Leather & Lacey

Ch. 3: A Few Minutes

(Tracey's POV)

He was gorgeous.

When he first spoke, I felt a little tingle work its way down my spine. I don’t know what it is about guys with deep voices, but I love to listen to them talk. Give them an accent and I could listen to them read the d*mn dictionary all...d*mn…day, every…d*mn…day.

That’s why I didn’t turn around at first. I knew I’d be in trouble if he looked anywhere near as s*xy as he sounded. And I was right. As a result, I’m now sitting in a booth next to him. I really wanted to put some distance between us, but the music was way too loud.

“So, what’s your name?” he asked, and I answered, “Tracy, you?” He smiled as he said something, but there was a burst of laughter and loud shouts from the booth behind me and I didn’t hear him.

“You from around here?” I think is what he asked and I nodded. This is one of the many reasons I hate clubs. They're just way too noisy. “What about you?” I asked, but before he could answer, there was another commotion, this one on the dance floor.

I turned around quickly to scan for Sally and the guys, only to find Pete fighting with some guy, “Oh my god! Pete!” I shouted as I jumped up and rushed over to see what was going on.

This dude was huge. But Pete was no slacker. He wanted to be a boxer by trade, so he could hold his own in a fight. They were exchanging punches like this was a prize fight, too. Well, using the term ‘exchanging’ was a bit of a reach. He was trying to punch Pete, but Pete was faster and more skilled than this dude.

“You know these yahoos?” my mystery-man asked as he came up next to me. I nodded as I pointed to Pete and said, “He’s a friend of mine. But I can guarantee he didn’t pick this fight.” I was a little surprised that no one was trying to stop this, actually.

I guess Leather over here thought the same because we both looked around at the same time. I call him Leather because he was dressed in the softest looking black leather pants I’ve ever seen. He had on a baby-blue silk shirt and a black leather bolo tie with leather ankle-high engineer boots to finish off the look of bad-a**-board-room.

He had thick, dark-brown hair that had a slight curl to it which made me wanna comb my fingers through it just to see if it was as soft as it looked, long lashes that could make any girl jealous over soft-brown eyes that made him look devilishly boyish all framed by rugged features that included the sweetest smile I’ve ever seen on a guy.

Though right now he was frowning. It became pretty apparent that no one was going to break this up anytime soon, and I watched as Leather stalked toward the two. Leather pushed Big-guy back a little, but Pete just backed away peacefully, putting his hands up in a sign of surrender as Leather gritted, “Knock it the f*ck off! People are here to drink and dance to good music, not watch a couple of morons trying to knock each other the h*ll out. If you really wanna fight, take it the h*ll outside!”

Big-guy didn’t seem to like someone else interfering with his brawl, so he snarled at Leather, “Mind your own f*ckin’ business, a**hole.” To which some new guy replied, “Well how about I jump in here and see you to the door, sir.” Yeah, that was nowhere near being a question.

“Who the f*ck are you?” Big-Guy growled and New-Guy said, “The f*ckin’ owner. Now if you don’t mind, sir…” He swept his arm towards the door and Big-guy stormed off in that direction, causing some other people to follow him out. I guess they were his posse.

I was still watching them go when Leather came up beside me and gently touched my elbow as he asked, “Are you okay?” I turned to look at him and that’s when I realized how freakin' tall he was. I’m no slouch at five feet, eight inches tall, and I’m wearing four-inch heels. This dude has another four, maybe even six inches, on me, which makes him like six feet, four inches tall.

I was so enthralled by his height that all I could do was nod. The music began to play, and he took me in his arms as he said, “Wanna dance?” I nodded again and as I did, I thought to myself, ‘say something, you idi*t. Before he starts thinking you're a real life bobble-head doll!’

(Lucas’ POV)

She was just so sweet and innocent. I’ve never really gone for the innocent type before but this girl? All she had to do was look at me, and I was drawn to her.

I was really glad when Cody came over to handle things. I was even happier when he caught my silent cues not to approach me. I didn’t wanna have to out myself as being part owner of this club, yet. I really wanna get to know this girl better without the fact that I’m rich interfering with things.

I just wish I’d caught her name before. But the music was way too loud and she wasn’t exactly a shouter. Though, I gotta say, asking her to dance was a really good idea. Watching her body move was making my mind run wild with visions of all the things I’d like to do to her body and I…

On second thought, maybe asking her to dance wasn’t such a hot idea after all. These leather pants aren’t exactly capable of hiding anything and I don’t want her to think I’m some kind of perv. Thankfully, as the song ended she leaned in and said something.

I couldn’t hear her over the music, but she also made the universal gesture for “drink”, so I’m assuming she was thirsty. I motioned for her to go first, thinking she’d head back to our table, but she didn’t. She headed to the bar. About halfway there, we got parted by a group of people happily heading to the dance floor and by the time I caught up with her, some a**hat was tryin’ to fall all over her.

I could tell she was panicking a little, but it didn’t stop her from saying, “Listen, a**hat! I said NO and I meant NO! Now get your grubby f*ckin’ hands off me!” With that she threw her water in his face, at least I think it was water, and kneed him in the groin so hard that I felt it. Every guy around her cringed as the dude slowly sunk to his knees while holding his goods.

After that, she wheeled around to find me stalking towards her. I was angry, and it must have shown on my face because she started towards me quickly and put her hands on my chest to stop me from going over there and kicking that idi*t’s head in. “Dude, leave it alone. I took care of it.” She shouted over the music, but my eyes were on her small hands.

Does this girl have no fear? I was impressed. She handled that drunk all on her own, then still had the wherewithal to keep him from getting killed. Figuratively speaking, of course. I finally nodded, and she removed her hands, then turned to head over to our table. I followed her but paused to address the other idi*ts at the bar, “You guys oughta be ashamed of yourselves, letting him pick on a woman like that.”

“Dude, she did just fine on her own.” One of the guys laughed, and I shot him a nasty glare before saying, “She shouldn’t have had to. Had she been surrounded by real men, she wouldn’t have had too, either.”

They all looked suitably guilty, so I just turned to walk away, only to find her standing right behind me. She giggled, and I wished I could have heard her more clearly because, even with the music playing, she sounded adorable.

“Come on, tough-guy.” She said as she turned once again to head back to our table. I followed with a cheesy grin on my face. I liked that she felt like she could banter with me that way. Most girls don’t. In fact, had I been out with any other girl I knew? They’d have played the victim and pushed for me to defend them.

When we got back to the table, she pulled out her phone and started to text someone, so I joked, “Boyfriend?” She snorted as she said, “No, cousin. I’m unattached at the moment.”

She was busy with her text, so she didn’t catch the smile on my face upon learning that. I don’t like infringing on another man's territory. It isn’t kosher, and I’ve never intentionally done it. I only had one incident where I was out with another man’s girlfriend, and it was because she told me she was single. Apparently, she’d done that sorta thing to him often, and I was his last straw.

She thought she had me all cinched up by that point, so she wasn’t even upset at losing her boyfriend of two years. I’m sure you can imagine the scene she caused when I kicked her sorry a** to the curb. I don’t cheat, and I don’t like getting cheated on. Period.

But I wasn’t ready for the night to end yet, either. So, on impulse, I reached over and put my hand over her phone before she could hit send and leaned in closer as I said, “Any chance I can get your number? Maybe take you out for dinner sometime? Or some quiet drinks somewhere? I’m free.” I gave her my best smile, dimples and all, and she rolled her eyes at me.

That was refreshing. Though I’m not sure how to approach a girl who seems immune to my charm. So I just chuckled and pulled my hand away.

She looked down at her phone for a minute before saying, “No, yes, no, and so am I.”

She was putting her phone away as she said that. Without hitting send, I might add, “Seriously? Awesome!” I said as I started to get up, then extended my hand to her like a gentleman. I don’t know why I did that. I’ve never done it before. But she took it and slid out of the booth.

Her hand felt so right in mine that I didn’t wanna let go, but once she was standing she pulled her hand away. “I have to let my friends know I’m leaving. I don’t want them to worry.” She said, and I nodded, then watched as she headed over to another table.

She spoke with a petite redhead who turned and looked in my direction, which embarrassed… Uhg! I still don’t know her name. I’ll just have to ask once we’re outside. After another minute or so, she headed back towards me and I smiled.

I let her pass me and as we were leaving I motioned to the fellas, so they’d know I was heading out. Of course, I got a bunch of wolf whistles and thumbs up which made me roll my eyes at them as I flipped them off. They were laughing when she stopped and looked over at them, giving them a scathing look.

It was hysterical. Every last one of them slinked down into their seats with guilty looks on their faces. The only other person I’ve ever known the guys to do that sort of thing with was my Mom. But Mom could stop a freight train with the right look. I highly doubt this sweet thing could.

When we got outside, I asked, “So what’ll it be? Food, drinks, or both?” “Food”, she said without hesitation as she took her heels off with a loud sigh of relief. “God I hate those things.” She said, and I laughed, “Then why were you wearing ‘em?” I asked, chuckling. “Because I have one of those best friends who could talk a saint down off his cloud.” She said with an annoyed tone and a roll of her eyes making me burst out laughing.

“Well, I wouldn't suggest walking in this parking lot in your stocking feet. There’s loads of broken glass around. Not to mention all the gravel.” She frowned at that before eyeing those shoes like they were public enemy number one. But after a minute she looked up at me and said, “Okay, Leather… scrunch down, will yah?” “Excuse me?” I asked, one because of the name, which threw me off, and two because I had no clue what she meant.”

“Leather…” She said, motioning to my pants and tie. I chuckled as she continued, “And scrunch down… Like so…” She said as she bent a little at the knee and waist like she was gonna jump into the air or something. “Like this, Lacey?” I asked, using her method of assigning a nickname for her since I didn’t know her real one.

I could swear she stiffened for a split second before finally laughing as she said, “Yup! Now hold still.” Then, before I knew what hit me, she was hopping onto my back like a little kid getting a piggy-back-ride. “Onward, Mr Leather!” She giggled, and I laughed as I started toward my car.

Oh, and, I was right before! She does have the most adorable giggle I’ve ever heard. Just sayin’.

Once we were settled in my Ferrari, I asked, “So, where would you like to eat?” She shrugged gently as she said, “I donno. Ummmm, I guess either Denny's or iHop. I just blinked at her. Of all the places she could have picked, she chose those two.

It took a hot minute for my surprise to wear off, though she didn’t seem to notice as she situated her shoes on the floor, then worked to fasten her seat-belt. I could tell her down-to-earth and playful demeanor wasn’t an act. Neither was her innocent routine. She was just a nice person. But when she looked into your eyes you could tell there was a lot of pain there. Pain I found myself wanting to soothe in some way.

“What? You don’t like those places? We can see if Burger King is still open, but it’s kinda late for them.” I just chuckled at her suggestion before saying, “Denny’s it is, then.”

And off we went.. To Denny’s.. In my jet-black Ferrari.