“He is a very wealthy businessman. The kind of man a father wishes for his daughter to marry,” Raymond said. Danella widened her eyes and Nalia felt her gut clench.
“Excuse me?” she asked him.
“Just saying, Nalia. Vincent is quite the catch. Did you not find him attractive?” he asked her and she felt so weird.
“Uhm, you have never asked me anything like that before, so don’t start now.”
“Didn’t you?” he pushed, a little firmer in his tone.
“Raymond, Nalia is shy when it comes to those types of things. You know that,” Danella said.
Nalia felt completely uncomfortable. Were they going to try and set her up? Did they think that now she’d graduated with her MBA and was set in a professional career that she needed a man by her side? Not happening.
“I need to use the rest room,” Nalia said, and stood up. He looked like he was going to say something else and then her mother touched Raymond’s arm and he glanced away from Nalia with daggers now toward her mother.
She took that moment to walk away. What in the world was that man thinking? He never asked her about finding a man attractive. She headed through the crowded restaurant and as she went to head toward the hallway leading to the bathrooms she couldn’t get through the crowd by the bar.
“Excuse me, please,” she said.
A tall young guy with a button down dress shirt smiled wide. “Hey, gorgeous.”
He looked her over, checking out her abundant breasts in the designer dress she wore. She knew she looked good, but also classy. This guy was with a bunch of other guys who looked like Mafioso wannabes.
“I’m trying to get to the ladies’ room, could you please move?” she asked him.
He licked his lower lip and then smiled. He turned and at first she thought he might ignore her but then he yelled out for the guys to move and at his voice and tone they parted and gave her the space to walk by them. Their gazes at her body as she passed between them didn’t go unnoticed. Nor did the funny feeling she got when she passed by one guy who looked as big as a linebacker. His eyes were dark and evil and his dress jacket was open, revealing just enough of his holster for her to see the gun. Maybe they weren’t wannabes. Maybe they were the real deal?
She got to the ladies’ room and was relieved for the time being. She took care of business and then reapplied her lip gloss and wondered if Raymond would push about finding Vincent attractive. What was up with that anyway?
Her phone buzzed and she glanced at it once she pulled it from her purse.
She read the text message from Clarissa.
Ditch the parents and celebrate with us at O’Rielly’s. We’re down the block.
She chuckled. Her friend didn’t need to twist her arm.
Give me twenty minutes.
Yes!!
Nalia chuckled and then looked into the mirror. O’Rielly’s was a great place. A lot of the people who worked at the office hung out there. It was a go-to place for a lot of celebrations. She took a deep breath and then prepared to tell her parents she was basically ditching them. As she headed out of the bathroom she was surprised to see Vincent standing there. He looked her over.
“Everything okay?” he asked her.
She looked at him strangely. “Yes. Why wouldn’t it be?” she replied.
“I saw you having a hard time getting through that crowd of men.”
“I got through just fine,” she said and started walking. She felt him take her hand and press close to her back.
“I’ll walk you through this time,” he whispered next to her and then she felt the second hand on her hip as he escorted her through the crowd of men. This time when she approached they all moved out of the way as their eyes landed on Vincent.
She turned to look at Vincent before they came near her parents’ table.
“I could have handled that fine,” she said, staring up into his dark brown eyes. He caressed her arm on one side and she instantly felt on guard.
“I thought otherwise, Nalia.”