Phoenix Rising (12 page)

Chapter Fourteen

The bar had already opened for business when Connor sent Jessa across the street to have Morgan hook her up with fresh clothing. But he’d not been prepared for the sight of Jessa walking back through the front door at three p.m. In fact, if the beast inside him hadn’t purred at the sight of her,-Connor might not have recognized the sexy temptress walking past him with a sultry invitation on her face.

“Cat got your tongue, Connor?”

His brain barely registered her words. It was too busy processing the way she looked. Her long honey-colored hair was secured in a spiky knot. Several renegade locks slid like silk over her near bare shoulders. The breasts he loved to kiss and touch were spilling over the top of a smooth black corset top that displayed her perfectly molded body. A short skirt rested on the swell of her hips. The pleated black and white material barely covered her delicious ass.

Connor blinked. He’d just caught a glimpse of the top of one black silk stocking beneath the edge of her skirt. His cock went rock hard.

He would bet an entire night’s take that Morgan had somehow convinced Jessa to wear a thong.

Connor bit back a groan at the thought. Just one tiny scrap of material separating her beautiful ass cheeks, a quick hook of his thumb and he could reach between her legs and bury his hand in her slick heat.

The massive hard on didn’t go away. He stood scowling at the front door, watching people flash ID while the beast roaring inside him was violently aware of every single move Jessa made inside the bar. To say nothing of the customers’ appreciative reactions.

She laughed and tossed meaningless smiles at the patrons while she skittered around the bar in her combat boots. All the while, Connor could sense her gaze returning constantly to him. Every searing touch of her hazel eyes made his cock pulse with the urge to spread her open in front of the entire bar and fuck her. Just to show them Jessa was his.

“Is my ID enough, or do I need to prove myself to you?”

The feminine voice pulled Connor forcefully back to the job at hand. Four women stood in front of him. Not a single one of them belonged in his bar.

Phoenix Rising
catered to people who lived in the real world. A world of hard workers scraping by who wanted a good drink in a low key atmosphere and the chance to blow off some steam in a back corner with a willing partner. The men were rough manual laborers or guys clawing their way up the corporate ladder who needed a place they could let the civilized charade fall away. The women weren’t much different. And they were all looking for a chance to let themselves go for a bit and feed the wild instincts they spent all day ignoring.

The four women standing before him were wearing dresses made by designers with names Connor wouldn’t have been able to pronounce even if he’d known who they were. The one who’d spoken had on a tiny black dress and five inch spike heels. Her blonde hair was twisted into a perfect chignon at the back of her head. Flawless cosmetics gave her what Connor would’ve bet most men considered an attractive face. But her eyes were so cold and calculating that Connor tossed her into the Selena pile without even bothering to know her.

“I don’t doubt the four of you are old enough to be in here,” Connor said, widening his stance. “But I can’t imagine
why
you’re here.”

The blonde exchanged hushed whispers with a skin and bones redhead sporting green eyes and an athletic black haired waif with violet eyes. All three conformed to the New York version of good looks with their tiny tits and lack of a substantial ass. The brunette was the sole one of the foursome that seemed to have her own brain, though she hadn’t used it when choosing her outfit.

Connor turned his attention away from the whispering beauty queens to watch the curvy brunette stand on the tiptoes of her chunky platform sandals to see across the bar. She was obviously looking for someone. Her gaze brightened when she spotted Jessa behind the bar with Alex.

The crowd at the tables had reached its typical mid-week slow down. Jessa had joined Alex at the bar with a core group of the regulars. The lusty factory workers were enjoying Jessa’s new outfit as she bent over to serve whatever Alex slid her way.

“We’re friends of Jessa’s,” the brunette eagerly offered.

The pieces of the puzzle snapped together. But instead of welcoming the ladies, Connor wanted even more to throw them out. These were the country club bimbos who had spent so many years tying Jessa into tight little knots. She’d come so far so fast. An encounter with the bitches standing before him wasn’t in her best interest. It wasn’t in Connor’s either.

Seeing a piece of Jessa’s past standing before him, a few things began to make some sense. The brunette was the only one with a shred of hope. Her curvy body was draped in a horrible dress two sizes too large. The sack hid her large breasts and hips. Connor knew it was probably her intention. Their preppy uptight society told them they were fat and ugly so often that they started to believe it. It wasn’t until someone like him with a little taste and a streak of bad a mile wide helped them turn loose that they started to realize their own feminine power.

“Hey, Connor, they’re okay.”

Jessa’s sweet voice reached him seconds before she did. Connor could smell her unique scent as she swung the cage door back and gained the platform.

“Wow Kitty, I didn’t think you guys would make it down here.”

Connor crossed his arms impassively over his chest and watched Jessa retreat into her shell before the obvious alpha bitch of their little pack. Restless hands tugged at the fabric of her skirt in an attempt to force a little more coverage of her legs. Eyes downcast, the steel went out of her spine as the temptress turned demure.

“Jessa darling, we had to see what all the fuss was about,” Kitty returned, leaning over and invisibly brushing her lips against Jessa’s cheeks.

“It’s so rough!” the redhead said before she, too, greeted Jessa.

“Not a lot of women in here, Jessa. I don’t guess the men are picky are they?” the black haired waif didn’t bother with the greeting.

“Jessa sweetheart, you look fabulous!” the brunette gushed before flinging her arms around Jessa’s neck and giving her a real hug.

Connor grunted in approval. His instincts had definitely been on track. They were like fish, cold fish. And everyone but the curvy girl in the ugly dress needed to be tossed back.

“Ladies,” Jessa cast a glance at Connor. “This is Connor. He’s the owner.”

Connor gave them a clipped nod.

“Connor, this is Kitty, Georgia, Courtney and Anne. We’ve all been friends for years.”

“Our husbands play golf together,” Kitty said with a pointed look at Connor.

His eyebrow twitched. He wondered if he were being warned away from Jessa. But something in Connor’s gut told him that the kitty cat didn’t believe he could possibly be interested in Jessa anyway.

“Come on down, you guys. I’ll introduce you to Alex. He makes a wicked apple martini.”

Her voice trailed away as she led her friends out of the cage into the bar. Only Kitty lingered behind. The manicured nails clutching her evening purse were painted blood red. Connor thought it an appropriate color for the blood-sucking wench standing before him.

“Owner, bouncer, resident gorgeous man with a huge cock.” Kitty pursed her lips. “Anything I’ve forgotten?”

Connor grimaced. Odd, but the raging hard on he’d been fighting all night had immediately gone away when Kitty started her little game. He arched one eyebrow and held her pale blue eyes. “Not interested.”

A knowing smile curved her lips. “Oh come on now. A big guy like you left all alone tonight is such a shame. I could keep you very comfortable.”

“Little kittens shouldn’t venture into the jungle,” Connor rumbled dangerously. “Some big cat might tear them apart.”

Her breathy laugh carried all the way across the bar. The hair on the back of Connor’s neck prickled as he realized Jessa was watching this little interlude. Kitty knew it too. And no matter what the truth might be. Connor had a feeling Jessa would only hear Kitty’s version.

“Your friends are calling you,” he told her roughly.

“I’m sure they are.”

Her thick perfume filled his nose long after she’d joined the other women across the bar. The scent coated his tongue and turned his stomach. Connor longed to pull Jessa into his arms and bury his face in her soft hair to chase it away. But the night wasn’t over yet. And watching the room had just become a lot more important. Connor had no intention of letting these women run all over Jessa’s budding confidence.

* * *

Alex passed Jessa another shot of raspberry liqueur and she tossed it back. She’d settled her friends at the far end of the bar. She could’ve found a quiet table somewhere but Alex’s presence gave Jessa a much needed confidence booster.

Jessa placed a hand on Anne’s forearm. “I’m so glad to see you out and about, Anne. You need to quit staying at home waiting for a man who isn’t going to keep promises he never meant to begin with.”

Anne shook her head in amazement. “Jessa, I swear you’ve changed so much I hardly know you!”

“That’s a fact,” Courtney snorted. She sipped her margarita.

“Oh, we’ve been working very hard on that,” Alex quipped as he pulled another beer for a customer and gave Jessa a suggestive wink.

Georgia delicately slid an olive into her mouth. “Are you intending to keep this job for long?”

“Until Connor fires me,” Jessa said, sharing a look with Alex.

Anne sighed. “You look so happy. And where on earth did you buy those clothes?”

Jessa dissolved into giggles. “You really want to know?”

Anne nodded eagerly. Even Courtney and Georgia looked curious.

“There’s an adult store a couple of doors down. I made friends with the girl who works there and Morgan helped me put all this together.”

Courtney’s mouth fell open. “Seriously?”

Kitty chose that moment to approach, swinging her hips in an open invitation Jessa’s gut instinct told her was meant for Connor. Jessa chanced a glance at the door. Connor met her curious gaze but she couldn’t hold his black eyes. Too much fear and doubt swam inside her chest.

Now he’d seen what everybody else always did, plain old Jessa standing right next to gorgeous Courtney, Kitty, and Georgia. It was silly to hope there would be any more wild nights for her and Connor once this twilight zone evening had played out.

“There you are, Kitty.” Georgia looked relieved at the change in topic. “Where have you been?”

A knowing smile split Kitty’s pretty face. “Oh, you know, just exchanging a few comments with Connor.”

Courtney chanced another look at the door. “That is one sexy man. He makes the guys at the club look like little boys.”

Tension drew Jessa’s smile into a frown and she snapped her fingers at Alex. Without breaking his rhythm Alex slid her a bottle of cranberry juice followed by a fifth of top shelf Vodka.

Alex lifted an eyebrow. “Lime?”

“Please.”

Jessa caught several wedges of ripe lime as Alex lobbed them in her direction. Grabbing a huge glass, she upended both the juice and the vodka into it in equal measures with her recently reawakened bartending skills. Squeezing the limes into her newly discovered favorite concoction, Jessa took a long pull and tried not to hate both Connor and Kitty.

“Did he make an offer?” Georgia wanted to know.

“Oh, I’d say his intentions are obvious.”

“I want something like him to play with after hours, Kitty. You’re lucky!” Courtney purred. “Wonder if the bartender cutie has a girlfriend.”

“Jessa?” Kitty demanded. “Does he?”

Jessa smirked behind her cranberry stained lips and lifted the glass to her mouth for another long pull. Somehow, it seemed less painful to think about Kitty and her crew taking over at
Phoenix Rising
if she was protected by a drunken haze. “Alex likes lots of women, Courtney. I’m sure he’d accommodate you without too much trouble.”

Courtney slid her finger around the rim of her glass and shot Alex a loaded smile. “Jason’s gone this week on business. Maybe I’ll see if Alex would like a place to crash after hours.”

Jessa chuckled. “Oh I don’t think he makes house calls, Court. But if you’re feeling a little horny he’d probably be happy to bend you over a table and fuck you right here in front of everybody.”

The group went dead silent. As one, they turned to stare at Alex. He ignored their gaping stares. There were several more moments of shock before Kitty’s low laugh rippled across the room.

Jessa’s stomach clenched uneasily. She didn’t know why. But they were all laughing at her as if she’d just told them the funniest joke ever.

The truth was a double-edged blade. They didn’t believe her. And better that it stayed that way. She couldn’t be telling these tight assed bitches what went on in Phoenix Rising. A few bad eggs could ruin it for everyone.

So Jessa listened to them laugh and poured herself another drink. Alex brought her two more lime wedges, leaning over her shoulder as he did.

“Things are clearing out pretty fast. I think Connor’s going to close early. Your friends can stay if you want them to,” Alex murmured.

Jessa looked around in surprise. She’d been so preoccupied with her personal issues she’d failed to notice that there were only two guys left sitting at the bar. Wade and Tommy were more than regulars. They were a habit.

Wade caught Jessa staring. “Hey Jessa, why’re you making Alex serve us drinks. You know we’d rather see you do it.”

“Us girls have got to stick together, Wade. You know that. Besides, Alex is much better at tending bar than I am. Your seven and seven would be more like ten and four if I made it.”

Tommy and Wade erupted into uproarious laughter, pounding the bar as they swore and smacked each other on the back.

“You’ve got a way with people, Jessa. You know that?” Anne told her.

“So it seems.”

“Don’t let Kitty get to you.”

Jessa gazed at the three women knotted together sharing whispered comments while darting secretive glances about the bar. “Why do you hang out with them, Anne?”