Page 4 of Bane's Beginning

She gave me a puzzled look, and I knew she was thinking about the idea of me watching her all night. I could tell it didn’t scare or make her nervous. She was genuinely surprised that I hadtaken interest in her, and then it was my turn to be surprised because how could I not?

“You’ve been watching me,” she said matter-of-factly.

“How could I not? You’re the most beautiful girl here.”

A blush crept across her golden skin as I took a seat next to her.

“Jones, can I get another beer and whatever the fuck she’s having?”

The bartender gave me a quick nod and I turned back towards the fucking goddess sitting next to me.

“You know, they say you should stay away from a man who makes friends with the bartenders.”

I smiled.

“Why’s that?”

“Because they tend to have drinking problems,” she said, taking a sip of her drink.

“Well, what do they say about club owners?”

“You own Jynx?” she said, looking up at me a little surprised.

I gave her another cheeky smile as I leaned against the bar.

“Yeah, this place and a few other shit holes around here. Does that impress you?”

“Not really,” she said, playing coy. “I mean maybe if I could see your books, you know. See your debt-to-income ratio, profit margin, then maybe I’d be impressed.”

I chuckled again, taking a swig of my beer. I bent my head down towards her so that my lips were almost close enough to graze her ears. She smelled like vanilla and I wondered if she tastedthat way too. Deepening my voice, I whispered to her, “You want to see my books?”

I felt her body tense up again but quickly release as she let out a big laugh as she realized what I just said. We went the next hour talking back and forth and getting to know each other. She asked me about my businesses and I told her some details, leaving out the money laundering and extortion, obviously. She also told me about school. She graduated with a business management and finance degree at some stuck-up Ivy League school in California and now works for a brokerage firm in Chicago.

I was learning a lot about her and vice versa, which was shocking because I kept wanting to learn more. I kept women around for one thing and one thing only, and you couldn’t be getting me off while running your mouth.

“So what brings you to Collings, visiting family?” I said coyly. When you’d lived in a small town long enough then you knew that newcomers only come here to visit family or to lay low, sometimes both.

“No, actually. I just went through a bad breakup and I needed to get away. Social media said that this was like some undiscovered vacation gem, so I thought ‘why the hell not.’”

“Really? A bad breakup, huh?”

“Yeah, we’ve been together for a while. He doesn’t do space well, so I took matters into my own hands and got the fuck out of there,” she said as she wrinkled her nose, trying to hide the twinge of embarrassment from showing.

I was going to press her further, but I decided that it wouldn’t be for the best.

Something in the air changed and the DJ began to play slower sultry music, which meant we were getting close to closing up. I leaned in closer to her as she was talking about one of her clients at the firm. Her eyes locked on mine, making my heartbeat pick up, and the way she responded to my nearness matched with the lust in her eyes was telling me that I was doing something to her, too. Her banter, though, gave me the impression that she wasn’t used to picking up men from a club. No, everything about her screamed domesticated. Even while she wore that tight little dress and loads of makeup, something about her still said that this was the type of girl that men kept around for longer than one night.

That thought alone should have sent me home alone or with a less problematic girl to fuck and kick out. I was close to convincing myself that I should just do that when the DJ changed the song and Sinead Harnett’s song If You Let Me began to play. I watched the way her face lit up and her eyes closed for a brief moment as she took the song in. She was beautiful in the simplest, most intricate ways, and in that moment, I knew I had to know if her face would be just as receptive when she came apart beneath me.

“Dance with me.”

She looked up at me surprised as I reached my hand out to her. Hell, I was shocked, too, and glad none of my brothers were around to see how pussy-whipped I was acting. I never danced with women, I didn’t need to. No point in working for it when there are plenty of willing women who don’t require any work. But again, something about her made me think that if I had to work for it tonight, it would be worth it.

“Okay,” she said, putting her hand in mine. Thank fuck. I had to get her close to me.

I pulled her onto the dance floor and I turned her so her ass was pressed over my groin. She let out a breath as she tilted, giving me access to her beautiful neck. I knew she could feel my growing erection pressed into her ass and I didn’t care. My hands wrapped around her as her body swayed.

Fuck.