Page 56 of That One Night
She just wanted to go home.
The door to the pool room was still shut.Good. That gave her enough time to make an exit without him noticing.
She’d walk to the curb. And if there were no taxis there, she’d walk home. At least she’d have her dignity.
And with that thought she headed straight for the door leading to the outside, feeling the warm night air wrap around her as she stepped onto the sidewalk.
Emery wasn’t where he’d left her only a couple of minutes ago. Of course she wasn’t. Hendrix let out a low curse, alreadyannoyed because his brothers had decided to tease him when he told them he was leaving.
He was trying to do the right thing here. Why was everybody making it so damn difficult?
Yes, he found her attractive. Okay, he thought about her every damn night. Imagined the way her lips tasted. Imagined the wayshetasted.
And the panties. Shit, she knew about them. He felt like shit, keeping them when he knew she was taken.
But he also had enough common sense to know it could only ever be a thought. There was no graceful way out of this situation that didn’t end up with somebody getting hurt.
He should have stayed away from her. He knew that. He’d always known that. God knew, he’d tried.
And then he’d wavered. Well, this time it would be different. He’d drive her home and that would be it. They both knew this thing between them was a ticking time bomb. Even the thought of her sitting next to him in the cab of his truck – those lithe, tanned legs stretching out, that red dress making the most of every curve she had – was making his neck feel hot.
Sighing, he walked over to the table where she’d spent the evening. Sabrina was talking to her friend, the two of them giggling.
“I thought you’d left,” his cousin said to him as he leaned in to ask her where Emery was. Because she certainly wasn’t at the table.
“Just about to. Where’s Emery?”
Sabrina blinked. “No idea.”
“She said she was leaving, too,” Mariah told Sabrina. “I was supposed to tell you that.”
“So where is she?” Hendrix frowned, looking around the packed bar. Another Karaoke song had started up, and thesinger was murdering the ABBA song. Christ, he was getting a headache.
“I don’t know,” Sabrina replied. “Maybe she got lucky with another guy.”
“She’s engaged,” he reminded her.
Sabrina gave him a slow grin. “She sure wasn’t acting like it when she was staring at you.”
His jaw tightened. And yeah, he wanted to defend her, even if there was a kernel of truth in his cousin’s words. Emery wasn’t acting like she was engaged. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking.
“Maybe she went to the bathroom,” Mariah suggested.
“Can one of you go look?” His voice was tight.
“Why are you so annoyed?” Sabrina asked him. “A girl is allowed to spend some time getting ready, you know?”
He took a deep breath. He was on his last string of patience here. “I’m not annoyed. She just said she wanted to go home and now she’s not here.”
“Men.” Mariah rolled her eyes at him. “Always expecting women to be at your beck and call.”
“You know what?” he said. “I’ll go check for myself.”
He turned and strode away, hearing his cousin and her friends laugh softly at him. And yeah, maybe they were right. He wasn’t even sure why he was so pissed. He just was.
He’d been feeling that way a lot recently. Ever since a certain somebody moved into the house opposite his.
It took a hot minute to get to the bathrooms. The door to the ladies’ room was open. A line formed through the doorway and out into the bar.
