Brightly Burning Bridges by Ivy Wild
The bartender walked off to fill another drink order as Lex said the name over in her head. “Carter Ross,” she repeated, trying to figure out why it sounded vaguely familiar. For the life of her, she couldn’t place it. “If he’s driving an 8C, he’s probably loaded. I probably just read about him in the newspaper or something,” she reasoned to herself, finishing the food in front of her.
She turned back around to survey the lobby and street through the big glass windows. A few more tilts back of her head had her finishing her second glass of wine and feeling thankfully more relaxed.
She watched out of the corner of her eye as Mr. Ross and the suited man walked into what Lex presumed to be a side conference room. As soon as he left the space, she felt like some weight had been lifted off of her. Turning around, she paid her bill before asking the bartender where the nightclub Ellen had told her about was.
“Follow those stairs to the second level. You’ll see it on your right-hand side,” the bartender said, pointing to a set of stairs on the other side of the lobby.
“Thanks!” Lex replied as she turned to follow his directions. Determined to salvage her evening, she climbed the stairs, the music from the club becoming louder and louder until she finally reached the small line to enter. Upon showing the bouncer her ID, he stamped her hand with a blacklight stamp and waved her inside.
The room was dark and Lex was immediately surrounded by moving bodies since the entrance led right onto the dance floor. She managed to push her way through the crowd to find a seat at the circular bar that was surrounded by high tops on the lower level and a raised VIP section above that.
“Vodka sour,” she shouted to the bartender above the din of the music. The man took a little flashlight out of his back pocket, waved it at her wrist to see the stamp before nodding and grabbing ingredients for her drink. He exchanged the drink for a ten-dollar bill and Lex turned back around to survey the crowd.
She didn’t particularly recognize the music that was playing but she somewhat expected that, given how long it had been since she’d last been to one of these places. The people surrounding her varied in age, but Ellen had been right, most of them were around her age, if just younger in maturity level.
Looking out at the dance floor she couldn’t help but chuckle into her drink as she watched one man doing what could only be classified as jazzercise. The reaction from the people around him was mixed, with some looking at him in confusion and the others just giving him his space and continuing to move to the music themselves.
People shifting on the dance floor caught Lex’s attention. Looking over she noticed dirty blond hair making its way through the crowd. Her eyes widened and she turned back around to face the center of the bar before tipping her head back to gulp down the rest of her third drink for the evening. She knew his eyes were on her; somehow she could feel it, like an itch between her shoulder blades.
The feeling passed and she sighed as the liquor settled into her system nicely. Feeling a bit more relaxed, she tapped her glass for a refill before chancing a look over her shoulder to see where Mr. 8C had gone. She noticed him a few feet away, talking to the bouncer that was standing in front of the VIP section. He looked absolutely gorgeous in his fitted V-neck black tee and dark jeans.
Some very uncouth thoughts flashed in Lex’s brain about just what she would like to do with Mr. Ross, preferably in his car, and she couldn’t help but smile and shake her head. The bartender returned with her drink and she passed him another ten-dollar bill before taking the glass in one hand and pulling the cherry on top into her mouth.
As her lips closed around the fruit, something caused her to look up and her gaze met one intensely dark and green from across the room. The two stayed there, the din around them fading away as the intensity grew between them. A blush dusted Lex’s cheeks before she finally broke eye contact. Since the first moment she’d seen this man, he was threatening her sense of control. It put her on edge, in a way that almost thrilled her as much as it frightened her.
Turning back to the bar, she tipped the drink back quickly, the warmth from the vodka hitting her quite suddenly before placing the glass down and hurrying towards the entrance. She made her way back towards where she had entered, pushing her way through the crowd as she went. She could see that Mr. Ross had moved towards her location now, about to push his own way through the crowd.
When she finally reached her destination, the bouncer there shook his head. “Exit’s on the other side, ma’am.”
“What?” Lex huffed in disbelief. The lights and music felt somewhat disorienting now and she turned around, trying to follow where the bouncer was pointing. She started pushing people out of the way as she tried to make her way to the exit. She needed air, she needed space and she needed Mr. Ross to stop following her so she could think. Lex was certain she wouldn’t be able to speak to him intelligently and she really didn’t want to embarrass herself again.
She managed to make it through the crowd, avoiding the hunter as if she were some prey and crossed the room quickly to reach the set of stairs down to the lobby. As soon as she escaped the din from above, she felt so much better. She inhaled deeply as she took a seat at one of the tucked away armchairs, and froze as she heard a deep baritone voice behind her.
“Hey, wait up.”
She looked up to see Carter Ross descending the staircase, heading straight towards her. There was no way that she could run now; if she did it would be extremely rude. Putting a smile on her face, she tried to rein back her thoughts about wrapping her legs around the man and waited for him to meet her at her location.
“Didn’t you hear me calling to you back there?” he asked, his voice deep and his eyes fixated just on her.
Lex was finding it hard to breathe again and she internally berated herself for letting this man have such control over her. “So what, he’s gorgeous. There’s no reason I cannot pull it together to have a normal conversation with him,” she reasoned with herself.
“Sorry, I must have missed it,” she lied.
Mr. Ross took a seat in the armchair next to her and narrowed his eyes slightly before saying, “Don’t try and bullshit a bullshitter.”
Lex couldn’t help but smile and his mood seemed to lift slightly with hers. Somehow, with the two of them alone like this, he didn’t seem as intimidating. Her confidence grew as she began to feel more like herself. “How can I be of service?” she asked, immediately regretting her choice of words because her brain started running clips of her on her knees in front of him. She knew she was likely blushing, but she tried to recover by looking down and swiping a piece of stray hair back into her bun.
Carter considered the woman in front of him. He’d been irritated that their meeting earlier had been interrupted, and he had been so intent on getting back to her, that he’d forgotten what exactly he had wanted to ask her.
Her big blue eyes finally met his and he saw a fierceness in them that he rarely saw in the women he encountered. She was clearly not a local; perhaps a tourist? Either way, he would only be in town for a few weeks at the most before returning to the city.
Lex met the man’s gaze this time, the alcohol in her system bolstering her courage. In a bold move, she reached her hand up to brush back a piece of his hair that had fallen down. Up close to him like this, she noticed a jagged scar traveling down the right side of his face. Her fingers traced it gently and the man’s gaze on her intensified.
He waited for her to ask about it, it was usually the first thing women wanted to know about him if they didn’t already know his position. How did he get it? Did it still hurt? How old was he? He stuck to the same bullshit story every time they asked. Carter was a private person and he wasn’t about to share that specific memory with anybody.
But this girl surprised him. She pulled her hand back, letting it rest on his knee, her thumb rubbing a lazy circle against the denim. Her attitude had flipped from flustered and embarrassed before to a cool sense of confidence now. She continued to meet his gaze, but didn’t say a thing about his scar, instead waiting for him to ask his initial question.
He made up his mind at that moment; he wanted this woman and by the way she was looking at him, and had been looking at him all night, she wanted him too. “I just wanted to introduce myself,” he said, still holding her gaze. “Carter Ross,” he said, placing his hand atop hers.
“Lex Evanston,” she replied, purposefully scrambling her last name.
“Well, Ms. Evanston,” he said in his deep baritone, his own hand rubbing circles against her wrist and causing her to shiver slightly. “Do you have any plans this evening?”
Lex knew immediately what this man wanted from her with that question. Perhaps it had been what he had meant to propose to her when he first sat next to her at the bar. The more logical side of her began to run through all of the bad scenarios that could result, starting at most severe with murder and working its way down to him being a disappointment in bed. But the other side, the side that had given her the courage to start this new life, the side that had given her the courage to speak to him in the first place, and incidentally, the side that was currently benefiting from a few drinks, whispered, “just give in.”
Lex looked him over. His gaze was still fixated on her. Of all the men she had met, Carter Ross looked like he would be incredibly discrete. Having made up her mind, she cocked her head to one side, cast him a small smile and replied, “I’m wide open.”
The tension increased between them and it felt like ages as she waited for his reply. “You’re not from here, are you?” he asked her.
He needed this last answer before making up his own mind on how this evening was going to play out. Carter couldn’t deny wanting this woman more than he cared to admit, but he wasn’t about to jeopardize his ability to get away from the city if things with her went sour. If she said she was moving to the area or something like that, he’d have to cut his losses.
Lex shook her head. “No,” she replied simply, deciding not to exchange any further details. She didn’t want details about his life either. The only thing Lex truly wanted from this man was the release she knew he could give her. His lips lifted. Not into a smile; this man didn’t look like he did that often, but there was a look of contentment on his face.
Carter closed his eyes briefly, her answer like music to his ears. He stood, keeping his hand wrapped around hers. “Then, can I give you a tour?” he asked smoothly.
Lex nodded. “I’d love that.” She stood, his hand leading her towards the resort’s exit through the rotating doors.
Carter turned towards the valet kiosk. “Where’s Michael?” he asked the attendant on duty.
The youth cowered a bit at his commanding tone. “He’s gone for the evening,” the teenager responded, his voice cracking just the slightest. Lex looked up to see a scowl on Carter’s face and she held back a smile; it really did fit him, just as she had guessed. “I’d be happy to get the car for you, sir,” the attendant continued, obviously trying his best.
Carter turned, clapping the kid on the shoulder in a friendly gesture. The boy flinched anyways. “No offense, but Michael’s the only one I trust with my cars. Space number?” Carter asked, holding his hand out for the key.
“Twenty-seven,” the valet responded, placing the key in his palm.
“Be right back,” Carter said, almost to both of them, as he jogged towards the car.
The teenager looked at Lex and she shook her head. “Don’t ask me,” she replied quickly, getting ahead of the question. “No clue why Michael’s so special.” The boy sighed, a bit defeated. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” Lex added, trying to cheer him up. He smiled at her before both of them were startled by the sound of an engine starting.
Lex couldn’t help but smile. Alfas were so flashy. Carter pulled the car around, this time with the top down, and put it in park before getting out to open the door for Lex. As she got into the car, she noticed him palm the kid a twenty-dollar bill.
Carter closed the car door behind his date and walked around the back. He had to admit that he loved the way the brunette looked in his car. Opening the driver side, he climbed in himself before closing it.
“I love how your driver side door opens and closes,” she said over the rumble of the engine.
Carter looked at her in confusion. She laughed. “My Alfa’s from the eighties. Door handle broke years ago. I have to hop over the side to get in and out.”
Carter’s eyebrows lifted slightly before he buckled his seatbelt. Lex did the same and he shook his head. “I’m fairly certain that means your car isn’t road legal.”
“Oo. That just makes it sound like I drive a test car,” Lex giggled.
In what Lex presumed was an uncharacteristic move for Carter Ross, he winked at her before turning his attention to the road.
