WIth a Twist: (The Club #9) Read Free Page B

little socially awkward, but really aren’t we all, to some degree? “That’s okay, I understand, and you don’t have to worry about me.”
    “But I do.” He blinked his big puppy-dog eyes at me. “You don’t know what kind of people are out there. I don’t think I could live with myself if something happened to you and I wasn’t there to stop it.”
    “That’s really sweet, Ricky, but I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
    “You should have someone to take care of you.”
    I shook my head. “No, I can do it all on my own.” My mind drifted to Bryant waiting for me, I thought maybe he’d let me be my own person, but be there to help if I ever fell. At least, I liked to hope so. “You need to get back to the bar, I’ll talk to you later.” I waved and left him standing there and walked out of The Club and into the cool night air.
    Taking a deep breath, I looked up at the stars twinkling above me, part of me wanted to do my own wishing on a star, but I felt too old inside to do something so young. Besides, after so many years of my dreams not coming true, I’d learned that if I wanted them to come true, I had to make them happen on my own.
    My soft footfalls filled the quiet night air as I quickly walked to the diner. I could see him sitting there, waiting for me, his arm resting across the back of the corner booth. His body language was relaxed, but as I got closer, I could see his eyes were always searching, always looking around. I knew he wouldn’t be able to see me until I was much closer, so I took this opportunity to watch him.
    Money, he looked like money. I knew that in the club, but seeing him now, I could tell this wasn’t just a man who had money, this was a man who could make and lose a lot of money and not even blink. The kind mama always warned me about. The kind she told me to run away from. But I want to run to him, not away. I took a step forward into the light coming out of the windows of the diner and his eyes found mine in seconds. Neither one of us broke contact. Here I stood, staring at him through the glass, and his gaze was filled with heat and warmed me on this cool night.
    There could be no going back after tonight. With a nod, I turned and walked towards the door, not pausing, quickly pulling the door open and striding towards my future.

Chapter Six
    Bryant
     
    We spent the first half hour on small talk, getting to know each other, biding our time. I loved the sound of her voice and listen to anything she said. Sitting across from her, I was once again taken aback by her beauty, this time she looked so different from the pure sex personified she embraced before. I watched as she casually stirred sugar into her coffee. I was amazed how she could do something so simple, yet it could captivate me.
    As the night went on, we talked of deeper and deeper subjects, argued over politics and laughed at nonsense. I was amazed when I looked out of the window and saw the sky getting lighter. I couldn’t tell you the last time I had stayed up all night talking.
    I leaned on the table, getting closer to her and lowered my voice. “We’re both adults, we know exactly where this is heading. Why don’t we say no more games and get down to business?”
    She mimicked me and also leaned in. “Tell me, Bryant, is that all this is to you? Business?”
    “Do you believe in fairytales?”
    She raised an eyebrow at me. “Well, there’s a change of subject.”
    “Not really, bear with me and answer the question.”
    “No, no I don’t.”
    “Hmmm… now that is strange.” I picked up one of her hands and started playing with her fingers. “I’m going to stereotype genders now, but typically the female is the one who believes in them, even to adulthood, and it’s the male who doesn’t. It would seem in our case, it’s reversed.”
    Starr shrugged. “I wasn’t raised with them. Since I didn’t have the typical childhood, I never had friends growing up to even