Dancer in Lingerie

by Penelope Sky

  This should be fine. “Alright…I’ll get a ride next time.”

  He slammed his right hand onto the counter as hard as he could. “Shut the fuck up, Carmen.”

  My eyes almost popped out of my head because they snapped open so quickly. “Excuse me—”

  “I’ve always respected you since the day we met. But that respect is gone now because you didn’t listen to me. You’re arrogant, and your arrogance almost got you killed last night. I admire you for being a strong woman like Vanessa, but I don’t admire you for being stupid—”

  “Listen—”

  “No, you listen.” He slammed his fist again. “You were careless, and we both know it. When you’re the kind of woman that looks the way you do, you always have to be careful. Men will never stop wanting you, and if they see you alone, they’ll hunt you.”

  I shut my mouth, knowing Griffin was too angry to be reasoned with.

  “You have money, so there’s no reason not to take a taxi.”

  “It was two blocks away—”

  His eyes looked like grenades.

  “Alright, alright. I’ll always take a taxi from now on.”

  That wasn’t enough for Griffin. He was still pissed. “I don’t need to tell you how that could have ended.”

  “I know.” I would be lying if I said I hadn’t been scared. I had been terrified. When those ropes were bound around my wrists and that gun was pointed in my face, I thought that was the end. I thought about how devastated my parents would be if they lost their only daughter.

  “And if Bosco hadn’t owed me a favor, you might be dead right now.”

  “I know, Griffin.”

  When he saw the remorse on my face, he finally simmered down to a gentle boil. “I’m not worried about you just for Vanessa. I’m worried about you because I care about you. If something bad happened to you, it would hurt me.” He placed his hand over his heart. “You’re family to me, Carmen.”

  “I know,” I whispered.

  “Then you need to learn from this. Learn from your mistake.”

  “Trust me, I already have.” I knew I had no right to ask him for anything, not after I’d made him so angry, but I had to try. “Please don’t tell my father.”

  He bowed his head and sighed.

  “Please. It’ll just get him worked up, and I don’t want to do that.”

  “I don’t know…”

  “I’m not in danger, so there’s nothing to tell him. You’re just going to upset him.”

  He considered my request before he lifted his gaze and looked at me. “I’ll make an arrangement with you. Never let that shit happen again, and we have a deal. You let me walk you home, or you get a ride. Alright?”

  “Deal.”

  “Promise me?” he pressed.

  “Yes…I promise.”

  He finally leaned back, his ripped muscles less tense now that the conversation was over.

  “You saved my life, Griffin.” The Barsetti name wasn’t enough to spare me. It was only when I dropped his name that I got mercy. What would have happened if I didn’t have that weapon in my arsenal? “Thank you.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” he said quietly.

  “But just your reputation spared me…”

  “That’s not true either. Bosco owed me a favor. If he hadn’t, he would have ignored you.”

  I wanted to know more about this mysterious man. Bosco said he was a monster, not a man. He said he was evil and didn’t flinch as he said it. But what kind of evil were we talking about? “Who is he?”

  “Bosco?” he asked.

  “Yeah. He scared off four guys…just by saying a few words.” He had immense power without having to enforce it. He was a strong man, clearly muscular but not beefy the way Griffin was. Every part of his body was hard like steel, even his dick. “He didn’t even have a gun.” The only reason why I knew that was because his body was crushed against mine and I didn’t feel it anywhere.

  “Doesn’t surprise me. He’s the king of the city.”

  “The king?”

  “He controls all the money.”

  I wasn’t following this. “What? What are you talking about?”

  “It doesn’t matter, Carmen. He’s just like me—lethal. He’s one of the biggest criminals in this city, in all of Europe. He’s not someone you should interact with for any reason whatsoever. I told him to stay away from you. But if you see him, tell me immediately.”

  “Did he say he wanted to see me again?”

  “No. Why?”

  It was becoming obvious Griffin had no idea about our kiss. “You warned him to stay away from me… Why would you do that?”

  “Come on, Carmen.” He didn’t roll his eyes, but it seemed like he wanted to. “Look at you. He eats women like you for lunch.”

  I knew Bosco was a playboy—that much was obvious. “Does he…traffic women or anything like that?”

  “No. He’s not that kind of criminal.”

  That was a relief.

  “I just don’t want him to think you’re one of his girls. That’s all.”

  “One of his girls?”

  “Yeah. A man like him is used to getting whatever he wants.”

  I already knew all that information, but hearing it out loud still disappointed me. Bosco wasn’t just a bad boy, but the kind of man that would ruin your life. It was smart for me to walk away without looking back. I would never see him again, and that was exactly how it should be. His kiss would be my favorite of all time, but that could just be a memory for me to look back on when I touched myself.

  “Why are you asking all these questions?”

  Griffin’s voice brought me back to the conversation, and I feared I was making my interest obvious. “He saved my life. I’m just curious.”

  “I hope that’s all, Carmen. Because he’s not good enough for you.”

  “You say that about every guy…”

  “Because it’s true. There’re no men in the world good enough for Barsetti women.”

  “What about you?” I countered, referring to Vanessa.

  He held my gaze for a long time, not blinking. “I’m no exception.”

  After a week passed, the memory of that night started to fade from my mind.

  As did the memory of Bosco.

  I had a date on Saturday night with one of the guys who came into the shop to buy his mother flowers for her birthday. He seemed nice enough. He didn’t have the sexy confidence I liked in Bosco, and he didn’t possess a silent power I found intimidating, but that shouldn’t matter. I wasn’t looking for a criminal.

  Just a normal guy.

  The flower shop was slow that day. People usually picked up their arrangements closer to the weekend. The only time I worked during the week was for funerals. Weddings and bridal showers always took place on Saturdays and Sundays.

  The bell rang overhead when a customer came into the shop. My back was to the door as I stood at the table, tying a ribbon around a vase. My shears were on the table along with chopped rose stems. My gloves were thick to protect my fingers from the thorns—a gift my father got me for my birthday a few years ago.

  Heavy footfalls sounded behind me, the long gait sounding like the stride of a tall man. I set the scissors down and turned around. “Good afternoon. How can I—” Words died in my throat when my eyes locked on to the beautiful blue ones that had watched me come just a week ago. My entire body stiffened at his unexpected visit, especially since he looked even more handsome than he did last week. Today, he’d ditched the jacket and wore a black t-shirt, his forearms chiseled with thick cords of muscle. His skin was tanned, just a few shades darker than mine. A shiny watch was on his wrist, but that was the only jewelry he wore. His fitted jeans hung low on his hips, tight around his muscled thighs.

  He wore that same lopsided grin he’d had when he first looked at me. “You know your way around those scissors.” He slid his hands into his pockets, his confidence filling the room just the way it filled the alle
yway. He stepped to the side to examine the flower arrangement I’d just made. His blue eyes took in the flowers and the vase before he turned back to me. “Nice.”

  I forced myself to recover from his unexpected visit. I was usually more confident than this, even when I was nervous. “Picking up some flowers for your girlfriend?”

  He grinned at my joke. “For my mother, actually.”

  I forced my eyes not to soften. Just because he was a criminal didn’t mean I should be touched by his gesture—especially if he was lying. “What does she like?” Instead of asking why he was really there and letting him see my anxiety, I acted indifferent. The last thing I wanted was for him to think he got under my skin.

  “Anything.” He walked to the fridge and pulled out an arrangement wrapped in plastic. “This will do.”

  “You don’t want it in a vase?” I asked, knowing that made flowers look a lot more elegant.

  “No.” He carried the flowers back to the counter and set them on the surface. “Vases don’t belong in a cemetery.”

  I froze at his statement, my heart immediately moving into my throat. I loved my mother so much, and I would be devastated if I ever lost her. Knowing he’d lost someone he loved, even if he wasn’t a good man, broke my heart. “I’m so sorry…”

  Bosco watched my expression, his eyes showing the same hardness they did before. “I can read people really well. I can tell you mean that.”

  “Of course I do.” I wrapped his flowers in extra paper then grabbed my iPad. “Fifteen euros.”

  He pulled out his wallet then set the cash on the table. “Thank you.” He grabbed the flowers and held them in the crook of his arm. There was nothing left to discuss now that he’d finished his purchase, but he continued to linger, his eyes glued to my face like my lips were a piece of artwork.

  I knew he was thinking about our kiss—because I was.

  I refused to break eye contact, to show any kind of weakness. When faced with a bigger and stronger opponent, you had to rise to the challenge—otherwise, they would walk all over you. If he could see through my front, that wouldn’t matter. I still had to try. At least my enemies would respect me. “Have a good day, Bosco.”

  An unstoppable grin spread across his face, like every little thing I did was amusing. “I like you.”

  The compliment spread through my veins and made my skin feel warm. His approval should mean nothing to me, not when he was an underground criminal. So far, he didn’t seem to be dangerous. If he’d really wanted to hurt me, he wouldn’t have let me walk away from him that night. He wouldn’t be surprising me in broad daylight at my shop. “Bones told you to stay away from me.”

  His grin slowly disappeared, his stunning blue eyes shifting to a menacing stare. “Do you want me to stay away from you?”

  I should immediately say yes, but I didn’t. I kept my silence and stared him down, unsure what to say in rebuttal. This was a guy I didn’t want to get involved with, no matter how good that kiss was. I didn’t mind an occasional bad boy here and there, nothing I couldn’t handle. But Bosco was a whole new caliber, someone Bones was vehemently opposed to. I deflected the question by not answering it at all. “I would listen to Bones if I were you.”

  “I’m not afraid of him.” He moved the flowers back onto the counter without breaking eye contact with me.

  “You should be.”

  The corner of his mouth rose in a smile. “I’m the one he should be afraid of.”

  The warmth I felt a moment ago quickly disappeared. An ice-cold feeling replaced it, freezing my veins instantly. Those men stopped in their tracks the second I mentioned Bones’s name. It was a name people instinctively feared, a name that protected Vanessa when she was taken by those thugs. But Bosco seemed genuinely indifferent to Griffin’s power.

  “I’m an opponent he can’t outmatch—and he knows it.” He spoke so confidently, so eloquently that he couldn’t be lying. “Especially now that he’s got a wife to think about.”

  Bones didn’t specifically say why Bosco was so dangerous, but he’d definitely emphasized his authority.

  “I owed him a favor, and I repaid it. Now, I don’t owe him a damn thing.” He leaned against the counter slightly, his head tilted to the side as he stared at me. Unnaturally suave, he was hypnotizing to watch. Men were rarely as self-assured as this guy. They called him the king of this city for a reason—because he controlled all the money. And if you controlled all the money, you controlled everyone. “Call him. See what happens.” If it was a bluff, it was a damn good one.

  That would be my first impulse, but since Bosco was far more intimidating than I realized, I found myself wanting to protect Bones rather than myself. “What do you want, Bosco?” My heart warned me with every beat. This guy was nowhere near average. He had more power than I could ever imagine. I’d dealt with sleazy guys who didn’t understand the word no. I’d slapped a few men for grabbing my ass when I walked by. But those men were nothing compared to him.

  “These beautiful flowers.”

  “Now that you have them, you should go.” I held my ground the way every Barsetti should. We were innately proud, even if it cost us our lives in the process.

  As if he didn’t hear what I said, he kept staring at me.

  I stared back, standing in my brown boots that zipped over my dark jeans. I wore a long-sleeved red sweater to fight the chill that came into the shop every time the door opened. At this time of year, the prices of flowers went up, but customers still stopped by.

  He righted himself then grabbed the flowers off the counter. “Have dinner with me on Saturday night.”

  Now I knew without a doubt his appearance wasn’t coincidental. He’d figured out I worked here and purposely stopped by. Who knew if those flowers were really for his mother. “I have a date.”

  His eyebrow rose slightly at my answer, and he was clearly irritated by that response.

  “And even if I didn’t, I’m not interested.”

  “Really?” He stepped closer to me, making me suck in a breath at his movement. “It seemed like you were interested last week.”

  “I was interested in my freedom. That’s all.”

  That playful grin returned. “Sure. Whatever you say, sweetheart. I still have that stain on my jeans.”

  I refused to show my embarrassment even though I was mortified.

  “And I still have the memory of that orgasm I gave you.”

  It was becoming harder to hold his gaze, more difficult to keep up this indifferent persona. When he was this close to me, I could smell the cologne and soap again. I could feel his lips without them touching me. I could feel the memory of that kiss wash over me like the waves of the ocean.

  He moved even closer, until our faces were practically touching. His pretty blue eyes were even more brilliant when they were this close. For a man so dark, it seemed unnatural for him to be so beautiful.

  I stopped breathing altogether, my entire body tensing at the way his proximity made me feel. My muscles tightened, and shivers ran up my spine. All I had to do was take a step back, but I didn’t. I tilted my chin slightly so I could look up at him, angling my neck back so I could stare at the tall man looking down at me.

  Like he had every right, he circled his arm around my waist, right into the steep curve of my back, and held me against him. His fingers clenched the fabric of my sweater at my side, making it stretch over my body even more.

  I still hadn’t taken a breath.

  He leaned in and pressed his forehead to mine, his eyes shifting down to look at my body below him.

  I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten into this position, why I allowed him to touch me like this. My body was naturally attracted to his, from his pretty eyes to his muscular frame. My lips remembered exactly how that kiss felt, and I wanted another round. But my mind was still strong enough to fight it. “I want you to leave.”

  He sighed against me, his disappointment audible. “Why don’t I believe you, sweetheart?” He pulled
his head back and looked me in the eye, that same desire in his eyes that was there the other night. Then he cupped my cheek with his large palm and pressed a kiss to my lips. It was soft, not aggressive like the last one we shared. He moved his lips gently with mine, coaxing me into kissing him back. With a breath of air into my lungs, he brought my body to life once more.

  Then he pulled away, ending the short kiss much sooner than the last. He dropped his hand from around my waist and grabbed the flowers off the counter. After a final heated look, he walked out of the flower shop and headed down the street.

  My eyes followed him until he was no longer visible from the windows.

  My fingertips immediately moved to my mouth, feeling the ache in my lips from the way he’d just kissed me. I could have been more persistent when I’d asked him to leave. But instead, I turned into all the other women who were obsessed with him. I kissed him back when he kissed me—and I enjoyed every second of it.

  I had a feeling I would see him again.

  Samuel worked for an insurance company. He started right at eighteen and slowly moved his way up in the company until he became the operations manager of his branch. He dealt with car insurance, along with home and life insurance. He told me a lot of details about his job that I didn’t ask for, and that made the conversation last forever.

  He was decently handsome and had a boyish smile that made him inherently charming. He didn’t seem to ask me much about my life and only talked at length when he discussed himself. His eyes wandered over my body throughout dinner, making it obvious that he was staring at my tits.

  Bosco did the same thing, but it wasn’t creepy when he did it.

  Samuel just couldn’t pull it off.

  Overall, it was one of the most boring dates I’d ever had. He’d seemed a lot more charming at the flower shop when he was picking out an arrangement for his mom. But now that we were actually having a conversation, I was trying not to fall asleep.

  And dream about the panty-soaker.

  I squeezed my thighs together when I thought about that last kiss we’d had in the flower shop. It was short but sweet. If a simple kiss like that could make me wet, what would happen if we were both naked in my bed? The sweat would coat his thick muscles, and my hands would slide down all the intricate grooves of his body. His fat cock would fit inside me easily because I would be so damn wet.