Chapter 30

Aria

I nearly choked on my drink as I looked up to see those brown and blue eyes staring down at me. Darren was still in his work clothes, clearly having had the same idea I’d had in coming here.

“D-Darren!” I exclaimed. “I—”

Before I could finish, Bella set down her drink and smiled, waving her hand in my general direction. “Oh, we weren’t talking about you,” she said. “We were talking about… another man in Aria’s life.”

Oh, no. I felt like I might pass out even though I hadn’t even finished my drink.

Darren raised a dark eyebrow and glanced at me. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that I saw the tiniest hint of disappointment in his eyes.

“I see,” he said. “Well, I apologize for interrupting. Have a nice night, you two.”

And just like that, he was gone as quickly as he’d arrived.

The moment he slipped back into the crowd, I leaned across the table and grabbed my friend’s ear and yanked. “Another man?” I hissed. “Are you fucking crazy, Bella?”

Bella just smacked my hand away and giggled devilishly. “Did you see the look on his face when I said it?” she whispered. “He’s jealous! He wants you so bad!”

I shook my head and sat back in my chair, my face likely the color of a ripe tomato by now. “You’re horrible, Bella. Truly horrible.”

My friend just giggled again and sipped her drink while I lamented. I was just glad that the conversation had ended quickly.

We weren’t alone for long, however, before someone else approached our table. A different man this time; he was tall and slender, with a sharp jaw and a buzz cut. He wore a flannel, jeans, and work boots. He would have been handsome were it not for the almost predatory gleam in his eyes.

“Hello, ladies,” he said, leaning one elbow on our table—and nearly knocking over our drinks in the process. He reeked of alcohol. “Did you two come alone?”

Bella and I exchanged glances. “We—”

“I saw another man talking to you,” he slurred, reaching for one of our nachos. “It seems like you sent him packing pretty quick. I don’t suppose you’ll do the same for me.”

With a huff, Bella smacked his hand away from our food. “Yes, we will. And what sort of planet are you from where you actually think it’s appropriate to put your grubby hands all over someone else’s food?”

I didn’t bother to hide my snort, but the man seemed unbothered by Bella’s ire.

“Feisty.” He glanced at me, his tongue darting out to wet his thin lips. “I could put my hands all over something else, if you want.”

Bella and I looked at each other again, both of us caught somewhere between disgust and amusement. “Which one of us are you coming on to, anyway?” I found myself asking.

He shrugged. “Why not both? A sexy brunette and a spicy Latina at the same time… It’s like every guy’s dream.”

At the mention of a ‘spicy Latina’, Bella gasped and shot to her feet. Without warning, she picked up her drink and flung it into the guy’s face, sending bright blue margarita mix dripping down all over his pristine flannel.

“H-Hey! Fucking bitch!” the guy growled, shaking out his soaked shirt. “Who do you think you are?”

“Your worst nightmare,” Bella sneered, flashing her teeth at him.

The guy puffed out his chest and moved toward Bella. I jumped up and placed myself between them, jutting my chin out at the asshole. He turned his anger toward me then, and the smell of whiskey was ripe on his hot breath.

But before it could go much further, another voice cut through the din.

“What’s going on over here?”

We all looked up to see the bartender shoving through the crowd. It was the same blond guy as last time, and if the look in his eyes was any indication, then he recognized us as well.

“You two again?” the bartender sighed. “Get out of my bar. All of you.”

My eyes widened. “But this guy was the one who—”

“I don’t care who started it,” the bartender replied, pointing at the door. “I’m ending it. Out. Now.”

My friend and I looked at each other, too stunned to move. The flannel guy seemed pretty shocked himself, probably trying to decide if he was in the mood to start a bar brawl now—he certainly seemed drunk enough for it.

But at that moment, a warm arm wrapped itself around my waist and tugged me close. “They’re with me.”

The bartender’s eyes widened. “Mr. Avarise, you don’t have to—”

“I’m being serious,” Darren remarked, to which the bartender fell silent. He turned to the other guy then, and his gaze flicked up and down his soaked flannel. “And before you hit on another man’s girlfriend, maybe you should consider wearing a raincoat.”

The flannel guy’s jaw went slack. Bella gasped softly, covering her mouth with her hand to hide her giggle. But I just felt frozen, in utter shock.

Girlfriend.

That was the second time he’d called me that now. With his arm wrapped tightly around his waist. I wondered if he could feel my rapid heartbeat through his ribcage.

Before I could even begin to comprehend what was happening, Darren was fishing through his wallet with his spare hand. He gave the bartender a sizable wad of cash. “For your trouble,” he said, then turned—still holding me—and headed toward the stairs to the VIP section.

Bella followed, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively at me over Darren’s shoulder. I was too stunned to even react to her teasing, although I was pretty sure my face looked like it was about to implode. All I could do was stumble alongside Darren, lowering my head to avoid the stares of curious onlookers.

Darren led us up the stairs to the VIP section, then beyond the bouncer holding the velvet rope.

I’d never been up here before, although I could always see the VIPs looking down at the rest of us peasants from their balcony.

Eyes turned to us as we approached, and I immediately felt out of place. The space was furnished with plush, modern furniture and glass tables, and the patrons all looked like they’d just stepped out of various fashion magazines.

We stopped by the bar, which was made entirely of pristine glass. Red LEDs lit up the bottom of the bar, illuminating the designer shoes worn by the patrons, who glanced at me and Bella with sneers like we were Darren’s cheap escorts for the night.

Only then did Darren release his grip around my waist.

“Here,” Darren said, handing me his credit card. “Buy yourselves some drinks and something to eat.”

“But—”

When I didn’t move to take the card, Darren took my hand and physically placed it in my palm, then curled my fingers over it. His own hand was surprisingly cool. Or maybe I was just on fire after what had just happened.

“I won’t have an employee of mine being humiliated in public. It’s bad for business,” he said.

I just blinked owlishly at him in response. His hand lingered over mine, and there was an intensity in his gaze that told me that it wasn’t just about being his employee.

It was the same look I’d seen when he had wiped the flour from my nose last night. And the same one I’d seen downstairs when Bella had mentioned ‘another man’.

My eyes moved to his lips then. Here, in the flickering light of the club, I felt as if I could kiss him again. I wanted to, if only to prove to him, for some reason unbeknownst to me, that there was no other man.

But I didn’t.

Darren pulled away and turned to Bella, offering her a curt nod. “Good on you for putting that guy in his place,” he said, then walked away before either of us could respond.

Bella and I stood there in dazed silence for a few moments before she grabbed my arm and yanked me in her direction.

“Aria, what the hell was that?” she whispered, her voice a mixture of confusion and amusement.

I didn’t have it in me to respond, not that I could have come up with an explanation even if I wanted to.

So I just held the credit card up with a small smile and said, “Perks of the job?”