Mirage Page 6

  I kissed a few other boys after Jason, but nothing too exciting. But this kiss with Danny, WOW, it took the oxygen right out of my body. I felt like I was floating.

  “I knew it. You little tramp. How are you going to hold out on your best friend?”

  “I didn’t know it was such a big deal. It’s not like we’re dating or anything,” I rebutted.

  “Mark my words, Mira Rae Adams, you’re going to marry that boy one day. I can see it as clear as day,” Kylee proclaimed.

  I just laughed and shook my head at her.

  Now I remember what I thought about that look she gave me earlier. Came back and bit me in the ass.

  “We should grab dinner before we go out tonight. How does going downtown sound?” Kylee asks.

  I haven’t been downtown in a long time, probably since before Danny passed. “Sure, we’ll get dolled up, go to dinner and maybe hit a bar,” I respond.

  “I don’t really want to get all fancy. Maybe we can hit one of the Greek restaurants by the casino and then walk to a bar somewhere in Greektown?” Kylee asks.

  “Fine by me. Give me an hour and I’ll be ready.”

  Chapter Eight

  Even though I was a little excited to get dressed up, Kylee was right. The weather was getting cooler. I had recently bought a brand new LBD and thought it would look perfect for a night on the town, but I probably would freeze my ass of wearing it. I opt for my favorite grey skinny jeans instead. I match the jeans with a shiny purple shirt that only has one sleeve, leaving me braless for the night. Even though it was cooler out, it was bound to be warm in a bar or restaurant.

  I walk down the stairs to find Kylee in the living room getting her clutch ready for the night. Us Michigan girls do it right. We carry giant catch-all bags during the day and the cutest clutch purses at night.

  Making sure I have the necessities in my clutch; license, credit card, cash, lip gloss and a condom, just in case, a gal can never be over prepared, I walk towards the couch where Kylee is sitting.

  Kylee is wearing an outfit similar to mine; skinny jeans and sexy, but not too sexy top. She decided to match her outfit with a sparkly pair of black six-inch heels. I, on the other hand, decide to be a little more practical, knowing we were going to be walking around Greektown, chose a cute pair of black and purple ballet flats that matches this outfit perfectly.

  “Ready, sexy,” I call out to Kylee.

  “Let me check my hair, and I’m good to go,” Kylee says while walking to the full-length mirror in the hallway. “Damn I look good. Detroit boys, eat your hearts out.”

  “There she is, ladies and gentlemen. The modest Kylee Anderson,” I joke as we walk out the door.

  The ride downtown doesn’t take long, maybe twenty minutes. We decide to park in the casino parking garage knowing as long as we go into the casino, we can get our parking validated. Plus, it’s the safest parking you can find in the city at this time of night.

  We choose a cute little Greek restaurant right outside the casino. We eat a wonderful meal and laugh about old stories. We even played a little game of remember so and so from that place. It was the best time I have had in a long time. I didn’t realize how much I missed Kylee until now. Talking on the phone and Facebooking just wasn’t the same as sitting down face to face. I make a mental note to figure out a way to solve this problem at another time.

  We walk over to the casino to get our parking validated right after dinner. Check that off of our to-do list for the evening. I was never really into gambling, but I stand by while Kylee feeds a few dollars into a quarter slot machine. Of course with her luck, she wins one hundred dollars on her third go round.

  “Drinks are on me, pretty lady,” Kylee says with a huge grin on her face. Of course I accept at the time, knowing that we were going to drink well over one hundred dollars. Especially since we’re drinking downtown.

  We walk around, still laughing and joking, for about twenty more minutes before we come across a bar by the police department.

  “How about this one? Do you get a good feeling about it, Lady Luck?” I ask.

  “Let’s do it. There are some pretty awesome bikes parked out here. Maybe I’ll end up someone’s biker babe before the night is out,” she says laughing and walking towards the entrance.

  There were quite a few motorcycles parked on the sidewalk in front of the bar. I hesitantly walk in behind her, not wanting to get any unwanted attention by some burly bikers. I do not want to be someone’s biker babe tonight. Shit, I don’t ever want to end up a frizzy haired blonde wearing an American flag as a bathing suit, biker babe. Maybe I watched too many 90’s music videos growing up.

  “Mi, over here. I found us a table,” Kylee yells from across the crowed bar.

  There are so many people in this bar. Looking around, there are about fifteen flat screen TV’s posted in each conceivable direction. It looks like some sort of game is on. Oh, that’s right, the Red Wings are playing tonight. That explains the heavy traffic in the bar at only ten at night.

  The waitress comes over and to take our drink orders. Kylee and I always order the same thing. Cotton candy vodka and sprite with a lime on the side. It was kind of our signature drink in college. Neither one of us can stand the taste of alcohol, and the cotton candy flavor masks it. But you have to be careful, these things are so yummy, they sneak up on you quick.

  “I hope this game is over soon. The sign on the door says they have a great DJ on Friday nights. I’m in the mood to dance,” Kylee says, taking a sip of her drink.

  “That would be nice. I would love to dance too,” I say back to her.

  After another forty-five minutes and three more drinks each, the game is over. The fans start to pay their tabs and leave, which is great. Now we can see a little more of the place. The bar is nice. It isn’t huge like most downtown bars and it has a cozy kind of atmosphere. That is until the college kids from U of D Mercy start coming in the doors.

  Girls wearing next to nothing and guys have pants sagging off their asses. Oh hell, what did we get ourselves in to?

  After all the sports fans leave the bar, the DJ sets up fairly quickly. He puts on a catchy song. Rhianna was singing about birthday cake and it seems that all the college girls like this song. I’m only twenty-four but it seems that I’m going to join the dance floor with a bunch of young immature girls that only want to grind their asses on the closest crotch they can find.

  “Mira, come on, let’s dance. I love this song,” Kylee gleefully says as she grabs my hand and pulls me towards the dance floor.

  I grab my drink and carry it with me on the dance floor I am not getting roofied tonight, boys, I think to myself.

  We’re dancing and laughing. One song bleeds into the next. I easily kept rhythm during the changes of the songs along with Kylee. The little girls didn’t do so well. It looks like the younger they are the less they can tolerate their booze. Thankfully Kylee and I perfected our ratio of dancing to drinking, giving us the perfect buzz and enough courage to break it down on the dance floor.

  I’m seductively swaying my hips to another hip hop song with my drink in my right hand that’s in the air when I see him.

  Skylar was sitting at a table with a group of what appeared to be bikers. There were three other guys at the table, all looking just as scary as Skylar. He has totally changed. In college, Skylar always wore fitted jeans and fitted shirts. I know all too well what that boy is packing under all of those clothes. Now, Sawyer is wearing a pair of looser faded jeans, white sneakers and a plain white tee shirt. He’s also wearing a black leather vest, the same as the other guys.

  I try to get a little closer without being totally obvious and having Kylee question what I’m doing. When I move around to the other side of the dance floor, I see his vest has a patch on back. “What the hell is Hooliganz,” I say aloud to myself.

  “What did you say?” Kylee asks.

  “Um, oh, nothing. Just talking to myself,” I say back to her and try to move her
to the other side of the dance floor.

  Kylee squints Skylar’s direction and the other guys at the table. Her eyes go big and I know she recognizes him.

  “Skylar McBride? Holy shit, it that you?” Kylee asks as she leaves me on the dance floor and runs over to the table.

  “Well if it isn’t Kylee fucking Anderson, in the flesh,” Skylar says has he picks her up in a giant hug. He spins her around once before setting her back on the ground.

  “Mira, get your ass over here. It’s Sky,” Kylee yells.

  Skylar looks at me and his eyes go from excited to angry so quickly I was scared to go over to the table. Knowing I couldn’t back down, I place my empty glass on a nearby table and walk over towards them.

  “Hey Sky, how are you?”

  “I’m good, Mira, how are you?”

  “I’m doing good. Working a lot, but I can’t complain,” I say.

  I really wasn’t in the mood to re-hash all that went wrong with Skylar and me, so I decide to take drink orders and head towards the bar. That was a thankful reprieve from what could go terribly wrong. But the more I thought about it, I begin to panic. I left an intoxicated nosey Kylee alone with Skylar. There is no way she’s not going to get the dirt on me now. Shit.

  As I make my way back from the bar, drinks in tow, I recognize another familiar face.

  “Jacoby, is that you?” I say walking towards a guy that looked almost identical to my boss from his side profile.

  “Hey Mira, how are you? Are you and your friend out for a night on the town?” Jacoby asks with a little bit of a slur in his voice. Someone has had a couple drinks, I think to myself as I get closer and can smell the whiskey on his breath.

  “Yeah, my girlfriend Kylee and I, who’s around here somewhere, decided to come down for dinner and drinks,” I say as I turn back to get the drink orders.

  “Why don’t you and your friend come and have a drink or a shot with me and my friend?”

  “Um, are you sure we wouldn’t be imposing?” I ask, a little unsure of the situation. In a professional social setting, it’s okay to have a drink or two with a co-worker or a boss, but this is not professional. I am dressed a little too sexy for this to be professional.

  “Really Mira? Get your friend and come on back. We never pass up an opportunity to have drinks with beautiful women such as yourselves.”

  Well, hell. This night out just took another unexpected turn.

  “Yeah sure, let me run and find Kylee and drop these drinks off. I’ll be right back,” I say before my brain can process that I just agreed to have casual, non professional drinks with my boss who just inadvertently called me beautiful.

  I carefully carry the drinks back to where Kylee and Skylar are standing. Placing the drinks on the table, I turn to Kylee who gives me a puzzled look. I really don’t like when Kylee gives these looks. And even more than the looks, I hate that I know what the looks mean. That look means ‘yeah bitch you’re busted’.

  “Kylee, I have some friends on the other end of the bar who want to have a drink or two with us. Do you want to go or do you want to stay here?” I ask her, not making eye contact with Skylar.

  “What friends? Like from college?” Kylee asks.

  “No, friends from work. Jacoby is here with one of his buddies,” I tell her.

  “Which ones are they?” she asks while peaking around me to get a better look.

  “Jacoby is wearing the blue button down dress shirt and has the dark hair,” I tell her, pointing towards Jacoby’s table.

  “Um, hell yes. That man is so fucking sexy. I’ll have a drink or two with him and his pal. Shit, let’s do some body shots,” Kylee says.

  I guess it might be time to cut Kylee off. Kylee always had a habit of becoming rather slutty when drinking. Okay, I lied. Kylee is always kind of slutty; it just comes off less subtle when she’s drinking.

  Kylee says her goodbyes to Skylar, who looks like he’s gritting his teeth together and continues to stare at me, but I refuse to make eye contact. This was the first time I have seen him since I moved out of the apartment and I didn’t want to get into anything with him, especially since I have been drinking. I have little filter as it is and with booze involved, my filter is virtually nonexistent.

  We walk over to where Jacoby is sitting. Upon our approach, Jacoby stands up and pulls out a stool for me and helps me on so I don’t fall backwards. Maybe I have had a little too much to drink as well.

  Jacoby introduces his friend Marcus, who also pulls out a stool and helps Kylee get settled. And one thought that chivalry was dead. Not with these two guys. Jacoby signals a waitress to come over and take our drink orders.

  “Two cotton candy and sprites with a lime on the side,” Kylee says.

  “Ky, I think I’m done for the night. I have to drive us back and need to sober up,” I say to her and try to cancel my drink order from the waitress, who was already walking back towards the bar.

  “Mira, Marcus and I are staying at the casino hotel tonight. We played some poker earlierand won a fair amount. The casino comped us a suite with an extra bedroom. You and your friend are more than welcome to stay with us there so you can continue your night out with Kylee,” Jacoby offers.

  I felt like his eyes were burning holes through my skin. Everywhere he looked, I felt immediate heat. This is not good. My boss is the tri-fecta, sexy, smart and rich. I cannot go there with him.

  “Thanks Jacoby. We probably should get back to Ann Arbor tonight, but I appreciate the offer,” I say.

  I look over at Kylee who is giving me yet another look. I think this look is a cross between ‘are you fucking kidding me’ and ‘this guy is totally mount-able, you better do it or I will’. Neither one I really appreciate so I give her my best ‘not the time, we’ll talk later’ look, but it fails miserably.

  “Jacoby, don’t listen to Mira. We would love to stay downtown. I’m only in town for a few weeks and the more time we can spend together having good old-fashioned fun, the better. Right Mira?” Kylee say almost growling the last part at me.

  Jacoby looks to me for an answer. As I look up to meet his eyes that are still burning through me, I see Skylar, who is still staring at me. I think for a quick second about the Heather fiasco and decide to stop being so cautious and take a leap.

  “I guess that would be okay since you have an extra room and all,” I say, trying to convince myself.

  “Great, then we’ll get another round and get this party started right,” Jacoby says. “Waitress, a round of shots, please. Cuervo Black if you have it.”

  Tequila and I are still not on good terms. I am still either a bitch or a slut. The last time I drank tequila for an entire weekend, I ended up with my dead fiancé’s best friend. Kylee gives me her signature ‘you’re going to get laid’ tonight look and I can’y help but laugh out loud.

  “What’s so funny?” Jacoby asks.

  “Nothing, just thought of the last time I drank tequila. Things didn’t end so well,” I respond trying to make it a joking matter leaving him to believe that maybe I got sick or did something crazy rather than the disaster that took place.

  “Let’s see if we can give you a happy tequila memory, huh?” Jacoby asks as he leans over to whisper in my ear and puts his hand on my thigh.

  Tequila and I are already getting along better. Let’s keep this momentum up.

  After three shots of tequila and another round of drinks, we all get up to leave the bar. We didn’t wear our jackets into the bar and it was is chilly outside. Jacoby takes his jacket that he wore with his suit and places it over my shoulders. I look up at him and smile, acknowledging his chivalry. He places his hand on the small of my back and guides me out of the bar.

  When we get outside, I notice that the guys with the motorcycles, Skylar included, were getting ready to leave as well. He walks towards me and the group I’m with and I don’t have a good feeling about this.

  “Mira, are you okay to drive tonight? You had quite a bit to drink
. I can give you a ride if need be.” Skylar asks, looking between Jacoby and me.

  “Thanks pal, she’s staying with me tonight, but I appreciate you looking out for her,” Jacoby answers for me.

  “You’re staying with him?” Skylar asks looking confused.

  “Yeah, we’re going back to the hotel with Jacoby and what is your name again, oh yeah, Marcus,” Kylee chimes in.

  “Thanks though Skylar, it was nice of you to offer,” I say.

  “Whatever. Have a good time Mira. Take care Ky, call me some time, why don’t ya,” Skylar says as he walks back to his bike.

  He gets on the bike and rides away. He glances over his shoulder once he was at a red light and shakes his head in my direction, almost saying, “Wow Mira, really.”

  “Alright ladies, let’s get you back to the room. It’s too cold out here and I don’t need Mira getting sick,” Jacoby says.

  Marcus and Kylee walk in front of us laughing and talking. When we get a little further from the bar, Jacoby casually puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into his side. It was warm and my stomach does a little flip. I haven’t had these kinds of feelings in quite some time, probably since Skylar.

  He is my boss and I can’t let my hormones get the best of me, I mentally repeat to myself.

  “Thanks again for the jacket and letting us stay with you tonight. It’s been a long time since we were able to just have fun without having to worry about driving home,” I say.

  “Mira, when I saw you tonight, all I could think of was getting to spend time with you. Not the time we usually spend. The kind where you don’t work for me and I get to see you carefree and happy. I really liked hanging out with you tonight and I hope we get to spend some more non-work time together, if that’s okay with you. I know me being your boss is kind of weird, but I feel like I really want to get to know Mira the person as opposed to Mira the office manager,” Jacoby says.

  The butterflies in my stomach are back again. How do I answer this? I really enjoy spending time with him. He’s amazing and it doesn’t hurt that he’s a real life, less rich version of certain BDSM book boyfriend we all love, but I don’t want to jeopardize my job. ‘There you go over thinking again Mira. Live a little’ my brain tells me. Maybe it isn’t my brain but the cluster of nerves between my thighs.