Page 3 of Dark Temptations

The look he gave her sent fear down her spine. This man was bad, and she wanted him away from them.

“I’ll be back with your drinks, girls.”

He walked away, and she grabbed onto Kelly’s arm. “You guys. Don’t let him buy you anything. The man is really weird.”

Macy rolled her eyes. “He talked to us for a few minutes, and you’ve already determined he’s bad?”

Ariana nodded. “Yes. You didn’t see the look he gave me when I turned him down for a dance, and then when I told him to stop touching me. He scared me. Plus, it’s not smart to take drinks from someone you don’t know and trust.”

“We’re not total idiots, Ariana,” Kelly said. “He’s getting us bottled beer, and we told him we’d open it.”

Ariana relaxed. “Okay, that’s good.”

The guy was back and handed her friends the bottles. Ariana looked them over to see if they had been tampered with, and they seemed okay. The man came and stood beside her again and put his arm on the back of her chair as he talked with her friends and drank his own beer.

She tried to move away from him, but the place was getting crowded, so there was no more room. She breathed a sigh of relief when the guy took Macy out on the dance floor.

Kelly tapped her shoulder. “Girl, you have to chill.”

“I don’t like him.”

“You don’t have to, but Macy and I do, so stop being a snob.”

Ariana’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously. A snob? You know me better than that. He just makes me feel uncomfortable.”

Kelly sighed. “I know. You’re not used to men being that close to you. How about I scoot closer to you so he’ll have to stand between Macy and me? Okay?”

“That would be great. Thank you.”

Kelly moved her chair until it touched hers and sat back down. On the other side were a railing and a group of people, so it would make it nearly impossible for him to get close to her.

Another man came up and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Do you wanna dance?”

Ariana shook her head.

“How about you?” he asked Kelly.

She looked at Ariana. “Would that be okay? We’ll stay just on the other side of the railing so we can see you.”

As much as she wanted to scream “no,” she nodded and tried to smile. “Sure.”

The apprehension she felt grew profusely when she was left alone and had to fend off other men. She didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to deal with it without screaming. She didn’t think her friends would appreciate that and might never forgive her.

Chapter Two

Xavier sighed when his phone rang again. He wasn’t getting anything done because of all the interruptions.

He answered the phone. “Knight.”

“Hey, Boss. I think we might have a problem.”

Xavier leaned back, sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “What is it?”

“These girls showed up, and one of them looks…”

“Looks like what?” Xavier asked his bouncer when he paused.

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