The Club (6 page)

‘Gorgeous,’ Jenna agreed. The woman had the most incredible figure she’d ever seen: tiny waist, endless legs, and amazing breasts. ‘I don’t think I know her, though.’

‘You will,’ Fabian assured her. ‘She was in a Sandra Bullock movie last year, and another with George Clooney after that. She’s being tipped for the big time, by all accounts. Definitely had surgery, though,’ he added conspiratorially. ‘But she’s been living in the States, and it’s practically compulsory over there, isn’t it?’

Smiling, because that was exactly the kind of thing a woman would have said, Jenna asked who the men were.

‘Little one’s her boyfriend, Tony Allen,’ Fabian said, lowering his voice. ‘Don’t know too much about him except that he’s American. Big one’s rumoured to be a minder.’

‘Rumoured?’ Jenna glanced up at him amusedly. ‘By who?’

‘My sources.’ Tapping a finger to his nose, Fabian gave her a secretive smile. ‘Pays to keep your ear to the ground in this game, you know. How else do you think I found out they were here, and where they were staying so that I could send them an invitation?’

Shushing her then, he stepped forward to greet the trio as they approached.

‘So glad you could make it, Ms Fisher,’ he cooed, reaching for Melody’s hand and lightly touching his lips to it. ‘And good evening to you, too, Mr Allen. Welcome to Zenith, and may I—’

‘Do I know you?’ Tony cut him off rudely, sizing him up and deciding that he was a creep.

‘Fabian King – manager of Zenith,’ he said, holding the smile in place despite taking an instant dislike to the other man. ‘And this,’ he gestured towards Jenna, ‘is the owner, Jenna Lorde.’

‘Owner?’ Drawing his head back, Tony gave Jenna a disbelieving look. ‘At your age? What are you – like, nineteen, twenty?’

‘I’m older than I look,’ Jenna assured him, amused by his straightforward manner.

Melody had been busy ogling Fabian, who was the exact opposite of Tony. Fair, fantastic-looking, fit body. Catching the interest in Tony’s eyes as he looked at Jenna, however, she snapped her attention back to them, her rival-antennae twitching. Giving Jenna the once-over, she decided there was nothing to worry about. Tony liked blondes, not brunettes, and the tits were natural – and nowhere near big enough.

Giving Jenna a wide smile, Melody stepped forward to make her presence felt, saying, ‘Yeah, me too. No one ever believes I’m not twenty-one any more.’

‘I can see why,’ Jenna lied, certain that Melody had to be at least thirty now that she could see her up close. And Fabian could be right about the surgery. But she was very attractive, even so. ‘You have beautiful skin. You’ll have to tell me your secret.’

‘Do you think so?’ Melody raised a hand to her cheek. ‘I thought I’d gained a few lines recently.’

‘Well, if you have, I can’t see them. And
please
tell me you have to suffer to keep your body in that kind of shape?’

‘Oh, you’re a doll,’ Melody purred, her face lighting up. ‘You and me are going to get along fine.’

Baffled as to how a couple of words about nothing could bring Melody out of a mood so fast, Tony shook his head.

‘I don’t know what you just did, but thanks for doing it, ’cos I thought she was going to have a face on her all night. Pleased to meet you, Jenna.’

Surprised by the contrast of soft skin and powerful grip when she shook Tony’s hand, Jenna said, ‘You, too, Mr Allen.’

‘Hey, it’s Tony to you,’ he scolded. Then, jerking his head, ‘And this here’s Eddie.’

Glancing up at the man, Jenna said hello, then smiled nervously when he just stared unblinkingly back down at her. She didn’t know about Melody being a film star, but
he
looked like he’d just stepped off the set of
The Sopranos
. Tall, and quite muscular, he had an almost feral face, and the darkest eyes she’d ever seen.

‘Best get moving before this shower of freeloaders necks all the booze,’ Tony said then, casting a scathing glance around the already crowded club-room. ‘And what’s the chance of getting this racket turned down, ’cos I’m going to get a fuck of a headache if I have to listen to this shit all night.’

‘You’re so loud, you won’t even notice it once you get talking,’ Melody contradicted him, rolling her eyes at Jenna. ‘Nice meeting you, Jen,’ she said then. ‘But I’d best get him moving before he bores you to death. We’ll catch up later, yeah?’ Letting her gaze slide slowly over Fabian then, she said, ‘Later, Babe.’

‘Who you calling Babe?’ Tony demanded as she took his arm and tugged him through the room.

‘It’s a girl thing,’ she assured him breezily. ‘We all do it.’

‘Well, I don’t like it, so quit it.’

‘Okay, Babe.’

‘Don’t fucking push it, Mel!’

Laughing as their voices faded into the crowd, Jenna shook her head. ‘They were sweet, weren’t they?’

‘Oh, you’re good,’ Fabian drawled, folding his arms and giving her a wry smile. ‘I saw the way you stroked her little ego.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. Women like being complimented, that’s all.’

‘Yeah, I know. But other women don’t normally pull it off that good. They usually make it sound sarcastic, but even
I
’d have believed that you really thought she was that young.’

‘Well, if it makes her happy . . . ?’ Shrugging, Jenna glanced at her watch. ‘Right, I’ll leave you to it, if you don’t mind. I want to have a word with Jacko about replacing the doormen before it gets too late. Will you be all right by yourself?’

‘I’ll be fine,’ Fabian assured her. ‘Most of the guests are here now, anyway, so I think I’ll give the go-ahead to let the motleys in.’

‘
Paying customers
,’ Jenna corrected him, giving him a mock-stern look before walking away.

Narrowing his eyes, Fabian gazed after her. That was the longest he’d spent with her on a one-to-one basis since she’d taken over, and she’d surprised him. In the months following her dad’s funeral, she’d been so stressed that she hadn’t bothered with make-up, and had practically lived in her jeans. Even in that raw state she’d been a looker, but what an absolute
babe
she was when she made the effort. And now that she’d chilled out, she was way more approachable than he’d initially thought. And if this was the real her, he reckoned that things were definitely going to pick up around here – just so long as she didn’t start interfering. She might own the place, but
he
called the shots – and that was exactly how he intended to keep it.

Jacko, the head of security, was checking the fire doors on the lower floor when Jenna found him. Asking him to send some of his boys out to replace Bobby and Flex, she went to the bar and called Maurice over to ask if he’d remembered to send a drink up to Vibes.

Giving her a defiant
why-are-you-bothering-me-with-this-nonsense
look, Maurice said, ‘Who?’

‘The DJ,’ Jenna reminded him, knowing full well that he knew exactly who she was talking about.

‘Oh,
him
,’ Maurice replied dismissively, already turning away. ‘No. I forgot.’

Biting down on her irritation, Jenna called out firmly, ‘Two glasses of champagne, please, Maurice.’

She saw the slight tensing of his shoulders, and guessed – rightly – that he was dying to tell her to piss off and get it herself. But if he thought she was going to roll over and let him disrespect her, he had another think coming.

Thanking him when he placed the drinks on the counter, Jenna nodded towards a small pile of broken glass in the corner beside the fridge.

‘Clean that up before somebody slips on it, would you?’

Nostrils twitching, Maurice pursed his lips and glared at her.

Raising an eyebrow when several seconds had passed and he still hadn’t moved, Jenna said, ‘You
do
know where the dustpan is, don’t you? Only I’d like you to do it
now
, before somebody cuts themselves and sues me for negligence.’

Giving a triumphant small smile when Maurice reached under the counter for the hand-brush, she picked up the glasses and walked away. She didn’t want to add insult to injury by standing over him while he did it, but he’d needed to be put in his place – even if it
had
made her legs feel like jelly.

God, it was hard running your own business. But kind of fun once you got into the swing of it.

Carrying the champagne carefully up the narrow stairs to the DJ’s booth, Jenna tapped on the door and let herself in. Vibes was leaning over the console, bobbing his head to the beat in his headphones. He smiled when he saw her, his teeth dazzling in the fluorescent lights pulsing through the window.

‘Hope I’m not disturbing you,’ she whispered, conscious of the microphone. ‘But I thought you must need a drink by now?’

Taking the headphones off, Vibes nodded towards a case of bottled water on the ledge behind her.

‘I tend to stick to that when I’m working. But I’ll make an exception, seeing as it’s New Year.’ Taking one of the glasses, he raised it. ‘Hope it’s a good one, Princess.’

‘Me, too.’ Clinking her glass against his, Jenna took a sip. The heat in the small room enveloped her like a damp blanket. ‘God, it’s boiling in here,’ she said, fanning a hand in front of her face. ‘How do you stand it?’

‘It’s the equipment,’ Vibes told her, wiping his brow on the fluffy white towel looped around his neck. ‘There’s nothing you can do about it, so you just get used to it.’

Shivering as a bead of sweat trickled down her back, Jenna said, ‘Do you want me to get you a fan?’

‘Nah.’ Vibes shook his head. ‘They just stir it up and make you feel sick. And they’re noisy as all hell, which don’t sound too good over the mike. But thanks for the thought.’

‘Let me know if you change your mind,’ Jenna said, taking another sip of her drink. Gazing out at the rapturous faces on the dance floor below, she said, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been to a club before where everyone’s dancing before they’re even half drunk. I guess you
must
be as good as they say, huh?’

‘Why, thank you, kind lady.’ Vibes gave her a playful grin. ‘Does that mean I get a raise?’

‘Please say you’re joking,’ she groaned, gripping her glass a little tighter.

Jenna wasn’t even paying
herself
yet – and probably wouldn’t be able to for some time to come, because she was up to her neck with bank-loan repayments and the rent on her apartment. But she couldn’t afford to lose Vibes. Fabian had told her that great DJs were stars in their own right, and that their fans followed them to whichever club they were playing at. She was lucky that Vibes had agreed to come back after she’d effectively laid him off for the four months it had taken to refurbish Zenith, but if she lost him now she’d probably lose most of her customers, too.

Seeing the fear in her eyes, Vibes quickly assured her that he
was
joking – and wondered, not for the first time, if her skin was as soft to the touch as it looked.

Shaking the thought away, he reminded himself that there was no point thinking like that. Jenna was sweet, gorgeous, and intelligent – and not in the least bit flirtatious, unlike most of the British women he’d met so far. He didn’t know if it was the American accent that they got off on, or just that they had never seen a black guy with blue eyes before, but he’d been inundated with phone numbers and blatant propositions since coming over here. And while he would have lapped the attention up a few years back, now it just turned him off.

Taking the hint when he finished his drink and reached for his headphones, Jenna picked up his glass and said, ‘I suppose I should get back out there and mingle. Can’t hide away up here all night, can I? See you later.’

‘Later, Princess,’ Vibes said, pulling the headphones down over his ears and flipping the mike on to introduce the next track.

Jenna was smiling as she went back down the stairs. She liked Vibes. He was polite, gentlemanly, and really easy to be around – and to look at, of course. The perfect man, in fact. Now if only she could find one like him for herself, she’d be laughing.

But decent
single
men were as hard to find as great DJs, in her experience. And you couldn’t just take their word for it when you
did
find one – as she had learned to her cost with Jason.

But there was no point raking over
those
old coals. What was done was done, and she just had to make sure that she never made the same mistake again.

3

The party was in full swing by two; everybody buzzing as they soaked up the booze and lost their inhibitions.

Great for the club, but not so good for Fabian, who had managed to get himself hijacked by a group of frisky older women. He’d tried to get away, but they seemed intent on holding him hostage on the dance floor, and every time one let go of his hand another one snatched it up.

The one he was with now was actually making him feel ill, rubbing her saggy breasts against him and winking at him seductively. Convinced that she was just waiting for the chance to go in for a full-on snog, he broke free after their third dance and lied that he’d just been summoned by his boss from across the room.

Escorting the woman back to her table, it was all Fabian could do not to scream when one of the friends grabbed him and said, ‘Me next. Don’t you go and forget about me, now.’

Promising to come right back as soon as he could, he rushed to the safety of his office, wondering what the hell the old witches were doing here, anyway. They weren’t on the guest list, so they must have paid to get in. But surely they should be tucked up in bed with their cocoas by now, not out on the town flirting with men young enough to be their great-grandsons!

Locking the door in case anybody walked in on him, he opened his wall safe and took out a small bag of coke. Chopping a thin line on the mirror, he snorted it quickly and leaned his head back to savour the instant tension-easing buzz.