That Emerald Vow (The Crimson Creed #2)

3. Chapter Three

I didn’t fully notice the blonde bombshell who is Lily’s friend when I first arrived. Once I do, I can’t help but take her in. She’s wearing a plum minidress with a leather jacket, her hair cascading in loose waves. Absolutely breathtaking.

Her beautiful green eyes are looking up at me in challenge, forcing me to smirk back at her. Tonight may be more fun than I originally anticipated. There is something about them though. They are shining with mischief, but something lurks behind them that I can’t quite put my finger on. I can already tell it’s something that will drive me nuts until I can pinpoint it.

I have to forcibly remove my eyes from hers to focus on Lily. Opening my arms, I reach over the table awkwardly to envelop her in a hug. “Lily, it’s so nice to see you again. It’s been years.”

“It’s nice to see you too, D,” she says, chuckling.

“It’s nice that you’re all still in touch from high school. I don’t talk to anyone from mine,” Charlie says as she takes a sip of her drink. “Lily told me about The Crimson Creed. What made you go into business with your best friend?” One would expect these questions to be directed at her best friend’s potential boyfriend, but her eyes are locked straight on me.

“Um, I was going through a hard time back then . . .” That’s the understatement of the century. “Adrian helped me a lot. When we had this opportunity presented to us, we couldn’t say no.” Saying no could have been life-threatening . “I started working at the garage with him when I got my act together. Once the first shop was up for sale, it just felt right. We wanted to give back to the community that helped both of us.” Shit. I realize too late I shouldn’t have said that. How do you explain to someone that you help free trafficked individuals and are a gun for hire to get rid of the asshole criminals contributing to the problem?

“Give back to the community with an auto shop?” Charlie asks, her face contorting in confusion. “It’s a very helpful profession, but I don’t see it as giving back. No offense.”

My mouth hangs open a bit, at a loss for words. Think of something. I turn to Adrian, hoping for support.

He clears his throat. “I think he means we noticed there was a need for a reputable shop within a reasonable distance. So we wanted to provide one and make it more affordable for everyone in the neighborhood.”

Both of the ladies respond in unison. “Ohhh!” Which helps relieve pressure from the breath I was holding in and effectively ends that line of questioning.“So, Charlie, how did you and Lily meet?” I ask after ordering another round of drinks for the table, knowing very well that I should be getting reacquainted with Lily versus focusing on her gorgeous friend. It should count that it relates back to Lils, right?

“We met in freshman year chemistry. Our girl may be a whiz when it comes to complex emotions, but throw in some complex chemical compounds? She turns into a fish out of water.” Charlie playfully nudges Lily.

Lily sticks her tongue out at her. “Oh, shut up.” I catch Adrian glimpsing towards Lily like she hung the moon. This man is so love sick.

I can’t ever imagine caring for someone like that . . . Being cared for like that . . .

“She ended up dropping the class and taking anthro to fulfill the science requirement.” Charlie smiles warmly at her. “But the friendship was already formed. She was stuck with me.”

“For this life and all the rest. I found my soulmate,” Lily says, winking.

“Soulmate, huh?” Adrian asks playfully, but you can hear the small twinge of boyish jealousy. They used to be best friends growing up, but things turned complicated when they grew into more right before graduation. His asshole father got in the way of that. One small decision that Adrian made to protect the woman he loves changed all of our lives. Our friendship was forged in fire way before that, but I could understand the sentiment of friend soulmates.

I laugh and put my arm around him before saying, “Oh, I totally get it! Soulmates can also be found with friendships. I love you, Adey-spadey.” I squeeze his shoulders for good measure.

We all start laughing. “I love you too, you big buffoon,” Adrian says as he pats my shoulder.

“Aren’t you guys the sweetest ,” Charlie says in a mocking tone.

I lean in her direction. “Mmm. Do you like sweet, gem ?” My lips turn up in a full, toothy grin. She is smirking back at me when I notice a little flutter in her emerald eyes, more beautiful than the real thing. She leans forward, mimicking my movement. “Oh, darling, I actually prefer spicy. I doubt you could handle the heat.” Charlie ever so slowly pulls her bottom lip into her mouth, making my dick twitch. Which is unsurprising because she is one gorgeous woman. What is surprising is that it also makes something deep inside me warm—a part that has iced over from years of neglect.

I sit back and take a sip of my beer to cool myself down. “You couldn’t begin to imagine what I can and cannot handle.”

“Want to f—” she starts as the DJ announces that the band will start in five minutes. She winks at me, letting the moment end.

“Hey, why don’t we go use the bathroom before they start?” asks Lily. Charlie, still looking at me, nods her head in agreement as they slide out of their seats and head over there.

I look up to see Adrian smiling at me funny. “What are you looking at?” I ask.

“Oh, nothing. This is going to be interesting,” he says.

Not sure what he means, I choose to ignore him and drain the rest of my beer.

“So what happened tonight?” he asks.

I kick my head back and groan. “One of Michael’s henchmen became a problem. Built like The Rock but fought like he was Jackie Chan.”

Adrian starts to laugh. “Oh, did a little henchman get the best of you, Damon?”

I furrow my eyebrows before growling out, “No, he did not! I just . . . I just needed a little bit of extra time.”

He keeps laughing.

“Shut up! Anyway, it became a bloody mess because—”

“Because he pissed you off?”

“Yeah. But I got the last laugh.” I smile at the memory.

Adrian rolls his eyes before looking around. “Shouldn’t the ladies be back by now?”

I turn to look towards the bathroom. “Yeah, it’s not crowded enough yet for there to be a long line. Let’s go check on them,” I suggest.

He nods in agreement as he gets up, but both our demeanors turn deadly, concern sobering me up as I sit up straight.

“Bitch. You broke my nose.” The sound comes from the bathroom hallway, making us quicken our pace.

The sight we find immediately makes me fall in love with both of these women.

They look lethal in fighting stances while two men stand in front of them, holding their bleeding noses in the hallway.

Adrian and I are able to sneak up behind them since they are facing away from us, our arms folded across our chests with neutral expressions on our face. It doesn’t seem like they need any help, but they are definitely not in this alone.

“Um, is everything okay here?” Adrian growls.

The two men turn to look at us, thinking we will understand their dilemma.

“These bitches gotta be taught a lesson,” the one with the long hair says as he tries to come closer to our girls. Our? I’ll have to evaluate that thought later.

Adrian and I are completely in sync after years of working together, each putting an arm up on one of the guys, stopping them from moving any closer to the ladies.

I can’t help but growl as every fiber of my being fills with fury at anyone trying to harm Charlie and Lily, albeit unsuccessfully. “If you want to make sure that the broken noses don’t have broken jaws to match, I would back the fuck off now.” My other hand is already clenched in a perfect fist, itching to make contact.

The men, if you can call them that, look at each other and then up towards both of us—who are clearly a foot or more taller than them. Charlie and Lily are smirking at us with admiration.

Just as they make their way to leave, one of them mutters, “These bitches aren’t worth it.”

Adrian puts his arm out again, blocking his exit. “Apologize,” he demands as darkness washes over him. I’ve only seen that come out during our missions.

They both scoff at him.

“Apologize now. I’m not as nice as my friend over here,” he barks at them. Nice is not something I would identify as right now, but I’ll let him be the hero in front of Lily. My eyes go to both of the ladies, and they have this deep look of excitement in their eyes, which confuses me. Are they adrenaline junkies? Something else?

“N—”

Adrian has him pinned to the wall before he can finish, a switchblade in his hand aimed at his crotch. “Do you see where my hand is? If you don’t want your dick to be your chaser tonight, you will apologize. No one disrespects those I care about. No one .”

Definitely something else. Lily looks like she’s about to bust at the seams with how she’s gazing up at Adrian.

The shit talker’s mouth drops open, unable to form words. The other one looks like he wants to crawl into himself—terrified.

“So what will it be?” I ask before nodding towards Adrian. “He won’t wait much longer.” Neither will I.

They both immediately say, “Sorry, ladies.”

Adrian lets him go, and they both quickly pass through the small space left by our bodies. Charlie’s and Lily’s shoulders seem to ease once the assholes run away.

I don’t even realize I’m walking towards Charlie until the sweet smell of peaches infiltrates my nostrils. Mmm. “I would ask if you guys are okay, but it looks like you didn’t really need our help at all. I’m impressed.” I offer my arm to her.

She smiles up at me as she loops her arm through mine. Something deep inside me flutters, and a cool rush cascades over my body. “Yeah. Lils and I took self-defense classes during undergrad. A college campus wasn’t always the safest place to be,” Charlie informs us.

“I’m proud of both of you. You can definitely hold your own,” Adrian says, smiling at them.

“Can we all go get the next round now? Fighting crime makes me thirsty,” Lily admits as we all head back to our table.

Adrian gets the group a round of shots before we head over to the dance floor. Lily and Adrian leave us without a second glance.

“I guess it’s just you and me, gem,” I say, offering her my hand.

She turns her head and looks at me quizzically. “Why do you keep calling me that?”

“Because your gorgeous eyes are the purest shade of emerald I have ever seen,” I respond honestly, hand still outstretched towards her.

She bites her lip and continues to look at me before smiling and taking my hand. “Let’s dance, rockstar. Maybe I’ll let you buy me a drink later.” Charlie winks at me before pulling me by my hand deeper onto the dance floor. There’s a rush of unfamiliar heat that courses through me as she maneuvers me through the crowd.

Once we’re dancing to the beat of the song, I’m absolutely transfixed by this woman I don’t know but would do anything to learn more about. Our bodies melt into each other as we sway closer and closer with each beat until there is barely any space between us. I can’t tell where I end and she begins. I look down at her to see her eyes are closed, just enjoying this moment. Not being able to help myself, I move a loose strand of hair from her shoulder, making her eyes open. Her teeth pull in her lower lip as she maintains eye contact, making my dick twitch.

Being friends with benefits with her would be a bad idea, right? Yes, yes it would. But no one said anything about not being friends with her. Something about her pulls me in like a moth to a flame.

“You like what you see, hot stuff?” she challenges as her body continues to grind against mine.

I playfully grab her by her neck and lean in closer to whisper in her ear. “I guess we’ll find out when I buy you that drink.” I know I have her attention now as goosebumps erupt all over her body, making her shudder. “And if your reactions are any indication, I think you would quite enjoy spending more time with me. ”

“You wish,” she says breathlessly.

“Oh, sweetheart, I wish for a lot of things,” I say, pulling back to look her in the eyes. “This is gonna be the start of a very fun friendship.”

Her face lights up with the most mischievous smile. “That it is.”