James: A College Girl Romance (15 page)

I handed it to him, and thirty seconds later, he gave it back. An app for my bank was open.

“You just need to log in,” he said helpfully.

“Couldn’t you do that?” I smiled.

He smiled back.

“I could, but I imagine you’d feel better if I didn’t.”

I clumsily tapped in my ID and password and gasped when I saw the balance on my account. The amount I’d had in there before was dwarfed by the latest deposit.

“Do you have any questions?” Matt asked.

I had a million questions, but nothing I could ask him without feeling totally embarrassed, so I shook my head.

“I don’t think so.”

“You have my contact information in your phone now, so feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.”

I nodded, still staring down at the amount that was now in my bank account.

“Thank you.”

When I looked up, he was adjusting his glasses.

“Not a problem, Ms. Flynn,” he said.

“Cass,” I corrected automatically.

He held out his hand, and I shook it as I tried to imagine how much James was paying this guy. A second later, he was gone. Alone again, I picked up the box of my stuff and walked through the open door. Sitting on the island was a giant vase of white roses with a single blush-pink rose lying beside it. I set down the box and felt my eyes begin to burn.

How could such an asshole be so romantic?

When I showed up at Vicki’s apartment at ten, her roommate Amber opened the door with her typical smirk. I had always thought that Vicki’s roommate and my now ex-roommate Jess would have made the perfect pair—if only they hadn’t hated one another.

Amber had a tendency to sleep with anything male that had two legs, so my tendency to reject assholes and losers annoyed her. She saw my being celibate as a personal insult to her, which was obnoxious—and fucking crazier than hell.

“Hi, Amber.”

“Vicki’s in her room.”

“Thanks.”

I edged past her and walked down the hall to Vicki’s room. Club music was thumping from her computer, and Vicki immediately jumped up from where she had been doing her makeup and squeaked at me.

“You look great!” she said.

“You, too!”

When she saw the makeup bag I was carrying, her eyes widened.

“No offense, Cass, but that’s not your normal drugstore crap. Where’d you get it?”

I shrugged.

“Impulse purchase at the mall on the way back from work.”

This, of course, was a total lie, but it was better than admitting that I had briefly entered into a money-for-not-quite-sex arrangement with some guy I had met while working at a strip club I was never going to tell anyone about. Vick dragged me over to her desk, and I took my place at her desk chair as she began unscrewing the lids on various powders.

“Just don’t go too crazy, okay?” I smiled.

“You worry too much.”

I smirked and then closed my eyes as she advanced on me with a brush.

“So, where are we going tonight?” I asked.

“I was thinking The Junction,” she responded casually.

Of course. The same club where she had met Justin. It was a meat market, but the music was usually pretty decent. It was a half hour away, smack in the middle of the state capital, which meant parking was terrible.

“Okay. I’ll drive,” I said, knowing I wasn’t going to drink.

“You’re the best, Cass.”

I smiled, but it wasn’t pure altruism on my part. The last thing I needed right now was to be anything less than sober in a club full horny jackasses. Besides, Vicki was the one who had just gone through a break-up. My thing—whatever it had been—with James McDevitt hadn’t been a relationship; it had been a mistake. Within a few minutes, Vicki released me. When I opened my eyes, she held up a compact.

“You look awesome, if I do say so myself. I love that top, by the way.”

I looked down at the turquoise halter top. Another style selection courtesy of James McDevitt.

“Thanks. Are you all set?” I asked as I patted my pockets for my cash, ID, and lip gloss.

“Hells yes! Let’s go out and find some guys!” Vicki squeaked.

I smiled. Oh, yeah. This was going to be a long night.

By the time we got through the line and into the club, the ground floor was packed. Pink and purple lights flashed from the ceiling, and music seemed to permeate every inch of the venue.

“You want a drink?” Vicki screamed over the music.

“Water!”

I didn’t drink—at all—if I was the one driving. I had seen too many accidents and DUIs on the stretch of freeway between
Fantasy Land
and school. Agreeing to be some rich guy’s plaything for the summer was one thing. Killing someone in an accident because I couldn’t abstain from drinking for one night was one risk I wasn’t willing to take.

I watched Vicki disappear into the crush of people waiting at the bar, which was situated between a row of booths along one wall and the downstairs dance floor. Scanning for an empty table, I walked the length of the bar. No luck. Just as I was about to walk the perimeter of the dance floor, a hand grabbed mine. Someone’s mouth brushed my ear.

“Buy you a drink?” a male voice roared.

I pulled away and looked at the guy who was still holding my hand.

“No thanks.”

He didn’t let go.

“Why not, sweetie?”

Sweetie?
Yuck. I hated the ones who couldn’t take the hint.

“I’m DD tonight …”

He laughed like I had said something hilarious, and I thought,
Fuck it
. Why the hell did I need to explain myself? I yanked my arm out of his grip and tried to disappear into the crowd. I made a few more passes around the bar before I finally found Vicki talking to some guy.

Come on, Vick
, I pleaded silently,
don’t leave me here alone
.

My silent plea was answered when she turned and waved. She came over and handed me a cup with water.

“Free drinks,” she laughed.

Great. With my luck, some guy was going to be following her around all night hoping to get laid. And no sooner had I thought it, a guy with the spray tan and side-part sidled up to Vicki and put his arm around her waist.

“Who’s your friend?” he asked her like I wasn’t standing right there.

“That’s Cassie,” Vicki giggled.

He stuck out his hand.

“Max.”

I shook his hand reluctantly just as someone’s arm slipped around my waist.

“Who are these two lovely ladies?”

I looked over and saw another guy who looked like he had been pulled right out of a reality show where all the guys thought they were hot shit. Guys who thought they looked like James McDevitt and had egos to match. I looked down at my phone, praying for a text from James. What the hell was wrong with me?

“This is Vicki, and this is Cassie,” Max said—if
Max
was even his real name.

The other guy held out his hand.

“I’m Mark.”

“Cass.”

I shook his hand and pulled away as fast as possible. Vicki could do whatever she wanted, but I was
not
going to hook up with some random guy just because she wanted to do a rebound tour. When Mark leaned toward me, I got a whiff of Cosmos and cigarettes.

“You want another vodka?” he asked hopefully.

“No thanks.”

Taking a sip of water, I looked around the club. Then I turned back to Vicki, who was giggling at something Max was saying.

“Vick! I’m going to the bathroom. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”

She nodded and turned back to Max. The bathrooms were at the back of the club, so I chugged my water and found the trash can closest to the bar before diving back into the crowd and slowly making my way to the back. With any luck, slimy guy number two would take off and find some easier prey.

I hadn’t been lying, though. By the time I reached the bathroom, I really had to go, thanks to the ice water. I used the bathroom, reapplied my lip gloss, checked my phone again, and then walked back into the club. Of course, Mark was waiting right outside the women’s bathroom.

“I thought that was just a line for a second,” he said with a nervous laugh.

“Nope. I really had to use the bathroom,” I said, smiling thinly.

“You wanna dance?” he yelled as he pointed toward the dance floor. “Your friend and my buddy are already out there.”

“I don’t really dance,” I offered lamely.

“Come on,” he said as he pretended to salsa toward me.

Finally, I caved and nodded. He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the dance floor. Vicki was so going to owe me for tonight. This club was just about the last place on Earth I wanted to be right now. I wanted to be at my new apartment, eating a pint of chocolate ice cream, and trying to decide why I couldn’t stop thinking about James McDevitt. Besides, if my chances of meeting a normal guy had been less than zero at
Fantasy Land
, then they were exactly zero in this place.

The dance floor was so crowded that dancing wasn’t really a possibility, which was fine. Like I had told my former—psycho—boss at
Fantasy Land
, I really couldn’t dance. I looked over at Vicki, who already had a new drink in her hand. At least she was having a great time. She gave me a thumbs-up sign with her free hand.

I looked back at the Mark guy, who was clearly trying to put on his sexiest expression, which looked more like he was constipated. Just as long as he didn’t think I was going to hook up with him, then I was fine. When the next song started, I smiled and began dancing more enthusiastically.

Obviously taking my sudden change in mood for something that had to do with him, my dance partner grabbed my waist and spun me around so that he was behind me. His hands latched tightly onto my hips, and before I could pull away, he started grinding against me.

Really
? I was done. No more. I could only go so far for Vicki. If she drank too much, I’d hold her hair back while she puked—but I wasn’t hooking up with this jackass.

I tried to break free of his grip and then shook my head when I couldn’t get loose. He just ground himself even more against my ass. My only consolation was that I was wearing pants and not the schoolgirl outfit from
Fantasy Land
. I shuddered at the thought.

A second later, he abruptly released me, and I glanced behind me. Mark was staring up at someone. When I looked past him, my jaw dropped at the sight of James McDevitt, who was sporting a five o’clock shadow and towering over my dance partner. James stepped around him and held out his hand. I blinked, took his hand, and let him lead me off the dance floor.

He walked straight to the VIP section in the back. After gesturing for me to slide into a booth, he sat across from me. I looked around nervously, waiting for someone to come kick us out. Then a server arrived with a lowball filled with amber liquid and a flute of champagne.

“How the hell did you know I was here?” I demanded.

“I had Irving put a GPS tracker on your phone,” James said calmly, causing my jaw to drop—again. “There I was sitting in the airport waiting for a flight to Hong Kong when I saw you had arrived at the sleaziest club within a fifty-mile radius of your university. It’s a ten-minute drive from the airport to here.”

I stared at him.

“You’ve
got
to be joking.”

He shook his head.

“What the hell?” I snapped. “Earlier today you couldn’t wait to drop me off and get rid of—”

“
That
was
your
decision, not mine, lovely. I merely acquiesced without a fight if I remember correctly.”

He reached over and picked up the lowball as I continued staring stupidly at him.

“But you said your father—”

“Was the Devil himself?” James finished before sipping the amber-colored alcohol. “I did. And he has all of your information, which means I’ve already put you at risk.”

I frowned at him.

“So what? Why the hell should I care that your father knows you pick up women at strip clubs?”

“Because my father is a man who can make your life a living hell if it suits him.”

I swallowed.

“And your solution is to track my every movement?”

“One of my solutions.”

“What about all your other strippers slash cocktail waitresses? Do they get the same level of protection?”

His expression darkened, making my pulse race. As I tried convincing myself that I wasn’t secretly happy he was here, I took out my phone and started scrolling through the apps, half of which I never used. On the third page, I found an inconspicuous app called
TrakMe
.
That sneaky bastard
. Matt Irving had seemed so harmless. Cute and harmless. I shook my head again.