Page 50 of She's Like the Wind

I called Naomi baby.

Could I think of anything, pretty much anything without thinking about her?Apparently not!

“How have you been, Gage.” She leaned a little so her tits looked like they were ready to spill out of her dress.

“Been busy, Claudine.”

“I hear The Chapelle is the talk of the town.”

I wanted her gone, far, far away from me. I wasn’t in the mood.

“Yeah, it’s done.”

“Sloane has been singing your praises….” She bit her lower lip. “You seeing her?”

I drank some whiskey. “Babe, feel like listening to the music tonight.”

She ignored the not-so-subtle fuck off message.

“I’ve been wanting to continue our date from last time.” Her drink was placed next to her, and she picked it up. Drank from it, studying me with lust.

“Like I said?—"

“Is this about your lingerie girl?”

I downed the whiskey in one burn. The fuck? “Huh?”

“So…what’s the problem?”

I blew out a breath. “I’m just not interested.”

She blinked, faux-wounded. “Excuse me?”

“I brought you around to Maison that night because Naomi needed to get the message. She’s a clinger. Level five. Couldn’t take a fucking hint.”

The subtext being:a whole hell of a lot like you.

I heard a gasp—two of them.

One from Claudine and one from behind me. Standing by the back wall, frozen, eyes wide, hurt blooming across her face like bruises under candlelight, was Naomi. Next to her, Aurelie looked at me with eyes that could slay.

“Fucking hell,” I muttered and rose.

Claudine smirked. “You have some timing, Gage Walker.”

Tell me about it.

I turned to Naomi. “Baby,” I began, but she held her hand up and whispered, “No.”

Her gaze met mine. And in that split second, I saw every moment I’d ever kissed her, touched her, held her—and how I’d just set it all on fire.

She walked away, out into the melee that was the Quarter.

“Fuck,” I whispered, shoving away from the bar.

“Leave her the fuck alone,” Aurelie warned, gripping my arm, holding me from running after the woman who I seemed to keep hurting, intentionally and inadvertently.

I slowly walked out of the bar and found Claudine outside, a cigarette in hand. She threw me a disgusted look.