He stills. “What list?” he asks, answering my question with one of his own. Either he’s seen it and he’s playing dumb, or he genuinely doesn’t know what I’m talking about. If I push this and he doesn’t know, I’ll have to explain it.
“Never mind. I’d like to play Blackjack, but I don’t think I’m dressed for it.” I flit my gaze from my casual clothes to his suit. Next to Ethan, I always look frumpy. Even when he’s dressed down, he still looks like perfection.
“You can wear whatever the hell you want. My family owns the casino.”
“I know, but…” I trail off, not wanting to finish my thought and sound stupid.
“But what?”
I let out an audible huff. “I always imagined playing cards at a casino while wearing a sexy dress and heels.”
Ethan’s lips fight a smirk.
“Oh, c’mon, surely, you’ve seen the movies. Julia Roberts in Ocean’s Eleven… Eve Green in Casino Royale…”
Ethan’s smirk widens into a grin.
“Even Kate Bosworth in 21 wears a sexy black dress.”
“C’mon,” Ethan says, tugging on my hand.
We end up in a small boutique that’s tucked away in the corner of the hotel. The moment the saleswoman spots Ethan, her eyes widen. After situating her top so her boobs are popping out, she saunters over to us. Only Ethan pays her no mind, which secretly makes me giddy.
“Try this on,” he says, grabbing a gorgeous white dress and handing it to me.
“What about black?”
“You look better in white.”
I try on the dress and it fits perfectly. It’s tight in all the right places, showing off my curves and breasts. It’s low cut up top and short, teetering on the edge of sexy and trashy.
I step out and Ethan is leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his broad chest, a pair of red stilettos dangling from his fingers.
“Fuck me,” he breathes, raking his gaze from my head to my toes. “Put these on.” He extends his hand and I take the heels from him.
Just like the dress, they fit perfectly.
“You sure I shouldn’t wear black?” I question, as I look at myself in the mirror. Ethan steps up behind me, placing his hands on my hips. I take a moment to assess the two of us and almost laugh at what a contradiction we are. Where I’m light, he’s dark. I’m blushing and smiling and he’s smoldering and broody. But unlike before, in these clothes, we look like we actually go together.
“You look gorgeous,” he murmurs, brushing my thick mane to the side and placing an open-mouthed kiss to the side of my neck. “Like a goddamn angel sent straight from heaven.”
“I thought you don’t believe in God.”
Ethan freezes the same way he did when I asked him about his tattoo, and I regret my words, scared he’s going to run like he did before. But instead, he ignores my comment and twirls me in a half-circle. His hands cup the sides of my face and his mouth descends on mine. He kisses me deeply for several seconds before he pulls back. “Let’s go play some Blackjack.”
Ethan
I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. Every decision, every move I make is always calculated. Done with a purpose. But since Nevaeh has fallen into my life, I’m not thinking at all. Her innocence is disarming and has me stumbling around trying to figure out which way is up. She’s gorgeous and sweet and so damn sexy, and the worst part is she genuinely has no idea.
I tried to stay away. Really fucking hard. And it was working… until my father showed up with my goddamn mother. The woman who hasn’t been a part of my life in twelve years. My thoughts go back to earlier in my dad’s office.
“How could you do this?” I slam the door closed behind us.
“I know what it looks like,” my father says.
“It looks like you’ve taken back the woman who walked out the door without looking back. The woman you loved and fucked you over. The same woman who was supposed to be my mom and chose to leave.”
“I was in the Dominican Republic, visiting your grandmother, when I ran into your mother at an art show your grandmother made me bring her to. Did you know your mother bought a small cottage on the water and has spent the last several years selling her art to the locals and tourists?”
“I don’t give a fuck what she’s been doing. I can tell you what she wasn’t doing… being a wife and mom.”
“We were never divorced,” Dad says.
“The fuck?”
“She never filed them. She always loved us, but she couldn’t live the life we were living. We spent the last several weeks reconnecting. Talking about everything.”
Dad gives me a pleading look, one I’ve never seen before, as if he’s begging me to understand. “I miss her, Ethan. I love her, and I want her back.”