Free Cursed by Chemistry by Kacey Mark

sauce. “Umm, I’m standing upright. Is that bad? Should I be on my back?” The giddy warmth of excitement had returned again. Oh, this was too much fun. Shauna could play this game all night. “Because I wouldn’t mind finding myself in that position right now.”
    She’d had her doubts when she first arrived. Would her spine be strong enough to go through with it, or would she melt into a quivering puddle of cowardly muck?
    Now she had her answer. She’d march in with a cast-iron spine and Adrian’s frown of disapproval fueling her pace.
    Adrian’s words paused amid distraction. As if the numbers in his head, if only for a moment, didn’t compute. “Look. Sorry I couldn’t help you before. But you need to tell me where you are.”
    “If you hadn’t kicked me out, I’d be with you. Maybe even…on my back.” Shauna waited for a response. “Legs spread…wet and achy….you know the drill.”
    Nothing.
    “Or maybe even wrapped around your waist? I guess it would have been your business then ,” she continued. “But it’s not now.”
    The accelerating roar of Adrian’s motor served as his only reply. Could it be? Did Shauna’s words actually have an impact on him? She didn’t bother to hold back the grin as she marched for the entrance. The mouth that wouldn’t quit was about to take a joy ride. She neared the entrance, and the bouncer motioned her to the front.
    Shauna smiled in greeting to the pair of long-coated women. One frizzy head shook in disapproval, and then her attention fixed to Shauna’s phone.
    Shauna’s mouth moved to silently frame the words “ I know .” Her eye’s widened and rolled heavenward and she made a talking gesture with her other hand. “ He won’t shut up !” It was a furtive ploy for sympathy.
    Based on the synchronous scowl from the women, it didn’t work. They turned to each other with lips pursed in annoyance.
    Shauna seized the momentary diversion and slipped ahead. She shrugged to a lanky man in a flannel shirt and windbreaker vest as she passed him too. Not an ounce of skin showing on anyone.
    When Shauna approached, the bouncer frowned and held out one hand.
    Shauna looked to the card in one hand, the phone in the other. No question. She handed him the card. He swiped it away and his hand jutted out again. “The phone too,” he growled.
    Shauna held up one finger. A nice one, thank God. At this rate, she didn’t know who had control of this woman. Not Kimmy, Certainly not Adrian, and she had serious doubts about herself either.
    The bouncer’s jaw tightened in irritation before turning away with her card.
    Shauna returned her attention to the phone. “Besides, Adrian, you’ve already helped me out even more than you know.”
    “Why’s that?”
    “Because I’m eating the chocolate I stole from you. It tastes really good.” Shauna moaned the last two words.
    “You can’t have that here, ya know,” crowed one of long-coats. Which one, Shauna wasn’t sure. They still wore identical looks of disdain.
    The frizzy-haired one turned to the bouncer. “What makes her so special?”
    “Not a darn thing,” Shauna replied. She returned to the phone. “Look, I’ve got to go.”
    The screech of tires tore through the fabric of silence on the street.
    “What on earth?” The ornery women turned; their eyes wide with shock and Shauna long forgotten.
    A sleek, cobalt-blue Camaro drifted sideways around the corner. It straightened with a jerk and raced straight for the front entrance.
    Was that Adrian? Did those tires echo through the phone?
    “It’s gonna ram us,” one woman squawked. She grabbed her friend, but neither of them moved apart from a few jittery hops of suspense.
    The distant sound of Adrian’s voice came through the phone. “You’re teasing me with a little harmless chocolate?”
    Shauna’s jaw fell slack. As the Camaro raced into focus, her mind whirred to measure every discernible detail behind the Camaro’s tinted windshield. It