“I’ll just take a diet coke,” I tell the bartender who then looks to Kat for her drink order.
“Tequila,” she says, and I raise an eyebrow at her.
“Just tequila?” I question.
“And a slice of lemon and salt,” she adds on with a smile.
I wave the bartender away and then pull her to me, her chest to mine. “You planning on getting drunk, wife?” I ask her, my lips by her ear so she can hear me over the thump of the music.
“Maybe,” she says with a wink, and fuck if I don’t like this side of her. Playful, teasing, excited. It’s new, and it’s actually… nice. There is no tension tonight, no hate, no looks like she wants to kill me… yet. I’m sure it will come, but for now, I’ll enjoy seeing my wife this way, learning a little bit more about her.
The bartender returns with our drinks, and I watch as Kat licks the back of her hand before sprinkling some salt and picking up the lemon slice. Even her tongue licking the back of her hand has my dick twitching. Jesus Christ. This woman.
She picks up the tequila with her other hand and looks at me. “Bottoms up,” she says before she licks the salt, downs the shot, sucks the lemon, and signals to the bartender for another one.
Before I can say anything, a shriek comes from my right, and then the force that is my sister smashes into the side of me as she wedges herself between me and Kat, putting her arms around both of us.
“I’m so glad you came.” She smiles at me before turning to Kat. “Oh damn, girl, you don’t fuck about, do you?” she says as she looks to the empty tequila shot and the one that the bartender is placing in front of Kat. “Terry, grab me three of those and one more for Kat,” she instructs, and the bartender––who I now know is called Terry––nods and proceeds to do what Zoey asked. “And why the fuck are you drinking coke?” she asks me, a frown on her face.
“Because I’m not here to get shit-faced,” I tell her.
“Ah, come on, Nate, live a little,” Zoey says, and I see Kat smirk.
“I live just fine, thank you,” I reply, picking up my coke and taking a long glug. A fucking whiskey would go down great right about now, but I need to stay alert, just in case.
“Pfft, if you say so, brother,” Zoey says with an eye roll and her and Kat start to laugh. “Now, run along, Kat and I have some dancing to do.”
Run along? Who the fuck does she think I am? Some little lap dog?
“Nate, you said you would give us some space so I can get to know my sister-in-law,” Zoey grits out, and I feel myself scowl at her. Actually fucking scowl. She’s a pain in my ass at times. It’s a good job I love her and she’s family because I wouldn’t tolerate it from anyone else.
“Fine.” I pick up my drink and make my way to the corner of the dance floor, sitting on one of the stools and making sure I have ample view of the whole place.
The dance floor is starting to fill up, more people entering the club through the main doors. It’s good to see the place thriving, but I prefer the private club I own. It’s just more of a sanctuary for me, less public, more intimate, and somewhere where you’re not going to get some lager-drinking-twat try to take on the world. When people are in my private club, they know they have to behave, and they wouldn’t dream of causing shit on my doorstep. It also helps to have the exclusive membership because then I can veto any fucker I don’t want in there. Here, I can’t do that, because as much as my men watch over the place, Purity is Zoey’s baby, and I promised her a long time ago that I wouldn’t interfere with the way she ran things––except for the security, of course.
I see Kat and Zoey move to the black and white check dance floor, where the flashing lights bounce off the white tiles. My eyes are everywhere, until Kat starts to shake her hips and I have to adjust myself in my seat. And I can’t take my eyes off of her. She’s gorgeous, a picture of beauty, and I’m the one that gets to take her home tonight.
I have to force myself not to go over there when other people dance too close.
I have to force myself not to react when I see men looking at her, appreciating her, watching her. Pisses me off, but I said I would give her this night, and I have no doubt that she can look after herself.
I lose count of the amount of times she gazes my way, and I feel like maybe, just maybe, this could be a turning point for us.
I don’t know how much time passes before Kat and Zoey go back to the bar, grab another drink, and then I see Kat walk away, towards the toilets. And again, I have to stop myself following her to make sure nothing happens.
She’s okay.
She’s in my sister’s club.
My men are the security.
She’s going to be totally fine.
Chapter Eighteen
Kat
I haven’t had this much fun in… forever. It seems I’ve lived a pretty fucking boring life, and it’s taken Nate dragging me from what I knew to make me see that he was right. I wasn’t living. I was merely existing, thinking that everything was perfect and that I was happy. But actually, I was far from it.
