Read Online TimeSlip by Caroline McCall - Free Book Online Page B

of here
soon, she was going to humiliate herself even more by crying on him. “Strom,
the last thing I want to do with you is talk.”
    Rivulets of water ran down his bare chest. “But where are
you going?”
    “Strom, if you don’t want me, then it’s none of your damned
business.”
     
    She caught up with Finn at the Sugar Club. Jake and Pete
were interested in all the cultural experiences Dublin had to offer, and they
didn’t have burlesque in the twenty-sixth century. The show was over, but the
club was still full, waiting for the DJ to start. She wriggled into the booth
beside Finn.
    “Jack D, a large one would be nice, and keep ‘em coming.”
    Finn looked at her tearstained face. “Oh, Ingrid, I’m so
sorry, hon. Disaster?”
    “Complete and utter.” Ingrid downed a large gulp of Finn’s
drink while she waited for hers to arrive and coughed until her eyes watered.
“Give this girl a medal for being the most inept seductress in history.”
    Finn put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. “You know
what, hon,” he whispered. “He’s not worth it, no man is.” Finn ordered two more
large ones and raised his glass to her. “Forget him, he doesn’t deserve you.
Let’s get wasted.”
    Pete slid into the booth beside her. “Hi, Ingrid, I thought
you were…” He flushed with embarrassment and turned away.
    Oh great, now my humiliation is complete . Did Pete
know that she was trying to seduce the viking tonight? Who else had Finn told?
Pete slipped away and Ingrid watched as he had a hurried conversation with Jake
beside the stage, where he was talking with two of the dancers. She caught
Jake’s sympathetic glance. He knew. They all knew.
    “Finn, I think I need another drink.”
    Jake didn’t say anything, he didn’t have to. He put his arms
around her and stroked her hair. “I’m sorry, Ingrid. I didn’t know until we got
here and Finn told us that this was going to be an all-nighter.”
    When the music started up again, Finn grabbed her hand.
“Come on, Ingrid, let’s dance. You can show Jake all your best moves.”
    Her protests failed. They had obviously concocted a
cheer-up-Ingrid plan, and between the pair of them, they got her onto the dance
floor. Jake was a good dancer. Finn, as usual, concentrated on being
outrageous. Much to the amusement of the other customers, he had even managed
to borrow a fan from one of the dancers and insisted that they take turns with
it. Eventually, she had enough. She wanted to be miserable again. Jake followed
her back to the booth.
    Ingrid took another slug out of her glass. “He didn’t want
me. Strom doesn’t care about me.” Oh god, I’m going to start sniveling again .
    Jake took the glass away from her and set it down. “Ingrid,
I’ve known the big guy for a long time. If he didn’t care about you, he would
have slept with you.”
    There was a peculiar male logic to that statement that she
couldn’t quite fathom. Ingrid grabbed her drink again and stared morosely into
the glass. “Why couldn’t I have fallen for you or Pete instead?”
    Jake threw back his head and roared with laughter. “Ingrid,
no one, and I mean no one would fall for Pete unless they were seriously into
Tech. Hell, even I can’t understand half the things he talks about.”
    Ingrid persisted. “I mean, you would have slept with me,
wouldn’t you?”
    Jake smiled. “In a nanosecond.”
    Whether he had intended it or not, she took that as an
invitation. Jake’s lips were soft. His kiss was gentle, if curiously lacking in
passion, but it was a balm to her earlier rejection.
    Finn nudged her. “Ingrid, Strom is here and he doesn’t look
happy.”
    “Life’s too short to be happy,” she sniffed, “and besides,
he’s made it very clear that he’s not interested.”
    Jake commed him silently, Boss, I know what it looks
like, but she is out of control .
    Strom glared at him. I know that , he commed back. I
handled things badly . That was an understatement of