Page 77 of Between Desire and Denial
Her mouth dropped open. “Seriously? This is absolutely ridiculous, Dimitri. You shouldn’t even care.” She stomped a foot.
“And yet here I am… caring way too fucking much,” I whispered to her. “I actually just decided. I’m done tiptoeingaround making you feel comfortable with this. So, you better learn what that means.”
She crossed her arms. “Oh really? You just deciding we’re going to do this for real?Thisbetween us is for one purpose only.” She narrowed her eyes and looked around before pulling me away from the crowd and into a dark corner of the backyard near some shrubs where no one was paying attention. “It’s serving me by allowing me to do a new thesis because you have some ridiculous strings you can pull around this country, I guess. And this serves you by allowing you to win over this community. That. Is. It.”
“I don’t think that was really ever what this was for,” I said back, looking her up and down. “I had ulterior motives from the beginning after I heard you scream my name in that hotel room.”
“Well, you shouldn’t,” she clarified, like she had a choice in the matter. She didn’t. She was going to have to start understanding that. I was going to protect her now and call her mine every chance I got. “You should just be worried about the board, okay? Having me in a damn corner all night is not going to help with that.”
“You half naked isn’t going to help it either,” I threw back just to rile her.
She shook her head and whispered, “Actually, it totally would if you’d go along with it. It would even be to our benefit. Maybe if I flirt a bit, I’ll get people to lighten up at the next board meeting, Dimitri.” She wide-eyed me as if trying to refocus me on our original goals. “If I’m being honest, I know we’re both jealous people. Just don’t think about it.” She blew out a breath as her cheeks brightened.
“You don’t want me walking around talking with anyone either, and you know it. I can see how even the thought irritates you.”
“It doesn’t.” She did a terrible job of being convincing. “Just stay focused on the true objective, which I guess is to mingle and dance happily around on that flimsy see-through platform. Let’s show everyone a good time.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Show who a good time, exactly, Olive? Because you’re not flirting with anyone here but me.”
“What do you mean?” Her hands fisted together now as she whisper-yelled at me. “Couples do it all the time. I’ll get in good with the men tonight. You get in good with the ladies. Next board meeting, you might have a leg up.”
“Not fucking happening.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I might be invested in this community, but I’m more invested inyounow,” I murmured almost to myself as I pulled the lapels closed around her. Looking directly into those mesmerizing eyes, I intoned, “From now on, you’re mine for real. I’m going to treat you like it, too, whether you like it or not.”
My tone was direct, commanding, and left no room for argument. Every person who knew me well knew I saved it for when I meant business, because normally I was pretty laid-back.
Olive didn’t seem to get the memo. She crossed her arms and looked up at me like I was a damn idiot. “I didn’t agree to that.”
“You’re going to now, though.” My hand slid under my jacket and smoothed over her skin slowly before I pulled her close to my side and started walking her back to the dance platform. I felt her body stiffen, her hesitation palpable as we approached the pool.
Someone had ruined her confidence long ago, and I was going to get it back for her now. I rubbed my thumb up and down to the beat as I glanced at her and murmured, “I got you. Take a chance and enjoy the dance with me.”
I waited for her to take the first step, then I synced up with her right away. Slowly and with purpose, we walked out ontothe clear platform, and my grip on her waist didn’t waver at all. She needed to understand that I would either catch her or we’d fall all the way through together, but I’d be there to save her nonetheless. More than anyone else had.
Once we were in the middle of the platform swaying to the song, a smile spread across her face so big that I knew nothing was going to stop me from having her. “I think I like conquering fears with you, Dimitri.”
I hummed. “Be prepared to conquer all of them with me,” I said softly before kissing her in the middle of that grill out, for every single person—including Jameson—to see.
Then I dipped her fast and pulled her up to kiss her again. She giggled the whole time. “You know, you’re not thinking straight tonight." She still tried to be the voice of reason.
My hand dipped even lower on her back and then I pulled her against me. She gasped as she felt how rock solid I was against her belly. One of my hands threaded through beautiful curls so I could tilt her face up to mine as I bent close to her ear to say softly, “I’m thinking as straight as my cock, Honeybee. I’ve got every single one of your curves pressed against me, and I’m convinced all the men here have been cataloging the slope of your neck and the flare of your hips and the way you can rock that ass back and forth fluidly in those damn heels.”
“Dimitri,” she moaned my name, “this is to better your investment.”
“Right. I’m fully invested inyou. So, find another way or don’t. I don’t really care at this point. But let me be clear, you flirt with any man here, I’m going to choke him out for flirting back.”
She pulled away to look at me, to try to find the lie.
There wasn’t a single one.
She sighed and murmured, “You know what? Right now I don’t care. Because we’re dancing over a freaking pool.” Andsomething about the way she finally relaxed in my arms led me to believe we’d turned a corner. She and I were going to be a force together.
So, I fell into step with her. Maybe we should have talked it through more right then, but we weren’t immune to the pull we had on one another. We deserved that moment, and we took it.
We didn’t simply dance. We waltzed and then fox-trotted and then let loose when the beat changed. We both genuinely laughed when I finally wiped sweat from my brow and told her I wasn’t going to keep up with her dancing all night.
