Sucked back into the staring game with him, I studied his face some more. He was handsome in an unconventional way. His face wasn't as filled out as most faces. It seemed gaunter as if he had to prowl the streets each night for food. But it worked for him. The hollow dips and lines gave him character, adding to his appeal and making him look even hotter.
All the metal in his face made me miss the hoop nose ring I'd had for a few months. I'd taken it out when I'd gotten shot and had to stay in the hospital. I had only gotten it to piss off dear old Dad, but I'd ended up liking it more than I thought I would.
Without warning, Mr. Considerate popped forward closer to me and rested his elbows on the bar so he could lean over the counter and check out my belly.
"You do have the most adorable baby bump I've ever seen," he murmured, as if answering someone else's observation. His voice stirred something in me that no one had ever awoken before.
I shook my head, wondering why the heck he'd said that, until the other chick responded, "And the other woman's breasts didn't look nearly as swollen as hers."
"I'd say," he shot back, lifting his gaze to meet mine. He didn't check out my tits, but my nipples burned and responded as if he had.
I'd never gotten turned on so easily before. Actually, I wasn't so sure if I'd ever been turned on in the first place. Usually I disappeared into my blank void when I let a guy do me. If I'd ever responded to one of them during our encounters, I was too busy chilling in my numb place to remember or feel it. But I know I'd never tingled from head to toe before just because a man was looking at me.
The foreign sensation freaked me out.
"Who the hell are you, anyway?" I demanded, needing a little more control over my own body than I had.
Chapter 4
EVA
Mr. Considerate didn't seem perturbed by the snap in my voice when I commanded him to tell me his name. He just grinned, and said, "Pick."
Huh? "Pick what? I'm not picking out your name." What the hell?
"No." His smile only spread, reaching up into his eyes and making the beautiful brown orbs twinkle. "That's my name, Tinker Bell. Pick, short for Patrick Jason Ryan. You like?"
Like? This guy totally blew my mind. Why would he care if I liked his cool-ass, unique name?
"Anyway . . . " The woman I still didn't know cleared her throat, gave the two of us a strange glance, and turned back to the group. "She didn't have any of the water retention this girl has in her face."
I gasped and covered my cheeks so hottie boy Pick couldn't see how fat I'd become. Oh my God, how hideous did I look? And why would Reese let me leave the apartment this way? I swung to her for immediate support. "I have water retention?"
"What? No! No, sweetie. Barely any at all."
Oh my God! Barely any at all was so far away from none that she might as well have called me a bloated whale. "So I do then?"
Reese fumbled a moment before sending the other woman a scowl. But as she opened her mouth to calm me, Mason grabbed her arm. His face paled as he stared at something over her shoulder.
I glanced around to find a new person entering the nightclub—in a long tan trench coat.
Oh, hell. My best friend was going to go to jail tonight for murder.
"Anyone have a hatchet handy?" Reese growled, stepping away from the bar to face off with Mrs. Garrison. "Because I'm feeling a compelling need to hack a bitch."
"Dude." Ten bumped his elbow into the fifth bartender who might be Gamble—or not. Hell, I didn't know who was who anymore. "Chick fight. Awesome."
As I reached for Reese to stop her and failed, Mason jumped over the bar, much the same way Pick had hopped over it to fetch me more beer nuts. He had more success at catching Reese than I'd had and curled his arm around her waist, keeping her from attacking.
"I told you not to come back," he snarled at Mrs. Garrison. "And I made it crystal clear before I even left Florida that I never wanted anything to do with you again. Why are you doing this?"
She ignored him, smiling evilly at my girl. "Reese," she murmured, nodding her head in acknowledgement. "It's been too long since I last saw you."
"I know, hasn't it?" Reese answered with the same fake pleasantry before she sneered. "My hand's stopped ringing from the last time I bitch-slapped the shit out of you."
"Ohh!" Ten cried, smacking his hand on his knee and hooting. "Burn."
Mrs. Garrison narrowed her eyes. "You need to release him, dear. He doesn't belong here."
Everything went incredibly tense then. Mason and Reese ganged up on the rapist, trying to get to her to leave, telling her they didn't believe a word she said. And Mrs. Garrison just oozed evil as she ripped open her coat, revealing a swollen stomach.
"If I'm not pregnant, then how do you explain this?"
"Oh, please." I rolled my eyes and waved my hand at her. "That's the fakest pregnant belly I've ever seen."