Chapter Seven
Arianna
––––––––
AS DEAN LED ME INSIDE the brightly lit door of Destiny’s, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia.
I could still remember the last time I had eaten at a place like this. The brand was big enough across the country that it was almost impossible to escape – no matter how hard you tried to keep your restaurants fancy, everyone ended up here eventually.
And, when my aunt and uncle had taken me in, this had been their go-to for a fancy night out. Now, don’t get me wrong, everyone has different ideas of what fancy is, but I knew from the start this wasn’t it for me. Maybe it would have been different, had the circumstances been switched up a little – every time I went out with my aunt and uncle, after all, it was a reminder I had been taken from my home and dumped in with them after my parents died in a car accident.
I had known, even back then, this life wasn’t for me. Maybe I was still in some sort of shock from what had happened to my family, the only family I’d ever known; losing them so suddenly, having nothing else to fall back on, it was enough to make my head spin. I had wanted to put as much distance between the version of myself who had known them and this new one as possible, and when I got the chance, I wasn’t going to pass it up.
They would have shipped me off to military school or something, my aunt and uncle, I knew they would have. They were old-fashioned types, my father’s sister and her husband, and they clearly had no clue what to do with me. I had a nose for trouble, I always had, and they were doing all they could to keep me out of it – but it didn’t work. Nothing did. They were helpless against my endless ability to find myself in drama.
And so, I ran. I knew they would never understand the kind of life I wanted to live, and I ran before they could lock me up somewhere and pretend I’d never existed. It wouldn’t have been cruelty, it would have just been the only way small-town people like that could have handled someone like me. They kept waiting for me to settle down, and it never came. I was always looking for something more, something bigger, never satisfied with the small glances of life I got. I needed to go to a world that could handle me, and I knew this one had never been it.
That had been the last time I’d eaten at a place like Destiny’s. There was nothing wrong with them, but they were far from the vibes I was trying to give off when I seduced the men I did into giving me their money. I preferred fancy hotels, preferably with low-lit bars so they would never get a good look at my face even if they did report me to the cops, and expensive restaurants where I could order practically the whole menu before I slipped something into their champagne and made a break for it.
But here, with Dean, I didn’t feel the need to do any of that. I knew I should have been doing a better job at hiding myself. I could give far too much away if I wasn’t careful, but honestly? I didn’t mind. I could tell he was hiding stuff, too, and as long as we were both trying to keep something from one another, we could be as honest as we wanted – or just keep it all to ourselves.
We took a booth at the back, away from the door, and I noticed he positioned himself so he was able to see the entire rest of the diner at once. I had no idea what this guy was into, but he knew what he was doing, at least. It was something of a relief – the last thing I needed was to get caught up with someone who had no clue what they were doing. If I was going to get myself involved with a criminal, at least it was a good one.
We ordered our food, as well as a couple of beers apiece, and I ate like I had never seen food before in my life. I’d had to be all dainty and feminine and non-greedy with the guy the night before, whose name was already starting to fade from my mind, and it had left me ravenous for real food. I ordered waffles with fried chicken, and chowed down like they were the best damn things in the world.
“You sure you’ve ever eaten before?” Dean teased me. I shrugged.
“Sometimes a girl just needs to chow down,” I replied as I reached for the beer. Honestly, I was having a good time; he wasn’t a mark, just a guy who seemed to at least be able to meet me on the same level I was at. We were both keeping things from each other, but we both knew it, and there was something kind of relieving about knowing I didn’t need to put up the usual front I did when I was around guys. I couldn’t remember the last time I had just hung out with someone like this, the last time I had been able to relax and not worry about showing off the very best of my most seductive skills.
Underneath the table, our legs were pressed together, and I couldn’t help but notice how good it felt to have him that close to me. It was hard not to pay attention to how gorgeous he was; there was something masculine about him, his strength, the way he carried himself. He clearly had confidence, though where he had gotten it from, I wasn’t sure. Being chased down by the men who had been after him, I would bet he was up to his neck in some serious shit – but it was hard to give a damn when he had those gorgeous eyes pinned to mine.
“You going to tell me who you are yet?” he asked after our second beer. I shook my head.
“I’ll tell you when you tell me,” I replied, and he grinned.
“Yeah, not going to happen.”
“Then consider it a secret,” I replied. “I can be anything you want me to be.”
“Anything, huh?” he mused out loud, and I could tell from the look on his face just what he meant by that.
“Anything.”
We continued to drink together until I was a little tipsy. I normally had a good stomach for this kind of thing, but I was able to let go and just have a little fun. I didn’t need to worry about keeping my guard up, and it was the kind of relief I didn’t know I had needed until that moment. Something about the way he looked at me, the amusement on his face when he listened to me talk, told me everything I needed to know.
By the time he paid the bill for the meal, like any proper gentleman would, I had decided I was going to go to bed with him. I wasn’t sure if he had caught up with me on it yet, but there was no question in my mind how the night was going to end.
I had no idea who he was. But then, he didn’t know a thing about me, either. Both of us were playing the part, playing the game, on the run from whatever it was we were trying to put behind us. And there was a freedom in that, a freedom I thought I would have to wait till France to enjoy, but here, with him, I was starting to realize I could get my hands on it far easier than I had thought.
“You want to have a nightcap in the hotel?” he asked me, a little clumsy, but I didn’t care. I was used to guys trying to play me just as they thought they needed to, and generally making fools of themselves in the process. He wasn’t putting up an act, at least, not more than he needed to protect the truth of who he was. I was curious to find out as much as I could about him, but it might have compromised my own privacy. It was better for both of us to keep ourselves to ourselves, and share just the smallest details of what we could to keep ourselves safe.
“Yeah, I do,” I replied, and I slipped my arm into his and allowed him to guide me back towards the place he was staying.
It had been such a long time since I had allowed my desire instead of my wallet to dictate where I was going to spend my evening, and I was already having so much fun I didn’t want it to stop. I could feel a fizzing in my stomach, telling me how close I was to getting him in bed, telling me I was mere inches away from feeling his lips on mine again. I had just meant that as a distraction, but now, it seemed damn near foreplay.
I could smell that intoxicating scent floating off his skin, strong, masculine – did he wear aftershave? I didn’t know, but I could have lost myself to the scent of it right then and there.
Inside the hotel, I could practically taste the tension fluttering in the air. He wanted me. Normally, I would have used that desire to get what I wanted, but right now, all I could think about was how much I wanted him right back. I wanted his hands on me, moving all over me, showing me how much he desired me, showing me how badly he wanted to fuck me. It had been months since I’d had a good fuck, maybe longer, and my body was crying out for one right then and there.