My phone blipped with another text. It made no sense that my heart kept leaping over those as well. Could it be Dom? No, it could not. He didn’t have my phone number. I never gave out my phone number to random men, and he hadn’t even asked. But I still got excited every damn time my phone blipped, like a schoolgirl with an impossible crush. Which I’m sure was what I looked like to him.
Last night at the end of the party, he’d been my hero. Some big drunk guy had started bothering me. I’d ignored him leering at me, but then he’d made his way over and slurred some line in my ear about me looking sexy. Before I even knew what has happening, he was pulled away and out the door.
I’d followed behind and saw Dom lead him firmly down the stairs and pack him into the back seat of a car. He hauled the guy off like a ragdoll. The man didn’t even protest. It so easily could have been a scene, but no one even noticed. Dom just managed it with silent, stealthy force.
Jaw set, in charge, commanding the situation, Dom had sent him on his way. Then he’d looked back at the door almost as if he knew I’d be there. When our eyes met, I swear I saw such darkness pass through him, something so fierce and possessive it made me catch my breath. No wonder I couldn’t stop thinking about him. He was the most exciting, dangerous, gorgeous man I’d ever met.
* * *
§
* * *
On Friday night I wanted to head to the country club where I had a chance of seeing Dom, but Penny thought I was crazy.
“Everyone’s heading to Via Vino, and then Chels has the back room reserved at Oceanside. You know she’d kill us if we didn’t show.”
“She would,” I acknowledged. We’d known Chelsea since middle school and she could get brutal.
“And then you know everyone’s going to end up at the 2am Club.”
“Yeah.” Week two and I was already getting accustomed to the ebb and flow of summer on the Hamptons. House parties and functions at the country club mixed with a whole lot of club-hopping. I could almost see it like a science experiment, with molecules disbanding then forming again to finally all cluster at some late-night hot spot. It was why I’d wanted to spend the summer there, to let loose and have fun and see my friends. Only now a new agenda item had taken top precedence.
I didn’t even know his full name. Was Dom short for Dominic? And what was his last name? I had so many questions. But they were going to have to wait. Tomorrow night we had a function at the club we’d all dutifully attend before setting out into the evening. I’d be there with bells on. But not tonight.
“Zander’s going to be at Oceanside,” Penny began, launching into a dissection of his recent behavior. Zander said this. Zander did that. Sometimes I wanted to club Zander over the head for putting Penny through everything he did. That boy played more games than an extroverted kid at an elementary school birthday party. I let her tell me every single last detail, letting it wash over me in an almost soothingly familiar manner, until she started trying to set me up again with one of Zander’s friends.
“Trevor’s so cute. He’s so into you. You should totally give him a chance.”
“Mph.” I gave her a noncommittal grunt. Honestly, Trevor seemed fine, but I’d never detected the passion Penny claimed he felt for me, nor had I felt anything remotely like it myself. We had an utterly congenial relationship based on similar backgrounds and mutual acquaintances. Entire lives had been built on that foundation, with marriages and children and everything else. Me, though? I wanted more.
We agreed to our usual routine, and Penny showed up with her usual sampling of outfits, and we headed off into our usual merry-go-round of social flitting and flirting. Until late at night when we arrived at the 2am Club.
I was tipsy by the time we got there, wobbling a bit on my stacked heels in my skimpy clubbing dress. There wasn’t much to it with thin straps, ending mid-thigh, but there wasn’t too much to me, either. I was a skinny little thing and I’d always been fine with that, but when I thought about a man like Dom it made me wish I were one of those traffic-stopping sirens with curves that made a man’s eyes pop out of his head. I’d definitely felt a charge between us, but he’d also found it really easy to dismiss me, literally sending me away from him and telling me to rejoin the party. If I had a little more junk in the trunk maybe he would have taken advantage of the shadows and my obvious interest. Maybe he would have leaned down to me and slid his hand along the curve of my lower back.
Like he was doing right in front of me to a sexy skank practically bursting out of her nearly nonexistent top.
“What—?” I stopped short as we exited the car in front of the club, causing Penny and a couple other friends to jostle into me, giggling, like we were a bunch of drunk bimbos. Which, I guess, might not be the most unfair characterization.
“Wait, you guys, wait.” A girl in our crew balanced against Penny as she adjusted the strap of her sandal.
Penny slipped her arm through mine as she followed my gaze. “Is that the guy from—?”
“Um-hmm,” I managed to answer, still not able to move my legs. Dom stood next to the door looking even bigger than before in a fitted black T-shirt. It looked like he was a bouncer for the club, but then it also looked as if he had his hands full in quite another way as a woman draped her arms around his neck. When he reached down I saw he had a full sleeve of tattoos. It wasn’t a surprise that he was inked, but it was a revelation to see them, winding around his muscles and drawing my attention to his bulging bicep. Every inch of the man looked hard.
“Do you know that guy?” Another friend asked, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. “He’s scary.” But way she said it didn’t sound like she wanted to run and hide.
“He’s hot.” My other friend finished fixing her sandal and joined in the ogling party, just in time for Dom to look up and see all four of us standing and staring at him open-mouthed. Perfect.
He turned his attention back to the woman draped all over him. Octopus much? I wanted to tell her to back off, but of course I’d never do such a thing. Plus, the woman looked like she’d kick my ass in three seconds flat. She had long fingernails and a tat to match his on her shoulder. It figured that would be the kind of woman he’d go for. Not some prissy little schoolgirl like me.
I looked down as we approached the entrance, feeling like an idiot. He probably wouldn’t even remember me.
“Get you a ride home,” I overheard him saying to the woman as we reached the door. Another gigantic man in a black T-shirt asked for our IDs. Not one of us was 21, but our IDs attested to each of us being well into our 20s. Mine said I lived in Nashville. As always, the velvet rope opened to give us access.
Dom stood next
to me though I studiously avoided any more eye contact. But he was right there, and I caught a glimpse of him clearly unwinding the woman’s tentacles. He firmly insisted he call her a ride home as she whined in protest. I couldn’t help but smile.
He leaned toward me just before I walked past. “Watch yourself in there, princess.” I looked up into his dark eyes, unable to hide how happy I felt that he remembered me.
“Hi, Dom,” I murmured, flushing. “Do you work here, too?”
“Some of us got to earn a living.” His words came out gruff, but then he gave me a quick and sexy wink. Oh no. That was it. I was done for.
I made it into the club on Penny’s arm, feeling very much like I either needed a shot of something strong or a bar stool to sink down on. Or both.
“Did he just wink at you?” Penny shout-whispered into my ear. It was loud in the club and I could feel the beat of the dance music pulsing through the floor. I was saved from having to answer by her spotting Zander and drawing us over toward him like a bee toward a flower.
I’d never more desperately wished I were outside and away from a party with all my friends. Surrounded by the people I’d known for years and assumed I would for years to come, the ones I’d gone to school with, whose parents knew my parents and we saw in all the same circles, I wanted out. I wished I smoked so I could excuse myself and slip outside for a reason. My gaze kept drifting over to the door, wondering if Dom would make his way inside, but the moment never came.
Finally, the evening wound down. Closing time arrived, with the usual hook ups and stumbling and weaving toward the door. I’d done a shot, but then ended up nursing a G&T the rest of the night and only felt buzzed by the time I stepped out into the warm summer-night air. It felt good on my face after the dark heat of the club, and I closed my eyes for a moment to enjoy it.
When I opened them, I saw Dom watching me. Arms crossed against his chest, he leaned against the wall. Our group was among the last to leave and no one was causing him any trouble. I doubted many people were stupid enough to start anything with him.