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“Without seeing Jess’s last set? We couldn’t!”
“Yes, sir, we certainly could,” Frank said firmly.
“You go then,” Ian said with a shrug. “I’m staying.”
“Excuse me. My break’s almost over.” Jess smiled one last time at Frank, then escaped into the crowd. When Ian became so absolutely pigheaded, there was no use arguing with him. She could only hope that he wasn’t loaded enough to start heckling her during her set.
She headed toward the bar, hoping to get a cool glass of soda to ease the headache that had started with Ian’s arrival. But she caught sight of Stanford Greene’s unblinking stare directly in her path, and made a quick detour to the stage. There were only a few more minutes before she had to go on, and she might as well spend the time tuning her guitar….
A hand touched her lightly on the back of her neck, and she jumped, spinning around. “Oh! Frank, you startled me!”
“Sorry.” The older man smiled apologetically. “I just wanted to say that I’ll try to keep Ian away from you.”
She looked up into Frank’s kind eyes. “Ian’s not your responsibility.”
Frank shrugged. “It’s not a problem. I’m happy to run interference.” He paused. “You know, Rob gave me a call, to let me know you were playing out here tonight. I guess you got this job sort of last minute, huh?”
“The manager called me just this afternoon.”
Frank nodded slowly. “Good for you,” he said.
Jess gazed across the club, to where she could see Rob’s brown hair near the pair of video games in the corner. “I can’t believe Rob lent Ian his car.”
“Good old Rob.” Frank smiled. “I’ve borrowed his car several times myself in a pinch.”
“He’s very generous,” Jess said.
“Yes, sir, he is, indeed.” Frank hesitated. “I didn’t know you two were…dating.”
Jess smiled. “Tonight’s our first date,” she said. “If you can even call it a date. I mean, Kelsey’s with us, and I’m performing….”
Frank nodded. “Oh. Well, I guess I’ll see you around.”
He turned to go. Jess put her hand on his arm, and it was Frank’s turn to jump.
“Sorry.” She smiled gently at his tense expression. “I just wanted to say, if I don’t see you after the set, thanks for coming. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
He nodded. “Okay.”
Jess strapped on her guitar, and sat back up on the stool. From over at the bar, she caught a glimpse of the bartender, Pete, watching her.
All evening long she’d been aware of his pale gray eyes following her around the room.
She met his eyes almost defiantly, and he smiled. Or at least he moved his lips upward in an approximate facsimile of a smile. This was not a man to whom a broad, heartfelt smile was a natural expression. It was strange that Lenny should hire him as a bartender. He normally liked retired bouncers—big, tall men with biceps the size of her thigh. Either that, or Lenny hired out-of-work stand-up comics. This Pete was obviously neither.
He wasn’t skinny, but he was no Arnold Schwarzenegger. As for his sense of humor…well, he was no barrel of laughs, either. There was something strange about him, and it was more than just the way he always seemed to watch her—after all, she was a performer. People were supposed to watch her.
Adjusting her microphone, Jess began to play a soft, soothing instrumental. She closed her eyes and before too long, she lost herself in the music.
HIS BODY WAS HUMMING. Every nerve was stretched tight, taut, ready to snap.
He couldn’t have her.
She was singing. Her beautiful, rich voice washed over him. It should have been calming, peaceful—instead it tore like barbs into his already sensitized skin. And the sound of the applause cut through him like a knife to his brain.
But he couldn’t leave.
Not with the stage lights making her silky dark hair gleam. Not when she looked out over the quiet audience and sang directly to him. For him. She had to be singing for him. He knew that she was.
He couldn’t leave, and he couldn’t stay. He just sat, feeling the rage building, boiling in his veins.
Chapter Four
It was after one o’clock before Jess put her guitar in the trunk of her car.
The parking lot was nearly empty, and inside the Pelican Club the lights were going off, one by one.
Rob was carrying Kelsey, and he gently put the sleeping child into the back seat and fastened the seat belt around her. He backed out of the car, careful not to hit his head, and quietly shut the door.
This wasn’t the way Jess had imagined their evening out would end. They had separate cars—and hers had a sleeping child in the back seat. Odder yet was the fact that if they said good-night here and both went home, they’d end up back at the same house.
Rob was watching her, his face hidden in the shadows.
“Well,” Jess said, to fill the silence. “That was a real circus, wasn’t it?”
He looked away. “I’m sorry about Ian showing up.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
“Well, now you do.”
“I felt bad for Kelsey,” Rob said.
Jess glanced toward the car, where Kelsey was still sleeping, and shook her head. “Ian ignores her,” she said. “It’s unbelievable. He doesn’t even say ‘hi.’ And it hurts her so much. I try to keep him away from her.” She sighed. “That’s not necessarily the answer, but for now, it’s easier for Kelsey.”
“It could be worse.”
They lapsed into silence. Jess could hear the sound of the waves lapping at the dock alongside the restaurant. In the grass and trees, insects buzzed and chirped. Somewhere down the street, a dog barked.
“Well,” she said again. “I’d better get Kelsey home.”
Rob looked up. “Jess, I have to tell you,” he said in a rush of words, “that I can’t…”
But before he could finish, the last of the bright club lights went out, plunging them into sudden darkness.
“…that I can’t do this,” Rob concluded softly.
It was velvet, the darkness—soft and warm and enveloping them totally, cutting them off from the rest of the world and from each other.
“Whoa,” Jess said, reaching out for him, suddenly uncertain which way was up. “It’s dark. Where are you?”
“Here,” he answered. His hand gripped her arm, just above her elbow. “I’m here.”
“Can’t do what?” she asked. “I don’t understand.” His grasp turned into a caress as he ran his fingers up her arm to her shoulder. There were other people on the other side of the parking lot, but the darkness was complete, giving Jess and Rob privacy for the first time all evening.
She stepped forward even as he pulled her into his arms.
“Oh, God,” he breathed, holding her so tightly. “Oh, Jess.”
She could feel the warm solidness of his arms, the hard muscles of his chest, the athletic strength of his thighs. She fit against him perfectly, as if he’d been created with her in mind.
He groaned, and she could feel his arousal growing, pressing unmistakably against her. “I can’t do this,” he said again, his voice hoarse. “I can’t kiss you—”
But then he did. He lowered his head and took her mouth fiercely, with an intensity that left her breathless. It was a kiss nothing like the gentle brushing of lips they’d shared inside the club. It was a kiss that claimed her, filled her, possessed her.
Jess kissed him back passionately, hungrily, exploring his mouth eagerly as he seemed to inhale her. She’d been wanting to kiss him like this all evening long. She’d been anticipating this incredible rush, this roller-coaster pleasure ride of emotional and physical sensations that she knew kissing Rob would bring.
His hands were in her hair, on her neck, sliding down the bare V-back of her dress, moving down even lower to press her hips closer to him.
And still he kissed her. He kissed her as if there were no tomorrow, as if he, too, had been waiting much too long for this moment.
It was nothing like she’d imagined, and better than her wildest dreams.
Rob was so quiet, so calm, so careful. She’d imagined sweet, gentle kisses, softly whispered questions, asking her permission to touch her, to move each small step beyond a simple kiss.
But he kissed her wildly, relentlessly, his hands sweeping urgently across her body, cupping the curve of her derriere, weighing the swell of her breasts, his thumbs caressing the sensitive, erect points of her nipples. He knew exactly how to touch her to make the heat of desire flood through her, to make her gasp with need and tremble with longing. His thigh pressed insistently between her legs, and she opened herself, pressing the heat of her most intimate place against him.
The rocket of desire that soared through her was so intense, she gripped him harder and kissed him even more deliriously, urging him on.
Urging him on…?
Was it possible that mild-mannered Rob Carpenter was going to make love to her right here, in the darkened parking lot of the Pelican Club?
There was no denying that she wanted him. But not here. Not like this. Not with Kelsey asleep in her car….
Jess pulled away. It was only the slightest movement, but Rob instantly released her. He stepped back, still supporting her, but now from an arm’s length away.
She could hear his breathing, ragged and quick as he struggled to regain his control.
“Oh, my God,” he whispered. “I’m sorry—”
“No,” Jess said quickly. “Don’t apologize. Come home with me. That’s where we should be. I want to stop—but only until we get home.”
Across the parking lot, a car engine started with a roar. As it pulled out, its headlights swept across them. Rob released her and took another step back, pushing his disheveled hair out of his face.
“I can’t,” he said tightly. God, she would never know how much he wanted her. She’d never know how close those kisses had come to pushing him over the edge. She’d tasted so sweet, she’d felt so right in his arms. She’d so clearly wanted more… “Jess, I’m sorry—”
Another car started up. Rob looked down at Jess. Her lips were parted and moist, and her cheeks were flushed with desire. She wanted him to come home with her, to come with her into her bed. Her dark eyes were molten, wanting him…
In a sudden flash, he saw another woman, only this one looked up at him with pain and fear in her eyes. There was blood everywhere, so much blood… He was covered with the blood, with her blood. And as he watched, the pain and fear drained from those eyes, leaving them lifeless, glazed, dead…
Rob backed away. “I’m sorry….” he said again.
“It’s okay—”
“No, it’s not,” he said savagely, and turning, he bolted for the other side of the parking lot, for his car.
“Rob, wait—”
Jess started after him, but the light disappeared with the car that left the parking lot, leaving them again in darkness. Dammit, what was wrong with him? She couldn’t chase him—she couldn’t leave Kelsey.
She saw the sudden flash of headlights and heard the squeal of tires as his car pulled away.
He was gone. Just like that.
HE HADN’T PLANNED IT, but suddenly the need was so great, he had to do it.
This area was unfamiliar to him. That was bad. But the drive back to his own neighborhood would take at least half an hour. And once he was there, he wouldn’t be guaranteed satisfaction.
More importantly, he couldn’t wait that long. Already, he was burning.
Suddenly he knew the solution, and he pulled into the parking lot of one of the fancy condominium high rises that sat directly on Crescent Beach. It was risky, the car could get towed, but it must be done.
The beach was dark, and a thick fog was rolling in off the gulf. Several of the high rises had flood lamps that lit part of the beach, but most of them didn’t.
The darkness, the fog and the late hour didn’t keep a few hardy couples from strolling along the edge of the water, hand in hand. Occasionally, a crowd of partying teenagers would pass by, but mostly the beach was empty.
Empty and very, very dark.
The powdery sand shifted into one of his shoes. As he sat down on a wooden beach chair to wait, he emptied it out.
It didn’t take long until he found her.
She was walking alone, dressed in a windbreaker, her hair tied back with a scarf.
She wasn’t as young as she should be, and he didn’t even know the color of her hair. It wouldn’t be as good, as complete.
But it would be done.
He flicked his knife open.
WHEN JESS PULLED INTO the driveway, Rob’s car wasn’t there.
She hadn’t really expected him to be there, waiting for her, but at the same time, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
And hurt. Not to mention confused as hell.
