Excerpt from PBI Case Files: The Beginning (episode one)

Please enjoy this excerpt from PBI Case Files: The Beginning (episode one)

Chapter One

Sarah Hollister sauntered through the nightclub with confidence she wasn’t feeling. She understood in that moment the meaning of the saying ‘alcohol makes you feel ten-feet tall and bullet proof’, but she was fairly certain she’d be paying for her indiscretions tonight with a sledge hammer to the head tomorrow. It had been years since she drank alcohol of any kind. James was a recovering alcoholic, and she did her best to support him by avoiding the mind altering drug herself. But that wasn’t necessary anymore. All of that ended when she walked in on him with another woman in their bed! The room was spinning then, and it was spinning now but she didn’t care anymore. Now she was going to live her life for herself, and hopefully find her strength once again. She allowed her sister, Frankie, to weave her through the crowd back toward the VIP area, with no complaints despite the few slips and near misses she made on the journey. Damn high heels!

She was vaguely aware of the eyes following her ass as she swayed her hips back and forth on the trek to the back of the sectioned off area of the club. Tonight, she wanted them to stare. Tonight, she needed the attention and confirmation from the men, even some of the women in the room, that she was still sexy. She’d wasted five years on a good-for-nothing man who took and never gave back.

Just for tonight she was going to be someone else, tomorrow she’d go back to being a manager of a fortune five hundred company, She’d don the navy blue, black, and pin striped business suits that hid her figure. She’d toss her long golden brown waves into a French twist, and hide her blue eyes behind fifties-styled black glasses, and after tonight she’d forget about the pain in her heart from the man she planned her future with. Tomorrow, she’d be Miss Hollister, but tonight she’d be a sexy ten-foot-tall and bullet proof drunk.

Frankie stopped short of the roped off area of the room and examined Sarah. “Tell me you’re not too drunk?” She was so mad at Sarah for starting to drink before she picked her up. Sarah’s logic was that it was cheaper to drink at home. What she didn’t realize was that she was beautiful, and she’d have drinks bought for her all night long. In essence it would’ve been cheaper had she waited until she got to the club. But Sarah had lost all confidence in herself, and it was her job as her little sister to remind her what a knock out she really was.

Sarah offered a lopsided grin, “I’m not too drunk.” She air quoted the last part of that for emphasis.

Frankie’s eyes ping-ponged from side to side as she gave her sister a once over. Worry was written across her face as she bit her lower lip, contemplating whether or not to take her the rest of the way. “Tell me you’re not going to embarrass me?” Usually Frankie wouldn’t care, but she needed this job, and had worked hard to earn her boss’s trust.

“Frankie,” Sarah placed her hands on her sister’s shoulders, more for support than to get her attention. 

“Between the two of us, who is usually the one that embarrasses the other?” hiccup. She covered her mouth in surprise.

“Good point.”

It was? Sarah tried to remember what she’d just said, but her mind was fuzzy so she just shrugged. “So are we good?”

Frankie eyed her once more and finally relented, “okay.”

“Excuse me.” A tall, dark, handsome man approached them. Sarah squinted to bring his face into focus, but instead of the desired effect she wound up seeing double.

“Twins.” She pointed. “Look, sis, one for you, and one for me.” She grinned suddenly feeling excited at the idea of dancing with twins.

Frankie gave her a concerned look. “I think you’ve had enough for tonight.”

“Francesca, can I be of some help?” The dark stranger asked, his voice ran over Sarah like silk and caused her to shiver inward.

Frankie’s cheek burned red with embarrassment. This was a first for her. Usually, it was her job to embarrass Sarah not the other way around. “No, Mr. Jackson. I think my sister had too much to drink. I’m just going to take…”

“Francesca, darling!” Marcus Jefferson yelled from inside the VIP lounge. He was a football player for some team, the name of which eluded her at the moment, overrun by her concern for her big sis who was now hanging on her in a precarious position, a position of which whiff of wind would send her falling to the floor. Great, now she’s a potential liability. “I’ve been waiting for you all night!” He continued in between swigs of beer.

Frankie glanced nervously at her boss who stood in front of them. His eyes green eyes were turning darker, more emerald in shade and she assumed that meant he was displeased with the situation. One of the primary roles of Frankie’s job as marketing director was to keep the VIP’s happy, and tonight Marcus brought a ton of his team members with him in celebration of their recent win. It was amazing publicity and made Devon Jackson a very happy man, something he was obviously not at the moment.

“Why don’t you let me take your sister to my office so she can sleep it off while you attend to your guests?” Devon suggested. It was worded in the form of a question, but his stern look left little room for argument.

Besides, Frankie was sure she could trust him. If she couldn’t trust her boss then who could she trust? 

“Okay, thank you. I’ll see to my guests, and then come and extract her, and get her home.” She gave him a grateful smile as Devon pulled Sarah’s wobbly body toward him. “Sarah, honey, this is Devon Jackson, my boss. He’s going to take you someplace more comfortable, okay?”

“I like comfort.” Sarah grinned, her vision starting to focus a little as she stared at the man holding her. He was gorgeous. Dark green eyes, dark hair in soft waves just above his shoulder, and flawless skin. She fought the urge to twirl her fingers in his silky tresses. His body was solid steel, and she allowed herself to sink against him. “You’re very adorable.” She said as she closed her eyes against his chest and breathed in his masculine pine and cinnamon scent. “And you smell like Christmas!”

Devon struggled to keep his emotions in check. The brunette practically fell into his arms, and he enjoyed her softness. When she leaned in and sniffed his scent he worried she’d detect his secret but instead she cuddled closer calling him adorable and saying he reminded her of Christmas? He wasn’t sure he liked those comparisons, but he did like the way she made him feel. Her big blue eyes were like a pool of water he could get lost in. He straightened his body as he felt his arousal at the simple touch. She was the sister of his marketing director, and she was obviously drunk. He was not the kind of man that took advantage of that type of situation. “I’ll leave her in my office, and you can pick her up as soon as you get things settled over there.” He cast a glance at the impatient Marcus.

“Thank you.” Frankie breathed a sigh of relief and ran toward the VIP room and Marcus’ outstretched arms. The things she had to do to keep the public happy.

“Let’s get you upstairs, shall we?” Devon asked as he tried to help the floppy girl to stand up straight.

“Hold on.” She bent down at the waist, positioning her rear end against his zipper, and he worried she was going to throw up all over the main dance floor. Instead, she tossed up a silver sequined high heel which he caught easily, despite the surprise. Then the second one was tossed in the air and he had to reach long for it before it fell into the throng of people gyrating to the beat of music on the wooden floor. He hated techno music, but the crowd loved it, so that’s what played on Friday nights. If it were up to him he’d have a piano player and a lounge singer occupying the countless lost souls in his night club, but that would mean his club would be empty. He had to keep up with the times, despite his age.

Sarah leaned back, and he suddenly felt in a very compromising position. He groaned. It was like she was trying to seduce him with her ridiculous moves. He reached down and pulled her back up into a standing position. “Let’s go.” He said through gritted teeth. He wasn’t mad at her. He was mad at his lack of self-control and the hard on that pressed painfully against his jeans.

Sarah thought the idea of removing her heels was intelligent at the moment. That moment faded quickly as she was herded through the club. Other people were careless with where their shoes landed and after the fourth time she was stepped on she finally let out a yelp of pain.

Devon picked her up around the waist and placed her unceremoniously on a seat close by. He crouched down in front of her and took one foot in his hand. She was bleeding. He could smell the fresh cut before she cried out in pain. It looked like she was the victim of a high heeled woman who probably didn’t even know she’d done any damage. Devon fought back the urge to find the girl and kick her out of the club.

His hand traveled part way up her calf to steady her leg while the other hand secured her foot in her sparkly shoe – he really detested sparkly clothing, but on her shapely tanned legs and feet it looked sexy.

Sarah let a moan escape her lips and quickly slapped her hand over her mouth. Oh my god! She snapped at herself. What is wrong with me? Get a few drinks in and I turn into a… a… she didn’t want to admit what she was doing. It was so strange and out of character she couldn’t believe it.

Devon heard the moan and looked up just in time to see her hand rush up to cover her mouth. He looked down and allowed a grin to spread across his lips. In a way, he was thankful she was as affected by their touch as he seemed to be. It was encouraging, and he decided to let her know his desire a little more directly. He ran his fingers from her knee to the ankle of her bare foot. He felt the goose bumps rise on her skin and continued the assault on her senses by taking her foot in his hand and massaging the balls of her feet.

A squeal broke out from her lips. “You really shouldn’t do that right now?” Her voice was barely above a breathy whisper, but he heard her. His hearing blocked out the loud beats to the music and zeroed in on her voice. It seemed every part of him was zeroed in on her and her desires. She was getting aroused by his touch, he could smell it mixed in with her scent. It only fueled his own need more.

He looked up, mischief in his eyes. “Why is that?”

Because it was intoxicating and very sexy, she wanted to tell him, but his touch was bringing alive feelings within her that had been long since gone, and had a sobering effect on her. People close by were staring at them, and she was getting hot and bothered. Instead, she opted with another answer. “I’m ticklish.” She kicked playfully as he slipped on her other shoe.

“I’ll have to remember that.” He wanted to know if there were other areas on her body where she was ticklish, but would save that conversation for more intimate moments. He stood and held out his hand. Her body, voice, blood, and touch were stimulating feelings inside him he hadn’t felt in a very long time. He needed to get her to his office and leave her there to sober up while he put some space between them. She didn’t need a man like him in her life, and he didn’t need a human like her to mess up the balance he created in his own. Balance was necessary for him to complete his work. She tilted the scales with the barest of touches. It wasn’t good.

She took his hand and allowed him to lead her upstairs to his office.

Frankie watched the entire exchange between Sarah and Devon from the corner of the VIP lounge. She couldn’t help the jealousy demon that poked its ugly head out to play. There was obviously something going on between them. Frankie had tried for a year to get Devon’s attention, but he made it clear he wasn’t interested and now, five minutes with her big sister and he was providing erotic foot massages to her in the middle of a busy nightclub? What did Sarah have that she didn’t have? They were similar in looks, they were both fairly successful. Hell, Frankie was even more fun than Sarah. Why would he find her interesting and not the girl who’d been pining away for him for about a year?

It didn’t matter, she loved her sister and she’d support her, but she knew, the jealousy demon that wanted to play wouldn’t make it easy on either of them.

“Francesca, babe, come here.” Marcus patted his thick thigh inviting her to keep him company. She closed the VIP curtain and sauntered over to him. At least she had the attention of a famous football player.

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