“Perfect.” Martin rubbed his hands together, giving Natalie his back, a wild look in his eyes that promised trouble. “That leaves you and me and a whole lotta options.”
Yeah. I knew what that meant. Drinks. Gambling. Girls. I’d rather follow Victoria and her friends around than spend the evening babysitting Martin. Then again, if I didn’t keep a close eye on my playboy best friend, he might disappear for days, and we would not have our pilot come Sunday afternoon.
“Sounds like a plan.” I checked my watch. “Ellis made dinner reservations at eight. Should we meet at our suite, say seven thirty?”
Our black town car pulled to a stop in front of us. “Natalie, we’ll give you a ride to your hotel.”
“Oh, no.” She looked at everyone but me. “That’s fine. I’ve got an Uber coming. He’ll be here in five.”
“You can cancel.” She’d refused to stay in the same hotel as the rest of us, the rooms I’d bought.
“Really, it’s fine.”
Martin shoved past and ducked into the car.
“You have a free ride right here.”
“Don’t push, Cole. If she doesn’t want to come with us, it’s fine.” Victoria tugged on my arm. “She’s a big girl.”
Call it instinct, or manners, but I hated leaving her alone on the street. Still, I had no right forcing the subject. “We’ll see you for dinner?”
“See you tonight,” she said to her shoes, gnawing on her bottom lip.
I held the door while Martin and Victoria settled into their seats, then gave Natalie one more glance before folding into the buttery leather.
As we drove away, I refused to look back. Instead, I watched my fiancée, who wore a scowl while she watched Martin, who wrenched his neck to watch Natalie as we pulled into traffic.
Natalie wore a different dress to dinner. Pink straps tied around her neck created a plunging neckline and glorious cleavage, not that I was looking. Her cheeks glowed from too much sun, and she wore little, if any, makeup. Her hair was pulled into a complicated twist on top of her head. Her tone legs were on full display, and her stiff, bare shoulders were the only sign of her discomfort.
I slammed my drink and gestured to the waitress for another.
Natalie’s smile faded when I stood to greet her. “Where is everyone?”
I stepped around the table and pulled out a chair a safe distance from mine. She fell, more than sat, into the cushion.
I settled back into my seat. “Victoria decided to hit the clubs early with her girlfriends. Martin is passed out in my room. Ellis hasn’t returned my texts. It’s safe to assume we won’t hear from the newlyweds tonight.”
“Oh.” She stared at the empty shot glass in front of me. “I bet their neighbors are hearing plenty, though.” She laughed at her joke, then met my gaze. “Get it?”
I was speechless, confused, angered by my weakness around Natalie King. Disgusted by my inability to think straight.
“You know, ’cause they’re … ” She made a circle with her index finger and thumb on one hand, and pistoned her other index finger through the hole, making a funny face.
What a dork. What a gorgeous, delightful, perfect dork.
I laughed. She laughed. Her shoulders relaxed.
I’d never wanted to kiss someone so bad in my life. “What’ll you have to drink?” I asked as the waitress came our way with my Johnnie Walker.
“Oh. I probably shouldn’t.”
“We’re celebrating.”
She snorted. “You know what? You’re right.” She lifted her chin, shifted in her seat, then said to the waitress, “I’ll have what he’s having.”
The waitress nodded. “Are you ready to order?”
“Give us a few minutes,” I responded.
“Of course.” She dipped her chin and backed away.
Natalie lifted her menu, hiding that gorgeous glow, giving me time to pull my fucking shit together, steel my spine against her unconscious attack on my morality, shoot a quick prayer to the Man Upstairs to strengthen my resolve.
She lowered the menu only enough to peek over the top. “I don’t know what any of this is.”
Although no longer hungry, I used my own menu as a barrier and pretended to consider my dining options, but caught myself studying Natalie instead.
Her dress blended perfectly with the pink, cream, and gold tones of the room. When she smiled, laughed, blinked, breathed, or just existed, I wanted nothing more than to claim her, make her mine, throw her on top of the table and show my appreciation for everything that she was.
I wanted to punish her for showing me everything that I wasn’t.
She was not safe in our private dining room. Neither was I.
“You know what?” I stood, pulled out my money clip. “What do you say we get out of here? Go someplace more—”
“I’d kill for a cheeseburger right about now.” Her menu hit the table with a smack, and she was on her feet. She finished my drink in one long swallow. “Come on. I know the perfect place.”
Fuck. I was so fucked. A gentleman would’ve taken her arm and escorted her through the busy restaurant. I shoved my hands into my pockets and wrapped my fingers around Cadence’s cross.
“I’ll try Lacey and Ellis again. See if they want to meet us.”
“Let’s go by your room, get Martin off his drunk ass,” she suggested, fiddling with the tie around her neck.
I dropped enough cash on the table to cover our failed dinner. When I looked up, our gazes locked, hers tormented, dropping to my mouth and then to the floor. “You should try Victoria again, too. She might be hungry by now.”
Good play, bringing my fiancée into the conversation. Smart woman, dropping that bucket of ice water over my faltering integrity.
I followed her toward the exit, and only by accident noticed the sway of her ass in that dress, only briefly appreciated the shape of her legs, only for one moment considered placing my hand on the small of her back.
While we waited for the car, keeping a safe distance between us, I asked,
