Lucky Number Four (15 page)

“It’s going. Still early. Let me take your
coats.” She holds out her hand and the guys strip off their
jackets.

Then all eyes are on me. Okay, so I’m not
into strip teasing, but I slowly unbutton my coat and open it even
slower. I peel it off my left shoulder and slip my arm out. Their
tongues are hanging out—okay, so they aren’t really, but it’s good
to imagine. I hand my coat over to Jen, who smiles and winks at me
in an appreciative way.

Ah. Now I think I understand why she’s not
affected by the guys.

I make sure my dress is straight before I
turn around and face my roommates. I watch their eyes enlarge as
they see how short the skirt is and how revealing the top part is.
My boobs aren’t ginormous, but with my push-up bra, they pass
inspection.

“Wow, Dora. You dress up nice!” Liam takes my
arm and leads me down a hallway, leaving the other two standing
like statues while still gawking at me.

“Thanks, Liam. It seems something has made
them speechless.”

“You, you’re a little bundle of surprises.
I’m usually the quiet one, as you may have noticed. It’s a
refreshing change to see them shocked.”

“Why, Liam, I like this side of you.”

“Oh, no. Now you’ll pester me to act this way
all the time. Don’t get any ideas,” he laughs as he opens the door
at the end of the hallway.

We enter another world. The music is
pulsating and the décor I can only describe as a
Goth-Victorian-Poe-era vibe. Pretty much everything is black with
splashes of red scattered around in the forms of paintings and
chairs. I’m shocked it’s not more crowded.

Liam leads me to a secluded corner booth and
motions for me to slide in. He moves in after me. I scootch over to
make more room, but instead I hit a solid object. Turning to look,
I meet Colin’s eyes. I swear, they’re devouring me. His intense
stare is making me burn as hot desire shoots along all my nerve
endings. I’ve read plenty of romance novels, and now I know what
they’re talking about.

Liam nudges me, spoiling the moment. “What’s
your poison?” he asks, grinning from ear to ear.

“Surprise me, oh, but not beer though,
anything but beer,” I reply.

He gives me a sly grin as Drew pulls up a
chair to sit in front of us. Drew reaches behind himself and closes
an embellished, antique sliding door, drowning out all the noise
from the rest of the club.

“So what do you think, Beautiful?” Drew asks,
smiling wolfishly, his seductive eyes meeting mine.

“Are you talking to me?” I ask coyly—yes,
coyly. Deal with it.

“You know it,” he replies, but even though he
is a utterly delicious male specimen, he doesn’t float my boat like
Colin does.

What am I saying? I’m not up for a
relationship, even if Colin was interested, which of course, he’s
not. I’m out with three hot guys who are my roommates and my new
friends. That’s all!

“Dora? I swear, you disappear into your head
a lot. Where do you go when you zone out?” Drew asks.

“Oh, I was just wondering why this place
isn’t jumping on a Friday night.”

“It’s on purpose. Not many people know about
this place, and that’s the way we like it. Right, boys?”

“Yeah, it gets old going to clubs and not
being able to enjoy ourselves,” Liam pipes up.

“Oh, you poor sweethearts. It must be really
hard having all your adoring fans swooning at your feet,” I say
sarcastically. To my surprise, they all burst out laughing.

“You are truly a breath of fresh air, and we
are so honored you agreed to hang out with us,” Drew replies as the
waitress slides open the door and pops her head in.

“Hey, Drew, ready to order?” she asks.

By her flirting demeanor, I realize she likes
men, especially these three. I try not to feel inadequate because
she is everything I’m not. But to my surprise, all three sets of
eyes are focused on me and not her. Drew gives her our order
without turning around, and she slides the door back,
disappointment obvious on her face.

“So what do you think?” Drew asks.

“I think it’s perfect. Poe would have loved
to hang out here. The detail’s amazing.”

“Well, they should be with the money I’ve put
into this place.”

“Would you like to dance?” Colin’s dreamy
accent makes me shiver. No, not with cold, but with the thought of
dancing with him.

I’m tongue-tied, so I just nod. He exits the
booth and helps me up when I slide out after him. I suddenly find
myself on the dance floor, but how I got here is a blur. The second
he takes my hand and doesn’t let go, my brain goes to mush. How can
he be having this effect on me? I don’t feel this way with Drew and
Liam, and they’re just as mega hot, but Colin makes me feel … well,
he makes my blood sizzle.

As soon as we start to dance, the music
changes to a slow, seductive beat and he moves in, putting his arms
around my shoulders. I’m so happy I’m wearing my five-inch heels so
I’m taller, and I gladly slide my arms around his waist. As my head
meets his chest, I hear the strong beat of his heart. His sweet
smelling cologne clings to my nose. He smells one-hundred percent
delicious. Oh my heaven, I can feel his sculptured muscles beneath
his silky shirt as we sway, and I hold back a groan as his hips
move seductively against my overheated body.

Please, legs, don’t fail me now
, I
silently plead as they suddenly feel like Jell-O and I wobble a
little on my heels.

As if he hears my thoughts, Colin tightens
his hold on me and we begin moving as one. At least, I think we’re
moving. I’ve never, ever felt this way before. I want to drag him
into the nearest booth and, well, you know … feel every inch of his
body with my fingers.

“It’s my turn.”

Drew’s voice is like a bucketful of cold
water thrown over me. Colin’s warmth is removed and Drew takes one
of my hands and places his other around my waist. His cologne isn’t
overwhelming. In fact, it smells pretty good, but it’s nothing like
Colin’s.

He moves us around the floor as effortlessly
as anyone I have ever seen, but I feel nothing. No blood sizzle, no
Jell-O legs and no desire to rip his clothes off and have my way
with him. The song ends and he lets go and places a hand on my back
as we exit the dance floor. I notice several females eyeing him up
and down and smiling. I look up at him and he seems oblivious to
their invitations.

The first thing I notice when we reach the
table is that Colin is absent. Maybe he’s gone to the loo—a
wonderful word the English use for toilet. I scoot in beside Liam
and he grins at me.

“Colin had to split. Received an urgent phone
call. Said he’d let us know later,” Liam says, minus the grin.

“That’s all? No details?” Drew looks
puzzled.

“Nope. I told him to wait and we would go
with, but he said he didn’t want to spoil our evening.”

My night has officially gone from
overwhelming to a low simmer. For the next hour or so, I find
myself dancing with Liam and Drew while ignoring the glares from
most of the female population, and even some males join in on the
hate parade. But my mind is pre-occupied with the emergency that
made Colin leave so quickly without even a goodbye.

It’s Monday, and I still don’t know what made
Colin leave the other night in such a hurry. Drew assured me it
wasn’t anything serious, but Colin has been absent since the club.
The coffee shop helps keep my mind occupied, as Mondays are our
busiest days.

By the end of my shift, I’m exhausted and
dread going to class. I quickly change my work clothes and jump on
the subway, not wanting to be late to my class lecture. The next
few weeks will be filled with studying, studying, and more
studying, since end-of-semester finals are rapidly approaching.

Speaking of finals, I’ve only briefly
mentioned Jeff. His full name is Jeffrey Thomas Bain Bradford the
Fourth, and he’s about the sweetest guy you could ever meet. Julie
and I met him our first week of college and we hit it off. His
family is mega rich, but Jeff is no snob. He’s really tall—okay, so
anyone taller than me is really tall—and he would make any woman
drool over his long dark eyelashes and jet-black locks. But the
true killer is his smile.

Yep, his smile makes you want to jump his
bones … which the female population would find impossible because
he bats for the other team, as my grandma loves to misquote all the
time. It’s such a shame. My family loves Jeff and the grandmothers
immediately thought he was my love interest. Not my mom, of course.
Henry took care of that. When I brought home The Jackass, though,
they all instantly disliked him. I wonder now why I dated him for
three years. Why couldn’t I see what they saw? I guess “love”
really is blind.

Anyway, back to Jeff. Since the semester
began, he’s been busy interning at a law firm. He wants to be a
lawyer. Not the sleaze-bag kind, but a lawyer that’s not solely in
it for the money. We see each other in class, but little else
lately.

That will change starting tonight. He’s going
to be staying with me. We’re going to be joined at the hip while
preparing for finals. I haven’t told my roomies, but I don’t think
they’ll mind. I’m paying rent after all and it’s not like we’ll be
in the way. My bedroom/sitting area is as big as most apartments in
the city, so we shouldn’t disturb them. If only Jeff wasn’t gay,
maybe he could take my mind off Colin. Last night, I had this
dream, and nope, not going to tell you. But just FYI, it was pure
awesomeness.

“Hey, Good Looking. Are you interested in a
one-night stand?” a familiar voice startles me as I wait outside
the science building for Jeff.

“It depends on what you’re offering and how
much you’re willing to pay for this amazingness,” I respond,
motioning to my body.

“I was hoping you’d give a poor college
student a break,” Jeff says woefully, his beautiful eyes sucking me
in.

“I’m just as broke, but maybe we can work out
a deal.”

He puts his arm around me and gives me a warm
side hug.

“So, Red, where are we off to?”

I smile at his nickname for me. Usually I
hate when people call me that, but when Jeff says it, it’s somehow
different.

“We’re going to my new place. Remember, I
told you I moved. Where’s your stuff?” I ask, seeing only his
backpack.

“In the car. You know I hate driving, so I
thought you could be my chauffeur. Besides, I have no idea where
I’m going, and you know I hate that even more.”

“Oh. So, is this a paid chauffer gig?”

“Yeah, of course. I’m going to give you a
huge tip.” His grin is so infectious that I reciprocate.

“Like, um, a huge expensive dinner
perhaps?”

“How about an extra-large pizza?”

“As long as I get what I want on my half,” I
reply.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Jeff hugs
me again and we take off to his car.