He repeated the motion, and his touch felt so nice, so reassuring, that I closed my eyes and nodded. “Next time, yes.”
I felt his next words near my ear. “You have any idea how incredible you look in that dress? Every man in here is drooling over you.”
I opened my eyes and smiled slyly. “They are not.”
“They are.”
“If they were, would it bother you?” I asked.
“Not so long as they keep their distance.”
I gave him a teasing smile, but he didn’t seem to think it was funny. He continued playing with my hair until we were interrupted by a client of his from the New York project. David kept me close with an arm around my shoulders as they chatted.
I looked around for Gretchen or Greg, who had disappeared at some point. When I didn’t see either of them, I turned my attention back and joined the conversation David was now having with multiple people. The wives in the group couldn’t tear their eyes from him, but neither could I. As he relayed details about the development of the hotel, most of which was over my head, I admired his easy confidence. It took a great deal of effort not to stop him for an impromptu make out session, or at least place a kiss on his square jaw.
While we made our way around the party, I was no longer walking by his side; I was floating. He never lost contact with me, either holding my hand, my shoulders or touching my hair. When women inevitably flirted with him, I linked my arm around his waist, and he answered by squeezing me closer.
He was listening to one woman gush about the hotel when I decided I couldn’t take any more flirting without a stronger drink. I tried to tug my hand out of his, and he looked down at me immediately. “What, baby?”
I glanced at the woman apologetically, because she’d had to pause mid-sentence. “I’m just going to refresh our drinks,” I told him. “Excuse me.”
“Wait,” David said, dragging me back by my hand.
“What?”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and drew me close for a kiss. When, embarrassed, I tried to pull away, he tightened his grip. “Don’t be long,” he murmured before releasing me.
I was completely flushed as I walked across the lobby. Since there was a mass of people at the bar, I kept going until I found a smaller, temporary bar in the corner with no line. I’d just put in my drink order when I turned and saw a disheveled-looking Bill marching in my direction.
CHAPTER 7
I WAS IMAGINING THINGS. Except that I wasn’t. Bill was disheveled. He was marching. He was definitely there. “What are you doing here?” I asked as he approached.
“Are you trying to make me look like an idiot?” he accused. On his last stride, he pushed a finger into my chest so that I stumbled backward.
“What – ”
“I’ve tried to be patient, but I won’t stand for this. How dare you ask me to buy you that house when you knew that son of a bitch was going to make an offer?”
I gasped and shook my head. “Oh my God, Bill, no,” I said, shrinking back. “I know how this looks, but I had no idea he was going to buy it.”
“You didn’t know? Bullshit. Did you guys meet there to screw or what?”
“No,” I cried, choking back a sob. I shook my head adamantly, but it didn’t matter. The look in his eyes told me he wouldn’t believe anything I said.
He seized my arm and shook me once. “Playtime is over, Olivia. I tried making this easy. I tried giving you space. Now we’re doing this my way.” He dragged me across the lobby as people began to look at us. I heard Gretchen calling my name in the distance. “You’re coming home with me right now, and we’re going to forget this ridiculous shit ever happened.”
I tried to wrench my arm away, but he held it in an iron grip. I stopped walking, and he halted abruptly to look at me.
“Bill, calm down, please,” I implored.
“Why? Afraid I’ll make a scene at your little party?” I just looked at him, horrified by his expression. “Are you? What the fuck are you looking at?” he barked over my shoulder.
“I know you’re angry, but this isn’t you. Please, you’re hurting me.”
His grip loosened. “Why did he buy that house?”
“I – I don’t . . .”
“Jesus,” he said. “Did he buy you this dress too? Is that what you want, to be treated like a spoiled brat? You’re looking for someone like Daddy?”
“Why are you doing this?” I asked through a haze of tears.
“You’re the one doing this.” He gripped my arm again and yanked as he continued dragging me. In my four-inch heels, it was all I could do not to fall on my face. “And I had to hear it from our goddamn realtor – ”
“Liv!” Gretchen screamed behind me.
“Stay out of this, you nosy bitch,” Bill called over his shoulder just as Brian hopped into our path.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” he said as Gretchen caught up. His eyes shot to my elbow. “Olivia, who is this?”
“I’m her husband, who the hell are you?”
“Just let go, man, and we can have a rational discussion about this,” Brian said.
“Great,” Bill said, twisting to look at me. “Are you doing this guy too?”
“I beg your pardon,” Brian said, grabbing Bill’s arm. “I said fucking let go.” Bill tried to shrug him off, but Brian pried his hand away just as I heard heavy footsteps approaching.
“What the fuck?” As soon as the question was out of his mouth, David was there. “Don’t fucking touch her,” he boomed, shoving Bill forcefully and positioning himself between us.
“You,” Bill snarled. “Don’t tell me that I can’t touch my wife!”
“She’s not yours anymore.”
“Oh, yeah?” Bill asked, striding up to him. “And what happens when you get tired of her? Then she’ll just be a washed-up divorcée nobody wants.”
“Bill, please, I know you don’t mean that,” I said, trying to get between them.
“Get back,” David said softly. He pushed me behind him with obvious restraint.
“You’re just a phase,” Bill said to David, “and that phase is over. Move. I’m taking her home.”
“Just try me,” David said evenly.
“You think you’re a real big shot, don’t you?” Bill asked. “You bought her a house? Do you think she’s some sort of whore?”
David lunged forward and grabbed Bill by the shirt. “Watch your mouth, motherfucker. I just need an excuse to level you,” he said with another shove.
“Come home with me, Liv,” Bill said, unruffled. “Let’s fix this. He can’t make you happy.” His tone softened. “You know he can’t.”
David’s body tensed even more next to mine, and I refrained from touching him. “I’m sorry, Bill. Please leave David out of this. It’s not his fault.”
I watched Bill’s face change and his breathing deepen. His lips curled back, and he looked at David with disgust. “Not his fault? Does he have you brainwashed?”
I looked between them as they stared each other down. I tried a tentative step forward, but David’s arm shot out to catch my shoulder. I continued to move as far forward as he would let me. “Bill, please. We can talk next week, and I’ll explain everything about the house.”
“Come home now, Olivia. I’m not messing around.”
I bit the inside of my cheek as David’s hand tightened on my shoulder. It tugged at my heart to say the words, but I knew David needed to hear them just as much as Bill. “I’m sorry,” I said, “but I’m not going with you. That’s not my home anymore.”
Bill’s eyes locked on David behind me. “You son of a bitch,” Bill said, his voice cracking. “You stole my wife. You stole my wife!” he cried and threw his palms into David’s rigid body. I jumped back, tripped over my dress and grasped at air as I fell. David whirled to catch me, and I watched in horror as Bill threw a fist into his side.
“David!” I screamed. He threw up an arm to block Bill’s next blow. David reared b
ack and landed an easy right hook into Bill’s nose. Bill, with great effort, pummeled him to the ground, where David flipped him over and gained the upper hand within seconds.
David stood and pulled Bill’s torso off the ground by his shirt. “Stay away,” he said with a hard shake. “This is your only warning.”
“Yeah, you can have her, trashy slut,” Bill responded, grimacing as he sniffed. He looked over at me as I struggled to stand. “On your knees where you belong.”
“Get up,” David said, hauling him to his feet.
“David, please,” I cried as his face blackened. He was beyond control, and I was terrified of what he might do. “He doesn’t mean it!”
“I should fucking destroy you for that comment.” David raised his fist and went to hit him but stopped short as Bill flinched. “Ever speak to her like that again, I will. And if you ever touch her like that again, you’re good as dead, motherfucker.” He released him with a forceful push. Bill vaulted forward, but Brian and Greg pushed in between both of them. Greg held Bill back a few feet, restraining him while he cursed at us.
Gretchen squatted and extended her hand to me, but not before David swooped down to help me onto my feet.
Bill wiped blood from his nose. “I’m done with this shit, Olivia,” he said. I felt the need to run and comfort him, but David’s powerful hands grasped my shoulders. “Divorce is on, and you aren’t getting shit, do you hear me? Screw you! All of you!”
He turned and stalked off, leaving the five of us to look after him.
“Oh my God,” I stammered. I turned in David’s arms and touched his face and then his side lightly. “Are you okay?”
When I looked up, I immediately cowered. His eyes were black with rage. “You are never, I mean never allowed to be alone with him,” he boomed. “Am I clear?”
“He has a temper,” I said. “As do you.”
“Am I clear?” he yelled into the quiet lobby. I shivered at his anger, acutely aware that everyone’s eyes were on us. He stared at me until I nodded barely. “What happened?” he demanded, looking between all of our startled faces. “What happened before I got here?”
“I don’t know, man,” Brian said. “I ran over here when I saw him dragging Olivia away, and he was calling Gretchen names.”
David’s gaze whipped back to me, and my entire body flinched when he reached for my arm. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said incredulously.
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Does it hurt?” he asked, touching my elbow.
“It’s fine. I’m worried about you.” My hand hovered where the punch had landed.
“I’m okay,” he said, grasping my face in his hands. “I’m so sorry. I know that must have been hard to watch, but he had it coming.”
I shifted in my heels and held his gaze. “I know you want him to be the bad guy, but he’s not. He’s going through a lot too.”
“There’s no excuse for coming at you like that.”
“Are you okay, really?”
He leaned in and pecked me on the lips. He rested his forehead on mine and sighed.
“David?” I asked. “Are you hurt? What about your hand?”
“It’s good.”
“What if you broke something? Should we get an x-ray?”
“No,” he said with a small smile. “I know how to properly throw a punch.”
“Um, excuse me?” Brian asked, tapping David on the shoulder.
David pulled back and looked me in the eye. “Next time come get me, scream at the top of your lungs if you have to,” he whispered. “Don’t try to do this on your own.”
“Can someone please inform me what the devil is going on?” Brian asked.
We all looked at his confused expression.
“Oh, God, you are so out of it,” Gretchen said.
Brian sneered. “You’re welcome for sticking up for you, princess. I didn’t exactly see your boyfriend helping out.”
“I was in the bathroom,” Greg said defensively.
“Jesus Christ,” David muttered, looking over Greg and Brian. “What would’ve happened if I hadn’t been there?”
“I would have defended her honor,” Brian said, puffing up.
There was a moment of crackling silence before we burst into laughter.
“What?” he asked.
“You’re such a kook,” Gretchen said.
“Now can we go home?” David asked, stroking my hair.
“I’m sorry,” Brian interrupted, leaning between us. “Home? Am I to understand that you two are . . . ?”
“Dude,” David said. “Get lost. Yes, we are.”
“I didn’t realize you were looking, Olivia,” Brian said. “I would have thrown my name in the pot.” I laughed, but David gave him a menacing snarl and Brian covered his nose. “Point taken. I’m only ribbing you, Dylan.” Brian sighed loftily and kissed me on the cheek as David fumed. “I’ll leave you to it then. Good evening,” he said as he pivoted and walked away.
I looked back to David, and my face folded. “I’m so embarrassed. I ruined your night and in front of all your colleagues.”
“I could give two shits right now. I just want to take you home,” he purred into my ear, and I shuddered at his breath on my neck.
“We have to go,” I told Gretchen and Greg, who were watching the whole thing. My voice was high-pitched, and Gretchen rolled her eyes at me knowingly.
“Bye,” she said exaggeratedly. “Come on, Greg, let’s get another drink.”
“Or we could go home too.” I laughed at Greg’s suggestion as they walked off.
“We’re ready to leave, and make it quick,” David said into his phone and hung up. “Brian’s such an asshole.”
“He’s only picking on you because you react.”
“I react because he’s a good guy, and that makes him a worthy opponent.”
“Opponent?”
He took my hand and led me outside. “Every man is an opponent for your attention, but very few of them are worthy.”
“I’m not a gold medal, you know.”
“Oh, but you are, my golden honeybee,” he said gruffly, but his eyes softened. “Are you sure you’re all right? You fell hard.”
“Nothing is that bad as long as you’re here,” I said honestly.
He lifted our interlocked hands and wrapped me close to his side as we walked to meet the car.
“I really am sorry to have embarrassed you.”
He looked down at me. “Don’t say that again. It wasn’t your fault.”
“He’s mad about the house. I knew it would hurt his feelings, and I was too chicken shit to tell him sooner.”
“Thank fuck you didn’t, if that’s how he was going to react.”
“I’m sorry,” I said a last time.
“I’m just thanking my lucky stars every time I’m with you, even if it’s messy.”
“Yes. And it’s going to get very messy,” I said to myself.
“Is there anything else you want to tell me?”
I thought for a moment. “He sent me an e-mail earlier.”
“What’d it say?”
I pulled it up on my phone and handed it to him. As we waited for the car, he scanned the screen, still holding me close with his other hand. His grip on my shoulder tightened, and he gave it back to me. “A player?” he grumbled. “He doesn’t believe it’s over – at least he didn’t when he wrote this. Do I need to worry about that?”
“No. Let it go. I just want to forget all of this for a little bit.”
“For now,” he agreed.
He opened the door to the town car when it arrived and motioned for me to get in. He folded his large frame in after me and the driver pulled away from the curb.
“Come here,” he said.
I scooted to his side of the car.
“Closer,” he said in a lowered voice. I inched toward him until our legs were touching. In a quick motion, he gripped my hips and lifted me onto his lap. He sighed into my
hair. “Did I tell you how amazing you look in this dress?”
I smiled to myself. “Yes.”
“Did I tell you that all night, I couldn’t stop thinking about the look on your face when you came all over my fingers this afternoon?”
I moaned softly and writhed in his lap. One hand dug into my hip as the other slipped inside my dress to grasp my breast. My mouth parted with a sharp inhale when he pinched my nipple between his fingers.
“I can’t believe I get you all to myself tonight,” he said, his thumb and index finger tightening beneath the fabric. His voice sank into a low, gritty rumble. “Nowhere for you to run.”
“I won’t run,” I uttered, arousal whirring through me and clouding my mind. I bent my head to his ear. “I’m all yours, all night.”
His answering groan echoed through the car. Embarrassed that the driver heard, I giggled softly and buried my nose into his shoulder.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “Can’t help it.” He released my nipple but his big hand slid up and ran leisurely over my collarbone.
“What are your plans tomorrow?” I asked.
“My plans are your plans, baby. Reminds me, though. How often do you walk the dogs from the animal shelter?”
“Oh. Twice a month or so. I know it’s not very much, but it’s what I can manage right now.”
“You’re incredible, you know that? I love you a little more every minute. But this minute is a big one.”
I was already flushed, but his warm words left me blushing harder.
“Did Bill ever go with you?” he asked.
“No. You know how it is because you work as much as he does. If he wasn’t swamped with paperwork on the weekends, he just wanted to relax.”
“Never?”
“No.”
“Not once?”
I giggled again and shook my head.
“Tomorrow is supposed to be warm,” he said, brushing hair from my face. “My family is barbequing again. We could get a couple dogs and go see them. If you’re not ready for that, we can just walk the dogs.”
“Really?” I asked with surprise. “Are you sure?”
“Sure? I can’t think of anything better to do on a Sunday. Well, that’s not true, but we’ll have the whole day to fill.”
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