Vince was a stubborn jerk.
This was the same guy who, six months ago, promised her the moon and the stars. Went on and on about her lips and her eyes. Acted like no other girl in the entire world existed for him, as if he’d waited all his life just for her.
He played with Sky’s heart the way Phillip used to play with his chewing gum, stretching it out of his mouth and pulling it as long and thin as possible until there was no way the poor thing would ever be back to its full shape.
Full disclosure, Sky had always known she and Vince weren’t going to last.
He had that thing, the wandering eye, the naturally flirtatious swag, and that restless spirit that refused to be content with one person.
She saw it.
So did her friends.
Many of them had warned her.
“Sky, that guy is too smooth.”
“There’s something about him. I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right.”
She’d rejected their cautious murmurs with excuses, brushing it off to jealousy or the fact that they just hadn’t given Vince a chance. In reality, she was turning off her own brain as well as her better judgment.
And now I’m paying for it.
Sky sucked in a deep breath and shoved the thought away like an annoying mosquito buzzing around her head.
Fixing her gaze on Vince’s familiar and gratingly handsome face, she clenched her fingers together and strode forward. “Thanks for finally picking up your phone.”
“Anything for you, beautiful.”
Sky sighed even as the little thrill in her heart increased. Gosh, she couldn’t stand herself sometimes. Had it really been so long since she’d had a serious relationship that she was ogling her new employee and harboring feelings for her slimy ex?
In a desperate attempt to get a handle on her emotions, Sky slid her gaze around Vince’s favorite establishment. Grimy neon lights. Saloon-style wooden counter filling the length of one wall. A glass mirror behind the shelves of mugs. Frames and calendars boasting scantily-clad women.
Harold’s Bar.
Sky had always had a problem with the name. Calling this place a bar was misleading. The shrieking dancehall music and general aura of sleaze leant itself to a title far less polished than that.
Harold’s was the place people came to make drunken mistakes and conceive children they couldn’t pay for.
Sky should have known from the way Vince loved spending his nights here that he was bad news.
Oh well, hindsight is always twenty-twenty.
“Have a seat.” Vince stroked the bar stool directly in front of him. Sky noted the way he had his legs spread wide open. She hesitated. Vince took note. “What? You scared.”
As the smirk on his face grew, so did the snap in her tone. “Couldn’t we have met somewhere more quiet? I closed the store early so we could talk.”
Vince’s eyes twinkled. “Did you want to do something in private? There are rooms upstairs…”
Sky almost choked. Forcing herself forward, she took the bar stool two seats behind him and dropped her purse on the chair between them. “Let’s get to the point, shall we? I want you to delete the video.”
“No thanks.” Vince knocked back the beer in his mug.
Applause and whoops of joy resounded from the dance floor. She looked that way. The wriggling throng in front of the platform reminded her that most people her age were out there having fun rather than arguing with their ex about their old sex video.
Sky struggled to keep her tone even and quiet as she competed with the booming thud of the bass. “I’m really trying to keep my patience, but you’re crossing a line, Vince.” Her voice rose along with the chorus of the popular dancehall track. “I’m tired of being held hostage. If you don’t delete the video, I’m going to the authorities.”
Vince chuckled. “Really?”
“You think I’m joking?”
“I think”—he set his beer aside and leaned in close to speak in such a low timbre that Sky had to tilt her head just to hear—“you don’t have the guts.”
Her eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
Don’t panic, girl. Just stay strong.
Unfortunately, she was the type that caved under pressure.
“Don’t worry,” Vince said with a charming smile. “I’ll delete the video.” He eased back and lifted his hand, confidently gesturing to the bartender.
“Really?” Sky let out a piercing breath. “Good. I’m glad we could settle this like adults.”
“Of course. I don’t want to hold you hostage. I’ll give you the hard drive, my phone, tablet and access to my cloud along with any other device you want.”
Her brow furrowed. Vince wasn’t usually so accommodating. “What’s the catch?”
“Stay with me tonight.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “W-what?”
“Come on, Sky.” Vince’s eyelids went to half-mass in what he probably thought was an expression of mass seduction. “Don’t you miss me?”
“No. No, I don’t.”
“You’re lying.” He pointed to her trembling lips and wrongly assumed it was a symptom of her passion.
Disclaimer, it was not.
“I know you’ve been thinking about me. And I’ve been thinking a lot about you. I made a mistake when I let you go.”
“Vince, I—”
“Hear me out. Back then, I didn’t know what I had. You were so easy, so eager to please. I got bored and let that Tasha girl distract me. I was wrong. These other heifers out here,” he shook his head, “it’s a different game with them. They don’t know what it means to serve their man, you know? It’s all about what they can get, what I can buy them. They’re all damn gold-diggers”
Her nostrils flared.
The dancehall song moved to the bridge and the bass reverberated in the room, trembling the walls.
The crowd roared.
“You’re out of line, Vince.”
“Come on, baby.” He eased forward and ran his thick, blunt-tipped fingers up her thigh. “Sleep with me.”
Is he serious?
She stared into his brown eyes.
Yes. Yes, he was.
Vince couldn’t have been so disgusting the entire time they’d dated, could he? Sky couldn’t have been so blind that she’d fallen for someone who’d demand sex in order to delete a sex video he never asked to record?
Heat flashed in her chest.
I’m a fool.
She slapped Vince’s hand away.
His jaw dropped and shock dripped from his lush brown lips. Did he seriously think she would find his half-disguised blackmail arousing?
She almost gagged.
Back then, his shining good looks left her a stuttering mess. She’d been so eager to keep him and his interest that she would have done anything, ignored everything, just to have his approval.
Hurt crept into her heart as she thought of that girl, the one who continuously found herself in these stupid, embarrassing positions.
Sky refused to give Vince an opportunity to hurt her again.
But what if he releases the video?
Panic kept her frozen, kept her mouth pinned shut. She should curse him out and slap him with her purse until he felt the brunt of her pain and embarrassment.
But she couldn’t.
Vince quietly observed her. The moment was thick with tension. The over-the-top soca number playing in the background seemed to mock her.
“Sky?”
“How do I know you aren’t just pulling my leg?” Sky whispered. “How can I be sure that you haven’t stored the video somewhere else, somewhere you haven’t told me?”
Vince shrugged. “I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”
The bartender arrived with two drinks in hand. He set them in front of Vince, who slid one over to Sky. She caught it nimbly and stretched her fingers around the circumference of the glass, soaking in the coolness.
Vince’s hand was inching up her jeans to her inner thigh.
Sky ran her tongue along the back of her teeth as she wracked her brain for a way out of this stupid mess—something that didn’t involve getting naked with the man who’d been threatening her for over six months.
Nothing came to mind.
Sky dug her fingernails into the mug and knocked back her beer in one long guzzle. Vince watched her with a smile on his face. She could read his thoughts as if they were the neon signs posted all over Harold’s.
He thought he already had her in his bed, that he’d already won.
At least his fingers couldn’t go any higher.
Thank God she hadn’t worn a skirt today.
Jaw ticking with helplessness and hurt, she shook her head. “Can’t you help me out here? We can work something else out. Something that doesn’t involve you strutting into my store and cleaning the shelves. I can’t keep giving my products away. My business is still struggling to get off the ground. You know that.”
“Hence, I’m offering a generous solution.” He spread his arms wide. “One and done. And it’s not like you wouldn’t be getting anything out of it.”
Her heart thumped painfully. She could go to the police and admit her mistakes, but fear held her hostage. It was bad enough that this was only between her and Vince. Could she handle a bunch of lawmen digging into her sensitive issues?
NO.
Then she had no other choice.
The only option left was…
“I’ll do it.”
Vince shifted his large frame, dark eyes pummeling into her. “Let’s go then.”
Sky pulled her lips in and forced her body off the chair. Her legs clung to the floor and her fingers dug into the lid of the counter. She pried her hands off and commanded her legs to move forward.
They strode through the smoky bar, heading straight for the exits.
Vince cleared a path for her and even held the door open. He used to do that when they were dating too. It was a stroke of chivalry that had fooled her into thinking he was ‘different’.
Who knew he’d be such a creep behind closed doors?
They headed outside.
Soon the dancehall music grew softer and softer until it was nothing but a tiny pulse that shimmered in the still night air. The moon lit their way, brilliantly silver and squatting in the horizon, giving the illusion it was a low-hanging fruit ready to be harvested.
Sky wrapped her arms around herself and mumbled quietly, “It’s all going to be alright. This is nothing you haven’t done before.”
But no matter how much she tried to talk herself into believing this was the right path, the disquiet in her heart swelled until she felt physically sick.
Vince held the door open for her. When she hesitated, he cocked his head. “What are you waiting for?”
Sky climbed inside and jumped when the door slammed shut behind her.
A voice in her head urged her to take her chances with the cars on the highway and leap out of the vehicle.
Vince stopped at a light.
Her fingers played with the door handle.
Then the light changed and she snapped her arm back, coaching her breath so she didn’t panic.
A few minutes later, he stopped at a grocery store. Leaning over, he whispered, “I’m out of condoms. I’ll be right back.”
She swallowed, unable to speak.
He didn’t seem deterred and offered a bright smile before hopping out and sprinting inside the store. Sky threw her head down against the dashboard and tugged at her hair. Her heart felt like it was being torn apart and she had no one to blame but herself.
She should be sprinting down the sidewalk, hands in the air and stumbling as far away from this place as possible.
But what would that achieve?
Just tough it out. It’ll be over before you know it.
Sky sat stiffly in her seat, teeth clenched and muscles coiled. When Vince returned to the car, he tossed the small paper bag in her lap and grinned hard. He looked like a cat with his prey in sight.
She sunk deeper into her chair and settled a hand over her chest. Her heart was beating like crazy and dread cycled through her body.
It will be over before you know it…
Vince took her to his apartment and they walked up the stairs.
The moment the door clicked shut, his hands were all over her.
Sky closed her eyes.
This had to be worth it.
Right?