27
Dominic
“You don’t wantto rename the restaurant in the hotel?” Thea asked, as I focused on her lips, the red lips that teased me all damn night.
With every sip she took from her wine glass or each glide of her fork passed her lips, I craved that mouth on mine so badly I could almost taste it. Anticipation was poking holes in my patience, but I’d waited a long time for this chance. I’d deal with trying to cover the growing bulge in my pants.
“Believe it or not, I’m actually the one that came up with the name, ‘The Beach Pub’.” I swirled the wine in my glass in an effort to distract myself. But no matter what I did, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the gorgeous woman sitting across from me.
Thea raised an impressed eyebrow. “I didn’t know that, but I can believe it. It’s a simple but very cool play on words, like the beach clubs back in the city. I feel like Joe would be the type to complicate it.”
“You think?” I huffed out a laugh. “He spent weeks trying to think up a name, and they got more ridiculous by the day. A couple of months before we opened, a local newspaper came by and wanted to do a story on the place, so we had to call it something. When the reporter asked him what the name of the business was, I chimed in behind him.”
“Did he get mad? Joe is kind of a control freak like that. I remember how when we’d all go out, everything had to be so precise and not mess with his order of things.” She chuckled, the swells of her breasts pushing against the neckline of her dress as she leaned forward and robbed me of my train of thought.
“All he said was, ‘that could work.’ I think the poor bastard had exhausted himself, and he knew it. We got started on a logo and a sign, and never really discussed it afterward.”
“Keeping the name equity could work to your advantage, for sure. You must be excited about running it all.” She crossed her arms and deepened the slope of her cleavage. The tip of my tongue tingled to start a trail right there and not stop until I’d tasted her all over.
I cleared my throat and blinked away the fantasy, dizzy from the blood flow ping ponging back and forth from my brain to my cock.
“I’ve never thought of myself as Joe’s sidekick, although that seems to be my reputation. He never made me feel like a second in command either, I was always a partner. But, it’s nice to have something where I’m seen as the guy in charge, not Robin to Joe’s Batman.”
Thea shook her head. “I did always see you guys as Batman and Robin, but the other way around. Joe had all the crazy dreams butyouwere the one who made sense of it all. I remember Joe would suggest if he ran whatever restaurant or bar we were at he’d do this or that, but you’d know the right way of whatever he was thinking better than he did.” A slow smile crept across her lips. “I think you’ll be great.”
Joe and I were like brothers and looked out for each other, but there were only two people who believed in me yet didn’t take any of my shit.
I’d lost one and was trying to get the other back.
“Thanks, I actually think I will, too. Finally, those business classes I took in college will pay off. I wish you could stay to see it.” A sour pang settled in my gut. I’d gotten so used to her being here, I kept forgetting she didn’tlivehere. The new restaurant would open, and she’d head back to Queens right after.
I’d been so focused on getting her back, I hadn’t thought of what we’d do after she left.
“I’ll see it. Queens isn’t so far away. I could come back sometimes.”
“Only sometimes? What if the next assignment sends you far away?” Now, that I let myself think about her leaving, the more I hated it.
“I stay local for the most part, but I’m not sure if I want to keep doing this. Like I said,” she shrugged, “this is as nice as a project could get. But I’d like to come home to my actual home at the end of a day. Have something to show for my life other than a plethora of hotel rewards points.” She shrugged. “I’ll figure it out when I get back.”
“What would you want to do instead?”
And how can I keep you here?
“I was thinking about applying for a few hotels, or seeing if there were any permanent positions in my company as a relationship manager at one. I’m getting too used to sitting on my deck at the rental, so I was considering moving outside of the city. I’ve been looking around in Westchester County and New Jersey, but I’ll wait to see what my options are in the fall.”
“Ocean Cove has a lot of hotels. And you seem to get along with Violet really well, maybe you can get something there.”
She reached across the table and ran her nails back and forth along my forearm. “Maybe we can take things one dinner at a time, okay?”
I nodded as my breathing evened out. I recalled how she used to scratch her nails along my arm every night in bed until I’d calmed down enough to fall asleep.
My eyes fell to the table as I nodded.
“I tend to get ahead of myself, especially when it comes to you. I don’t like thinking of letting you go when I just barely got you back.” My words were hoarse, the thickness in my throat making it hard to swallow.
“I’m here now,” she whispered. “Let’s just focus on tonight, and we’ll figure out the rest.” She squeezed my arm when I attempted to pull away.
Every second I spent with Thea, the more I realized how lost I’d been without her. I couldn’t let my panic at not being able to keep her push us toward something we weren’t ready for.
