Rosie leaned over to me and winked. “Oooh. You’ve got competition.”
“Can I have a cigarette?” I asked her. She opened her purse, took out a silver cigarette case, and handed me one. Within seconds, Enzo leaned across the table to light it for me. I almost laughed when the little flame ignited between us. Then he lowered himself into the chair next to Gina and lit his own. I watched the first curl of smoke escape his lips and crossed my legs. My thighs were damp.
“So, Tiny,” Gina squeaked, looking me over as if I smelled like rotten tomatoes. “What line of business are you in?”
I puffed on my cigarette and blew smoke in her direction. “Bootleg liquor. You interested?” Enzo’s lips tipped up slightly.
Gina smirked. “Ain’t we all?”
“Tiny’s father is a supplier for the club,” said Enzo. “She works for him.”
Gina’s painted eyebrows went up. “Oh yeah? A working girl, huh? I don’t know what I would do if I had to work. It sounds posi-lutely awful.”
“Lucky for you, your dad’s loaded,” piped up her friend, a skinny blond with an overbite. “And now you’ve got a sugar daddy.”
“He’s twenty-five, he’s not old enough to be a sugar daddy, Valerie,” scolded Gina.
“Right—your last one was a lot older.” They both giggled and Gina mouthed something to her behind her hand. Jesus, was this high school or a nightclub? And why had he asked me to stay here, anyway? So he could keep an eye on me while he kept an arm around his girlfriend?
Bastard.
Throughout their exchange, Enzo watched me. We didn’t speak, but the shared knowledge of our secret kisses and caresses hummed between us like a conversation. It was enough to start up an aching throb between my legs. This is madness. He’s just looking at me—from across the damn table! But the longer I sat there watching him, the more I wanted him.
I could still feel him thickening through his trousers in my palm. Was he hard now? Oh, God. I crossed my legs tighter and shifted in my seat, and just the friction of the movement and his penetrating stare nearly brought me to orgasm. Tapping my cigarette out in an ashtray on the table, I stood. “Thanks for the invitation to stay, but I really have to leave now.”
Enzo stood too. “I’ll walk you out.”
An unwelcome frisson of excitement shot up my spine.
Gina pouted, and he put a hand on her shoulder. “Order another round of drinks for everyone, and how about some oysters too? I know they’re your favorites.” She squealed and clapped her hands while he placed his lit Fatima in the ashtray, as if he’d be back momentarily. Then the bastard leaned down and kissed her cheek.
Rosie barely glanced away from her mark and waved me off with a flip of the wrist. I followed Enzo through the club and down the long hallway toward the heavy metal door. Our footsteps echoed on the tiles as the sound of the music receded.
The guard seated at the entrance nodded at Enzo and pressed a button, which unlocked the inner door. To my surprise, after opening it, Enzo followed me into the tiny vestibule. Then he let the door close, leaving us in pitch-dark silence. Adrenaline shot through me as I waited for him to open the door to the stairwell. Instead, I heard the slam of a deadbolt.
“You don’t really want to leave, do you?” His voice was low and lilting.
He’s teasing me. “Yes. I do.”
“Liar.” He moved closer.
Every inch of my skin pricked with heat. “Look who’s calling who names. I can think of a few to call you, you know.”
His body met mine and he pressed my back into the brick wall. “So do it.”
I dropped my evening bag to the floor. “Thief.”
He took one wrist and pinned it above my head.
“Cheat,” I snarled.
He pinned the other across the first.
“Bastard.” The word lashed from my lips just before he kissed me, and I could have sworn it made him smile.
Out of my mind with desire, I kissed him hungrily, straining against him, desperate to have my arms free. But he held my wrists tight, torturing me with deep thrusts of his tongue between my lips. “Let me go,” I rasped when he dragged his mouth across my cheek and down my neck.
“Why would I do that?”