And, as he discovered two hours later, the plan was a thousand times more difficult to execute when the person he’d decided to avoid didn’t seem interested in doing the same.
“Reed.” The woman he’d just vowed to forget strolled right up to the bar, her expression awkward as she shouted his name over the blaring music.
He froze, his hand poised on the bottle of Jack Daniels he was about to pour. “Hey,” he called out. “What are you doing here?”
Darcy moved closer, resting both elbows on the shiny black counter. She wore skinny blue jeans and a yellow tank top that complemented both her reddish-gold hair and her vivid blue eyes, and as usual, his groin stirred at the mere sight of her.
“I wanted to talk to you,” she called back. She sounded as unenthused as he felt. “Do you have a minute?”
He glanced at the crowd of people milling at the counter, which he was working alone at the moment because Henry and Sue, two of the other bartenders, weren’t scheduled to come in for another hour. Sin wasn’t usually so busy this early in the evening, but he welcomed the aberration, since it allowed him to put off what was bound to be an uncomfortable exchange.
He didn’t know why Darcy had showed up out of the blue, but the sudden flare of determination in her eyes told him he wouldn’t like—or maybe like too much—what she’d come here to say.
“Not right now,” he said lightly. “I’ve gotta serve these folks.”
“That’s okay. I can wait.”
With a brisk nod, Darcy headed to the far end of the counter and plopped down on the last unoccupied stool.
Reed stifled a groan. Shit. Evidently she wasn’t going anywhere until she said her piece.
Swallowing hard, he tore his eyes away from her and tried to concentrate on pouring a stream of alcohol into the row of shot glasses lined up on the smooth counter. Then he pasted on a smile and turned to serve the waiting customers.
Feeling Darcy’s gaze on him the entire time.
Chapter Three
She shouldn’t have come here tonight. Nope, she should have stayed home like the smart, careful woman she was, and spent the evening finalizing her class’s reading list for the upcoming school year.
But curiosity, along with her tireless obsession with solving mysteries, just happened to be Darcy’s kryptonite.
I have to act the way I do, okay? It’s the only way for me to…
The only way to what, damn it? Reed’s mysterious words had kept her up half the night, even though a part of her wasn’t sure she wanted to know the rest of that sentence. She wished she could talk about it with Skyler or one of her other friends, but that would mean admitting that she’d put way too much thought into the idea that Reed Miller might be interested in her.
As she sat on her stool and fiddled with the straw poking out of her Coke, her gaze kept wandering in his direction. He was way too handsome, possessing those Black Irish good looks that formed a criminally sexy combination. Jet black hair and magnetic blue eyes, and once you threw that rock-hard body into the mix, you got one delicious looking male.
Tonight he was wearing all black again, snug pants that hugged the curve of his ass and a T-shirt that couldn’t hide the rippled muscles of his chest if it tried. His roped forearms flexed enticingly as he slid a couple of strawberry daiquiris in front of two female customers, and the crooked grin he flashed them sent a spiral of heat through Darcy’s body.
Damn it. Like the dumbass she apparently was, she’d gone and opened Pandora’s sex box, and now she couldn’t close the stupid thing. X-rated images sizzled through her mind, all of them involving Reed’s muscular body in various states of undress, which only caused a dose of guilt to join the desire coursing in her veins.
He was AJ’s best friend, for Pete’s sake. She wasn’t allowed to harbor such wicked thoughts about him.
In an attempt to distract herself, Darcy sipped her Coke and eavesdropped on the conversation of the two women beside her. They were in their early twenties, both decked out in skintight dresses and impossibly high heels. Their heads were huddled together as they spoke in raised voices over the pounding music.
Initially, Darcy thought they were discussing a phone call with a guy that one of the girls was crushing on, but after a couple of minutes, it became evident they were talking about something entirely different. The person whose call they were waiting for wasn’t a boyfriend or a crush—it was a drug dealer.
“No,” the blonde was saying, “we don’t have to go anywhere. He sells it right here at Sin.”
Darcy froze, the hairs at the back of her neck standing on edge. AJ had mentioned that a drug dealer was using the club as his headquarters, but they hadn’t figured out who it was yet.
“How did you even get his number?” the other girl asked.