I walked up behind her and got the attention of her friends first since they were facing me. They both went quiet when they watched me approach, their eyes focused and their bodies tensed. One was about to sip from her glass, but she just stood there with her lips parted, trying to drink when the glass wasn’t even close enough to her lips.
I would have just wrapped my arm around Catalina, but I knew how she might react to an unexpected touch. So, I stopped at the table beside her, turning my gaze on her so her friends would know Catalina was the only woman I was interested in.
Catalina took a few seconds to process it was me, to understand I’d successfully tracked her down.
“Hey, baby.” I waited for her to greet me with affection, to see if she would pull the same shit she did last time. She knew there would be dire consequences if she didn’t give me what I wanted, if she chose to act like a single woman at the bar when she was far from single.
There was a hint of rage in her eyes because she was clearly pissed off at the stunt I’d just pulled, but she didn’t pretend I didn’t mean anything to her either. She moved into me and gave me a quick kiss on the mouth, not having to rise onto her tiptoes because her heels were four inches on their own. But her kiss wasn’t that affectionate, like she wanted it to be clear she was angry I’d just shown up like this.
Instead of letting her pull away, I circled her waist with my arm and pulled her close, bending my neck so I could kiss her bare shoulder. “I’m gonna get something at the bar. You want anything?”
“I’m covered.”
“Alright.” I squeezed her waist before I walked to the bar, which was just a few feet away. I leaned against the counter and ordered my drink, and while I waited, I could hear the girls talk, thinking I couldn’t overhear them with the music over the speakers.
“Girl, who the fuck is that?” She was the blonde I’d seen at the theater, the one I’d talked to when I’d tried to see Catalina in the past. “Is that the same guy who’s come to see you at the shows? Jesus, he is fine. Look at his ass in those snug jeans.”
I didn’t hide my smile since they couldn’t see my expression.
“I didn’t know you were seriously seeing anyone,” the other girl said.
Catalina finally came clean. “We aren’t serious. But we aren’t seeing other people.”
“Why would you?” the blonde asked. “I mean, look at him. Does he have a brother?”
“Yes,” Catalina answered. “But he’s married.”
“Damn,” the blonde said.
“Now I know why you haven’t been interested in all the hot guys who have come over to talk to you,” the other said. “Something wasn’t adding up.”
The idea of a good-looking guy trying to make a pass at her, buying her a drink in the hope he could be the one between her legs tonight, irritated me, but then I focused on the point of that statement…that she wasn’t interested. She didn’t strike me as the unfaithful type, and after everything I gave her, why would she want someone else? I had nothing to worry about. I wasn’t the jealous type, and I wasn’t going to start now.
The bartender handed me my drink, and I left the cash on the bar before I came back to the table. My arm circled her waist again, and I pulled her close, wanting every motherfucker in there to know she was mine—not theirs.
The girls were immediately quiet, staring at me like they had no idea what to say.
“Baby, aren’t you going to introduce me?” I set my drink down.
“Oh…yeah.” She cleared her throat. “Tracy, Nina, this is…Heath.”
I shook hands with both of them. “Nice to meet you both. I recognize you from the ballet.”
Tracy sipped her drink. “So…are you her boyfriend?”
Catalina shot her a glare.
“No.” My hand squeezed her side, and I looked down at her. “I’m her man.”
Her friends mingled with the guys who bought them drinks, so Catalina and I ended up alone at a table together, seated with our drinks on the table. My arm hung over the back of her chair because I could claim her as mine all I wanted.
Her legs were crossed, and she looked fucking perfect, sitting there with a straight back and her ponytail hanging down her back. She was a petite woman with a big presence. In a crowd, she was mistakable, impossible to glance over.
“Still mad at me?”
She wouldn’t look at me, watching her friends talk to their admirers.
I smiled then moved my hand to her bare shoulder, giving her a slight squeeze. “You look beautiful in that dress.”