“Well, the guys I hang around with at work just aren’t my type.”
“Oh? How so?”
Before she could start talking, Dominique came out with the crackers and caviar and wine. “Are you ready to order?” he asked.
Aria looked down at her menu. She hadn’t even looked over the options. “Can we have a few more minutes?” Devon asked.
“Sure thing, sir.” He left and Aria opened her menu, but Devon hadn’t looked away from her.
“You can answer the question first,” he said.
Aria looked back up and she laughed. He wasn’t going to let her out of that one. “I don’t know. The guys usually trying to get with me are more “pretty boys”. They tend to care more about their looks than anything else. They think that’s what will get them to the next level. They aren’t...” Her words fell off. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to tell him the next part.
“They aren’t what, Aria?”
She smirked and shrugged. “They aren’t real men and that’s what I longed to be with and that’s—.”
“What brought you into my life,” he said, finishing off her statement. Their eyes met and she smiled. He knew that was the point she was trying to make, and it made him even more certain that he had her on the cusp of where he wanted her. It was a ride that he was ready to take.
“HOW WAS THE LOBSTER?” Dominique asked as he came back to their table to start doing the cleanup process.
“Very good, Dominique. Thank you,” Devon said. Aria nodded in agreement and the conversation between them was even better. It felt like they were a true couple, talking about things that she hadn’t shared with anyone in a really long time. There was only one thing that bothered her.
Aria wondered if Devon was hiding things from her. He didn’t seem quite as open to sharing things about his life, as she was. When she asked him about his youth growing up, he was quick to turn things around and ask her about hers. She felt like she was an open book, but maybe he was holding back some things.
She took a drink from her glass as she spotted Devon watching her. She smiled, putting her glass down on the table. “This has been a wonderful night, Devon. I hate to see Fiji disappear.”
He smirked. “Fiji isn’t going anywhere. We can come back some day. In fact, I propose that we do.”
She liked the thought of that. It would be nice to enjoy another vacation with him, especially knowing how close they had become. “Sounds like a plan,” she said.
“But the night isn’t really over. We still have a night of entertainment.” He looked at his watch. “Which they should be starting at any moment.”
She had nearly forgotten that. She was so wrapped up in the meal together that it completely escaped her mind that there would be some entertaining going on before the night was over. She looked up at the stage in front of them. She did wonder how they got a table so close.
“When did you make this reservation?” she asked. “And how’d you work it that we got right next to the stage?”
He laughed. “Well, I made the reservation the morning after you and I became husband and wife.” He winked at her and she snickered. “And I have connections, so getting an amazing table was to easy enough.” He took a sip of his wine and smiled. “It’s all about who you know.”
She had to agree to that. It was all about who you knew. “The table couldn’t have been any better,” she said. She took the last sip of her wine and peered at him over the top of her glass. As she put it down, she heard applause. She looked up and found that the band was heading onto the stage. Devon and Aria joined in the applause as they took the stage and the lights came up, shining on them.
A man walked to the middle of the stage, where the microphone stood, as some music played behind him. “Welcome to Glory Days. We are Falu and my name is Daniel Kamali. Put your dancing shoes on and enjoy your night.” He began singing and Aria sat back in her seat. Devon was next to her and he reached his hand across to hers and she took it. They watched the band sing and was impressed. They were covering the Black Eyed Peas’ I Gotta Feeling.
Aria smiled when couples hit the dance floor. Just off the dance floor she spotted a man leaning against the wall. He was staring right at her. She blushed and looked away. Could it just be my paranoia? When she looked back, his eyes were still directed in her direction.
“What are you looking at?” Devon asked her, bringing her attention back to him.
Her face must have been a bright red because his eyebrows were furrowed and he was gawking at her. “Um ... would you like to dance?” she asked. It seemed like a logical question. She was staring towards the dance floor, but he couldn’t know that she was actually staring beyond it.
He laughed. “You want to dance that bad, do you?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I know you have the moves.”
He stood up and pulling her up with him. They moved to the dance floor. Another fast song had come on, so they started to dance fast. She laughed as he got into it. He wasn’t only made for slow songs. They were dancing just like the couples around them. The next song was a slow song. They immediately fell into step with one another. They didn’t have to miss a beat. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his shoulder as he pulled her closer.
Her eyes met up with the same man who had been watching her earlier. It made her skin crawl, but why she wasn’t sure. She tilted her head on Devon’s shoulder and tried to ignore the man. She was going to focus only on the one man that mattered.
“May I cut in?” She looked up and the man was standing behind Devon. Devon turned around and stared at him. He found it odd that a strange man would come up to him to cut in on his dance with Aria. It should have been obvious that Aria was taken and that Devon wouldn’t appreciate the interruption, but even stranger was that the man looked familiar. He couldn’t place it but he was almost positive he had met the man before. He shook his head.
“No,” Devon said flatly. He turned back to Aria and she looked relieved. She wrapped her arms around him again, reclaiming her position. It felt good to Aria that Devon was the type to take control because it would have been awkward to do it herself. He looked down at her. “There’s no man who’s gonna get in the way with my time with you,” he said.
She stepped closer to him, closing the gap. That was exactly what she wanted to hear. She brushed a soft peck on his lips, before returning her head to his shoulder. When the song ended, she mentally groaned. She didn’t want to stop dancing with him.
“We’re going to take a ten-minute break. We’ll return to you momentarily,” the lead singer stated.
Devon and Aria walked back to their table, still holding hands as they made their way. He pulled the chair out for her and waited for her to sit down, then joined her. Aria shot a look towards where the man had been standing and he wasn’t there. She breathed a sigh of relief that he had taken the hint.
“Let me know when you want to get out of here,” he said, breaking into her thoughts.
She turned to him and grinned. “Anytime you’re ready.”.
He nodded and stood up, pulling her after him. “I say now.”
She was fine with that. They had already paid the tab and could leave at any time. However, they were just about to step away from their table, when Buddy’s voice came back on the microphone. “Is there a Devon Prescott in the building?” he called out.
Devon stopped, and Aria looked up at him. He turned to the stage. It was strange that he would be called out. He didn’t know this band and he didn’t know why they would know him. “Devon?” she asked.
He looked her way and was about to say that they should ignore it, when his voice came across again. “Devon Prescott? Are you in the building?”
He groaned. There was a slight possibility that something was wrong, and he wouldn’t be able to leave without knowing what it was. He wouldn’t be able to think about anything else if he didn’t. He let go of her hand and held up his finger, then walked over
to the stage.
Aria stood, nervously wringing her hands, as Devon talked to the lead singer. There was a little bit of back of forth. She couldn’t tell what either one of them was saying, but an uneasy feeling settled over her. She tried to control her breathing, all in hopes that he would hurry back to her.
When she saw him walking back to her, he looked a little confused and a little uncertain. “Everything all right?” she asked.
“Um yeah...it will be, but do you mind if we stay a little longer?”
She shook her head. “Not at all. Why?”
He glanced at her and took off his suit coat and handed it to her. He was wearing a short-sleeved polo shirt underneath. She could see the tattoo wrapped around his bicep, something she usually only saw when they were naked. He undid his tie and again handed it to her.
She opened her mouth to ask what he was doing, when he turned away from her and walked back to the stage. He went up on the steps of the stage and disappeared through a door. She looked around. It was her turn to look confused. She walked back over to their table and draped his tie and jacket over the seat next to her, then sat down.
After five minutes the band came back onto the stage. This time, Devon was in the mix. Her jaw dropped when he sat down at the drums. She slowly stood to her feet, confused by the sudden turn of events. He picked up the drumsticks and began to play. She felt like she was in the Twilight Zone. Something certainly had to be going on.
ARIA’S HEART PICKED up speed as she watched him playing the drums. Her thoughts had turned to mush and she just stood there gawking at him. So many questions flooded her mind, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away. He looked hot playing and every fantasy she had ever had about him came rushing back to her.
He looked like he belonged and the people started cheering for him and that made Aria want to cheer right along. She yelled, cupping her mouth in her hands and danced to the song that played before her. They were playing an original and there was no way Devon would have known the song, but he was reading the music and it hit her that this wasn’t his first time being on stage with drumsticks in hand.
“He’s pretty good, huh?”
She turned to find the guy that had asked her to dance standing next to her. “He’s amazing,” she said. She turned back around and cheered again, rocking back and forth as he continued to play. He looked up and his eyes met with hers, but then she noticed the way he looked at the guy next to her. His eyes seemed to cloud over but he played the song, like he hadn’t even noticed.
“Your boyfriend isn’t around now. Care to have that dance?” he asked.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she shot back.
He looked down at her hand, as if to state the obvious before adding in the words. “You’re not wearing a ring, so just figured. Perhaps he’s your husband then. Or, maybe just a protector. Either way, he isn’t here to stop us. Care to dance?”
She looked at him and smirked. “I don’t need him to protect me and the fact is, he doesn’t have to be here for me to know that I don’t want to dance with you.”
“Listen here, I’m just trying to be nice. There’s no need for you to get sassy with me.” He huffed and walked away. She sighed with relief that he was gone and then turned back to the stage. Devon was still watching her and when their eyes met, he had a slight smile on his lips. She cheered again as the song came to an end. The applause erupted, and she felt like she was watching her favorite band.
Devon relished the applause, but it had been years since he had picked up the drumsticks. He looked down at the drums, almost in a daze. He couldn’t believe that he had been granted such a shock of the night. He didn’t know how anyone would have known that he had been a drummer in a band.
The lead singer started talking, drawing his attention back to the front of the stage. “We’re going to slow things down, so grab your honey.” Devon felt a sense of regret. He wanted to be out on the floor dancing with Aria but her face confirmed that she was thoroughly enjoying herself.
Several couples did go out to the dance floor but Aria was contented to watch him. He looked up again and their eyes met. She smiled back and he felt a calmness wash over him. He continued playing the song and didn’t worry too much about anything other than keeping the beat.
When that song finished, the audience applauded but it was Aria’s applause that excited him the most. He smirked and repositioned himself on the seat and play the next song on the set list. As the song was about to end, he looked back up and he saw him. The same guy that had been bothering Aria most of the night was back at their table. She was talking to him. He looked at the man and the man seemed to look in his direction. He knew then that he had met this guy somewhere before. He continued to watch, as the lead singer spoke. When the guy grabbed Aria’s arm, Devon couldn’t stop himself. He stood up, dropped the drumsticks on the seat and jumped down from the stage. The singer covered the microphone to keep everyone from hearing him.
“What are you doing?” he hissed.
Devon turned back to him. “Thank you. It was a blast but I’ve got some business to take care of.” He turned around and hurried to the table.
“Let go of me,” he heard Aria say.
“She said that she wanted you to let her go,” Devon said.
The guy let go of Aria’s arm and he turned to Devon. “You’ve still got it,” he said. Devon frowned, trying to take in those words. “While you were up there, she said you didn’t need you to protect her, so I would suggest you back off.”
Devon still was curious about the man’s words, but he wasn’t going to stick around to find out what was going on. “Are you ready?”
She nodded. “Of course.”
He grabbed his jacket and tie from the chair and then took her hand. They bypassed the man to get outside. Once they were in the fresh air, he stopped. “Did he hurt you?” he asked.
She looked up at him and quickly shook her head. “Not at all. I’m fine.”
He nodded and grabbed his phone from his pocket to call Walter. Before he could dial the number, he heard the man’s voice. “You don’t remember me, do you?”
Devon turned around and dropped the phone back into his pocket. “Should I?” he asked.
The man laughed. “The name’s Brice Holter. Ring a bell?”
Devon thought back to his youth and it all came rolling back in. Brice was a member of a gang that he had dealt with many times through his high school years. He had been in a motorcycle accident and luckily for Devon he hadn’t heard anything from him beyond that. He didn’t recognize him because he no longer had the long hair that he had in his younger days.
“I can tell from the look on your face that it’s starting to come back to you. It’s a huge coincidence that we meet again and in Fiji of all places. Imagine that.”
“Yeah, imagine that,” he said.
Brice laughed. “I manage the band. Play your cards right and you can play with them anytime.” He flashed a venomous smirk. Devon glanced toward Aria. She didn’t make a move to leave; she simply stood wondering who this man was and how he knew Devon. “I have to hand it to you, Devon,” Brice said. “You still know how to pick them. She’s one fine specimen.” He was looking at Aria, as if he wanted to rip her clothes off and take her right there. Devon snapped.
He surprised everyone by pushing Brice up against the billing. He heard Aria gasp as Devon shoved his forearm again Brice’s throat. “You don’t even look at her,” he hissed between teeth. “You know I’d like nothing better than fuck you up ... again.”
Brice snickered, unable to move and staring back at Devon. “You haven’t changed a bit and here I thought you were some fancy businessman. You’re nothing but a shit—like you always were.”
Devon stepped back. He shook his head. “Come near us again and I’ll make sure you regret you were ever born, asshole.”
“You’re threatening me?”
Devon shook his head. “I’m promising you. The past is the past and
there’s no need to rehash it. But if you wanna dance, I’m right here.”
“Come on, Devon,” Aria said. “Walter’s here.” She grabbed onto Devon’s arm and pulled him back. He turned away from Brice and they headed over to the car.
When they got into the car and the door was shut, she turned to him. “What was that about?”
He shrugged. “The past rearing its ugly head. I’m sorry you had to be involved.”
She frowned. That wasn’t an answer. Why was he avoiding things? “I am involved and that’s OK, but what’s going on? What was that?”
He shook his head. “It’s not necessary. In life, you’re going to make enemies. I made plenty in my misbegotten youth. I don’t apologize for that. My grandp made it very clear, there are winners and there are losers. It is what it is.”
He turned to her, looking as serious as she could remember.
“ I will always protect you. Always. Do you understand? You’re mine. You have to trust me?” The tone shook Aria. She searched his face, his eyes.
“Yes,” she whispered.
He reached across her lap and grabbed her hand. She turned to look at him and his lips were upturned slightly. She leaned in and brushed a kiss against his lips. He cupped her chin in his palm and deepened the kiss and when they parted, she moved closer to him. He meant it. He would protect her if he needed to, but he wasn’t about to let Brice back into his life. That chapter was long gone and even though he enjoyed the part where he got to relive his rock and roll youth, he had no intention of going back.
Chapter 14
Aria was happy to be back at work and in the thick of casting for another show. She looked at the headshot in front of her: Mark Brown. She grabbed her pen and tapped it against the resume as her mind went back to Devon and Fiji, a smile played on her lips as she thought about him. He was every girl’s fantasy and it was crazy to think that he was all hers.
She was staring at the headshot when she heard the door open and the shuffling of feet. “Stand in front of the camera. State your name and why you would be right for the part.”
When I Dream of You: A Valentine's Day Romance Page 14
