“Both. Text him. And keep me on the phone.”
I go to my text stream with Dominic and punch out the question.
Mila: So I got a little surprise on the doorstep…
Dominic: Do you like it?
Mila: It’s gorgeous. Where are we going?
Dominic: Novella.
“What is happening?!” Lainey demands, pulling me back into the room.
“Novella,” I tell her.
“Novella?” she asks.
“Yes. It’s that super posh Italian restaurant on the beach. The one with the fire pits and the dock and–”
“I know what it is,” she tells me. “We’re all going.”
I stop, suddenly very confused.
“What do you mean?” I ask. “Who all is going?”
“There’s a huge party there tonight. A business dinner or something. Niko told a couple of us waitresses about it the other night. As far as I know, a lot of the boxers will be there too, and people from Dominic’s company. He didn’t already tell you about it?”
“No,” I say as all the butterflies in my chest slowly calm down.
“Well, that’s exciting that I get to see you!” she says. “I wasn’t sure if you were coming or not. Since you didn’t mention it before.”
“I didn’t know about it before,” I say.
“He must’ve wanted it to be a surprise,” she says. “But now I know I need to dress up. I was just going to wear dress pants and a blouse. I’m going to go through my dresses now. I’ll see you later!”
After we hang up, I just stare at the dress. It really is stunning. And I don’t want to seem ungrateful. A dinner with friends from the bar and the people I met from Bad Wolfe does sound likefun. But if I am being honest, I am a little sad that it’s a party and not a date for two.
“You look incredible,” Dominic says as he plants a kiss on my cheek, right next to my mouth. Despite my disappointment, I still curled my hair and did my makeup. After all, this dress is stunning and I couldn’t just throw my hair up in a ponytail and call it good.
“Thank you,” I say, my eyes trailing over his black suit. Whatever this party is for, it must be a big deal because he’s wearing a jacket, a tie, and cufflinks. His hair, also dark, is slicked back, a couple of curls falling to the sides, and the streaks of silver pop like some kind of sexy accent color. “You don’t look so bad yourself,” I say when words work again.
He smiles, but it’s brief. Something in his body language feels off. He’s thrumming his thumb on the steering wheel and he’s also tapping his foot, even though there’s no music playing. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he seems nervous, which is odd. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen him nervous before. He’s simply not a nervous man.
We pull up to Novella, and the valet takes Dominic’s car. Then he takes my hand and leads me inside. Immediately the host recognizes him, addressing him by name. We follow him to the back patio, which is basically a pier on the water.
“Oh, wow,” I gasp. The entire patio is lit up with twinkling fairy lights. Flowers and other plants line the edges of the dock, and small, white cloth tables are speckled around all with candlelight. There’s a minibar, a DJ, and even a dance floor in the middle of it all.
“Do you like it?” Dominic asks, and I look up at him.
“It’s beautiful,” I answer.
He says, “Good, that makes me happy.”
The butterflies return to my chest, fluttering around inside me. But I quickly shoo them away. Even if this is for us or about us or whatever, it’s all for show. I need to remind myself of that. I mean, his father is sitting at one of the tables, which obviously means we are still playing the game.
Still, all this luxury is hard to ignore. After saying hello to everyone from Wolfe to the waitresses from the Cockpit, we take our seats. There is a table for two in the middle of everyone else for a six or seven course meal.
“Are you feeling alright?” Dom asks me as I bite into a piece of bruschetta.
