Page 54 of Sweet Addiction
“Shit.”
I look up from my phone and practically swallow my tongue as Dillan fixes the zipper on her knee-high black boots. A navy-blue lace skirt hits her mid-thigh, and the cream-colored sweater layered over it hugs every curve. It’s sexy as hell without even trying, and the little cream lace socks sticking out of the boots make me want to see her in nothing but those damn socks. Mycock strains against my zipper, and fuck... I can’t find the words. “You look?—”
She walks down the steps carefully, holding the railing, and makes her way across the room, stopping in front of me. Pink-glossed lips press together as she stares at me, waiting. “Good enough to be seen?”
Her tone is dry and unsure, and the insecure glimmer in her eyes has me wanting to take back every smart-ass remark I’ve ever thrown her way that could have contributed to that. “You are beautiful,principessa.”
“Always with the nicknames.” She blushes and fidgets with her purse. “We’re not taking the motorcycle tonight, right? Because I spent entirely too much time on my hair to shove it into a helmet.”
“No, baby. We’re taking the G-Wagon.”
“I’d saybabyis laying it on a little thick there, psycho. No one is here but us.”
I step into her and cup her cheek in my hand, loving the little gasp that slips free as she looks up at me, frozen. “We’re going to have to touch tonight. For the sake of being seen.”
“I figured we would.”
I drag my thumb over her lower lip, realizing I want to kiss this woman more than I want to take my next fucking breath and drop my hand. “Do you have a coat?”
“No coat.”
“It’s like thirty degrees tonight. You’re going to freeze,” I grumble, grabbing my own pea coat and my keys. “Come on.”
“If we’re hoping to be photographed, I don’t want a coat on, Rome. I look better without one. Coats make me look short and frumpy.” She tucks her phone in her purse and moves for the front door. “Are you ready?”
“You could never look frumpy. Frumpy is an old lady in a house dress and rollers in her hair,” I try to reassure her, butjudging by the glacial look in her eyes, it’s not working. “Fine. No coat. But don’t come for mine when you’re cold.”
“Such a gentleman. I promise I won’t steal your coat. Now let’s get this over with.”
Maddox’s hostess guides us to the most premier table il leone has to offer, and I wait for Dillan to sit and slide onto the bench next to her, resting my arm above the black leather-backed booth. “Really? We’re that kind of couple?” she teases as she takes the menu from the hostess.
“Could I get you anything to drink while you wait for your server?”
“I’ll have a water,” I tell her and wait for Dillan to look up. “Do you want a martini?”
She shakes her head. “No, I’ll just have a glass of Riesling, please.”
Once the hostess leaves, she closes her menu. “Water, really?”
“Listen, we might be putting on a show,”—I drag the tips of my fingers through her soft, silky hair and love the chill I watch skirt down her spine—“but I still have a fight in a few weeks. Hudson may be old, but he’ll still kick my ass if he sees me fucking anything up between now and then.”
“Point taken. So grilled chicken for you?” Her eyes skim over a separate menu with today’s specials. “Sounds tasteless and boring.”
“Nothing tastes better than victory.” Food is fuel. I don’t need it to be delicious as much as that thought breaks mygrandmother’s heart. “What’s your excuse, Dillan? You barely eat.”
“I eat,” she snaps. “I’m not even half your size, Rome. I can’t eat as much as you do or I’d be as big as a house.”
She sounds defensive as hell, and I don’t like it. I slide my other hand between us and let it brush over her thigh. “You know you’re fucking perfect, right? You’re beautiful. You don’t have to worry about what you eat or what other people think.”
Her sad laugh catches me entirely off guard.
“Yeah. Sure. That’s definitely what you thought. You know if you really wanted to be seen, we should have double-dated with Lilah and Killian. That would have brought the paparazzi out in droves. We would have been everywhere.”
I grasp her chin in my hand and force her eyes to mine. “You know, one day we’ll talk about what happened between us. But for now, I need you to hear me. I never wanted to date Lilah. You were all I saw. You were who I wanted to date. And you were the one who blew me off for fucking years.“
That last one hangs between us, a million things left unsaid when an older waiter clears his throat.
I wait until the waiter leaves and turn fully toward Dillan. “Okay, Ryan. It’s time. Tell me about the book.”
