Dark Ties (Made Men 9)

He went back to her. “Give me a number.”

One, two …

“I can’t. I lost count.”

“Same here.”

Curiously, she stared at him, knowing that look. “You want to bop me, don’t you?”

Dante regarded her, as if she had taken a swan dive off the balcony. “Excuse me?”

She drunkenly lowered her face to point to the back of her head. “You want to smack me the way you do Amo.”

“Oh … no.” Dante’s icy gaze sparked a small fire. “I don’t want to smack you the way I do Amo.”

Her rum runners kept her from recognizing his true meaning as it went right over her drunken head. “Good. I have to admit, I don’t know what I would have done if you had taken me up on my offer.” Moving around him, Nadia wished she had her phone so she could take a picture. The bed was a showstopper. The sleek black bed took up most of the room, which was twice the size of hers. Five people could sleep on it and still have space to roll over. “You must be a restless sleeper.”

“Why?” Dante asked, giving her another strange expression at the personal question.

“The bed is the freaking size of Texas.”

For the first time, he took his gaze off her to look at the bed. “You’re exaggerating.”

“Not by much. Where’s the tub? In Oklahoma?” She laughed at her own joke, as if it was the funniest fucking thing ever told. She only stopped laughing when Dante hadn’t even started.

Walking past the bed, he slid another door open.

Her eyes immediately lit up, eyeing the clawfoot tub glistening in the moonlight coming through the window it was sitting in front of.

Hell to the no. “I can’t take a bath in that.”

“Why not? I told you it was a clawfoot t—”

“Well, you failed to mention the giant window in front of it!”

Dante went to the tub and started the water. “Who can see? There isn’t a deck below this room, and there aren’t any ships close to us.”

Moving to the window, she pressed her nose to the glass to see for herself. “Oh … Then you can leave. I can take it from here.” She started untying the knot she had made to close the bottom of his shirt.

Instead of leaving, Dante opened a cabinet. “This is where the towels are. There are some soaps and bath salts you can use, if you want,” he offered, watching her unbutton the shirt.

Practically salivating, Nadia had to check out the tempting items that could practically furnish a small bath store. Her attention wasn’t diverted when he went to turn the water off.

“Rosemary lemon.” Nadia winkled her nose, preferring not to smell like a Thanksgiving turkey, then moved on to Lavender Dream. “Got anything other than flowery scents?”

“You don’t like flowery scents?”

“Nope. Makes me feel like I’m in a funeral home.” Going on her tippy toes, she found a yellow bottle that interested her enough to grab it. “Got you.”

“Which one did you pick?”

Did he stub his toe when she wasn’t looking, because why was his voice sounding so hoarse? She held the now open bottle to her nose; it smelled like the perfect day in the sun, which was appropriate, considering where she was, but this somehow smelled better. It smelled of vanilla beaches and sea salt breezes, but the most intoxicating part of the scent was the sun-dried oranges. “Sunshine Kisses.”

“Good choice.”

“I thought so.” She showed him the bottle. “It foams, too, so it’s a win-win. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a tub of warm water calling my name.”

Dante reached past her to take two towels out then put them in something that resembled a clothes hamper.

“I didn’t touch them. They aren’t dirty.”

“This is a towel warmer,” Dante explained.

Nadia started to bend down to examine the contraption, but as she did, she felt a wave of dizziness attack her.

“Whoa …” Grabbing the side of the tub to make the room stop spinning, she felt Dante grab her arm to steady her.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Nothing a few splashes of water won’t fix. If you ever leave …” she hinted.

“I’m going to watch a game in the lounge. If you need something, yell out, and no more rum runners for the rest of the night.”

“Yes, Dad,” she mocked then began to giggle when Dante’s face looked like it had been chiseled from stone. “You have problems with people joking around you?”

“Not when they are funny …”

She laughed through blurry eyes. “Have any of your kids told you that you’re a downer?”

“No.” His face had finally moved, but only to frown even more.

Nadia, however, didn’t hold back. “Take it from someone who has a best friend who is also one. You are.”

“Then why are you friends with her?” he asked honestly.

“Haley asks me that all the time.”