Vacation (37 page)

Chapter 9

Chloe

"Oh my goodness. Who the hell was
that?" Cindy moved up beside me, sliding her arms around my neck and
forcing me to lock gazes with her.

"No clue. He was cute, though,
huh?" I played it off and tried like hell not to follow after Finn. He was
bad news and though I couldn't stop thinking about him, nothing was going to
become of us. It was silly to lead him on, anyway. He would just move on to
someone else. Guys like him always did.

"Cute? He's the sexiest thing I've
seen in a long time." Cindy shuffled us toward the edge of the floor.
"You don't know him?"

"Nope." I shrugged and turned to
find him watching me with an intensity that left me wanting to throw caution to
the wind and give myself to him for a night, but it wasn't my style. It was a
good thing I wasn't drinking. Nothing good could come of it.

"He seems to want to know you."
She laughed and turned her attention back to me. "I'm going after him if
you're not interested."

I shrugged and pulled out of her hold as
the music changed. "Do what you want, girlfriend. I'm dating someone back
at UCLA. A fling would be fun if I were single, but I'm not."

It wasn’t actually truthful, but it was my
quickest excuse.

"Not the cheating kind, hmm?"
She wagged her eyebrows as if cheating was the sexy thing to do nowadays.

"Um, no." I laughed and took her
hand, helping her back toward the bar.

She moved out in front of me as I took a
seat, her attention in the direction of Finn and his friends. "I want him.
Can I take him back to your place?"

I'd just taken a drink of a glass of ice
water the bartender handed me. I spit it all over the back of her little black
dress thanks to her question.

She turned toward me, her eyes wide.

"Oh fuck, Cindy. I'm so sorry."
I reached for a napkin and moved behind her cleaning it up as she laughed loudly.
The sound of her having fun with it ushered in much needed relief. I had
worried she was going to be furious.

"It's all good." She swatted at
me. "It was hot as hell in here, anyway. That actually felt good."

"No bringing anyone home to my dad's.
Sorry. He would have a heart attack. I was picturing the look on his face when
I spit my drink. It's too funny to even think about."

"No worries. We'll just get a
room." She bent in like she was going to whisper something to me, but
instead, slipped her hand in the top of her dress and tugged her breasts up.

I turned from her and gave the cute
bartender a look that screamed “save me.”

Cindy leaned in beside me and smiled right
next to my face. "Wish me luck. He's exactly my type."

"Good luck." I reached for the
peanuts, but the bartender jerked the dish away.

"Don't eat those. Who knows who has
been touching
them.
" He smiled and pulled the jar
from under the counter, reaching for my hand and pouring some out for me.

"Thanks." I picked at them,
ignoring the horrible feeling that rose inside of me over the idea of Finn
going home with anyone, especially my closest childhood friend.
Why did it matter?
I was being
ridiculous.

"What's got you down?" Caleb
leaned forward, pressing his forearms to the bar and giving me a kind smile.

"It's stupid."

"Guy problems?"

"Not really. I don't have a guy to
have problems with." I shrugged and looked over my shoulder as Finn, Cindy,
and the whole group with him were walking toward us. The twins were still on
the dance floor and I turned back to the bar as horror rushed through me.
"Kill me."

He laughed and shook his head. "You
could have any guy in this bar, pretty girl. The problem isn't not having a
man,
it’s
which one to choose."

"Chloe Burke. You have to meet these
guys." Cindy's voice was loud and slurred.

I stifled a flinch at her using my last
name and turned, smiling at Finn and then around the circle at his friends.
"Nice to meet you, guys."

"Pleasure's all mine." Finn
reached for my hand with a look that told me I was already his, whether I
wanted to admit it or not.

Cindy tugged him back and shook her head.
"This sexy boy is the only one off limits, Chloe. He's mine."

Finn tilted his head to the side as if
challenging me to step up. If there was anything bubbling between us, now was
the time to do something about it.

A loud, balding guy from behind Finn
leaned in and hiccupped. "I'm off limits, too. Getting married
tomorrow."

I laughed, unable to help myself.
"That's great. Stay off limits. No one likes a cheater."

"She's right, boys." A handsome
guy in a suit extended his hand as he hit Finn with his hip, forcing him to
move over. "I'm Brian. Seeing that my buddy Finn here is being stolen by
your friend, would you care to dance?"

"Brian. Really?" Finn playfully
pushed at him before being dragged back to the dance floor by Cindy.

"Yeah. Sure." I shrugged and
glanced over my shoulder in time to see the bartender laugh at me. "Thanks
a lot. If you would have just pulled the trigger..."

"Never." He winked and turned to
help other patrons.

I walked to the floor with Brian, feeling
a little off about dancing with one of Finn's friends.

You're
being ridiculous. You don't know the guy and even if you did, he is just trying
to get into your panties. Leave it be.

I moved into Brian's arms as a slow song
started, the rhythm perfect for a first dance with someone you just met.

"You from around here, Chloe?"
He smiled down at me and I turned my attention back to him, not really wanting
to see Cindy put her moves on the only guy around that had caused my blood to
boil in the worst sort of way.

"I'm from Los Angeles. Just here for
a few weeks." I smiled, enjoying the kindness I found in Brian's eyes.

"Oh, nice. You look like a beach
girl. A good tan and a great smile. I'm surprised you're not beating the guys
off around here." He smiled and then looked ill. "I meant... I didn't
mean like literally beating the guys off. I meant like..."

I laughed. "Stop. You're digging a
hole you're not going to get out of."

He smiled. "I do that often. I keep
telling my friend Finn over there that he's going to have to teach me how to
talk to women or I'll forever be alone."

"The more you do it, the easier it
gets." I shrugged and took a glance toward Finn.

Cindy was tucked up against him,
whispering something in his ear, but his eyes were on me and Brian. The anger
in his gaze told me that maybe there was something more than a silly challenge
sitting between the two of us. If that was the case, then it was better that he
and Cindy leave together.

"I actually don't want it to get too
easy." He glanced down at me and I turned back to him.

"Why is that?"

"I don't know. I've seen Finn go
through a lot of shit because he can talk to women so easily. Seems like it
would be any guy’s dream to live as a bachelor with women throwing their
panties at you, but I think he wants something more. He's lonely. I don't ever
want to experience that." He shrugged and I stiffened in his hold.

"Did he tell you to talk to me?"
I lifted an eyebrow and pulled back.

"What? No. He doesn't even know you,
right?" Brian studied me as I fumbled for the right thing to say.

"No. Of course not. Never mind."
I slid my arms back around him and turned us so I could find the twins. They
were dancing with the other three guys in Finn's group, having far too much
fun.

The dance ended and I was ready to head
home, but it would seem that the party was just getting started.

We gathered back at the bar and I nodded
toward Cindy. "I'm getting tired and my stomach's hurting. You guys ready
to go?"

"Go? Hell no. We just got here,"
Kinsey laughed and wrapped her arm around me tightly from the side.

"Yeah, Chloe. Don't go yet."
Finn turned his face from Cindy as she moved up to kiss him.

Bile rose in my throat and I knew I had to
get out of there. I didn't believe in love at first sight, but something buzzed
with excitement inside of me at the very thought of the handsome guy before me.
I couldn't handle the pressure of wanting to pull him from my friend and
subsequently punch her in the face. I wasn't a violent person, but something
about the way she draped herself across Finn left my blood boiling.

"Right, well, get another ride. I'm
ready to go." I moved from the bar and started for the door before someone
grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to the dance floor.

"Not until you tell me where I'm
dropping these lovely girls off." Finn tugged me toward him and caught me
as I tripped over the edge of the dance floor.

"I'm not dancing with you. I'm going home,"
I barked at him and tried to pull back, but he held me tighter.

"You're not leaving me with this
crazy bitch. I've sworn off women for a month because I need to remember how to
breathe. If you leave her here, I'll have no choice but to take her home or
turn her over onto Brian. He's far too much of a gentleman to tell her no.
Don't do that to him. Don't do it to me."

He smelled so good and the strength of his
arms around me left me dizzy. "What? I'm not doing anything to
anyone."

"Yeah, you are, and you know
it." He moved us to the middle of the floor and slid his hands over the
top of my ass, squeezing softly as I pressed my forehead to his shoulder and
let out a groan.

"I need to go," I whispered
roughly.

"Why are you running from me? I'm a
good guy. I just want to see you again, Chloe. No commitment, no promises, just
a date." His voice was gravelly and filled with untapped lust.

I wanted to drown in it, to be consumed by
the heat I felt pulsing between us.

My relationship with Seth had been good,
but not great. Warm, but not hot. This, on the other hand, was intense and I
could lose myself in the man holding me. Fear raced through me and I pulled
back a little.

"I need to go. Spend the night with
Cindy. She's a noncommittal
kinda
gal. You know..."
I looked up at him and lost my breath for a minute, "No commitment. No
promises. Just one night."

He released me and nodded. "Right. My
kind of woman?"

"Perhaps. I don't know who you are,
so figuring out what type of woman would force a man like you to settle down
and cherish her seems impossible."

"That's
‘
cause
it is." He shrugged and walked past me,
leaving me standing there, feeling like shit for tearing him down. He wanted me
and I wanted him, yet I wasn't just pushing, but stabbing him with every arrow
I could find. Why? It seemed so out of character for me, and yet I wasn't ready
to stop punishing him for being whatever he was.

It was unfair and I was being an ass.

"Alright, have fun." I smiled
and reached out to pull Cindy into a hug. "Call if you need me."

"Be careful on the ride home. I'll
call on my way to the airport tomorrow." She snuggled up to Finn and he
turned toward her, lifting her face and leaning down to kiss her in the way I'd
give anything for a man to kiss me.

I turned and half jogged to the front
door, not realizing that Brian was following me until I walked out into the
frigid night air.

"Hey. Can I catch a ride home? Sorry
to bother you with it, but we drove a big van and I'd rather not witness an
orgy tonight." He chuckled.

"Of course. I don't know the town
well, but if you can give me directions, I'm happy to drop you off." I
lifted my hand and hit the key button, waiting for the SUV to light up.
"Over here."

We walked to the car in silence. It wasn't
until I had the heat on and had pulled from the parking lot that Brian broke
the silence. It was a good thing he did. I was close to crying over witnessing
a guy I'd just met and my best friend from high school kissing. I was an idiot.
It didn't make sense, but my emotions were all over the place.

"I'm glad we got a chance to dance
tonight. It was fun." He tugged at his seatbelt as if uncomfortable.

I needed to save him from making the
mistake of asking me out. I wasn't sure if he was headed that way, but I didn't
want to hurt anyone's feelings. Mine were already hurt enough.

"Yeah, it was fun. I rarely go
dancing because my boyfriend in Los Angeles gets so overly protective, but my
buddies from high school came into town, and as you can see...there's no
telling them no." I laughed, and he let out a sigh of relief.

"You have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah. Why?" I looked over at
Brian and gave him the warmest smile I could muster, which wasn't saying much.