“What would you like to drink, Stunner?” Denham asks, his sole focus on me.
I feel a tug on my arm and look to my left at Lottie’s excited expression. She’s practically bouncing. I grin back at her and we both blurt out at the same time, “Dirty martinis!”
Denham shakes his head affectionately at us and turns his voice to the bartender. “You heard the girls. Gimme the best dirty martinis you’ve ever made and keep them coming until I say stop, understand?” His authoritative voice is not to be messed with and the bartender gets to it instantly.
Hearing him be so bossy when I know how soft he can be, just makes me want him even more. I feel my core twinge and I know that I have to have him sooner rather than later, before I combust with lust. This is how it should be, all of it. Wanting someone, and having them want me equally. Friends, fun, and family. Living life to the fullest and having a future to look to, not living each day just to get through it. This is what being happy feels like.
Before the drinks are made, we’re shown to a table in one of the elevated private areas by a very long-legged, stick thin waitress. She runs her eyes over Denham’s body, and I understand why she can’t look away because in his gray slacks and fitted white shirt he looks edible. With the top few buttons of his shirt undone, the definition of his chest is almost visible and she has a hard job even looking him in the eye. When she does look up, past his body, she locks her eyes to his and bats her lashes like a hooker waiting for her next lay and clearly hasno shame about it. Denham is seemingly oblivious and takes no notice whatsoever, but I can’t help myself.
I clear my throat rather loudly. “You seem to have a problem with your eyes? Did one of your fake lashes come unstuck?” My tone is threateningly sweet, just the way I meant for it to be. The waitress’s cheeks flare red and she opens her mouth, presumably to come back with something smart to say, but catches my pointed look and struts back in the direction of the bar. I sit down to find everyone looking in my direction with very amused expressions on their faces. “What?”
“You just marked your territory, babe, that’s what,” Lottie announces.
“I did not! I just…she had…” Did I really just mark my territory? The waitress looking at Denham like she wanted him made me jealous and that’s something I’ve never felt before. Even when I was at my happiest with Aaron, I was never jealous of anyone who flirted with him. He didn’t matter to me enough.
“Get out of that head of yours, babe. That was fucking hot.”
Denham is leaning into me, but his lips aren’t touching me at all. His words travel up my shoulder, along my neckline and settle in my ear where the hairs stand on end and jolt my body into a chemical reaction. The whole world falls away and it’s just us there for a minute. I’m looking into the depths of his eyes and I see so much passion, I don’t know what to do with it and I can’t tear myself away. It’s so freakin’ intense and powerful that I’m consumed.
Lottie’s sharp elbow to my upper arm brings me back to the present. “Ow! What was that for?” I grumble, rubbing what I’m sure will now become a bruise.
“Will you two stop eye-fucking each other. You’re not the only ones here, ya know. Jeez.”
“I’m sorry, Lotts,” I say, patting her knee.
As if on cue, the drinks arrive at the table. Lottie’s eyes light up and I know what she’s thinking. We’ve never gone out together and not downed the first drink. It’s tradition. Lottie swears that it gets you warmed up, ready for the night ahead. I swear that it gets you drunk quickly so you don’t remember much. I haven’t done a lot of drinking in the last few years so I’m a lightweight and I have no intention of getting wasted. Just fuzzy enough around the edges to let go and have some fun.
“Ready?” Lottie asks.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I mutter, not entirely looking forward to the burn I know will come from downing the drink, but it’s balanced out by the excitement of recreating happier times with my best friend.
I can feel Denham looking at me, but I don’t want to risk Lottie’s pointy elbow being shoved in my arm again, so I pick up my glass, chink it with Lottie’s and we grin at each other before knocking it back. It takes her a very skilled four mouthfuls before it’s all gone and she’s banging her glass down on the table. I take a deep breath and gulp down as much as I possibly can in one mouthful. I screw my eyes shut while the liquid burns my throat and I force it to stay down.
Denham whispers huskily in my ear, “I hope you enjoyed that one, Stunner. I’m not gonna let you do any more like that.” My head snaps round to meet his hooded stare. “I want you compliant, not comatose when we leave tonight.”
I have mixed feelings about his statement. I don’t want him to tell me what I can and can’t do, but I also want what I think he’s offering and I want it more than losing the use of my legs and a blinding hangover. If I’m honest, I don’t think he would actually stop me if that was what he thought I wanted to do. If I thought for one minute he would dictate to me, he would be kicked to the curb in a blink. I feel a sharp stab in my chest at the thought, andI brush it off because…well, because I just don’t want to even venture to those thoughts.
“Man, that was a good warm-up,” Lottie gasps. “Let’s order another. Waiter!”
“I’m not downing another one, Lottie. I want to taste it this time,” I grumble, still feeling the burn in the back of my throat.
“Whatever makes you happy, babe,” she answers me with a dismissive wave of her hand and proceeds to try and catch the eye of the waiter.
When the waiter doesn’t seem to take any notice of Lottie yelling and clicking her fingers at him, Spike calls him over with a quick wave of his hand.
“How the hell did you do that?”
“Lottie, babe, you don’t need to go all guns blazing just to get a drink. Keep it cool, okay?” Spike chastises her gently and Lottie sits back in the seat, pushing out her bottom lip in a pretend sulk. Her eyes are still twinkling though, so I know she secretly likes it when Spike shows his alpha side.
“We’ll have two dirty martinis, two Jack and Cokes and I think me and my girl here…” he sits back with Lottie, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, “…are gonna have some fun with some flaming Sambuca chasers,” Spike states. He kisses her hard and breaks away with a smile and rubs her nose with his. These guys are just too cute. Spike’s cuteness balances out Lottie’s crazy which makes for a perfect match.
“Are you coming next Saturday, Ari?” Lottie asks.
“Coming where?”
“To the ball. Oh for goodness’ sake, D, you haven’t asked her?” she grumbles irritably.
“Asked me what? What ball?”
