Page 2 of She's Like the Wind

She wasn’t like Naomi—subtle, delicate, strong….

I pulled away and saw Claudine’s eyes glazed with arousal. In the past, this was the look that told me I’d have a long night of fucking ahead of me. Not this time. I had a sour taste in my mouth and stomach.

Fuck!I was going to throw up.

“Gage.” Claudine cupped my cheeks, wanting to draw me back in, but I managed to smile and pull away, using the excuse of the server showing up with our drinks.

Finally, after I took a fortifying sip of my Sazerac, I turned to faceher. Instead, I was confronted by Aurelie’s accusing eyes. The guitar player, Phillip, I think that was his name, stood next to her, glaring at me.

Where was Naomi?

I looked around, panicked. Then I saw her at the second bar in the back, talking to the bartender.

I sighed in relief. She hadn’t run. She was still here. I could still…?

What?

I’d done what I needed to do, hadn’t I?

The band came back after the break, and Naomi, no quitter, that one, was back at her barstool.

I couldn’t see her face.

I couldn’t see how she was feeling.

“Should we go to my place?” Claudine urged huskily.

I looked at her as if suddenly realizing she was still there.

I’m an asshole!

She slid her hand up my thigh, but before she could cup me and find out that my dick was as flaccid as it would be after a dip in some icy water, I grabbed it, brought it to my lips, and kissed her knuckles. It was a gesture to protect my manhood and my pride, but it was what Naomi saw.

This time I saw her face.

She was pale under the brass lamp lights of the bar.

Her eyes were glassy.

Her lips pressed tight.

She was hurting. She wasn’t hiding it.

She gave me a wan smile.

My breath caught in my chest.

She raised a hand in a small wave of greeting and went back to watching the band.

CHAPTER 2

Naomi

You know that sound when a bomb goes off—the sharp, high-pitched whistle that drowns out everything else? It’s not the world around you making it, but your brain trying to protect you from what it just witnessed?

That’s what I heard when I saw Gage kiss the blonde he brought to Maison.

That sound hit me hard.