Page 49 of Between Love and Loathing
The kiss was too good.
And that was a problem.
DOMINIC
“You’re staring.” My brother Dex had flown out to LA and then decided to come to the club with me primarily to discuss the meeting he’d had about his casino deal. Instead, he was bothering the shit out of me because he knew I didn’t want to be here.
How I’d agreed to meeting here was beyond me. “Of course I’m staring. He’s dancing with my girlfriend,” I ground out, watching Clara and Noah spin in circles as she laughed wildly at his antics. We’d all agreed to meet at the club later that night. She’d insisted she had to go home and get ready with Paloma, because I guess that’s what every girl did. I knew my sisters historically did the same—get ready with their friends for hours.
In her defense, Clara walked into that club looking goddamn divine in an orange floral maxi dress that swayed with her every movement. Two slits at each of her legs teased my eyes every second. So, I wasn’t going to look away even if it was obvious to my brother.
Plus, Noah was glued to her side. Loud, over the top, and too happy and charming to be in our vicinity. I hated that fuckboy with a passion. Was he good to her? Sure. Was he still a fuckboy whose eyes roved over every good-looking woman in the club? Absolutely.
She deserved the best and it wasn’t him. Not that they were dating. But they had a romantic-type relationship in some sense of the word, and I was starting to think Clara didn’t hold herself in a high regard if she’d been linked to him for this long.
When he dipped her low and she hooked her arm around his neck, his eyes were only on her. On her mouth. On her body. On her flawless face.
“He’s being respectful. That guy hasn’t even grabbed her ass once.”
“What the fuck?” I shoved my brother. “If he fucking grabs her ass, I’m killing him.”
“Jesus, our brothers-in-law rubbing off on you?”
“I’m starting to understand it.” When my little brother chuckled darkly, I knew we were all going down the wrong-ass path. At least we accepted it. My sisters had married men who’d allegedly been in the mafia. I said it that way to anyone I was doing business with. At home, we fucking knew they killed people. The sad thing was I understood why now.
Someone had hurt my sisters, and for that they deserved to die. My brothers-in-law loved them so they’d reacted, swiftly and without mercy. I wondered if they also reacted when they were jealous too. I was verging on exactly that watching Noah with Clara now.
I didn’t give a shit what Dex said, I saw how Noah’s eyes lit up. He had some sort of feelings for her. It’s why he was here even if he blamed that shit on wanting to hook up with another woman. He’d blabbered on about some woman that was giving him the cold shoulder, how he’d fly around the country after her if he had to and how she was supposedly at a casino on the Vegas Strip.
Given his proximity to my girl, I didn’t care about what he said about another. He leaned in to whisper something in her ear as he pulled her close, and that’s when I’d had enough of them both tonight. Leaving my brother behind, I stormed over without a word, and clapped Noah on the shoulder. “Time for the boyfriend to cut in.”
Before Noah stepped away, he groaned, and Clara looked torn before she said, “Dominic, you get me all the time.” It was a great excuse, but one she was using to avoid the inevitable.
“And still, I want more of you, Clara.” The words that left my lips weren’t a lie. I wanted her close, wanted to smell her, wanted to learn about where she was taught to dance like that. I held out my hand. “Dance with me.”
Noah stepped back, probably because he knew he wasn’t going to break the connection I had with her now. No one was. Something about Clara and her light and her damn colorful dresses had infected me, and I was hooked on making sure everyone knew it.
It was for the good of the company, right? I could indulge for the time being too.
She stepped up to me, taking my hand with a small smile playing on her lips. “You think you can keep up? Noah’s been dancing since he was a child.”
“I see.” I stepped with her, immediately taking the lead, and turned her to the music. I could waltz, salsa, and foxtrot.
Her eyes widened as I led her around the floor. “You dance?”
“I keep up,” I murmured in her ear.
She chuckled and then she let me spin her out. We moved to the music. Song after song.
Her lines were much cleaner than mine, her body much more trained in controlling movement. She was practically a professional. She’d probably done ballet or dance most of her life, and I loved watching her do it. Whatever sadness I’d seen in her eyes earlier that day was gone. She was alive with the music, with the laughter around her, with Noah cheering her name. When I pulled her close after a slower song came on, I whispered against her hair, “You’re divine when you dance. But let’s give them the show they want.”
Her emerald eyes glanced at me. “Dominic,” she warned.
I wasn’t thinking about a warning. I was thinking about her lips, her body up against mine, how she felt like a bright light to my soul when I’d been happy with the mediocre flickering of it for a while. The tabloids thought the news was fake, that we might be joking. I didn’t want even a sliver of a question. It wasn’t about Natya anymore. It was something else.
I kissed Clara Milton for everyone to see that night, and we made a statement that wouldn’t be forgotten. Even with our eyes closed, flashes went off. It meant the paparazzi caught it. It meant our coworkers, my brother,everyonecaught it. Natya would too. I didn’t give a damn about any of them.
I let her go mingle again when she pulled away from me, flustered and saying she should hang out with Noah a bit more. Appeasing her friend was what she wanted, what I was finding Clara needed to do to feel comfortable. I let her go to talk more business with my brother.
