“I hope you don’t think I’m being too forward,” Roxanne said, placing her hands on the table and leaning down closer to me. “I just found the idea, intriguing. I’ve never done anything like that myself … before. I like your perfume, by the way.”
“Thanks,” I said with a nervous smile.
It wasn’t having a woman hit on me that was freaking me out, it was having a woman hit on me while her Mafioso boyfriend stood two feet away looking oblivious. I wondered if he would see me as a rival and I didn’t want to wind up floating in the Delaware. For the first time all evening, motor mouth beside me actually sat there silently. He was no dummy. Thankfully, Tony grabbed Roxanne’s arm and led her off and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“I think you really do make Roxanne hot,” Adam said with a smile when they left.
“Don’t be jealous. I won’t be doing any research with her.”
All of my fans were very sweet and lovely people, who complimented me kindly, making me all warm and fuzzy. As is typical with society in general, though, there were a few odd birds in the nest.
“Hi, I’m Margie Peterman and I’m your biggest fan,” said the intense-looking young woman with a picture of me on her T-shirt. Where in the hell did she get that? Seeing me looking, she offered up the information. “I had it made from your author picture on Goodreads. Do you like it?” she asked, sounding like she would throw herself into traffic if I said ‘no.’
“Um, yeah. It’s very nice,” I said reassuringly.
“I can quote every line of dialogue from every one of your books,” Margie said excitedly.
“That’s really cool,” I said with a smile. “I’m happy you liked them so much.”
“I’ve read each one of them sixty-three times.”
“Really? Wow.”
“I sleep with them under my pillow.”
“I see.”
“Can I touch you?”
Margie did eventually move on. Apparently, she was also a huge fan of Sebastian Romano. I wondered if she had a picture of him on her underwear. As Margie left, a small smiling man stepped up to my table.
“I am Pavel. I saw your picture on Facebook and I fell in love with you instantly.”
“I’m sorry Pavel, but she’s already spoken for,” Adam said, putting an arm around me.
“I’m very flattered Pavel,” I broke in, “but I’m afraid I’m not interested.”
“I see. Well, then, if you are in need of a top quality septic tank cleaning, I hope that you will consider giving me a call.” He handed me a card that said ‘Pavel’s Septic Services. Take the stank out of your tank.’ “Will you sign my bookmark?”
“Uh, sure.” I smiled and signed his bookmark, which happened to be for another author’s book, but oh well. Pavel left. “Do you see now why I have a pen name?” I asked Adam. I heard Pavel tell the writer at the next table the exact same thing, incidentally.
A few minutes later, we were all released to the main club area. We were given a special roped off VIP section to sit in, but I had other ideas. I grabbed Adam’s hand and led him off to the dance floor.
We got out under the lights where the Latin beat of the Pitbull song I Know You Want Me was just beginning. What perfect timing. Adam grabbed my hips and pulled me tightly against him. I put my arms around his neck and followed his lead. I found that I was able to read his body easily. I could sense how he was going to move the second he began, and I was right there with him. In these shoes I was much closer to his height, and our bodies lined up nicely.
He really did know how to move his hips, and he definitely had rhythm. The heat of the lights, the beat of the music, and the sensation of his hips pushing against mine, was intensely sexual. The lyrics of the song captured my naughty mood, and I sang the chorus to him flirtatiously as we danced. I think he liked it. He was looking at me like he wanted to rip my panties off with his teeth. As the song ended and Rihanna started signing, Cockiness, appropriately enough, he leaned down and finally kissed me.
It was sweet and gentle at first, the lightest brush of his lips on mine, and then a little more, like he was waiting to see if I would push him away. Instead though, I completely surrendered, and melted against him. He gave it more ‘oomph’ and I opened my mouth to let him in. He immediately accepted my invitation, and his tongue slid over mine and began to explore languidly. He tasted like warm, wet cinnamon. It began as a slow and sensuous kiss, and built in intensity, as our tongues tangled together and our lips became needier.
I quickly found myself getting highly aroused, my skin hyper-sensitized and a throbbing ache developing between my legs. The feeling was clearly mutual. Believe me, it would have been difficult to miss the fact that Adam was quickly moving toward that embarrassing state he had wanted to avoid. He broke away and began kissing my neck, giving me chills.
“Maybe you should start thinking about baseball soon,” I teased.
“Or maybe we should go back to my place and take care of it another way.”
“I like your idea better,” I answered, and before the final consonant was out of my mouth, we were off the dance floor and headed toward the coat check. “Adam, I just realized that I left my purse back in that other room.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” he asked, but I knew that he was in as much of a hurry to get out of here as I was, so I figured we should split up.
“No, I can get it. You just get our coats.”
“I’ll meet you back just inside those double doors,” he replied, heading off.
I found the Gothic reception room quickly. It was empty now, and the flames and shadows on the walls didn’t add ambiance as much as creepiness. It seemed darker and I had to let my eyes adjust for a second. My purse should be at the table where I’d been sitting. Unfortunately, it was at the other side of the room from the door.
I steadied my nerves and told myself to get on with it already. Just because this place looked like a dungeon in hell, and was owned by a guy in the mob, it didn’t mean there was anything to be nervous about. I walked quickly over to my table, avoiding looking at the paintings on the walls. When I got there, I looked around and saw it lying on a chair. I breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed it, turning to leave, when I heard something off to my left, in the shadow cast by the dragon. It sounded like a wheeze. My heart skipped a beat as I looked for the source of the sound, adrenaline coursing through my body and lighting up my nerves like an electrical shock.