The only thing I would have been interested in if I didn’t want to be a lawyer was being a dancer. I was just one of those people who preferred to enjoy it more on a recreational level after I’d done my years of classes.
I start to sway feeling out of place, like a fish on dry land. Moves come to me naturally and automatically, but I stop when a warm hand slips around my waist and pulls me against a hard wall of a chest.
I look up to see who the hands belong to, and my chest tightens when I find myself staring into James’ bright blue gaze.
“Sorry, guys, I hate to be a pain, but I need to borrow your waitress. Another will be with you in a minute,” James says to them.
“What if we like this one?” the spiky-haired guy says. James just smiles.
“Then you’ll have to deal with it.”
“Do you know who I am?” the man challenges.
“Bob Fisher. I’m James Marchesi, I believe my father is handling that little problem of yours.”
My God, that shuts him right down.
James doesn’t say anything more. He doesn’t need to. Bob stares on in shock while James ushers me away. We walk up the stairs while he keeps his arm around me. It feels like we’re a couple, and I have a hard time believing we’re not when I catch our reflection in the mirrors we pass by. We get to a little area with a glass floor. There are a two leather sofas there, and a little bar. A bartender stands by and greets us.
“Buonasera signore,” the bartender says. He has an accent. I guess he spoke Italian. James is Italian. “Can I get you and your lady a drink?”
Your lady?I’m waiting for James to correct him, but he doesn’t. Instead, James answers him in Italian, and the bartender smiles.
I have no idea what he said. I also just realized his hand is still at the small of my back. And my hands are shaking.
I’m aware when we start walking again, although my legs feel numb. The same as my mind.
He takes me over to the sofa and releases his hold on me.
“Sit,” he says, and I do. I’m surprised by the air of command in his voice. He doesn’t even sound that way in class.
When he sits in the chair opposite me and pulls out the side draw on the coffee table, I realize this area is somewhere he’s been before. Unlike the VIP area, this is a private lounge. I was told there were many in the building to cater to the tastes of the different patrons. Especially their exclusive guests who always come here.
He pulls out a humidor and takes out a cigar, lighting up while he looks at me.
“I didn’t know you smoked,” I state. I’m not sure what sort of conversation I’m supposed to have with him. It’s clear from my shaking and demeanor that I’m not doing so well.
“I didn’t tell you.”
“No, I guess not. What am I doing here?” I ask.
The corners of his lip turns up into a smooth, sexy smile that sends butterflies flittering in my stomach.
“I was going to ask you the same thing, Bellissima, but what would be the point of sounding like a broken record?”
Bellissima. Now, that word I recognize.I heard it in a film. He just called me beautiful. Sexual energy I can’t ignore stirs to life as he looks at me, and a hot blush creeps over my body.
“How about you answer your own question?” he adds.
I press my lips together and gaze outside. I look to the scenery before us in the arch-shaped glass window that has a great view of the lake and the Chicago skyline against the night sky.
“Not answering?” James says, and when I look back to him, my eyes water.
“Why do you keep asking? Why did you bring me here?”
“Don’t act like you didn’t want to be saved. Paige, it’s just like I thought, you don’t know what the hell you’ve gotten yourself into. No money on earth could make you sign up to this.”
“Some things are private. I don’t want to talk about it.” I shake my head. “I have to get back to work.”