Chapter 4

Cassie POV

Filing out of the cab and onto the sidewalk leading up to Midnight Mates, Cassie couldn’t help but gape at the front entrance.

The line to get in was packed, stretching all the way past the end of the building and then some.

She scanned her eyes over the crowd, taking in everyone’s attire before looking back down at herself.

Great, the dress code is off once again …

“Wow, this place looks bumpin’!” Sydney hooked an arm around Maeve’s and pulled her up the sidewalk.

“Damn, that sucks. We have to wait in that line.” Rylee nudged her.

“I know.”

Cassie pulled the card out of her pocket and flipped it over in her hands again.

“I mean … it does say VIP. Wouldn’t that get us to the front of the line?”

Rylee shrugged, flashing her a smile. “Worth a shot.”

Cassie waved over the other girls, waiting until they hurried over and joined her before leading them all up to the front entrance.

She clutched the card tightly in her hand, ignoring the stares and whispers from the other guests in line who were clearly wondering what the hell they were doing marching up to the front like they were someone important.

But clearly, Amy had given her a card that meant something, and what better way to find out than with the bouncer himself?

Cassie stepped up in front of the man, his dark sunglasses and imposing height something that would’ve made her run for the hills a few years ago, but now it just made her curious. She smiled at him when he looked over at her group and flashed him Amy’s card.

“Uh, where do we …”

He waved her on quickly. “In the back, miss. Quickly.

Before you get photographed.” She blinked. “Oh.”

Back? Photographed? By whom?

She looked at her friends and scanned her eyes over the people waiting in line. Had Amy given her the wrong card from her bag?

“Go around this way,” The bouncer gestured to her, hooking his hand back toward the other side of the building, away from the crowd. “Show them your card, and they’ll let you right in, miss.”

Rylee hooked her arm around Cassie’s again and pulled her back.

“Thanks!”

Stumbling along with her friends, Cassie looked back at the front of the club.

“What the hell was that?”

Maeve laughed. “Who knows, but damn, girl. Didn’t know you got us exclusive tickets!”

Cassie looked down at the card in her hand. “Yeah, neither did I.”

Maybe that’s the perk of being the owner’s sister.

Heading around to the back of the club, they spotted a small side door that looked almost out of place with how innocuous it looked compared to the rest of the club, which was more on the glamorous side.

Getting up to the door, Cassie noticed there was no handle to grab onto and pull open. She felt around the edges of the frame for anything that resembled a way to get in.

Did that bouncer play a prank on us and send us to a door that they couldn’t open?

“Maybe you need to knock?”

Rylee reached over her and knocked her knuckles against the steel door.

Suddenly, a slot opened up near the top of the door, and a pair of eyes glared down at them.

Cassie cleared her throat and flashed the card again. “We’re here for the …”

Before she could finish, the door was swung open, a red carpet the first thing that greeted them.

“Come on in. You’re Amy’s guests, right?”

She nodded vaguely, stepping inside. “Yes. We were …” The door shut behind the girls tightly.

“We have your table set up already.”

Cassie blinked at the bouncer, noticing the stitching at his lapel said Leo in gold thread. He nodded for them to follow him and turned to head down the short hallway. Music from unseen speakers was playing heavy club music that was just barely above a whisper.

Rylee grabbed onto Cassie’s arm again and squeezed it. “Oh my god, I feel like we’re celebs.”

Sydney giggled behind them. “Seriously!”

They followed Leo down the hall to where he pushed open a set of doors, the music from earlier becoming tenfold. Cassie blinked at the lights, beaming from dozens of different directions and casting across a sea of people who moved in time with the beat.

A man stood at the head of it, bent over a large set of sound equipment as he nodded his head to the beat.

“This way,” Leo waved his hand, his voice straining over the music.

He walked them over to a roped-off section near the back of the club. Another tall bouncer was waiting next to the rope. He immediately lifted it for them to pass through. Leo stopped next to the bouncer and pointed to a table close to the private bar.

“You’ll be right over there, ladies. But feel free to come out into the rest of the club if you’re feeling cooped up. Drinks are on Amy’s tab, so don’t worry about putting your cards down.”

Cassie blinked and looked at him, “Wait, are you sure?

She didn’t mention paying for our drinks.”

Leo shrugged. “She called about it before you got here.”

Behind her, the girls filtered into the private section and immediately headed to the bar.

“Why would she do that?”

Leo’s lips lifted into a vague smile. “She takes care of those she likes.”

“But … I don’t even know her.”

Leo shrugged. “You’ll have to ask her about that yourself, then.”

Cassie pressed her lips together, watching the bouncer replace the rope once more. Leo clapped him on the shoulder and turned on his heel without explaining any further.

How strange … was this how Amy normally repaid people for borrowing their clothes?

Well, whatever it was, there was no sense in looking a gift horse in the mouth. At that, Cassie hurried to where her girls were grabbing their freshly made drinks.

“What’d you guys start with?”

Sydney handed her a cool glass filled with a drink that looked like a sunset.

“Bartender made us mixed drinks. Told us it was a surprise.”

Cassie snorted and sipped hers, wincing a little at the alcohol content. “Wow, trying to get us tanked on a Thursday night, huh?”

She laughed, “Let’s have some fun before the weekend!” Cassie couldn’t help but shake her head at her friend,but she downed a little more of her drink, anyway. If they were all planning on getting drunk tonight, at least they would all be miserable together when going in to work at the school tomorrow.

Plus, if she really felt bad enough, she’d just take her lunch break laying on one of the cots in Rylee’s office. Maybe Rylee would even feed her a little bit of the kids’ Pedialyte before sending her on her way.

Cassie grabbed her friend’s hand and pulled her over to where the other girls were standing around their table, nodding for them to follow her to the small dance floor that was currently empty. Rylee laughed, clinking glasses with her before putting the rim of it up to her lips and swaying her hips.

The beat from the music had her swinging her hips along with Rylee, and before she knew it, she’d been lost in the music.

A pair of arms soon circled around her waist, pulling her back into a strong chest. Cassie looked up, feeling her body mold to the one behind her, and saw a handsome man smiling down at her.

“Hey, there. I haven’t seen you around here.”

Cassie laughed and sipped from her glass. “I’m new here,”

“Well,” he gripped her hip with a large, warm hand, “let me be the first to welcome you.”

She felt herself lean her head back onto his shoulder, letting her body be touched by this stranger. Normally, she would’ve recoiled at this kind of hands-on attention, but between the drink and the music and her wanting to just … feel normal for once, she let herself go.

The handsome stranger brought an arm around her waist and swayed with her, his hand moving up from her hip and gripping the wrist that had her drink in it. He pulled it up to his lips and took a small sip.

It made her laugh, her head swimming from the alcohol that was finally hitting her system.

Around her, the girls all enjoyed the entertainment from other handsome men who were finally moving onto the dance floor. All of whom flashed fancy watches and designer cufflinks while dancing with them.

Cassie had never felt desired. Her entire life had been spent either behind a desk pushing papers to people above her or on her knees begging for Brian to shape up and actually be the partner she wanted and needed.

Neither of those was anything that had actually fulfilled her in the end.

It had hurt to finally walk away from a relationship she’d needlessly poured herself into. But now that she was free, she wanted to feel like it and actually spread her wings for once.

The handsome stranger bent down and whispered in her ear, “You want to get out of here?”

It made Cassie bite her lip and hold up her almost empty glass to shake the ice inside of it.

“Let me just get a refill.”

He smiled against her neck. “Sure, beautiful.”

Peeling herself away from him, she pushed through the small group of men that had crowded around her and her friends with a few other women mixed in who she didn’t recognize.

All of them were beautiful and high-class looking.

Cassie had never surrounded herself with people like this … those with so much disposable money that they had a hard time actually spending it all.

But, she supposed, it was a nice change of pace from the guys at the dive bars they usually entertained. People like Brian, who waxed poetically about dreams, goals, and aspirations they never did anything about.

It was such a frustrating thing, waiting around and begging a man to be the person he dreamed of being. The person who Cassie had wanted Brian to be.

It made her shake her head and slap down her glass onto the bar in frustration.

She always got like this when she drank … lamenting over the could’ve and the should’ve that never happened. Why was she still hung up on the fact that Brian didn’t turn out to be the man she thought she wanted?

Maybe it was because I had spent so much time believing him. I wasted away trying to fix a problem that he didn’t want to be fixed.

That had always been a character flaw of hers.

Her parents had raised her under a strict value-set that made it almost suffocatingly impossible to feel good about herself without somehow having an accomplishment to show off for it.

Cassie rubbed her face, sitting on one of the unoccupied bar stools.

Damn it … now I’m in a sour mood …

Suddenly, the lights inside the lounge shut off, making her jump a little in surprise. Twinkling lights appeared on the ceiling, shimmering in a kind of magical way that entranced her. Reminding her of stars in the night sky.

“All right, everyone.” A spotlight appeared over the bouncer who had been standing at the front of the roped section. “The VIP rooms are all open and ready.”

Cassie blinked. VIP rooms?

Sliding off her stool, she followed the crowd of people herding themselves toward the back of the lounge. Couples hooking arms and leaning into one another as a set of curtains in the corner pulled apart to reveal a hidden hallway.

She felt her heart stutter.

Holy shit, is this some kind of sex club?

Looking around frantically, Cassie spotted the bouncer moving closer to her, waving his arms to herd the last few straggling guests back toward the curtained hallway. She needed to get out of here before someone claimed her and took her back there for whatever orgy was about to happen.

Squinting in the dim lighting while they moved, Cassie spotted a small door that was partially hidden in a small alcove off to the right. She glanced back at the bouncer … who was currently trying to jostle awake a man who was slumped over one of the tables … and took her chance to slip between the line of guests.

Quickly heading to the door, she yanked it open just enough to slip inside and closed it behind her before anyone else could notice her gone. A long staircase heading upward greeted her.

She blew out a breath and started climbing.