Page 62 of Lulu

He must have heard the prospect’s comment. I smiled at the rough cynicism in his tone. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought that Brody was jealous. I decided to test him by saying, “I’m kind of on a date.” I knew that I was stretching the truth. I parked my car between two trucks and turned it off. “Just arrived at a party.” I opened my door and threw in, “You did say we didn’t have to be exclusive.”

“Where?” he growled.

I knew that if Brody could see my smile, it would infuriate him. “Do you want to know because you care, or because you’re worried?” It wasn’t lost on me that I’d just put him on the spot. Maybe I wanted him to admit that he cared more than he was letting on, or maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part.

He grunted. “Where, Hellcat?”

I laughed with genuine amusement, and watched where I stepped as I made my way to the door. I saw Crow walking up from the left of me. “I’m not going to tell you! It’s a date.” I gave Crow a playful wink. “But don’t worry about my safety. There will be more than one man at my disposal if any killers show up.” I’d meant it as a joke, remembering my sordid past with men a second too late. Reminding Brody of my history probably wasn’t a good idea. Suddenly I was bothered that I’d let him think I was with someone else. Even though for all I knew he was screwing half the world.

“Brody—"

I actually stopped walking and waited for his response. Crow stopped and remained silent while his gaze scanned the area around us. I knew that until I was inside, he would stick to me like glue, and that once I was inside, he’d move off somewhere for the night and continue watching me from the shadows.

“Thanks for the reminder. Have fun tonight. I plan to do the same.”

Damn!He was angry, and he’d hung up. Shit. When would I learn to think before speaking? My careless words would probably send him into the bed of the first willing woman he came across, and it would be all my fault. I slipped my phone into my clutch and gave Crow a twisted smile before continuing to the door.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

I met Cole’s eyes and returned his smile. He was standing outside the door with Sax and Frenchie. They were passing a joint around and laughing. “Do your old ladies know you guys smoke weed?”

“We’re celebrating Doc’s birthday,” Frenchie said, before taking a deep hit and holding the smoke in his lungs for as long as he could.

“Our old ladies are expecting you,” Sax said accepting the joint from Frenchie. “They’re all in there.”

Millie must have told them that I was coming. I was looking forward to seeing everyone, including some of the men. I opened the door and was blasted by loud rock music, laughter, and a heavy fog of smoke. The bar was crowded, and as far as I could tell every chair and stool in the place was taken. Lorna, a new club girl, and Mitzi, were dancing on the poles, wearing only tiny thongs. I caught sight of Cassey dressed in much the same way, delivering drinks to the tables. I wondered where Cherry was.

“Don’t cause any trouble, sweetheart.” Not waiting for a response, Crow took off toward the bar.

I watched him walking away with a smile before I began weaving my way through the room. I had a good idea where the girls would be sitting. They usually grabbed a couple of tables at the back and off to the side. Getting there was turning out to be a problem though, as I was stopped every few feet by different men. I took the slaps on the bottom in stride and tried to keep up with all the comments being thrown my way.

“Hey, girl, long time no see!”

“How’s the new life treating ya, baby?”

“You couldn’t stay away from us, huh?”

“You ready to come back?”

“Miss your cooking, darlin’.”

Iwasa good cook.

As I was about to make my escape, someone reached out and grabbed my hand, and I was pulled down onto their lap. “You here to give me a lap dance for my birthday, sweetheart?”

Laughter erupted from me when I realized it was Doc. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and glanced across the table, freezing in disbelief. Brody was sitting there, and a half-naked Cherry was on his lap. He was so involved with her that he hadn’t noticed me yet. She was sitting sideways, in much the same way I was sitting on Doc. Brody’s head was bent slightly as she said something into his ear. I didn’t like how her hands were roaming over him in a familiar way that reminded me that they’d slept together before.

All the years that he’d been ignoring me, I knew that he’d been seeking Cherry and the other girls out for his needs. They’d talked about his prowess in bed and the size of his cock, unaware of what it was doing to me. Hell, they probably wouldn’t have cared anyway, but it had crushed me knowing that Brody was fucking them. It was probably one of the reasons that I’d hated him.

Was he sleeping with Cherry? Had he been here this whole time? And hadn’t he said that he was out of town?

I felt a betrayal I had no right to feel, and I knew that I couldn’t continue being nothing more than a booty call to him. It was time for me to be honest with myself. Admit the truth. I had feelings for Brody, and I couldn’t be with him in the way he wanted if it meant sharing him with other women. Me, the same ex-club whore who’d had no problem remaining detached to the countless men I’d willingly given my body to for years, now wanted one man, and I wanted him to want me back.

God, life wasn’t fair.

When he finally glanced up and across the table our eyes clashed. His reflected the slightest surprise at seeing me there, and then narrowed when he saw that I was sitting on Doc’s lap. I almost laughed at the irony of it since he had a woman cuddling against him. A smirk spread across his face, and I realized that my expression must have given my feelings away. Jealousy surged through me. Short of slapping him, I’d have done anything to wipe that look off his face.

I recalled Doc’s question about that lap dance. I turned to him and forced him to look at me by placing a hand on his cheek. “No lap dance, honey. But I will give you a birthday kiss.” I covered his mouth with mine and kissed him with all the passion and heat I could drum up. Some of it might have even been anger, because I was very angry.