Deep (Pagano Family #4)(17)
He put his hand on her chin and turned her face to his. “Do. Then come back to my booth. You drink vodka tonic?”
She nodded.
“I’ll have one waiting.” His thumb moved over her lips, making all the muscles between her hips clench, and then he was off the stool and heading back to his booth.
Bev’s heart was pounding so hard it hurt. Oh, hell’s bells.
“Are they ready to go?” Chris was back.
“I…I didn’t check.” She swallowed. He wasn’t going to understand this at all. “I’m…Chris, I’m staying.”
His brows drew in. “Please?”
“I’m staying. Nick asked me to stay, and he’ll take me home. I’m staying.”
Chris began shaking his head about halfway through her explanation. “Forget about it, Bev. I know you’ve got a crush, but don’t be stupid.”
“I’m staying, Chris. He’s my neighbor. Nothing bad is going to happen. I’m going over there now. Just tell Sky I’ll see her Sunday.”
He stared at her, and then he shook his head again. “I’m not going to pick you up after this one, Bev. I’m done picking you up and dusting you off. You need to be smarter.” With that, he walked to the dance floor, toward Romeo and Sky, picking his way through the dancers.
Now hurt and angry as well as anxious and massively turned on, Bev finished her drink and headed to Nick’s booth.
She was almost around the dance floor when a small hand grabbed her arm, and she turned to find Skylar, looking worried. “Are you sure about this?”
Feeling defensive, too—feeling quite full of tense emotions by now—Bev jerked her arm free. “I’m sure. He’s my neighbor. I literally know where he lives. It’s not some nameless hookup.”
“From what Chris says, I’d feel better if it was. Be careful, sweets. All I’m sayin’.”
Bev nodded and turned her back on her friend. She walked toward Nick’s booth with her head up, her shoulders squared, and her gut sucked in.
oOo
She really hadn’t thought any of this through at all. She’d felt the first blush of regret when she’d reached Nick’s booth, and there had been three men, including Brian, sitting with him. As they scrambled to stand and greet her, she almost turned and bolted after her friends.
But she didn’t, and they made way for her to sit next to Nick. He put a large hand on her bare thigh, and she had trouble concentrating on much else after that. He didn’t take liberties; he simply kept his hand on her, but it was a monumentally sexual touch nonetheless. He introduced her to his friends, but she’d ask again later, if she had cause to know. Between his hand and her nerves, there was no way she’d remember who these guys were.
The vodka tonics kept coming at a steady but not speedy pace, and she maintained her buzz without getting sloppy. Nick folded her into their conversation without making her feel like her participation was mandatory. They weren’t talking business. They talked sports, and they talked a little bit about their families, and they talked some smack to each other. Bev felt like she was peeking behind a curtain.
One of the many things she’d been afraid of, seeing the booth filled with men, was fielding a lot of rude, raw comments, but these guys all treated her with real respect. After an hour or so, by her probably faulty estimation, she realized that part of their excellent manners had to do with Nick’s interest in her. A couple of women, a redhead and a blonde, both dressed to the nines, came up to the table, and the men on the end, whose names she couldn’t recall, pulled them into their laps. Those girls were treated more like Bev had feared she would be. And then, after a couple of minutes, Nick moved his hand—the one not on her. He simply swept his fingers out and pulled them back in, a subtle brushing movement, and then his friends got up and took their girls away.
Bev thought Nick had just told them to shoo.
Brian, sitting on Nick’s other side, leaned in. “What do you want to do, boss?”
Everybody seemed to call him ‘boss.’ Nick turned to her and gave her that little half smile. “You ready to go?”
She smiled back fully. His smile grew in response; she liked that. “Sure.”
He turned back to Brian. “Call for a car for you and the boys. Tell Jimmy we’re ready to go.”
Brian nodded and pulled out his phone and made a couple of calls. Anticipation growing like a pressure in her chest, Bev focused on finishing her drink. A few minutes later, Brian answered his phone and nodded at Nick.
Nick’s hand left her thigh, and his arm went across her back. “Okay, bella. Let’s go.”
Bella. That meant beautiful. Bev turned her head; his face, his mouth, was right there. Before she thought any more about it, she kissed him.
She’d startled him—and that gave her a rushing sense of power. The one thing she felt sure she knew about him was that he was a man of immense power and control, and that scant flinch when her lips touched his gave her a little hit of his power, like the connection had transferred some of his to her.
And then his other hand took hold of her face and his tongue was in her mouth, and she was completely in his control. Oh God, oh God. His mouth was hot and firm and tasted of scotch, and his tongue was like silk against hers. She wanted him so much. It was all lust, all physical desire and mystique, no substance that she could see, and she didn’t care at all. She moaned and kissed him back, abandoning herself to the folly of lust.