Page 69 of One Little Lie
“That’s kind of two different things around here. The Beach Bar will have music on the beach, but it’s not really dancing. If you want to dance, you have to go to Captain Nicks.”
His smile toward me turns lecherous, and Hatty growls his disapproval.
“Sounds great. Which way is Captain Nicks?”
The waiter glances between Hatty and me, then shrugs and gives me directions.
“What are you doing?” Hatty’s manners are so engrained he rises with me as I stand, even though every feature on his face says he wants to stay right where he is.
“Come on,friend. I’m going dancing. We’re here to scope out the place, right? Pacen is young and beautiful. If she’s on this island, every red-blooded local would have noticed her.”
He glares at me. He’s skeptical, and he should be. I’m about to test his limits, and I guess I’ll have my answer one way or another after tonight. I grab my glass of wine and drain the rest of its contents, needing a little liquid courage for what I have in mind. Turning, I head down the stairs, not bothering to see if Hatty follows.
“Exactly what is your plan here, Rylan?”
“Oh, I’m back to Rylan now? Geez, sweetheart rolls off your tongue so much more smoothly.”
“Rylan.” His voice carries a warning I ignore.
Instead, I walk along the coastal road that will take us to Captain Nicks. It doesn’t take long, and as we round the bend in the road, the music filters over the ocean breeze.
“That’s it?” he grumbles.
Glancing ahead, I see the colorful sign on the outside of a two-story building better suited as a home than a bar, but the laughter and music filtering our way has a smile gliding across my face. My grin only grows as we make our way inside. The dance floor is smaller, which means you can’t dance without getting veryfriendly.
Hatty falls in step behind me but guides us with a hand pressed to the small of my back. The heat from his touch sears my skin, and when he leans in to speak close to my ear, I shiver.
“What do you want to drink?”
He’s pissed off. I can hear it in his tone, but I ignore it.
Turning to him, I place my cheek on his, and he stiffens. “Sex,” I whisper, allowing my lips to graze his ear, “on the Beach.”
Pulling back, I see a hint of hunger in his eyes as his nostrils flare.
“This is a dangerous game you’re playing, sweetheart.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,friend.”
Chapter 23
Halton
I’m on my third beer, and I’ve already committed seven murders in my head. I’m thankful for the bar at my back as strangers invade my senses on three sides. The alcohol they’re consuming erases all etiquette for personal space, and I have to fight to keep my snarls in check.
I’ve never liked crowds, but I could handle them so long as I wasn’t the main attraction. Tonight, though, I’m ready to burn down the world as every eye in the place lands on my girl.
Fuck. She isn’t my girl, but every red-blooded male cell in my body fights that notion as she sways to the music.
“You sure you don’t want to dance, Hatty?”
I shake my head with my jaw clamped shut. She’s tempting me, teasing me, and even after all these years, she still knows how to goad me.
“Your loss.” Rylan tosses her hair over her shoulder and heads back to the dance floor. At some point in the last hour, she let her long tresses loose of her pissed-off bun, and everyone noticed. Everyone notices everything about her. I’ve lost track of the number of assholes that have tried to pick her up already. The second her hips started swaying, they surrounded her.
They wouldn’t be all over her if you’d get your head out of your ass.
My eyes are dry from not blinking by the time the band takes a break. There’s a brief lull before the DJ pipes in new music over the speakers. A song I don’t recognize comes on, and Rylan’s sexy, little body shimmies and sways to the beat. From my perch at the bar, I watch as two guys grind up on her, but her eyes are locked on me.
