Power Trip(5)

Cal crossed his arms. “You don’t have a fence. You’d have sex with a hermaphrodite.”

“And have,” Truman said cheerfully. “You shouldn’t be so picky.” He stopped scanning the room and winked at Cal. “But if you ever do decide to come to Truman, promise me you’ll wear Spandex, okay? I would love to see you rock out in some superhero gear. It’ll be like our secret sex signal.”

Cal shut his eyes and counted aloud to ten. When he opened them, Truman was looking around the room again, as if he hadn’t just propositioned his best friend in the most bizarre way possible. “Like fish in a barrel, huh?” Cal asked, trying to act normal too. “It’s almost too easy for you, isn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t say it’s easy. After the initial attraction wears off, I can always tell when they’re bored.”

“As if that ever happens.”

“You’d be surprised. Even I have the occasional off night.”

The blonde with the cute ponytail sailed past them again, heading for the door.

“That one,” Truman said decisively.

Cal chuckled. “Nice try. I don’t need that much of a challenge. She screams normal. I bet she just asked Jake for directions to the nearest grocery store and gave him a little hug because she was so grateful.”

Truman shook his head. “That’s what you think. Maybe even what she thinks. But it’s a lie, my friend. That little blonde, with her horrid clothes and even worse taste in shoes, likes what she sees when she looks around the room.”

“Huh.” Cal watched her walk back up the aisle, willing her to look at him again. Was that all Truman saw when he looked at her? A fashion faux pas that offended his metrosensibilities? Cal had only noticed the way the flickering light of the club made her white hair glow and felt the sucker punch of her ebony eyes. Was Truman telling him what he wanted to hear? Another one of his elaborate jokes?

Cal strove to appear relaxed, even as he counted her paces to the door. In ten steps, he’d lose his opportunity. Energy rose from his core to his surface. “I hate it when you do this, you know.”

“I just saved you an hour of small talk and electric blue balls. No need to thank me.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t.” Cal slid out of the booth and stood up. “Why am I doing this?”

“Because I’m always right.” Truman’s lips twisted into a grimace. “It’s a curse.”

For a second, Cal was tempted to sit back down. Truman was rarely anything but relentlessly lighthearted. It was nearly impossible to get past his surface, so if he wanted to talk…

Truman pointed at the door. “Go.”





Chapter Three

Audrey hurried forward, nodding thanks to the bouncer who opened the door for her. She couldn’t resist glancing over her shoulder as her foot hit the sidewalk. The man with the incredible blue eyes was standing. She got an impression of broad, elegant shoulders encased in a black leather coat that fell straight to the floor. Really? She didn’t think that style existed outside The Matrix.

She was definitely going back to the lab. She’d find a nice geek in a short, white lab coat and forget all about Matrix man… Maybe Jake knew his name.

No, she didn’t care about his name. Lab, now. Work.

She walked quickly down the street. She’d only been in the bar for ten minutes, tops. How had the street gotten scary so quickly? It had felt deserted and safe twenty minutes ago, but now she sensed unwelcome company lurking in the alleys. She should have taken Jake up on his offer of an escort. She could take care of herself, but it was better not to have to fight.

She glanced over her shoulder as she rooted in her purse for her pepper spray. A young man was closing the distance between them on the sidewalk. He was small, but he was definitely giving off a mugger vibe. Her fingers closed on the spray. She stopped walking. She was only halfway to the parking lot, and if she was going to have to fight, she’d rather do it in plain sight on the street.

He stopped too, eyeing her purse.

She held up her spray. “I’m not afraid to use this,” she said.

He grabbed her arm. She sprayed him in the face. He blinked but didn’t let go of her.

“Hey!” she said, twisting.

His fingers locked on her arm and he dragged her toward an alley. “No fucking way. Get off!” She threw her weight to the side, abruptly shifted and jabbed an elbow into his solar plexus, immediately following up with a punch to his jaw. She heard his teeth snap together, but he didn’t lose his grip on her arm.

She needed to create some space between them so she could use her favorite neck-breaking hook kick. “You better hope somebody sees us and calls the cops because I’m going to break every fucking bone in your body, asshole.”