Gold (All that Glitters #2)(94)

“Missed you,” Gates breathed into her ear.

“I missed you, too,” she said. “This is fun.”

“You should be careful with me, Bri. I think that guy really likes you.”

“I like him, too,” she said hesitantly. “He’s nice.”

“Yeah. Then, you should probably switch out with one of your girls. The way your body is moving…”

She swirled her hips around against him, and he groaned.

“You’re killing me here.”

“The great Gates Hartman reduced to nothing by little old me?” she joked.

“You’re having too much fun with this. I’ll have you know, I’ve f*cked a whole lot of celebrities since you.”

She turned around to face him and winked. “No one does it like me.”

His eyes confirmed what she was saying. “That guy isn’t your type.”

“He’s not,” she said, unperturbed.

She glanced over at Cam. He was talking to Neal and Pace and not even paying attention to her.

“But I think it’s good.”

“If you say so.” Gates’s hand returned to her hips, and he drew her in closer. “Get over here.”

She giggled and pressed herself up against him. Their movements were completely in sync, and they danced like that through the next three songs. Her eyes drifted over to Cam, and she saw he was staring intently at them now. She bit her lip as she decided to just dance through the end of this song and then go back to spend time with him.

Then, her stomach plummeted. She took a step back from Gates. “Shit!”

“What?”

“Eric,” she whispered.

He walked right up to Cam and put his hand out.

Oh no. No, no, no. She didn’t even say another word. She bolted toward them.

What the hell?

He had said that he wasn’t going to be here.

She roughly grabbed Eric by the arm, and he staggered back a step.

Fuck!

He was drunk off his ass. She normally wouldn’t have budged him a step.

“What are you doing?” she snapped.

“Hollywood!” he crowed.

She crossed her arms and stood her ground.

“I was introducing myself to my friend, Cam, here.”

“Bryna?” Cam said.

He looked confused, and she didn’t blame him.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured to Cam.

“I’m not really sure what’s going on here.” Cam’s face was set in a stern line.

She couldn’t read him. She didn’t know what he was thinking, but she didn’t think it was good.

“Well, let me tell you what’s going on,” Eric slurred.

“Another time,” she said. She latched on to his arm and pushed him in the opposite direction. “I’m so sorry, Cam. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Okay. And then you’ll explain what all of this is about?”

“Bri doesn’t explain herself to anyone,” Eric said. “Least of all, herself.”

“Jesus Christ, Eric!” Ignoring Cam’s look of confusion, she hauled Eric away from him before Eric could do any more damage. She dragged him through the door to the patio and as far away from anyone else as she could possibly get. The place was packed, so it had been a feat.

“What the f*ck are you doing here?” she cried, shoving his drunken ass backward and into the side of the building.

“Came to make friends,” he joked.

“You said you were going home, and you weren’t going to torture yourself! You *!”

“I’m not torturing myself. But f*ck if I’m going to sit at home either. I’d rather make better use of my time.”

“How the hell is this a better use of your time?” she demanded. She planted her hands on her hips.

“I’m assessing the competition.” He shrugged, and that signature smile graced his lips. “Seems meager at best.”

“Oh my God!” She shook her head and took a step back from him. “You’re drunk and being an ass. You should go home.”

His hands reached out and grabbed her hips. He was more deft than he had appeared seconds before. She stumbled forward against him, and in a second, he had her flipped around, her back pressing into the building and his hands pinning her to the spot.

“Come home with me.”

She stopped breathing for a second as she stared up into his face. It was so raw with emotion. His eyes were so hungry for her. “No,” she murmured. “I’m not playing right now. Let me go.”

“You’re going to need to do better than that. There’s none of the Hollywood spunk in your voice.” He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. “Be here with me right now. Don’t be with him. Don’t be with anyone else.”

His lips hovered inches from hers, and she promised herself she wasn’t fantasizing about kissing him—the memory of what his lips tasted like, the feel of them moving against her, the way everything else shut down.

“I’m here with my…Cam,” she managed to get out.

“But not your boyfriend,” he said. He sounded triumphant. “It’s never bothered you before to kiss other guys…f*ck other guys when you didn’t have a boyfriend.”