Deep(14)

Curious, Nick followed Brian’s finger and saw a big guy with long, blond hair dancing with a tiny twig of a girl with dark hair and a full sleeve of ink. Yeah, the guy was definitely big. He nodded.



“I’m thinking we should get his details and check him out. We need to backfill security.”



His mind on bigger things, Nick made a noncommittal gesture. “Sure. Talk to him. Watch yourself.”



Brian slid out of the booth and headed to the dance floor just as the guy in question and his little slip of a chick headed toward the bar. Nick watched Brian follow him and make contact. And then he saw that the big blond and his tattooed lady had another companion. Beverly. Her sofa-moving friend was there, too, but Nick kept his eyes on her.



She wore a short, black dress that hugged her curves—she really did wear her clothes spectacularly well. The dress had a turtleneck but was sleeveless and somehow shoulder-less, too. Though only her arms and shoulders were bare, the effect was potent and alluring. Her dark hair was pulled back and, when she turned away, he saw that it was coiled into some kind of twist. She was pure class, substance in a sea of flash.



He finished his scotch as Brian brought the big guy and his friends toward the booth.





~ 4 ~





As head of security, Chris’s friend, Thomas, wasn’t on the door when Bev, Chris, Skylar, and Romeo walked up to the front. A long line of people dressed in fabulous clothes was already assembled. Getting into Neon was like an audition—only the prettiest and coolest made the cut. Unless they were on the list.



With his hand on Bev’s elbow, Chris led the group past the line and straight to the door. A huge black guy in a blue suit and black t-shirt gave their little group an appraising look, head to toe, and came back unimpressed.



Chris smiled. “I’m a friend of Thomas’s. We’re on the list. Chris Mills.”



The bouncer lifted his phone and scrolled the screen. He looked up, appraised them again, and nodded. “Enjoy.” He gestured to Romeo. “You in security?”



Romeo, gigantic and blond, like a Viking on steroids, grinned a little shyly. “No, man. I work in a warehouse.”



The bouncer laughed. “If you’re interested, talk to Thomas. Tell him Roland sent you back.”



Romeo nodded, and Bev and Sky grinned at each other. Romeo was huge and strong, but he was a lot more likely to cuddle kittens than bounce drunks. He was soft-spoken, sweet, and shy. Bev had never known him to even raise his voice.



They went in, and Bev felt immediately assailed by sound and light. The music, electronica with a driving beat, was ear-splittingly loud, and the huge room exploded with colorful light. True to its name, Neon was full of neon lights—striping and swirling on every wall, filling the vast, glass or Lucite center bar, coiling up the support beams. Otherwise, the setup was like most other clubs she’d been to—the long side walls dominated by elaborate booth seating, tall enough for privacy, the center space arrayed with two-top tables, a roomy dance floor, currently full of gyrating bodies, ringed with lighted railing and canopied by twisting dance lights. Behind the bar, on a raised platform, was the D.J. cage.



Tonight was her first time here. Bev loved to dance, but she didn’t like the sense of auditioning that was so much a part of the club scene. From the line out front, to the men scoping women out and deciding who was worthy of their attention, Bev usually felt more insecure in a place like this than anywhere else. She hadn’t had a real date in more than a year, but she wasn’t interested in finding one at a place like this.



She was only here because she’d convinced Chris to exploit his connections and then invite Romeo and Skylar with them. Among friends, she could enjoy herself. And she’d had an excuse to buy a sexy dress and do herself up.



Chris was clearly miserable, and Romeo didn’t look much happier, but Bev and Sky worked on getting the guys buzzed and happy and then dragged them out on the dance floor. Neither could dance for shit, they simply shuffled their feet and bopped up and down a little, but all either woman needed was a man to dance around, so Bev and Sky danced between Chris and Romeo, mostly with each other. It was awesome.



For a long time, it was too loud to do much talking, so when Chris had had his fill of ‘dancing,’ he grabbed Bev’s arm, and, only a little disappointed, she followed him to the bar. Chris shouted an order at the bartender for another beer for himself and a vodka tonic for her.



As they waited for their drinks, Chris leaned in and shouted at her, “You seriously like this, don’t you?”



About halfway through his sentence, the music went into a transition and pitched way down, so his voice rang out much more loudly than either of them had expected. He looked shocked and embarrassed, and Bev laughed.