The Dirty Series 2(115)

Her mouth drops open, but no words come out. Is she going to scream at me? Cause a scene? Do I care?

No.

The music throbs in my ears.

Then she whirls around and disappears into the crowd and I’m left alone with Ace.





Chapter Eighteen





Ace



It takes everything I have to get up from the table and walk away from Carolyn with the busty redhead who came over to steal me away. It’s hard to hear the whispers about me over the music of the pop-star-of-the-moment, but as I suspected, it’s making me even more irresistible to the women at the Swan tonight. The redhead is the first one to get up the courage to break into the small circle around our table.

I don’t catch her name. It’s not important. The woman I really want to be walking away with is still sitting at the table, watching me leave. I can feel her eyes boring into my back.

Ever since that smile, my skin has been on fire with the need to touch her. My hands ache to slide over the curves of her waist and pull her into me until the length of her is pressed against me. The heat between us is electric, taut, and I feel it every time she glances across the table at me.

But I’m not going to be the one to make the first move. Not tonight.

I’ve left the door open.

She’ll come to me, if that’s what she wants.

Although if she waits much long, I don’t think I’ll be able to resist taking what I want.

We haven’t been dancing for two minutes when the redhead leans in and says something I can’t hear.

“Excuse me?”

“Did you really kill your wife?”

The smile plastered across her face, her glittering eyes, sends a cold spike of adrenaline down to the tips of my fingers. Somehow, this woman learned what the police in Italy suspected. The rumors have finally reached critical mass among world rumor circles.

“No.”

“Are you sure?” she asks, nuzzling up to me.

Then, “Listen, you’re sexy as hell,” she says, rolling her hips against mine. I can’t seem to get a sense of the beat—the music has turned into a kind of hellish noise—but my legs won’t work. I have to get away from this bitch, but I can’t. “I can’t blame you for wanting to be free. But we’re all wondering what you did to her. Just tell me.”

I’m looking for an escape—any escape—and when I turn my head, I’m looking at a fucking angel. Carolyn is two feet away from us and closing in fast, and before the redhead can say another word, Carolyn’s hand is on my arm and she’s glaring into the other woman’s eyes. “Excuse me,” she shouts over the music. “I’m stepping in for this dance.”

The redhead’s jaw drops and her eyes cut from Carolyn to me, then back to Carolyn, who straightens her shoulders.

I expect an argument, get ready to take Carolyn’s arm and lead her off the dance floor, out the side exit and take her…anywhere. Anywhere, as long as I’m next to her.

But the redhead spins on her heel and rushes off through the crowd without another word.

Carolyn turns toward me, her eyes sparkling. “I don’t think so,” she shouts.

I shake my head. What is she talking about?

“You’re not going to look at me like that and then go dance with another woman. Not a chance.”

I laugh out loud. For the first time in my life, I’m standing on the dance floor with a woman who shares my attitude about getting what I want. “Prove it.”

In answer, Carolyn puts her hands on my shoulders, then starts to move with the music, her hips swaying, her dress giving me a tantalizing hint of what’s underneath. When she turns around, the curve of her ass brushing against the front of my pants, moving with the beat, I almost ask her to marry me right then.

A painful stab of regret stops the words at my lips. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it fucking right. My way. And that’s going to involve some planning, if the news is already spreading through New York City. Carolyn could find out from anyone.

The more she dances, the less I can play it cool. By the time she takes my hand in hers and tugs me away from the dance floor and back toward the table, I’m on fire with need for her. The sight of her pink cheeks, flushed from the dancing and flirting, just about pushes me over the edge.

I resist the instinct to wrap my arm around her shoulders and kiss her temple. Despite the heat between us while we were dancing, I’m not going to lose control in front of everyone else at the table. Let them think what they damn well please.

I’m busy preparing myself to sit back down with all of Carolyn’s friends and order another round of drinks when she stops dead in her tracks, halfway between the dance floor and the table.