“Well then,” Coco said, apparently aware of the ignited flame. “What do you say we get a table since we’re all here?”
“Sounds good to me,” Kurt said tightly, steering her ahead of everyone and forcing Liam to follow them.
Instead of hanging back, Drina pushed ahead. At her sister’s ear, she said a little too loudly, “I believe in love at first sight now!”
“Easy, Drina. He’s a player.”
“He can play with me anytime,” she said, all giddy as she slid around the circular leather booth at the recently cleared table.
The seating arrangement could’ve left Liam feeling like a fifth wheel. Instead, as soon as Drina slid around the booth, he jumped ahead of Coco and claimed his seat beside Drina, making sure he didn’t end up on the outside next to Kurt.
Thanks to fast action, Coco ended up in the middle, in between Kurt and Liam. Zak made small talk with a man he apparently recognized, inching closer to the other end of the booth so he could nonchalantly take a seat beside Drina once the conversation ended. “Good seeing you, too, man. Tell the wife hello.”
As predicted, he slipped right in place beside of Drina, draping his arm over the back of the booth as if they were there together.
Shifting her shoulders, Drina mouthed to Coco, “Oh my God! He is so hot!”
Zak pretended like he was searching the crowd for a cocktail waitress but the smirk on his face told the grandest of tales. He thought he’d already scored. Perhaps if Liam hadn’t been so in awe of Coco, he would’ve been interested, too.
He’d seen the way Drina moved, watched the way she’d danced, undulating as if she were inspired only by sexual heat and fully embraced carnal desires. He then remembered Coco and how she’d moved to the music. The memory stirred him. His cock pranced in his slacks as he recalled the way her hands had glided over her breasts and framed her pussy.
God help him, he’d be lucky if he didn’t come in his pants.
He had a serious hang-up and until he acted out with the woman he longed to fuck, he had a feeling whenever he was near Coco he’d have the same problem—a hard cock, a wet tip, and heavy balls reminding him that everything about her turned him on. Her statuesque presence, the way she carried herself, her deep raspy voice, and her curves. God yeah, her curves. She was flawless perfection and beauty’s best.
There were only two reasons he had pursued her with caution. The first was self-preservation. He was afraid if he had her once, the intense longing for her would only increase by the hour, by the minute. He’d read about relationships such as the one he wanted with Coco and he couldn’t help but concern himself with the matters at hand. She turned him on with a look, with a touch. What would happen if they were lovers? Would he be obsessed, impractical?
The other concern was one that should’ve sent him running in the other direction. She had been friends, close friends with his mother and she’d been “Brandon’s girl” and both of those facts disturbed Liam greatly.
Brandon was due to slip into Nate’s shoes and Nate had been a cold-blooded man who had made their mother proud in business and their mother had never earned an honest wage. She’d picked up their father’s drug business with great ease and as soon as he was dead and buried, she’d kicked up the business a notch and devoted her life to dealing guns, a dangerous career that ultimately claimed her life and took out three sons with her.
Pondering Brandon for a second longer, Liam wondered if Brandon realized he was at a crossroads in life. As the oldest son now, Brandon had the authority to make provisions and steer the family business in another direction or he could continue the path Nate and their mother had laid out before them.
He studied Coco’s profile. She had this quiet, alluring quality and if Brandon and their mother hadn’t befriended her first, maybe Liam wouldn’t have so many reservations about Coco, about the real woman sleeping underneath the finest layer of sensual beauty he’d ever seen.
But his mother had been her friend. His brother had been her lover, her Dom. Throw in the crook of a father she claimed for a dad and Coco definitely brought her share of baggage to any man’s table.
Liam should probably find out if his family’s business or even her own father’s wicked ways had somehow destroyed the gorgeous woman beside him. He needed to know who Coco was now. What existed at the core of her heart and soul? Had the darkness overshadowed the goodness? Was she aloof now or was the new attitude he’d noticed some sort of defense mechanism, a way to protect herself?
Sadly, he wanted her so much he wasn’t sure it mattered to him either way. If his mother had trained her for the business or perhaps Brandon had, Liam would still accept her because at the end of the day, he loved her. God help him, he had loved her since the first day Brandon had brought her home.
Now, all he had to do was reach out and take her hand. Then, he could hold on tight, maybe even forever. If not for an infinite amount of time, then at least for the night.
Chapter Nine
Coco couldn’t decide if it was the number of drinks she’d consumed or the natural attraction she had with some of the Blazier brothers. Whatever it was, she was in a great place at the moment and even though the day’s events were still fresh in her memory, she was having a nice time.
Liam leaned forward on his right elbow while Kurt faced her from her left. They both gave their undivided attention and oddly enough, she didn’t feel crowded and the conversation wasn’t strained. Then again, she reasoned, why would it be? She knew these men, cared for them.
Kurt excused himself and went to the restroom and Liam didn’t act like the nervous Liam, the typical Liam, the one who rushed to say everything he could for fear he wouldn’t have time alone with her again. Instead, he remained steadfast in their conversation, talking about art and music, how he liked the club and why he’d joined—of course she didn’t believe him when he said he’d joined because he wanted to meet someone.
He had met his someone and she’d known it for a while now. She’d seen the restraint in his eyes, the blush in his cheeks, and she had been aware of him all along, watching her with Brandon, lusting for her in a way that was indescribable and restricted thanks to Brandon’s rules. Sometimes she’d felt exceptionally cruel, showing Brandon affection in front of Liam.
She hadn’t wanted to cause him unnecessary heartache. She hadn’t meant to make him feel second best. At the same time, there were reasons for her reservations, reasons she would eventually explain to him.
She’d craved the pain and had needed a dominant man in her life, someone she could trust completely to take care of her needs, her darkest desires.
“Excuse me for a minute,” Liam said, pushing the table away from them so she wouldn’t have to leave her seat to let him out. “I’ll be right back.”