Scandalous Heroes Box Set (162 page)

“Oh hell! She’s got an invite!” The woman Eminence had a confrontation with earlier that evening grabbed Eminence’s wrist and held up her hand holding the invitation.

“Let me go!” Eminence pulled her arm down to wriggle out of her grasp.

“Why are you standing in line when you can go up to the front with that?” Mini Mr. T. pointed to her invitation. “You need a plus one to go in with you?” He smiled showing off all of his costly dental work.

“No you didn’t just try to play me with this trick!” His date shoved him back.

Not interested in getting caught up in these strangers’ drama, Eminence started to turn around to go back to her car, back to her home, and back to a much needed glass of wine to forget about this mistake. Perhaps Les had been right about her just staying home and curling up with a good book.

A brick wall of a doorman must have spotted the invitation in her hand. He waved her up to the front door beyond the purple velvet rope.

Damn. No use backing out now. She came here to get answers from her friend and answers for herself. No more running away.

Eminence smoothed her hand over her hair and did a slow stroll to the front door. It looked like the events of the night would be going her way.

Chapter Six

Tank had to blink a few times, rub his eyes, and do a quick and silent prayer when he spotted a sexy woman in line. She looked so much like the first and only real love of his life, Eminence Dutton. What would be the odds that he would see her twice in one week?

Working the door at Jordyna’s new club didn’t make his day…until now. Thanks to a couple of days of rest and Rosalie’s homemade spicy chicken soup, he felt one hundred times better, like he could conquer the world. Now he wanted to capture this woman.

As much as he didn’t want to, Tank thought about nothing but Eminence even after he’d played with Pet. If he truly wanted Eminence out of his system, he could have had sex with Pet. She certainly dropped enough hints for him. Tank had no interest in gaining any more attachments. Sex only brought complications.

“Will you check this out?” Dru, the other doorman, said as he stared at sex on two legs making her way up to them. “Damn. Do you think that swagger is for real or put on?”

The longer he stared, the more Tank realized what he suspected. Eminence had accepted Jordyna’s invitation. Jordie had told him she had sent Eminence one. Tank didn’t believe her. From Eminence’s nonplussed expression, she must not have noticed him standing behind Dru. She kept her gaze up and forward.

She styled her chestnut-colored hair in a swept-up hairdo with little sprigs of hair framing her face. Leave it to Eminence to rock a classy ‘do in a place like this. From the neck up, she appeared to be all business. The rest of her looked built for sin.

Her light brown eyes held him transfixed in her gaze. Just like when they were in high school, her full lips looked too juicy to not want to nibble and kiss.

He had loved her body back then. Almost as tall as his six-feet, three-inch height, she used to be all arms and legs. Now she knew how to work her incredible stems. Her tits filled out nicely in her tight outfit.

Even though his body betrayed him, his heart wouldn’t, not again. Ever since that day when Eminence walked away from him, Tank shut down his emotions. Tonight he would give her a taste of her own medicine, see how she liked getting so close to complete happiness then having her dream shattered.

“Hey, I think she’s one of the ones Jay said to watch out for.” Tank nudged Dru in his side.

“What?” The big man split his attention between Tank and the cutie heading toward them. “For real? She’s on Jordyna’s radar?”

Tank kept his gaze directed on Eminence, ignoring Dru and the throngs of people in line trying to get the duo’s attention to gain entrance into Reign.

“Oh, hell. You’re scoping her out? Hell no. I checked her out first.” Dru pounded his fist on Tank’s shoulder.

“Yeah, but you owe me.” Tank pulled his baseball cap down over his eyes to camouflage his facial appearance. “No one else would give you a chance and hire you, and I did.”

Dru sucked his teeth and paced in his spot. “Come on, man. I work hard for you. I come in on time. I stay late if you need me to. I’m here for you.”

“As your boss, I appreciate that. Now as your boss
and
your friend, you cannot block this.” Tank nodded his head toward Eminence, who was now so close he could almost smell her perfume. “There are other women inside. Pick one of them.” He jammed his elbow into Dru’s side.

“Fuck!” Just as Eminence took a step up toward the door, Dru stopped her. “Sorry, ma’am. We’re going to need to pat you down.”

“Pat me down? At a club? For what?”

As soon as Tank heard her voice, it confirmed his assumption. Eminence’s fiery spirit still existed. He knew as soon as she made him out that he would have a small window of opportunity to state his case. Telling her how he truly felt would be payment for all of those years he had been left wondering.

“In case you’ve been living under a rock, people still bring guns and knives into clubs all of the time.” Dru crossed his arms over his massive chest. Why the man chose to wear sunglasses at night made no sense to Tank. Dru could barely read the names on the guest list while wearing them.

“Yeah, but in this outfit, where would I hide a weapon?” She held up her hands.

Tank took that moment to scan her body. Hourglasses longed to have
her
shape. He licked his lips, then nudged Dru in his back to get this ruse going.

“Follow this guard to our search area.” Dru nodded toward Tank, who opened the front door for her while keeping his head down.

The thumping music from inside blared as soon as Tank opened the door. He kept his focus on her to hear every word she uttered.

“This is ridiculous. Forget it. I don’t need to come to this damn club anyway.” She tore up the invitation and threw it to the ground, inciting a feeding frenzy among the folks in line.

“I’ll use this if she doesn’t want it!” One woman held one half of the invitation while another man grabbed onto the partner half.

“Let us in! These count as two invites, right?” The man held up his half of the card.

“Hey!” Tank bellowed over the crowd.

She made a slow pivot before putting her fist to her hip.

“The owner would like to talk to you.” He nodded toward the club.

Tank hadn’t been completely full of shit. He and Jordyna had talked about trying to get Eminence to come to the club when Jordyna opened it. Whereas Jordyna wanted to patch up the friendship, Tank had other motives.

He never thought Eminence would show. The last time he saw her while they were still a couple, she’d called him a liar and called Jordyna a whore for stealing her man. She didn’t even believe him or trust him. Tonight he would make her listen.

“Why would she want to see me?” Eminence asked as she made a slow approach back to the door.

The closer she got, the more Tank had to hide his face. He lowered his head, then hunched his shoulders to respond, afraid she would make out his voice.

“This is ridiculous.” Eminence stomped up the steps. “I don’t get all of this cloak-and-dagger shit, but to give Jordie a piece of my mind would be worth it.” She whisked past Tank.

No longer did Eminence carry the fragrance of flowers. Now she smelled like a woman with a heavy vanilla and citrus scent. God, he could have eaten her right there and then. Pain and hurt be damned. His body craved her. Tank would have to punish his traitorous body in the gym after he told Eminence what leaving him so many years ago had done to him.

“Follow me.” He walked by her, purposely brushing his shoulder against her.

“Fine, Lurch. Lead the way.”

Tank bit his lower lip to keep from laughing at her jab. She still had a sense of humor. Good. She wouldn’t be in a jovial mood once he revealed his identity.

“So where are you taking me?” she asked from behind him.

He almost didn’t hear her over the loud, pounding music. “It’s where we do our extensive searches.” As he led her down a darkened hallway toward a room where many of the employees had clandestine encounters, his heart hammered. He’d never taken advantage of the room without any cameras, but he would tonight.

At the end of the hallway, he opened the door for her. “Right this way.”

She paused outside of the door. “Is this where I’m going to get searched and meet with Jordyna?”

Afraid that she would recognize his voice at such a close range, Tank simply nodded. She stormed by him.

The spare, unoccupied office only had a desk, an empty file cabinet, and an overhead ceiling fan. With only a small lamp on top of the file cabinet illuminating the room, semi-darkness cloaked the intimate space. Tank liked that. The more he could hide his identity, the longer he would have with Eminence.

Eminence slammed her purse onto the desk. She whipped around to face him with her arms crossed over her chest. “This seems a little extreme.”

Tank would keep this as straight-laced as possible until her guard lowered. “Interlace your fingers. Hands to the back of your head, please.” He stood before her, but remained in the shadows.

“What is this?”

“A pat down, ma’am.”

“You’re not putting your hands on me. If anyone is going to search my person, it’s going to be a woman.”

“Ma’am, I’m a professional.” He ached to touch her. Tank’s fingertips itched as he thought about caressing her smooth flesh.

She cocked her head. “You’re a big guy who looks intimidating. That’s why you were hired. Unless you’re going to show me a badge, you’re not going to touch me.”

“Fine, ma’am. I’ll just contact the Virginia Beach police department to see if they can send over a female officer to check you out. I don’t know how long it’ll be before she gets here,
if
they even send one. If they ask why they were contacted, I will have to tell them that you were being uncooperative, which may not be in your best interest.” Tank cleared his throat. “I assure you. I will not hurt you.”

Those were the same words he’d said to her the very first time they’d made love. He’d meant it then, but resentment enveloped his heart now. 

“Fine.” As requested, Eminence laced her fingers together and set her hands on top of her head like a suspect.

Tank came up behind her. Her scent nearly crippled him. The first touch, the very first connection since they parted as reckless teenagers, weakened his knees. As soon as he felt her hands, the air escaped from his body. Handling her soft skin jumpstarted his heart.

“Night out on the town, huh?” he began as a way to break the ice.

“Started off okay until this shakedown.” She huffed and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

Without even looking at him or intending to, she’d seduced him with a gentle sway of her body. Despite her hardened countenance, she’d grown up to be quite a seductress. With a bat of an eye, she could have him, all of him. With a flick of his whip, he could control her.

“I appreciate your cooperation.” Tank stroked her bare arms down to her armpits. “Feels like you’re in great shape. Are you still doing pushups?”

“This is not an interview, and I’m definitely not having a good time right now. So you can stop this mindless chit chat.” She cleared her throat. The sound bordered on a growl.

“My apologies. Thought I could make this go by faster with some pleasant conversation.” Partially true. Tank couldn’t deny that he wanted to know more about her, catch up on the years lost.

After releasing a long exhalation, she said, “Not that it’s any of your business, I’ve joined a gym.”

Tank coasted his hands down her body to her waist. As soon as he eased his hands around to her belly, then brought them up to rest underneath her breasts, Eminence’s body stiffened. He used every bit of will to prevent himself from cupping her tits. His cock started to get hard and threatened to let her know just how he reacted to touching her again.

“Wait.” Eminence started to turn her head to face him. “Did you just ask if I’m
still
doing pushups? How would you know that I did them before?”

Tank froze this time.

“Who the hell are you?” Eminence brought her hands down and turned around.

Not ready to let her go just yet, Tank held her waist. She, on the other hand, pulled his hat off his head.

A range of emotions registered on her face. Tank couldn’t tell if she liked seeing him again considering their past and how short he’d been with her earlier in the week, or if she hated him touching her. 

Within a millisecond, Eminence’s face relaxed. “Keys?”

Against his will, he smiled. “No one has called me that in over fifteen years.” Before he could stop himself, he pulled Eminence close with one arm around her waist, pressing her hard against his body. The compulsion to kiss her consumed him. Tank couldn’t help but lower his head and press his lips against hers. At the initial contact, he stopped breathing. Every muscle in his body froze as though locking him to that position. 

Damn, she’d done it again. Tank had fallen under her hypnotic spell. Keeping his eyes closed during the impromptu kiss didn’t let him see how Eminence reacted. Did she get swept up in the moment like he had? From how her lips stiffened shortly after he connected his to hers, he suspected that she didn’t want this. Now he wanted to know how she felt about him.

Chapter Seven

Damn Tank for succumbing to his primal urges. As soon as he got in a room alone with Eminence, he’d forgotten that he wanted to make her suffer like she’d made him. When he pressed his lips on hers, time reverted back to the very last occasion he’d kissed her. He didn’t remember her lips being as supple. Her breasts had gotten bigger, firmer.

Please, God, don’t let them be fake
.

When he slipped his tongue into her mouth, Eminence pushed him back. Too much, too soon, too bad.

“What the hell?” She reared her hand back and delivered a solid smack across his face. “You see me in the store this week and barely say two words to me. Now you want to shove your tongue down my throat? And why don’t you sound the way you did that night?”