Avoiding: Avoiding Intimacy Part 9

"What's that?" she whispered. Her stomach constricted, wondering which one he could be referring to.

He chuckled against her shoulder, nibbling softly on the soft skin. "I'm not done with you yet tonight."

CHAPTER 6.

MARCH FOUR MONTHS EARLIER.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Adam asked, looking up at the black building with a large overhang and patio.

Under warmer conditions, it would probably be full of black cafe tables and chairs. A large purple neon sign displayed the name, Sulgaana Hookah Lounge, in big swirly letters. Otherwise, the only decoration outside came from fake candles lighting the way to the entrance.

"Yeah. It's new," she said, pus.h.i.+ng him forward. "A friend told me about it. Used to be a club or something, but it's been renovated."

He poked her playfully in the side. "It doesn't have a line out the door. Are you sure you're actually interested?"

"I'm not stuffy," she said, dodging his attempts to tickle her.

He stopped and raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Hey, you! Shut the f.u.c.k up!" She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him close to her.

He smiled and slung his arm across her shoulders.

"There she is!" he said, kissing her temple as he reached out for the door.

She jabbed him the ribs twice as he swung the door open. "You're gonna get it tonight," she said.

"You got me," he said, doubling over like she had actually wounded him.

Strutting forward purposefully into the hookah bar, she said, "And, stay down."

She could feel his eyes on her a.s.s as she walked a catwalk to the host's station.

She felt better and more confident tonight. Last night had shaken her a little, and she had called it an early night. Well, early for her. She had even pulled out some of Alexa's double chocolate, chocolate chip ice cream from her freezer to see if that helped. It hadn't. She had just felt fat on top of everything else.

No, she couldn't think about last night-not about the pool, not about the bar, not about the club, not about leaving.

She refused to think about his body soaking wet in nothing but swim shorts. Her mind wouldn't even let her think about being at the bar with him afterward when he had bought all the right drinks and said all the right things. No way was she going to consider his charming personality, the way his hand found the small of her back when he leaned in to ask her a question, or those too smart hazel eyes that always focused on her face. If she wasn't thinking about those things, she certainly wouldn't go back to the feel of his body pressed tight against hers as they danced in the center of the nightclub. Nope, she wouldn't think about any of those things.

All she would let herself think about was that she had ended it. They'd had a nice time, and then she had ended it.

Yep, that was the only important part.

Adam was out with her tonight, and John had plans until later. Frederick was hanging out boyfriendless at some gay bar in Manhattan, and she was considering going to hang out with him later in the evening. If Alexa were in town, she would have already been with her.

The woman behind the desk was dressed in a traditional Indian sari in deep purple and orange silk. Her long dark hair was pulled back off of her face, showing the bright red bindi at the center of her forehead. "How many?" the woman asked, smiling with eyes veiled by thick black lashes.

"Two," Chyna told her.

Adam approached the podium and poked her in the side once more for payback. She turned and glared at him.

He smiled brightly at the woman with that ever-present grin on his face. "We don't need food though. Can we just go to the bar?"

"Of course, sir," she said demurely, directing them to follow her.

They pa.s.sed three large rooms with low tables and chairs topped with cus.h.i.+ons that matched the host's sari. Food was served in circular aluminum bowls in the center of the table, and the guests were scooping directly out of the communal pots or adding food to a separate plate. The whole place smelled sweet and fragrant like flowers mixed with honey. The host took a turn to her right and pulled back a deep crimson curtain.

"Here you are," she said, allowing them access to the bar area.

They both thanked her as they pa.s.sed through the curtain into a different world.

The hookah lounge itself was made up of several adjoining rooms separated by sheer curtains. The perimeter had cus.h.i.+oned alcoves with curtains that closed around the area, allowing a bit more privacy. All over the room, pillows and chaises in deep burgundy, navy, purple, and orange were pressed together for couples to lounge on. Hookahs in various colors were sitting atop white tables. A faint fog already clouded the room, and Chyna realized the aroma she had smelled before was the mixture of all the various hookah flavors blending together.

"Come on. Let's head to the back," Adam said, taking her hand and walking through the already crowded room.

They found an empty alcove and took over the s.p.a.ce. It was bigger than she had expected with room enough for five or six people rather than the two she had been antic.i.p.ating. Adam deposited her there and then went in search of the bar. He returned a couple minutes later with her martini and a beer in hand.

"I ordered our hookah, too. They should be bringing it over."

"What flavor did you get?" she asked.

"Apple," he said with a shrug. "The guy said it was popular. We can try something else if you want."

"No, apple is fine," she said, reaching for her martini hungrily.

Alcohol was such a good idea. It made her forget things, and tonight, she really wanted to forget things.

A few minutes later, a waiter showed up with a bright green hookah and their apple selection. Adam tipped the guy and then went about his business setting up the s.h.i.+sha for them. When he finished, Chyna leaned forward, her navy spaghetti-strap dress revealing ample amounts of cleavage. She took a drag off of the hookah, winking at Adam. She breathed out the smoke and then licked her lips, surprised by how refres.h.i.+ng the faint hint of apple was. Adam followed suit, breathing the smoke out.

Then, he started digging into his pocket. "I'm going to take this," he said, taking a sip of his beer before he pressed the phone to his ear. "h.e.l.lo?" he yelled over the music and people talking in the establishment. "I can't really hear you!"

"Yeah, that's better!" he yelled back into the phone.

Chyna looked over at him expectantly, enjoying the mixture of the tobacco and vodka in her stomach.

"Sure. You're finished already?"

Chyna's ears perked up. Excuse me? Who was done early?

"Yeah, come on over. We just got a hookah."

Who was he talking to?

"I don't remember. Hold on," he said into the phone before glancing back up at Chyna. "What's the name of this place again?"

Her throat constricted when she went to answer, and she had to take another sip of her martini. It didn't help much because her throat wasn't reacting to the smoke. "Sulgaana Hookah Lounge."

Adam repeated that into the phone and then hung up. "John is on his way over," he told her. "He said his dinner plans ended early, and he would rather hang out with us tonight."

With a s.h.i.+ver running down her spine, Chyna swallowed again, her throat tight. She slurped down her martini like it was her life force. "I...uh...think I need another," she said, standing.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

He was in such a good mood from their evening together, and now, his brother was on his way. Chyna had never met anyone who liked his sibling so much.

"There's a waiter." He called the guy over and ordered another round of drinks for them, not letting her leave their little niche. He rested backwards into the cus.h.i.+oned seat.

"So," Adam began, taking another pull from the hookah, "you have fun last night?"

"Yeah." Chyna shrugged.

"I was surprised you were in before me. I didn't finish the project until two, but I wasn't expecting you until at least three or four," he said with an easy smile.

Nonchalantly, she said, "Just an early night, I guess."

"I didn't know you had those," he said innocently.

"Sometimes."

"Thank you for dragging John out with you." Adam crossed his leg over his knee at his ankle and slung one arm across the back of the booth. "I know he's my older brother, but we're only two years apart. I guess I took care of him for long enough that it's kind of natural."

"Why did you have to take care of him? He seems like a big boy," Chyna said.

"Too smart for his own good. He always thought he could get away with murder." Adam laughed.

"He probably could," Chyna said under her breath.

"Anyway, he was a party animal in high school and college. He's cut back drastically since taking this job. I probably shouldn't try to keep taking care of him. He has a good head on his shoulders."

"You're a good brother." Chyna swallowed.

Adam chuckled softly. "Thanks. I know John didn't always deserve it, but I love him. It's kind of like how you are with Lexi."

"Yeah, she's basically my sister," Chyna said, doing anything to grasp on to a new line of conversation. "b.i.t.c.h needs some serious therapy, but I'd do anything for her."

Both of them started laughing because, really, no one could deny that.

"There you guys are," John said, rounding the corner unexpectedly. "What's so funny?"

"Hey," Adam said, standing and making room for his brother.

Chyna's eyes went to John. He was in crisp, black dress pants and a white b.u.t.ton-up s.h.i.+rt with the top b.u.t.ton undone for a more casual look. When he glanced in her direction, she diverted her eyes.

"We were just talking about Chyna's friend, Lexi."

"The one who left for the week?" he asked with a curious glance in her direction.

Chyna nodded and tried not to look at him. "Yeah."

"You made it over here fast," Adam mused, moving closer to Chyna to give John room to sit down.

"Yeah, there's not that much traffic yet tonight. I hope you don't mind, but I brought some friends along. After I told them where we were going, they insisted," John said with a smile as his friends walked into the nook. "This is Nitya, Trey, and Darius. Trey and Darius work with me at Global."

He volunteered the information for those two but left out an explanation for the woman that was with him. That immediately drew Chyna's eyes to her. She was Indian with gorgeous dark-caramel skin, thick, long black hair with natural body, and almost unnatural blue eyes. She was exotically beautiful and clothed in an eye-catching red dress. Nitya smiled at them before taking a seat next to Adam.

"No problem at all. Nice to meet you," Adam said, promptly standing and shaking the two guys' hands. "I'm Adam, John's brother. This is my girlfriend, Chyna."

Chyna just smiled at them. Trey was a medium build guy with short blonde hair, and he was wearing a navy suit. He was everything she expected from a Global employee. In fact, he looked like he had the superiority complex to boot. Or, is it a Napoleonic complex? The guy next him, Darius, was a tall, skinny African American man with a perfect smile that was contagious.

They all filed into the booth. The room was already filling up, and they now had a party of five when she had been expecting just the two of them. She couldn't help noticing how close John sat next to Nitya when they all sat down.

"So, how do you know each other?" Chyna asked. She couldn't believe she had even opened her mouth.

"Nitya was at Harvard when I was getting my MBA," John told Chyna with a smirk.

Nitya rolled her eyes. "Don't make it sound so amazing," she said. "I was just getting an art history degree. It wasn't a big deal."

"Harvard is a big deal," Trey said, shaking his head.

"Not to someone who went there," Darius said, elbowing him in the side with a big full-watt smile.

"Alright, guys," she said, rolling her eyes. "It's not like I'm the MET curator or anything. I still sell s.h.i.+tty paintings every day."

"They're not s.h.i.+tty," John said, his hand touching her arm in a way that Chyna was all too familiar with.

She narrowed her eyes at the movement. Then, he caught her looking at him, so she turned her attention to Adam, who was too busy with the hookah to pay attention.

"Do you...paint?" Chyna asked, breaking the private moment.

"Some, but I'm s.h.i.+t. And, don't you say otherwise," she said, pointing at John. "I work for a small art gallery as a viewer doing appraisals for their collection."

"That's pretty cool actually," Chyna said disappointed. That was actually really cool.

She hated these moments. She didn't regret not going to college because she got more partying done in New York, and she didn't have to deal with the whole school aspect. But, she had never had anything she could really call hers like this Nitya chick.

"And, your paintings aren't s.h.i.+t. I've seen the inside of your studio," John said with a smirk.

Nitya giggled and leaned into him like they were sharing a private joke. When, in fact, their joke wasn't all that private. It was obvious what he was saying.

Trey, obviously not picking up on what John was saying, spoke up. "Yeah, I agree. I've seen some of your work. I'd love to see your studio though."