Always the caretaker.
I fought the grin pulling at one side of my mouth, shook my head as I went to work wiping down the counter that was already gleaming. “Now there you go worrying about me again, old man. I’m just fine behind this bar. Right where I belong.”
Last thing I needed was to get in the mix of Lyrik and the rest of the guys.
“Pssh.” He waved his hands at me, shooing me back. “Go on, girl. As much as you like to pretend you’re happy with being a loner, you’re just as much a part of that group as the rest of ’em. Besides, you know Shea’s gonna come dragging you out anyway, so you might as well give it up now.”
“Tamar.” And there she was, calling my name.
“What’d I tell you?” Charlie said, lips twitching beneath his scraggly beard.
I tossed down the rag. “Fine.” I pointed a warning finger at him as I backed away. “But I’m not calling it a night. One drink, and I’m back to work.”
“Whatever you say, sugar. We all know who’s the boss around here.”
Charlie’s was housed in one of the old cotton warehouses, the rafters in the high ceilings still exposed, the wooden walls aged to a near black from the years of smoke and bodies and a century of hidden mystery.
I strutted to the far end of the bar that took up the middle of the massive room, the ornate, carved mahogany the focus of Charlie’s. My back was to the front door, and I used the time to prepare myself to come face to face with Lyrik West.
I knew it was crazy. Complete inane craziness. How I was terrified to face the man simply for the way he made me feel. For the way he made me want and desire and question all the promises I’d made myself.
Worst was being aware he enjoyed getting to me so much.
I knew it as well as he did.
He was playing me. Winding me up like a toy.
He’d get off on watching me spin, spin, spin, until I teetered and tottered and toppled. Used up and spent.
Cruel.
I was pretty sure that was the definition of Lyrik West.
I ducked under the small opening at the end, passing by the country band setting up on stage, and headed back toward the entrance.
There I was, pacing in the direction of the man my every cell repelled and attracted.
A chill slid through my senses. A premonition. A warning that magnetism was greater than any resistance.
Like an aurora of dancing, captivating lights that turned out to be nothing but a black hole.
Consuming life and light.
Those near-black eyes caught mine, almost stopping me in my tracks as they glimmered with that same dark mischief, as if at any moment he would strike.
Reach out and take me in his grips.
Devour and destroy and desolate.
Refusing to cave, I lifted my chin in challenge. I just prayed he didn’t see the way it trembled.
I somehow managed to tear my gaze from the hook of his and turned it on my friend.
“Shea, I thought you’d given up your days at Charlie’s,” I tossed out like a tease as my lips stretched into a welcoming smile. With Shea, the truth of it was not so feigned.
The smile she returned was pure and relieved, and I knew without a doubt she was wearing it because Sebastian was back in town.
Shea came in for a hug, her baby bump prominent against my stomach.
Yeah. Shea Stone had to be about the cutest pregnant girl you’d ever meet, her six-month belly looking like she’d done nothing other than stuff a basketball under her dress.
No wonder Sebastian couldn’t stay away.
I stepped back, squeezing her hands as I glanced up at her husband who edged in behind her, hands flattening possessively over her bump.
I arched a brow his direction. “Ah…the infamous Sebastian Stone. What are you doing here? I thought Savannah was safe from the likes of you and your boys for at least another week. We should be ringing the town alarm.”
A playful smirk filled up his face. “Like my boys are any more dangerous than you.”
Ha. Not even close.
Apparently appearances were deceiving.
“Besides,” he continued, his voice going a little deeper as he kissed the side of Shea’s head, “couldn’t stay away a second longer.”
Shea’s smile lit up the entire darkened room. “He was waiting at the house when I got back after we did your final dress fitting. You should have seen Kallie’s face when she saw her daddy standing on the porch waiting for us. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that little butterfly get out of the car so fast.”
As rough as it’d been for both of them, Shea had returned to Savannah with her daughter two months ago, leaving Sebastian behind while Sunder finished up in the studio recording their latest album.
Sebastian chuckled, nuzzled at her neck. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen you get out of the car so fast, either.”
“Can you blame me?” she whispered back.
A fresh wave of awareness rippled out. Targeted. My body marked by crosshairs.
That intensity wrapped and circled and ensnared.