Seemingly satisfied, Ally gave an understanding nod and they moved on to the next booth.
Then, all nonchalance and eagle-eyed, “So you didn’t see him yesterday.”
“Well, no, I did. But everything just happened the day before. It was the whole newness thing. I’d be surprised if I saw him again this week.”
Elise wasn’t going to call.
Fingers drumming the tabletop, she found her gaze once again pulling toward the digital readout over her oven. Eight thirty-six. Two minutes past the last time she’d checked.
Her legs crossed one way.
Then the other.
Picking up her fork, she pushed at the long-cooled vegetables on her plate. Gave up and swept the plate off the table to take to the sink.
She followed the steps of her routine. Washing her dishes. Stacking her plate back in the cabinet. Cleaning the sink and wiping the countertop.
Eight-forty.
Shoot.
She absolutely was not going to call Levi. She’d seen him six days in a row since trying to hire him. They’d even worked out a schedule for Bruno. He’d been coming by to pick up the puppy beast before she left for her afternoon classes and then meeting her back afterwards. Spending a few hours making her shiver and moan, and simply reminding her what a spectacular arrangement they had, before heading back to the club for the night and leaving her to either sleep, or, on nights she offered a late class, dropping her off.
But today she’d had to pay back the hours she’d swapped earlier in the week, and hadn’t seen Levi at all. He’d picked up Bruno using the spare keys, and kept the beast at his place with the plan to bring him back tomorrow.
Which was fine.
Except apparently her body hadn’t gotten the memo and had been working itself into a heightened state of readiness since almost the moment she woke that morning, thinking about the sound Levi had made when he’d taken her in the shower the day before. That low groan was all hunger and need, and the memory of it had her belly hollowing and her toes curling as a ripple of goose bumps raced across her skin.
This was ridiculous. It was one day.
She could go one day without him.
No matter how good he made her feel. No matter how hard he made her—
One day.
It would be easier to get through if she was tired and could just sleep off the rest of the hours.
Only walking past her bedroom door, she found there were two problems with that. The first, she wasn’t tired. The second, one glance at that bed and she was thinking about what Levi had done to her the last time they were in it together.
Her breath leaked out on a shaky sigh.
Less than one week, and he’d already made her an addict.
The walls of her apartment seemed to crowd closer as the minutes passed. Her skin felt hotter with every wayward thought, memory, fantasy … all of which seemed to be wrapped around the hard body and intense blue eyes of Levi Davis.
She turned back to the living room, determined to find something on television to get caught up in. It was one day. She could absolutely make it one day.
The live band was one Levi had handpicked, always enjoyed, and brought a huge local following. Hell, like many of the bands he booked, they were already on their way to making the big time … but tonight the hard driving beat reverberating through the floors, walls, and bones in his head was too much.
He was edgy. Irritated. Prowling the club looking for trouble when he’d trained just about every employee too well himself to actually find any. Either that or word had spread like wildfire that he was on the rampage and everyone had wised up enough to make sure he didn’t find any slack.
Rounding the center bar, he checked the stock as Finn backed out of his way, quickly moving toward the customers at the opposite side. Trying to look busy. Or, more likely, just busy.
They were low on Grey Goose. Levi raised a hand to get Finn’s attention, but lowered it again as one of the barhands jogged up with a full bottle, then took a quick step back when he saw Levi.
Nice. He needed to wipe the scowl off his face and ease up. His people were doing a bang-up job and the fact that it hadn’t worked out to hook up with Elise today didn’t have anything to do with them.
Truth be told, it shouldn’t have mattered a lick to him. It never had before.
He wasn’t seventeen, so the driving force below his belt that was hammering his patience into dust didn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Par for the course when it came to Elise, it seemed.
No sense in fighting it, making himself and everyone around him miserable. He’d give her a call. Let her know Bruno was all set, getting walked every two hours and enjoying his stint as the HeadRush mascot. He even had a lead on someone who might be interested in taking the dog, so it wasn’t as if he was calling just to hear her voice.
Hell no. He had a purpose. And if he happened to want to know what color her panties were when he got her on the line, then whatever … Or find out if she’d take them off for him if he asked just right … Okay, so maybe he did want to hear her voice. He wanted to hear what she sounded like as he learned just exactly what he could convince her to do with the sound of his voice alone.
The phone was out and he’d just finished texting the floor manager that he’d be off for the next thirty or so when he saw her. Little Miss Extraordinary Distraction herself, crossing the dance floor. She moved toward him, the rhythmic swing of her hips, short dress and high heels a seductive call to action.
Damn, she looked good. Almost as good as with the mud.
Sliding the phone back into his trouser pocket, he rounded the open-horseshoe end of the bar to meet her. He leaned close, drawing on that instant spark like a conduit. “Hello, beautiful. Isn’t this a nice surprise.”
“I hope you don’t mind.” Her voice barely registered over the noise from the band, so he wrapped a hand around her waist, urging her against him.
“Not at all,” he assured, letting his grip tighten the slightest degree. “Can I get you a drink?”
She shook her head, slowly brushing her cheek against his in a sexy, light caress. The contact felt good, only Levi pulled back, wanting to see her. Wanting to witness her reaction to the club he knew she’d never entered before.
His work. His creation.
Only she caught his sleeve and pulled him close again. Slid her hand down his arm and drew his palm to the lower curve of her hip.
His gaze dropped to his fingertips skimming the bottom hem of the simple sheath.
Damn. “What exactly are you up to, Elise?”
She leaned closer so her breath washed over the column of his neck as she answered him. “You look like you could use a distraction.”
There was nothing remotely subtle about their exit. Some poor kid in one of those bar uniforms came up with a question just after Elise had pulled the most brazen move of her life, but before the guy even had a chance to speak Levi told him to find the floor manager for whatever he needed. He was taking the night off.
And he’d said it without ever looking away from her eyes.
Now the hand she’d blatantly rubbed over her thigh was locked around her fingers, towing her through the far end of the club toward what appeared to be a service area congested with people. People who wanted Levi.
“Hey, boss—”