She smiled, warm and welcoming. “As did I. Toby endlessly speaks of you.”
My, I wondered what else she knew…
Brushing Toby a quick glance, he politely addressed me with a warm but distant kind of smile. “Good to see you again, Lucy.”
“Toby.” I made an effort to smile, yet it somehow turned out to look pained.
Chad with all his mighty brilliance as well as his other, less brilliant qualities—like pushing my buttons—knew when to dive in and save me from what might have been an awkward moment of epic proportions. Animated, he directed all attention on him as he made a joke, including everyone around him.
An hour passed and Ava turned out to be such a nice woman. A rarity at best. She also seemed eager to be friends, so when she requested my number before leaving, I didn’t even hesitate to give it to her.
Everyone seemed to be in such good spirits that most of them decided to stay awhile and opted out of heading over to a new club opening. The bar’s house and current pop music suited them quite fine.
Finishing my sixth champagne glass, I was licking my bottom lip before biting it when Toby reappeared before me.
“Dance with me?”
I looked him in the eye then to his outstretched hand before declining his offer. “I don’t think that’s a great idea, Toby.” Bitchy wasn’t the tone I was aiming for, however it came out that way anyway.
Unabashed, he kept on testing my limit. “Come on, Lucy. Just this once, that’s all I ask. I won’t ask you for anything else from now on…” His words were soft, but his eyes told me a different story. There was something about him that was different. I couldn’t particularly pinpoint what it was, though.
Licking my lips again, I tried to reason with him. “It won’t feel right.” Or maybe it would feel so right that it would be wrong in an inordinate amount of ways. Apart from him, I could brave it out and fight him with all my might, but with him close—dancing tremendously close—I wouldn’t have much power to battle him along with my body at the same time. Always, I inevitably turned into a wavering mess.
Still not convinced, he stood his ground, knowing the precise words to use to trigger a reaction from me. “I beg of you, for the last time, dance with me?”
There was something about the way he said those words, especially the way for the last time sounded. It was as if he was telling me that this was it. That this dance would be the last time he’d come for me. That he, too, was moving on. I supposed I could give in to his request and dance with him… for the last time.
Clearing the lump in my throat, I stood up and lightly covered his hand with mine. “Fine, lead the way.” The first brush of contact against his skin set a fevered alarm all over me, making me clench the muscles of my sex-hungered channel.
His warm hand didn’t put much pressure around mine. It didn’t feel secure as he held it loosely, guiding us a few feet away from where we were sitting in a corner that had white, leather-tufted walls.
Smoothly, he spun me with my back facing him before I felt him behind me, his hand touching the side of my hip. My body was a heated, quivering mess of explosion. No matter how hard I tried to stare at the stylish walls before me to make the feeling go away, it only intensified it.
What bothered me more was the fact that he wasn’t all over me. Why was that? The guy in Rome hadn’t even given me five minutes until he had ravished my lips. Seven minutes to get me writhing underneath him. Nine minutes to get me moaning and panting his name. So again, why wasn’t he taking advantage of this opportunity?
“Stop. Thinking.” He gripped the side of my hip, fingertips gently digging into my skin as I felt him pull me back against the hardness of his chest.
My fuck… the ice around me was thinning. The longer he held me like this, the less effective my shield became. Was he going to be this close until the music changed? Because maybe by then I would be soaked with wetness… and heaven forbid if that ever happened. I didn’t think I could forgive myself if the night became a repeat of how thoughtless I had been that night in Rome.
Biting my lip, I moved my head sideways, needing to speak to him, but I stopped short when I felt his hot breath mere inches away from my mouth. For the love of Christ… I inwardly groaned at my overexcited hormones. “I don’t feel comfortable… too close,” I breathed out just enough for him to hear me.
“That’s a problem, isn’t it?”
I nodded. “Yes, it is.”
“Let’s fix that, shall we?” His arm roughly tugged me, pressing me harder against him while his limb held me hostage. “There. Doesn’t that feel much better, darling?”
Blasted. Arrogant. Self-serving prick. “Are you purposely trying to provoke me?” I fumed as I tried to wrench his hand away, however he was too strong. It didn’t even budge, only furthering my frustration.
“Rest assured, I won’t try anything that will make you run the opposite way,” he whispered against my ear. “I promise.”
Unknowingly releasing a sigh, I nodded, trusting his words as I closed my eyes and basked in his warmth, the exquisite feel of his body against mine, and the sensation of just being this close to him…
This was it. I felt it with every fiber in me—with every rampant beat of my heart—that he was letting me go. It was daunting—scary even—to know that I wouldn’t have him always hovering in the background and trying to win me back. It broke my heart all over again. Then again, my heart had never truly stopped breaking, had it?
Well, as questions went, I had never expected what came out of his mouth next.
“How have you been, Lucy? We haven’t really spoken after things fell through.” He spoke into my ear, making sure that I could fully hear him. The deep timber of his voice sounded like a caress, placing me in a state of severe sensual awareness. Damn. Him.
It was hard to consider his question when the only thing my mind could process was illicit thoughts. “I’m…” I trailed off, not sure what to say next. I was what? Fine? Devastated? Scared? Shaken with despair, and yet, beyond inconceivably horny? “Never been better,” I finished, blushing profusely. Thank heavens he couldn’t see though my lies.
“I like your new look. The make-up, the dress, the stylish hair…” He insinuated with a compliment. “Troy approves?”
Troy. And my endless trail of lies… “Indeed, he loves it,” I confidently said, not hesitating for a second. Hell, I was in too deep in my own web of deceit. I was sure Troy would understand if the situation arose and I needed to fully explain and justify myself.