Page 13 of Crave: A Reverse Harem Romance

I’m sure she was acutely aware of how creepy men could be right now. I’d worry about my intentions too if I were her.

And if I was being completely honest, I didn’t trust anyone else to get her home safely tonight.

“Here,” I said, pulling out my wallet to flash her my driver’s license. “This is my ID, so you can see my full name and my driver’s license info. Hold onto it until we get to your house. And here…” I pulled my phone out of my back pocket. “You can hold onto this until we get to your house. Seriously, I’m not pulling any tricks here. I just want to make sure you get home safely. I don’t want to be presumptuous, but you seem like a very nice girl who maybe doesn’t have a lot of experience with clubs like this.”

I hoped she wouldn’t take that the wrong way, but she didn’t seem to. “No, I really don’t. Is it that obvious?”

I chuckled. “Yeah, a little bit. But it’s fine, we get newcomers all the time. This scene isn’t for everyone.” I took her hand and gently placed my ID and phone in it. “Just let me get you home safe and sound and we can call it a night.”

She took a minute, looked down at my ID, and then nodded slowly. “Okay, yeah. Let’s do that.”

I smiled at her. “Great, let’s go…” I was about to say her name when I realized she hadn’t given it to me. “Sorry, what’s your name?”

“Harlow. Harlow Grey,” she responded.

“Well, nice to meet you, Harlow. Let’s get you home.”

I led her to the elevator and down to the first floor. I wasn’t surprised to see that things were getting going downstairs, it was a lot more crowded than it was earlier. That was usually what happened on weekend nights, though. As the night went on, more people showed up.

We walked by the dance floor which was now full, and Harlow stopped me.

“Wait,” she yelled over the loud music. “I need to say goodbye to my friend. I came with her and she’s going to be super confused when she can’t find me later.”

“Sure, of course,” I yelled back to her. “Where is she?”

I watched as she looked around the dance floor tentatively. I looked for her friend’s red hair too but couldn’t see anything. She was likely buried in all the bodies by now.

“You know… I don’t see her,” Harlow answered me. “I guess I’ll just have to text her.”

I can tell she didn’t want to go searching through the crowd. I wondered if it was because she was feeling apprehensive about nearly being drugged, or if it was simply because she wasn’t one for crowds. Maybe it was a bit of both.

“Good idea,” I told her as we continued to move to the door.

It was dark out by now, nothing but the twinkling of the stars and the harsh light of the street lamps above us.

“This way,” I told her, as I walked over to the side of Crave where the parking lot was.

I was parked up front in one of the VIP spaces, of course. That was where my brother and Ryker always parked too. I’d never park anywhere else because I couldn’t stand the idea of some drunken clubgoer coming out here for a cigarette and scratching my baby.

Yeah, I was one of those people. I loved the hell out of my car.

“Alright, this is it.” I clicked my key fob, and the lights of my Maserati flashed.

Harlow’s jaw dropped and she stumbled a bit when she realized what kind of car it was. I had to laugh.

“Yeah, that’s usually the reaction I get,” I told her.

“This is seriously yours?” She gasped. “Man, I need to own a sex club.”

I laughed again. Not only was this girl cute, she was pretty damn funny.

I was actually stunned by how she captivated my attention. But now I was honestly a little disappointed, since I obviously couldn’t hit on her at this point. Not after the hellish night she’d been through. It would have been wildly inappropriate for me to make a move right as I was taking her home when I promised she’d be safe with me.

More than inappropriate, in fact. It would have been downright predatory.

I wanted a girl who was wildly into me—that was the only way sex was fun. She wasn’t going to be interested in me after some freak tried to drug and take advantage of her.

Still, in the back of my mind, I hoped she’d come back to the club one day. That maybe if we met on another night—one where she was actually having fun—I’d get the chance to approach her on an even playing field.

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