Page 28 of Dare to Dance
My past. A girl who could be the mother of my child. A woman who was certainly a mystery. Tommy had thought she was homeless, yet she was working there. That meant he’d known her all along, and the fucker hadn’t called me like he was supposed to.
I ground my teeth, the fury burning through my veins. I was going to kill him.
“Kross, I’m talking to you,” Penelope whined.
“Bro, are you in there?” Kody asked. “That’s her, isn’t it?”
I was about to answer him when Ruby’s eyes met mine, erasing my rage for the moment. Instead, my heart sputtered because she smiled as if she was happy to see me. Then, in an instant, her lips turned downward, fear claiming her beautiful face. She scoured the room every which way as though she was searching for an escape route.
Not a chance in hell was she getting away from me tonight. I would lock us both in the bathroom until I got answers. I leaned into Kody. “Can you keep an eye on Penelope and her friends?” As much as I wanted answers, I also wanted to make sure the women were safe. Those biker dudes were chatting with Penelope’s friends.
“Don’t worry,” Kody said. “I’ll take care of them.”
“Kross,” Penelope said.
Her voice faded as I pushed through the crowd. The closer I got to Ruby, the more my pulse sped up. For an entire week, I hadn’t been able to sleep. I’d hardly eaten. I’d fucked up so bad during training that Jay threw up his hands and stalked off. I’d even knocked out poor Liam during a sparring session.
A large man blocked me. We danced around each other before he moved one way. Then I had a clear view of Ruby’s blue-green eyes, which were wide as saucers. Those same eyes held me prisoner where I stood. She blinked once then scanned the room again for a way out.
Fuck.I wasn’t a bully. I wasn’t going to hurt her. I couldn’t imagine why she would be frightened, unless Tommy had something to do with her state of fear. I clenched a fist. He and I would have a chat as soon as I talked with Ruby.
8
Ruby
Iblewout breath after breath, feverishly wanting to hide or run. My heart leapt into my throat, thinking of how I should react or what I should say to him. The past few days had been busy, so I hadn’t rehearsed what I would say to Kross if I even ran into him. Honestly, I’d tried to push him out of my mind. I needed to focus on the ins and outs of waitressing.
I tracked his movements from the other end of the bar until he disappeared into the crowd. When he came back into view, my brain shut down. Actually, it shut down the moment I met his gaze from the other side of the bar.
As he started toward me again, a big-breasted blond girl, dressed in a silk top and shiny jewelry that screamed money, hooked her arm through his. I couldn’t hear what she was saying over the band, but thank God. She’d given me at least a minute to catch my breath.
I couldn’t say I was surprised to see Kross. After all, Tommy had said he would let Kross know that I was working there. I’d been so busy with learning the ropes of waitressing that I hadn’t had time to check with Tommy. I didn’t want to know anyway. The less I knew, the fewer nerves I would have. Yeah, like that worked. My nerves were singing a tune to a drummer’s beat in a metal band. In fact, I’d been jittery for the last two days, constantly dropping what I was doing to check each customer that entered.
“Something wrong?” the bartender, Pete, asked.
“No. Just nervous about serving so many people.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. I’d only been waitressing for three days. My skills were improving, although two customers would have argued that I was a screw-up. But serving drinks was the last thing on my mind at the moment. I scanned the room and found Alex waiting on tables. I kept searching until my gaze landed on Norma. She was also busy. I needed her advice, but I knew what she would say. “Talk to Kross.” The problem was that this wasn’t a good time. The club was hopping. Not only that, but I had to figure out what I would say. The truth came to mind. I certainly had to atone for the many questions Kross would have. I also had several questions for him. In all, I was terrified. What if he fought me for custody of Raven, especially after he found out the life I’d led up until this point? I’d also been fooling myself if I believed that the three of us would become an instant family. My muscles tightened as I thought of how I’d repeatedly called him. He hadn’t even texted back to say hi or to let me know he wasn’t interested. Instead, the man had ignored me as though we’d never had sex or even dated.
Pete’s warm hand touched mine. “Ruby.”
“I need to use the bathroom.” I had to collect myself, get my hands to stop shaking, my heart to stop fluttering, and my stomach to stop churning.
“Drinks first.” He set down the last drink for my order. “Can’t keep your customers waiting. Boss won’t like it.”
I sucked in air as I snagged a lime wedge. As I squeezed a bit of its juice into a gin and tonic, I peeked in Kross’s direction. He had his back to me, shaking his head at the blond woman who was pouting.
I breathed a sigh of relief until he cupped the girl’s face in an adoring gesture. She smiled. A pang of jealousy took root inside me. I had no reason to get all weird about some girl, who was probably his girlfriend. After all, I was trying to avoid the man. Still, I would have given anything to have him touch me like that.
“Get your ass in gear,” Pete ordered. “If the boss finds you standing around, he’ll give you and me the third degree.”
Pete had been nice to me when I’d spilled drinks. The last thing I wanted to do was get him into trouble or have Tommy breathing down my neck, especially not with Kross in the house.
I picked up my tray, turned, andBoom. Crash. Splash.The drinks smashed in between Kross and me. Bottles fell to the floor. The couple closest to me cussed as they checked their shoes, which took the brunt of my clumsiness. Suddenly, the room began to disappear. My stomach pitched and rolled. Alcohol soaked into my blouse. Not caring if I had a wet T-shirt vibe going on, I stared into the deepest blue eyes. They reminded me of Raven.Keep it together, girl.I wasn’t sure I could. Kross’s spicy scent tickled my nostrils, and those damn blue eyes nailed me to the bar. Butterflies scattered in my stomach.
“I’m s-sorry,” I managed to say.
“Just like when we first met,” Kross said. “Only you dropped your books and keys.”
Wow. He remembers.
