The silent door host unhooked the red velvet rope and let them enter, offering a reluctant, “Have a good night,” punctuated with a low grunt.
“We will,” Cat said brightly, shining her smile upon the man before she turned it on Rafe.
Wrecking his heart completely in the most delicious way.
Cat had believed for sure that Rafe wouldn’t be able to get them into the nightclub. She should’ve never doubted him because he’d gone and proven her wrong, what with his name on the entrance list. The two grumpy doormen had no choice but to let them enter, and she’d felt special as she’d eagerly walked through those black-lacquered doors, Rafe clutching her hand tightly as they strode inside.
The place was packed, multicolored strobe lights flashing in time with the beat of the music, the dance floor crowded with an interesting mix of people. Young, old, not one of them sloppily dressed. A DJ stood behind a table on a platform on the opposite side of the room, spinning his beats and clutching his headphones to his ear.
She’d seen things like this on television or in magazine photos, but never in her life had she experienced it firsthand.
“Want a drink?” Rafe yelled in her ear.
“Sure,” she yelled back. She could hardly hear herself, what with how loud the music was.
He led her to a bar that took up the entire left side of the room. Mirrors lined the wall, a variety of liquor bottles sat on shelves in front of the mirrors and three gorgeous men worked behind the counter. The one closest to where they stood flashed her a breathtaking smile, and she couldn’t help but return it.
Earning a glare from Rafe in her direction for her efforts.
“What can I get ya, pretty lady?” the bartender asked with a wink.
Rafe practically growled his answer, ordering for her some sort of complicated drink she’d never heard of before and a beer for him.
“You drink beer?” she asked the moment the bartender turned away from them.
“I do.” Rafe frowned at her. “You act surprised.”
“I figured you were more the type who drank scotch, neat.” She shrugged and he smiled, grasping her hand once more and pulling her in so close, her body molded to his.
“You think you had me all figured out, didn’t you?” His mouth was at her ear yet again and she shivered when his lips brushed her sensitive flesh. He took advantage of the loud music by doing this sort of thing every chance he got. She didn’t know if she’d be able to stand it the rest of the night, it felt so good. So deliciously intimate. “When really you know nothing about me.”
“You know nothing about me either,” she returned, her gaze meeting his when he tilted his head down to study her. They stared at each other for a moment, quiet and still, as if frozen in time while life carried on around them. The song changed, this one even louder, generating an excited roar from the crowd moving on the dance floor. The lights stilled, casting a red glow across Rafe’s handsome features, and she realized in that very second that she wanted to know more about him.
Wanted to learn everything about him. Forget the past, the confusion and her mistaken assumptions. She’d pegged him as one type of man—the sort of man her father was, when really, she hadn’t a clue who Rafael Renaldi was.
She judged him based on her own—and her sister’s—assumptions and that was completely unfair.
“I want to learn,” he murmured and somehow, she heard him. Understood him. Her heart fluttered at the look in his eyes, the way he studied her face. “I want to know everything about you, Cat. Will you let me in?”
His gaze, his words seemed so sincere. She wanted to let him in, but fear held her voice captive. Licking her lips, she parted them, ready to speak, ready to offer him a tentative answer.
“Here’re your drinks.” The bartender’s sharp voice broke the spell and she jolted away from Rafe, felt the loss keenly when he let go of her hand to reach for his wallet.
He paid for their drinks and she took the glass he offered, sipping from it carefully, pleasantly surprised at the delicious taste. “It’s good,” she said when he sent her a questioning look.
“I wouldn’t steer you wrong,” he said, drinking from his beer bottle, and she wondered if there was double meaning in his words.
Their intimate conversation forgotten, they drank silently, Cat taking everything in. The majority of the people crowded around them were young, in their twenties. All of them gleaming and polished, laughing and smiling at each other as if they were having the time of their lives.
It looked almost…exhausting. She wondered if many of them came here often. Perhaps every weekend, looking for whatever they were missing in their lives.
Cat could relate. She’d felt like a piece of her was missing for years.
Maybe that piece was standing next to her, quietly drinking his beer while he kept his gaze on her.
“You’re staring at me,” she finally said when she turned to look at him.
He shrugged those impossibly broad shoulders, which were encased in a midnight blue button-down shirt. “I like watching you watch everyone else. I’ve heard the term ‘wide-eyed wonder’ before, but never believed it existed. Until now.”
Her cheeks heated. He must think her a naïve fool. “I’m sure my wide-eyed wonder is amusing to your jaded, worldly ways.”
Rafe laughed, reaching out to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re assuming I’m something that I’m not again.”