was good.
“And let me guess, you’ve already called Rafa and told him I’m here, and you promised to watch out for me, right?”
She was really good. He hadn’t called Raf yet, not wanting to interrupt his night with Jessica, but he’d honestly thought about it.
Alex said nothing but sipped his bourbon again. He could feel the alcohol start to warm him pleasantly from the inside. At least he hoped it was the alcohol, and not Maria’s effect on his anatomy.
The waitress approached. “Another round, ladies?”
Alex withdrew his black charge card and passed it to her. “This’ll cover it. And get the women whatever they want.”
The waitress took Alex’s card while the three of them tried to decide which $1,000 bottle of champagne they wanted. He laughed and leaned in, telling them they should probably order one of each. They wholeheartedly agreed.
“You’re going to regret that decision,” Maria said to him with a laugh. “You don’t know the damage this group can do when we have girls’ night out.”
Alex shrugged and smiled. He’d spent more money on way more frivolous items. It wasn’t an issue for him. He might have come from humble beginnings, but he and The Brotherhood had made themselves each quite a small fortune. He had the money, and knowing that his future was secured, he liked to spend it. Their eyes widened as the waitress brought the first bottle of champagne. He remembered being young, just out of grad school, MBA in hand and broke as a joke.
Maria and her friends were nice girls—women, he reminded himself. He knew that they worked hard together at the community center, and they deserved to be treated. Sure, Alex would be down a little cash, but a black-card-funded night in a VIP booth at a hot club probably wasn’t an everyday occurrence for them. He wanted the women to enjoy themselves, no matter what the cost. And maybe Maria had been right—as long as her friends were in his VIP booth, he knew that she wasn’t going anywhere. “Just have fun,” he told them, and remembering Gabe’s words earlier that evening, he smiled. “Get into a little bit of trouble.”
AN HOUR AND copious amounts of champagne later, Alex still sat back in the booth and watched the three women dance together, rubbing their bodies against one another like girlfriends did, turning their backs on and completely shutting down every guy who tried to interject himself—not that Alex would have let it happen either way. No more greasy dudes would be putting their hands on Maria, or any of them.
With a chuckle, he remembered seeing her almost break that one asshole’s wrist. Maria obviously wasn’t the helpless young woman he’d believed her to be. She was strong and tough and most definitely knew how to hold her own.
Alex toyed briefly with the idea of leaving. Maria would be fine. But there was something else that kept him in his seat. He was perfectly content to watch Maria as she put her arms over her head and swiveled her hips seductively. He wasn’t strong enough to ignore her, and he focused his gaze on her sexy movements, the way she flipped her long hair and closed her eyes, as though the music traveled throughout her body and she felt the notes on an erotic level. His posture stiffened on the leather couch as he watched her, and interest stirred his dick. The rest of the club fell away, and he saw only her, as her hips swayed and she pushed her palms down her front to her thighs as she bent over slightly, not-so-subtly pushing her ass in his direction. He added twerking to Maria’s list of talents.
His heart battered the inside of his rib cage, and he swallowed roughly. His dick stood at full attention as he watched his best friend’s sister move seductively in the middle of the dance floor. With her back to him, she looked over her shoulder, and her eyes connected with his. As if she could read his mind, her lips quirked upward into a sly smile, and she winked. And she soon broke off from the group and walked over to him, her steps even and confident and in time with the beat of the music as she somehow balanced on her precarious stiletto heels. Maria leaned over him, resting her forearms on his shoulders, her red lips just inches from his. Alex tried not to look down the gap of loose material at the front of her shirt. He was unsuccessful, and he couldn’t help but get an eyeful of her smooth round breasts underneath her shirt. His hands clenched into fists, fighting the urge to reach up and cup them in his hands.
“Hey, my eyes are up here,” she admonished.
His eyes snapped back to hers. “So they are.”
Her fingers pushed into his hair, tickling the back of his neck. “You know, if you’re going to be my shadow all night, you might as well come dance with me.”
“I don’t think so.” Alex shook his head, but it was a jerky movement as he struggled with control. “I thought you were mad at me.”
“Come on,” she pleaded. “I’m having too much fun to be mad. And you can make it up to me by dancing with me. You owe me a dance, you know.”
“How so?”
“I was dancing with a guy when you so rudely interrupted. You should take his place.”
“I think I did you a favor. That guy was a loser.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because he walked away from you without a fight.”
Her eyes widened. “Would you have fought for me?”
Alex answered without hesitation. “There’s no question.” She smiled down at him, and their eyes met. “Okay, fine. Just one dance.”
She grasped his wrist with both hands, and he allowed her to pull him up and drag him toward the dancers. They didn’t join her friends, but instead found a dark corner on the dance floor. The music vibrated through the crowd, and all the bodies on the dance floor pressed together, bringing them closer, pushing Maria against him. Gabe’s parting remarks had been about finding some trouble. But Alex hadn’t counted on this. He was already in too deep, and he knew it.
Maria turned to face him. She rotated her hips and raised her arms above her head, swaying in time to the music. He didn’t know how Maria, who’d always been a “good girl,” had learned to move that way. His body tensed, and he tried to fight his physical reaction to her.
Her eyes never left his, drawing him in so that the rest of the club disappeared. And even though Alex knew it was wrong, his libido was now in firm control. He couldn’t pull himself away, couldn’t stop himself, and he pressed closer. It was just him and Maria. She turned around, facing away from him, and bumped her ass against his groin. A shock traveled throughout him, and she did it again. Unconsciously, he dropped a hand to her hip and held her in place as she danced, continuing to grind her ass against his dick, and there was no way she missed the fact that he was rock hard. Perhaps it was the alcohol, the driving beat, the lights, the crowd, that had lowered his inhibitions and debilitated his common sense. But she was a beautiful woman, and she was warm, and he wanted her. There was no denying that.
Without thinking—his brain hadn’t even entered the equation, and he was moving on primal instinct—his hand moved around her front and flattened against her stomach below her belly button. His groin was in control, and even though he knew he should stop, he didn’t. He knew what he wanted. And whether it was wrong or not,
