GRRR!

to pounding in the same rhythm. He ordered a Grey Goose martini and made his way to a small table near the dance floor and sat down. Less than a minute later a redhead, barely dressed in the latest club couture, pulled him to the dance floor.
    Grinning, he pulled her to him. Rico was lithe and graceful on the dance floor. The redhead was merely an object he used to showcase his talents, and soon the floor was vacant except for him and his partner. As the music played, Rico danced with the grace of a panther and tossed his partner about as if she weighed nothing. When the music ended, the crowd applauded and the redhead clung to Rico as if she was his Siamese twin.
    “Thank you for the pleasure of your company,” he said smoothly as he returned to his seat.
    “No, thank you . That was amazing! You’re the best dancer I’ve ever met,” she said, gushing over him.
    “May I buy you a drink?”
    “Cosmopolitan.” She actually batted her lashes.
    “Of course,” he said with an amused smile and waved a waitress over.
    “I’m Kim,” the redhead said.
    “Rico,” he replied.
    “It’s great meeting you. I’m a student over at Howard,” Kim continued talking.
    “Junior year and I still don’t have a major, can you believe it? But my dad’s been raggin’ me to do something or he’s gonna cut me off, can you believe it? I can’t. What a pain he is sometimes. If it wasn’t for my mom, he’d probably not even pay my rent or electricity or food or anything, can you believe it? I just don’t…”
    Yeah, he could believe it. Kim's Daddy was becoming easier to understand with each word from his little girl’s mouth. “Well, you know how parents can be,” he said just to get her to stop talking. She was beautiful and built like a sailor’s dream, unfortunately, someone had taught her how to talk, and not about anything important.
    He could deal with a lot of things, but stupidity wasn’t one of them.
    “Yeah, can you believe it?” Kim said again, rolling her eyes, as the waitress brought her drink and Rico paid for it.
    Reaching into his pocket, Rico retrieved his phone and flipped it open, and then pretended to read a message. “I’m sorry, Kim. I have to run. It’s important and I have to have some quiet. Have a great night,” he said as he stood.
    “You’re not coming back?” She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout.
    Rico took a deep breath. “No, I’m sorry. This may take a while to straighten out.
    Very nice meeting you.” With that, he turned on hi s heel and disappeared into the crowd as he made his way out to the parking lot. He got into his Porsche and cruised onto the street, chuckling as he merged with traffic.
    Twenty minutes later, Rico found himself sitting in his car outside of Katia’s house. The place was dark and looked quite deserted. Lowering the driver’s side window, he inhaled deeply. He could smell her scent, strong and pervasive, but with it, he scented someone else. She was with another man.
    Rico took another deep breath and exhaled as he pressed the button and raised the window. He sat where he was for a few more moments trying to figure out why he’d even driven over there. Coming up with no answer, he put the car in reverse, backed out onto the road and headed home.
     

Chapter Three
Kat-nip
     
    Katia smiled at the man across the bar from her and mouthed “thank you” for the drink he’d bought her. Then she wrapped her lips around the straw and sucked as she continued looking at him from under her lashes. She released the straw and ran the tip of her tongue over her lips and settled back in her seat. Men were so easily enticed, she mused as she watched him slide off his stool, pick up his drink and walk toward her.
    “Hi,” he said as he slid onto the stool beside her. “Ken Tyler.” He offered his hand.
    Katia smiled as she took his hand, her long red nails grazing his wrist as she did, feeling his pulse rate increase. “Nice to meet you, Ken. I’m Katia Korsky,” she purred.
    “Russian?”
    “Perhaps,” she replied.
    “Come here often?”
    Katia studied him for a moment. In spite of his inane banter, he was sexy as hell.
    Not as sexy as Rico had been, but no one was that sexy, she thought. Nevertheless, Ken dressed well and had a tall, athletic build. He had a fair complexion that intrigued and excited her, and his blond hair was a little long. His eyebrows formed straight slashes over thickly lashed eyes as blue as the sky. Deep dimples