Part 15 (1/2)
”You're not helping her case any right now, Susanna,” Kas spouts.
Sara rolls her eyes, pulling Raina further into the living room. ”You look amazing, besides, you don't have time to change, Michael will be here any minute.”
Seeing her slipping confidence, Kas bites back his overwhelming desire to demand she change, knowing the reaction every hot-blooded man will have to her new look, a magnified reaction to their already l.u.s.ty stares at her when she is dressed modestly in regular jeans and a t-s.h.i.+rt. ”They're right, you look incredible. You always do,” he manages to allow himself to admit. He tears his eyes away from her to answer the knock on the door, wanting to punch Michael hard in the mouth when he sees the carnal blaze kindle in his eyes when his gaze lands on Raina, struggling to remember his place.
Michael catches the scathing glare and shrugs his shoulders, giving Kas a guilty grin as he shrinks back a step. ”Sorry, man, I'm only human.”
”Yeah, well, you can keep your h.o.m.osapien eyes to yourself,” he only partially jokes.
”Absolutely, I can do that,” Michael tries to a.s.sure him, both fully aware that he's completely lying through his teeth.
Kas manages to relax somewhat, knowing Michael is a good man, and even though his eyes may wander, he's not the type of man to cross that kind of line. He pulls Raina into his arms, wis.h.i.+ng she wasn't going, hoping it won't take long for Michael's team to take the ring down so she can come home. Kissing her bye, his mind replays last night, and how she made him come completely undone, her sensually talented body showing him exactly how much she's going to miss him.
”You're smearing your lipstick,” Sara scolds, tugging Raina away and soos.h.i.+ng her towards Michael.
Pulling her created license from his back pocket, he hands it to her, ”You will be Jules, and Brent is Caleb while you're undercover.”
Raina takes the license, nodding her head before giving Kas one last look of longing, hints of regret and uncertainty edging her eyes.
”You're going to do great, sweetheart. We'll all be here cheering you and Brent on. We'll be listening to the audition on the feed Erik set-up.”
She gives him another quick hug as Michael opens the door for her, ”I love you.”
”Love you, too. Now, get your hot b.u.t.t to Jersey and knock em dead.”
The outside of the club is nothing special, Raina muses as Brent pulls the sedan into the lot. She takes a deep breath, willing the b.u.t.terflies to stop fluttering uncontrollably in her stomach. Brent looks deliriously happy when she glances at him, grinning like he's just won the lottery. She wishes she had a fraction of his exuberance instead of the unbelievable urge to puke.
Brent takes one look at her and laughs, ”You okay?”
Raina nods, afraid to open her mouth, not wanting to tempt the nausea upwards. He checks the transmitter and nudges her to check hers, watching worriedly as she fumbles with numb fingers. ”Seriously, Raina, are you going to be alright?”
Swallowing hard, she forces a smile and meets his gaze, her eyes steadier than her nerves, ”Let's do this.”
He rewards her with a killer grin before grabbing his guitar, looking the part perfectly with his stylishly messy hair, dark, ripped jeans, and light blue flannel s.h.i.+rt over his white tee, complimenting his stark blue eyes. He b.u.mps her shoulder excitedly as he opens the door. The inside of the club is a drastic difference to the plain, understated entrance. Raina momentarily forgets her bad case of nerves as her widened eyes take in the sw.a.n.k, sophisticated night club. The walls are an earthy bronze with panels of mixed hue pebbles under a thin sheen of water continuously flowing over the small stones. The ceiling has copper, oval designs covering the pitch black tiles. The bar is a bit more dramatic with jagged shards of gla.s.s providing a spectacular cover over the bar, reflecting the shades of muted blue, green, and pumpkin lights s.h.i.+ning from the tiered, suspending sphere globes. The seating is spread throughout the large room in a mixture of tables and long, red plump couches in front of several round mosaic table tops.
Her nausea-inducing b.u.t.terflies re-strategize their attack, hitting her square in the gut when she turns and sees the stage behind a large crowd of musicians practically foaming at the mouth for the same coveted job. The nervousness radiating through the crowd seems to fuel Brent, doing just the opposite to Raina, sucking the precious air right out of her. The talented duo before them is almost done, and Brent turns towards Raina, feeling nervous for the first time when he sees the stark paleness of her petrified face.
”Breathe,” he whispers.
Her response is a tight nod.
Quickly glancing at the stage, he takes her arm and pulls her to the side. ”I need you to do this, Raina. We all need you to do this. These traffickers are ruthless, and we've got to get them this time.”
Hearing the desperation in his voice, she pulls herself together, ”I know.”
Brent studies her, panic flas.h.i.+ng in his eyes when they are called.
”I'm fine, Brent. I can do this,” she a.s.sures him, reminding herself exactly why she is here, forcing her body to cooperate with her mind.
”Okay,” he breathes, uncertainty lingering in his blue gaze.
Raina takes the stage, closing her eyes when Brent starts to play. She pictures Kas, willing his image to stay in her head as she starts to sing. Brent visibly relaxes when her sultry voice picks up strength with each chord.
Kas is surrounded by the whole team, Dexter, Erik, Derrick, and his team joining them as they listen to the audition from the stream feeding from Michael's computer in New Jersey. His heart swells with pride as he hears his wife's talented voice rise and fall, perfectly matching the tempo. Everyone is quiet until the song is done, then Austin lets out a loud whistle.
”h.e.l.l, yeah, they nailed it!” Austin proclaims proudly.
”Yeah, they did,” Kas agrees, his chest constricting with a heady mixture of relief and concern.
”Is there anything that girl of yours can't do?” Derrick laughs, thoroughly impressed at the amazing show he just heard.
Brent grabs Raina, swinging her around in his arms, ”We did it!” He puts her down, holding her out at arm's length, ”I was told you could sing, but dang, girl, you rocked it up there.”
Raina blushes at his praise, extremely relieved they got the gig. ”You were pretty amazing yourself. You really know how to make the guitar come to life.”
”I have my moments,” he winks at her, his blue eyes sparkling. Grabbing her hand, he ushers her into the car, in a hurry to get to the meeting point with Michael.
”Well, done,” Michael beams as they exit the vehicle, hardily slapping Brent on the back while he pulls Raina in for a hug. He takes a set of keys out of his pocket, ”Your apartment is on Stiles. It has two bedrooms but you have to share a bathroom.”
Raina nods as Brent takes the keys, she feels a little dazed, all of this suddenly becoming very real. She never thought of having to share a place with another man. The uncomfortable thought tugs at her, making her miss Kas fiercely.
”Your suitcases are already there, and the fridge is full. Go to your new home, get some rest before you perform tomorrow night, you deserve it.”
Brent closes his guitar case, nodding at Raina, letting her know he's ready to leave. He watches her make her way down the stage steps to the rest of the band members waiting at the door. They have performed every night the past week, and Brent is impressed with how Raina is relaxing more each time. He's glad they have tomorrow night off, well, off from performing anyway, but is frustrated that they haven't gained any ground with the trafficker's yet. Brody, the band's over-s.e.xed drummer, has been flirting relentlessly with Raina, and Brent chuckles as he sees how she graciously steps out of Brody's grasp, making up an excuse that she forgot something, when he slips his arm territorially around her shoulders.
A sudden wave of unpleasant emotion smacks him hard in the chest. He is confounded by a feeling that strongly resembles jealousy when he watches in distaste how Brody thoroughly enjoys himself staring at Raina's retreating derriere. He shakes his head, telling himself he's just tired, or feeling protective for his partner, rea.s.suring himself that it can't be jealousy, she's taken.
They are met with a willing ring of groupies as soon as they walk out of the door. Raina shakes her head and steps back as the girls throw themselves at the band members. Brody wraps his arms around two girls who have their hands in places that seems to please him immensely. Raina practically gags as he leads them both to his car. Curt sets his sights a little lower and leaves with only one.
Raina tries not to smirk as a pretty brunette with too much make-up and not nearly enough clothing grabs Brent's hand and writes her number on his wrist. She leans close to him when she's done, whispering something in his ear as she's sure to rub her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against his arm. Brent blushes, and Raina laughs out loud, gaining a scathing glare from the unashamed, brazen bimbo.
Raina ignores the glare and pushes Brent's arm, ”Let's get you out of here before we have an all out cat fight,” Raina teases. ”Unless you wanna go, and in that case, I'll drive myself home.”
The word 'home' rolling off of her lips leaves Brent not wanting to leave with anyone else but Raina. It means nothing to her. It means everything to him. He rubs his thumb across the soliciting number on his wrist, smearing it, ”I'm not a one night stand kind of guy.”
Raina smiles approvingly, ”I knew you had some cla.s.s.” She laughs again, and it rips a hole in his heart. ”C'mon, I've got a call to make,” she declares, dragging him to the car.
His hole just got bigger.
It's a short drive to their temporary home, and Brent concentrates on the case, trying to distract himself from the troubling emotions surfacing inside. Shadrack, the popular club's owner, has relaxed with them a little, but it's obvious he's guarded, leaving the room with certain phone calls, obsessively locking the office every time he leaves the room, even when making a quick trip to the john. They have seen other suspected traffickers meet with Shadrack in the locked room, and Brent has looked for ways to get into the office, but no one even goes down the hall where the office is located, unless lead by the head trafficker himself. It seems to be some kind of unspoken rule that employees are to stay in the main room, they can party and drink as much as they want after their performance, but they are to stay clear of the hall east of the bar.
Raina immediately calls Kas as soon as she walks through the door, her face lighting up when he answers, and another stab of the hateful emotion hits Brent. He grabs a towel, deciding to take a shower and go straight to bed, hoping the nonsense rioting in him will be long gone in the morning. His plan is shattered when he smells pancakes as he opens the bathroom door.
Raina flips a pancake as she stares at the skillet, her mind miles away, thinking of and missing Kas intensely, and missing how they cook breakfast side by side most mornings. She decided to make breakfast now, even though it's technically dinner, needing to somehow connect with him. She sees Brent leaning against the wall at the edge of the kitchen when she turns to grab the syrup, ”You hungry?”
Brent mentally slaps himself for the inappropriate, wayward thoughts running through his mind at her choice of words. Chastising himself, he shrugs, ”A little.”