  “Yeah, we may be going to Stone and Miranda’s together tomorrow too.” I shrug. “We’ll see.”

  “He’s a good guy,” Shane adds.

  “He seems it. He promised to take things at my pace after everything that happened with Noah. I thought that was pretty cool.”

  “Damn, girl, I go the other way and even I know that man is hot.” Kelly fans her face.

  Shane and I burst into laughter. “All right, you two, get back to work.” He shakes his head and walks off to check on the other bar. He calls over his shoulder, “We open in ten minutes.”

  I look at my watch. “Holy shit, it’s already almost time to open.” I get busy loading up the trays for Shawna and Beth. We have a stand that holds the test tube shots on the trays they walk around with. We sell a lot of 450CC. I make two rows of those, a row of Pineapple Blood, a row of Night Stalker, and a row of Astro Pop. Now the two trays are set for the girls as they approach. I tell them the shots of the night and they stroll off with their trays to greet the guests that are now flowing into the club. There are always people here at nine because it’s free cover before ten, but it doesn’t get really busy until ten-thirty or eleven.

  Before we know it the club is filling up and things are getting busier. The bar is surrounded by patrons, the music is on full blast, and the dance floor is crowded. I look over and that’s when I see him. Unfortunately it’s not the man I want to see. It’s Noah, he’s sitting at my end of the bar waiting to be served. I nudge Kelly’s arm and nod in his direction.

  “Want me to call Shane and have him kicked out?” she shouts close to my ear.

  “Nah, I’ll deal with him.” I roll my eyes and walk over, treating him like an everyday patron. “What can I get you?”

  “Some time alone so we can talk.” He winks at me and my brows shoot up.

  “Your time to talk was when you were busy standing me up. Now, do you want something to drink or not?”

  “I’ll take a beer.” He leans over the bar as I pull bottle of Bud Light from the cooler. Unlike him, I know what he likes. I place it on the bar. “I’m not leaving until you agree to talk to me. I can stay all night.”

  “Amazing, you didn’t stop in here once in the time I’ve worked here while we were together. Now that I’ve dumped your ass, you want to visit. Well, suit yourself. That’ll be five dollars, please.” He hands me a ten and tells me to keep the change. I roll my eyes as I charge him for his beer and place the extra five in the tip jar under the bar.

  A short time later I run back over to get him another beer. “You might as well set up a tab for me.”

  “No can do. I can only set up a tab for VIPs, and you are not a VIP.”

  “Come on. You said not to call you until I was ready to explain, and I can explain everything now.” He takes the beer and hands me a five this time.

  “Oh, so it took you a week to get your story straight? You have your lie all worked out?”

  “Please just give me thirty minutes of your time. That’s all I’m asking.” His voice is all whiney.

  “Fine, come over to my place tomorrow at three and don’t be late.” I point my finger at him, pissed. I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.

  “That’s just cruel. Your father hates me.” He shakes his head.

  “Yes he does, and with him around, I can ensure you get only your thirty minutes.” I have to remember to ask Slade to pick me up at three-thirty and fill him in on why. I’m done with Noah, and Slade picking me up is the perfect way to get my point across.

  It’s finally closing time and I’m beat. I can’t believe how busy it was tonight. We were so slammed I didn’t have time to pee until after last call. Shane threw Noah out right after it was announced. He’s personally walking me to my car to make sure he’s not waiting out back for me. Now that the place is empty, we quickly help get everyone their drinks and finish cleaning up so we can all get the hell out of here. Shane is giving us his typical nice job tonight speech. I don’t care how many times we hear it, it’s nice to know our boss appreciates us.

  “Shane, I’m ready to go. Can you walk me out?” I throw my bottle in the trash.

  “Sure, I’ll be back, guys.” He follows me to the back of the club where the employee entrance is. He pulls his keys from his pocket to ensure he has them before he ends up locking himself out. “What was Noah doing here?”

  “Begging me to give him thirty minutes to explain himself.”

  “What did you say?” He leans on my car.

  “I told him to come over tomorrow at three. What he doesn’t know is that Slade will be picking me up at three-thirty. I think that should show him that I’m done.” I wink at him.

  “You’re evil.” I shrug my shoulders. “Just make sure Slade knows what he’s walking into.”

  “I’m sending him a text when I get home.”

  Shane hugs me and tells me to have a good night. I climb into my car and take off home.

  When I pull up, the house is dark and everyone is asleep. I quietly slip into the house and hurry upstairs to my room. As soon as I’m comfortable on my bed, I text Slade.

  Kara: If you’re up, call me. If not, can you pick me up at three-thirty tomorrow? Call before you do, I have to tell you something.

  My cell vibrates in my hand not even a minute later. “Hey, big guy.”

  “Hey, how was work.”

  “It was work. Did I wake you?”

  “I was lying in bed watching TV waiting for your text.” I can hear him stretch. “What did you need to tell me?”

  “Noah came to the club tonight.” I can hear him growl through the phone, but he says nothing. “He wants to explain himself to me, but to be honest, I’m done with him.”

  “Okay, so what’s the problem, babe?” I smile at his endearment.

  “I told him to come over at three tomorrow and I’d give him thirty minutes, but what he doesn’t realize is nothing he says is going to make things better. I’m not going back to him.” I pause, trying to figure out how I’m going to ask him to walk into this situation.

  “You want me to show up at three-thirty so he can see you’ve moved on.”

  “Hearing it from you like that makes me feel bad. It’s bitchy, isn’t it?” I slip down into my blankets.

  “Babe, you’re not bitchy. He hurt you and you’ve had enough. I think you’re entitled to be a little harsh.”

  “Does that mean you’ll come to my rescue?” I bite my lip.

  “First, stop biting that lip, and second, of course I will. I’ll be there by three-twenty.”

  “Thanks, big guy.”

  He chuckles into the phone. “You’re welcome. Now get some sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Good night.” I cut the call and set my alarm before laying down with a huge grin on my face. How did I not see him sooner?

  Chapter 6

  Kara

&
nbsp; It’s noon when my alarm goes off. I stretch in bed and lie there for a minute trying to wake up, but I’m tired despite my approximately eight hours of sleep. I pull my phone from the charger and check my email and social media to see what’s been going on. I see nothing good, so I open the book I’ve been reading and lounge for another twenty minutes, enjoying this love story before I decide it’s time to get up and jump into the shower.

  I slip on a pair of jeans and a tank top with a sweater shell over it, and then get busy flat ironing my long blonde hair before applying just a little makeup. As I finish my stomach growls. I’m starving since I haven’t eaten since dinner last night. Happy with my appearance, I run downstairs to make myself something to eat. Since I’m not much of a cook, I grab a breakfast sandwich from the freezer and toss it in the microwave while I make a cup of coffee in our one cup brewer. I’m so glad my mom bought this. She used to brew coffee in the morning, but by the time I woke up, it’d be cold. I’d need to reheat it and it didn’t taste as good as this does. I kick my feet up and continue reading my book while I eat my sandwich and enjoy my coffee. I have some time before Noah gets here so I might as well relax a bit. I hear a knock at the door and make note that he’s five minutes early. My father comes out of his office. “I got it,” he shouts over his shoulder.

  I run up behind him in time to see he’s about to slam the door in Noah’s face. “Daddy.” My tone is sympathetic even though I really don’t mind. Now that I’m past the hurt, all I have is anger left toward him. “I told him he had thirty minutes to explain himself. Please let him in.” My father growls, but opens the door, letting Noah into the house.

  “I’ll be in the kitchen.” He gives Noah a dirty look and walks into the other room.

  “Can I get you a water?” My tone is bitterly sweet.