“We both left our phones up there,” Nine said just as O tossed him his phone.
“Charlee has mine,” Dee informed them as she walked past the waiter and Beast toward the door.
“Yeah, it’s been ringing,” Beast said as he casually blocked Nine from walking past him too. “It’s why they started looking for you.”
Instantly looking worried, she turned back to Beast. “Is it about Chelsea?”
“No,” Beast said, lessening the severity in his tone. “It’s just what got them noticing you two had been gone a while. So we decided to come look for you guys.”
Still looking a little worried, Dee nodded, walking out the door quickly. Beast waited for her to be far enough away before turning to the waiter. “We’ll be right up.”
“Just don’t close the door,” the waiter warned. “I’m not sure how the auto locks work.”
Beast nodded as Nine leaned up against one of the walls and waited. Already he could tell Beast would be getting on him for this.
“Please tell me that wasn’t what it looked like when we walked in.”
“It wasn’t,” Nine retorted, leaving out that he could only wish. “Like she said, she almost fell, trying to hurry to the door when she heard you guys.”
“What the hell were you doing sneaking down here alone with her anyway? You do know she has a man and—”
“Yeah, I know.” Nine pushed himself away from the wall, even more irritated by their untimely interruption. “It’s pretty much all she talked about the whole time.”
Not really. But he knew what his friend must be thinking. He started to walk past Beast until the guy put his hand on Nine’s shoulder. But Nine lifted his hand in the air before Beast could start in on him.
“I’ve zero interest in a white chick with a man and a kid, okay? You heard what she said. We were in the middle of that treasure hunt and got stuck down here.” He motioned to the empty glass of wine he knew was the reason why Beast might be thinking otherwise. “Look around you. We’re surrounded by wine. You know me. If I was gonna be stuck down here, I may as well make the most of it.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was worried about.”
O laughed, easing the tension in the room a bit. “Let it go,” O said to Beast. “This guy’s game wouldn’t work on a girl like that anyway.”
Nine walked past them both, trying to look as indifferent about all this as he should be. Though he did stop short of asking O what the fuck he meant by that. But he didn’t, only because he already knew what his friend meant. Drew had more class in one finger than any of the skanks these guys had seen him parade in and out of his bedroom. He knew his friends weren’t being judgmental, just busting his balls because they’d all been doing the same for years.
Until Beast met Ali.
But that was totally different, and unlike Beast, Nine had zero intentions of hanging up his bed-hopping boots or stalling the parade into his bedroom for any one girl anytime soon. Besides none of that mattered, right? Dee was in a relationship and more than once had made it epically clear that, even if she wasn’t, Nine wasn’t her type—anymore.
Still, he smiled as he reached the top of the stairs when he remembered something else. He knew something these guys didn’t know. Nine and Dee may not have anything in common as far as they were concerned. But he’d felt a spark. Even if it was for too short a moment that was sadly interrupted.
That first night she’d mentioned something else that had stayed with him all this time. She’d made it even clearer today—she had nothing against indulging in the occasional hot piece of man-whore ass. So if she were ever to become available, he might still make her for-fun-only list. That was one thing they did have in common. Nine had never been one to pass up a good time with a hot piece of ass either.
Nine knew what Beast was worried about. So if his cantankerous friend ever brought it up again, Nine would make sure to tell him he had nothing to worry about. There were enough women out there willing and ready to give up the only thing he had time for these days anyway. Too many of them for him to be even considering going after another man’s chick.
Not even five minutes back at the party, Nine made out with several more pins. He had to make up for lost time, and it was just too easy. All he had to do was hover around all the older viejas chismosas for a few minutes and bingo. They kept asking if anyone knew if they’d chosen names for the babies and if they knew the babies’ genders yet. Shit like that. He got some nasty looks from some, especially when he nabbed one elderly lady’s stash. It wasn’t even until he’d overheard someone say if they got caught saying the forbidden word that he realized whoever did the catching could take all their pins at once.
One of them tried to play the sweet little old lady card, claiming she was too old to remember the forbidden word, yet she had six pins. Nine’s grandma used to play poker every Friday night when he was growing up, and she let him play with them. It was always the older broads who he had to look out for. He’d been burned more times than he cared to admit by them bluffing old biddies. So he knew better.
“Hand them over, lady,” he’d said, looking bored.
Yeah, the looks he got were pretty bad, but it was worth it. As far as he could tell, he was in the lead. He didn’t see even one person with close to as many as his.
Nine would never admit it, but more than once he’d glanced around, wondering if Dee had left. Did something happen with her kid? But he didn’t dare ask. Thoughts of Dee were annoyingly once again at the forefront in his mind. Though he couldn’t help but smile when he walked by the huge aquarium in the hallway on the way back from using the bathroom. What were the odds that she’d do the same thing he had with the bullying fish?
Frowning when he saw the fish she must’ve been talking about bolt out from one of the castles behind one of the other terrified looking fishes in the tank, Nine slowed but was quickly distracted when someone touched his lower arm. He turned to Becca, the brunette fitness model he’d met weeks ago at the gym, who, like Lila, he was certain now was another badass Latina. She was looking down at his hand. “Any new ink I haven’t seen, Nine?”
He smirked, glancing down at her hand as her finger slid up and down his hand slowly. “Not since the last time I saw you.”
“I have some new ink.” She smiled at him playfully. “Maybe we can do some sharing again. This new one isn’t somewhere appropriate to be showing off at a baby shower.”
Nine smiled even bigger, glancing away for a second, but did a double take when he saw Dee from the corner of his eye, on her way into the kitchen again. He’d been certain she’d left since he hadn’t seen her in a while. “I gotta go.” The words were out without thought, and that alarmed him, so he stopped before just walking away. “Call or text me. Seeing that new tattoo sounds like a plan to me.”
Before she even had a chance to react, he was already walking away. He should’ve been embarrassed; though he did slow after realizing his auto start toward Dee was a near sprint. As he had earlier, he took advantage and took in the swell of her ass against her dress. She had very pronounced but delicate curves.
Nine knew he’d just promised Beast he wouldn’t get any ideas about Dee and he wasn’t. He was just checking on her. She did seem worried when she rushed out of the wine cellar. “Is your daughter okay?” he asked as soon as he was near enough, and he was dangerously close to getting caught ogling—again.
She seemed surprised to see him but smiled quickly enough. “Yeah, she called once, but otherwise it was just a few random texts and a call from Brad, but nothing urgent.” As her eyes dropped a little lower, her smile morphed into a wide-eyed shocked look. “Is it true you took Sonny’s grandma’s pins?”
It took him a second to get who she was talking about, but then he was doing the wide-eyed staring. “That was Sabian’s grandma?”
Dee laughed out loud now. “Oh my God, did you really tell her to hand them over?”
“Well, she was acting all geriatric like.?
?? He stopped to try and conjure up his best voice to mimic the old lady. “I’m too old to remember the forbidden name.” Dee’s continued laughter had him grinning from ear to ear. “Yet, here she’s walking around with like six or seven of these!”
Continuing to shake her head, Dee took a sip of the iced water she’d just poured herself. “They’re saying you’re the hands-down winner.” She motioned to the ridiculous mass of pins he had attached to the front of his shirt.
“Did they really?” Nine glanced down proudly at his collection. “Yeah, baby! What did I win?”
Setting her cup of water down, Dee took a step closer to him, staring him in the eyes as she got close enough to where he could smell her breath again. She’d obviously been chewing gum because all he could smell was the fresh mint. He tried to be cool, because for once in his life he knew what people meant when they said their breath was caught. It’s exactly what he was feeling. “You mean what did I win?” She began to remove one of his pins.
Before he could protest, his mouth dropped open, and he let his head fall back. “Ah fuck, I said the forbidden wor—”
Dee laughed, putting the pin back on him. “I’m just playing. You worked too hard for this, jacking old ladies and all.”
“I got her fair and square.” Nine couldn’t help but smile, watching her continue to giggle. She took a step away from him and picked up her water again. “But seriously, no. You got this. I said the forbidden word. These pins are yours.”
“No, no,” she insisted, shaking her head. “It’s probably just another spa day. I’m telling you they’re not hard for Charlee to come by. We go at least twice a year if not more.”
Nine frowned at that. Twice a year wasn’t shit. Earlier she’d made it sound like it happened more often. Since he was once again more interested in something else he was still curious about, he’d hold his thoughts on this until he found out what he really won. For all he knew, it could be some girly whirly shit he’d just as soon hand over.
“No more booze for you?” He grabbed an empty cup and began filling up on the sangria again.
“No.” She shook her head. “I’ve had enough wine. I’m trying to get something else in my belly and flush the alcohol out. Already ate.” She lifted her glass of water to show him. “So I’ll be fine to drive in a little.”
Her phone ringing had her excusing herself as soon as she saw the name on the screen. “I have to take this.” Just like that, she rushed to the slider door that led outside.
Between his several trips to the buffet table and standing around busting balls with the guys, Nine busied himself enough to lose track of whether she’d left or not. By the end of the party—or at least until O, who was his ride, said he was out—Nine was certain she’d left without saying good-bye. No big deal, right? It wasn’t like they were friends or anything. He’d barely refer to her as an acquaintance. She was more of a friend-of-a-friend.
Turned out Dee had been right. He did win a pair of spa day tickets. He’d have to think hard about who he’d be taking with him. Maybe he should give them to his moms? Nine had almost decided that’s what he’d do until they were standing out by the valet, waiting for O’s truck to be brought around. “Byron.” Nine greeted the guy with a big smile as he took O’s ticket. “They got you parking cars?”
“Yup,” the kid said, smiling back as he caught the keys thrown at him by the other attendant. “Extra monies for all the honeys.”
Nine and O laughed at the same time as Nine shook his head. “Get outta here.” He chuckled. “What do you know about honeys?”
Byron winked at him as he took off to get O’s truck. “This guy,” O said, glancing back at Nine.
Nine glanced around at all the cars parked out there. For an informal little party, the place was pretty fucking packed with cars. He watched as Byron practically sprinted through the cars to get to O’s. Nine liked Byron. Aside from being a hustler, he was a good kid, despite being Beast’s kid brother. Here he worked at the shop all week, and now on his days off he was busting his ass, parking cars.
“You’re leaving without saying good-bye, partner in crime?”
Instantly smiling, Nine turned to Dee’s voice. She stood there holding a vase with flowers and a plate with what looked like cheesecake. Somehow, she was even more breathtaking than she had been earlier.
“I thought you’d left without saying good-bye to me.” He knew he was smiling too big, but there was no way he could squelch it. “I didn’t see you anywhere.”
“I’ve been on the phone.” She rolled her eyes but smiled. “Couple of different calls, but the one that kept me longest was the last. I guess Chelsea tried calling earlier during intermission to tell me about the show, but I missed her call. So now she had the whole show to walk me through. She was so excited I didn’t have the heart to cut her off.”
Nine smiled, feeling strangely relieved but didn’t understand why. “So she enjoys theater. That’s cool.”
Dee nodded then held up her flowers. “Look what I won.” She smiled big but shrugged. “Felt like a pity gift. I was one of the few that didn’t win anything, so they passed out the centerpieces to the first arriving five guests. I was the second one here,” she added with a giggle. “Second only to Sonny’s mom and sisters. Yeah, that makes me feel like a winner.”
“But you are a winner.” For a moment, Nine was caught staring into her eyes—again—but snapped out of it just as quickly, clearing his throat when her smile began to wane. “I mean these are yours.”
He pulled the tickets out of his front shirt pocket and tried to hand them to her, but she pulled back cautiously looking at them then up at him. “What are they?”
“The spa day tickets.”
“No way.” She shook her head adamantly, pushing them away. “You put all the jacking-old-ladies effort into winning those.”
Nine gave her a look even though that made him laugh. “We both know you should’ve won.” Nine continued holding out the tickets for her. “I want you to have them.”
“I’m not taking your tickets, Nine.”
Just then, Byron pulled up with O’s truck. O started around the truck as Byron got out of it, and tipped the kid. “It was nice catching up with you again.” She smiled genuinely but still refused to take the tickets.
With no other choice, because clearly she wasn’t taking them, Nine shoved the envelope back in his pocket. “Thanks for the wine lesson. I had fun.” She laughed nervously as his own insides did that weird thing they’d done all week every time he thought about the possibility of running into her today.
It was the same feeling he knew might become a familiar one, what with all the wedding stuff still to come. What he couldn’t believe was how hard his mind was working on trying to come up with how to prolong this moment as he continued to stare into her eyes.
He could’ve added that he’d thought the shower was going to be a boring bust until he saw her there—and realized she was alone. That today, just like the night they had to get towed months ago, had been the most fun he’d had with any girl in a while and he hadn’t even touched her. Well . . . today maybe just a little, and Jesus Christ, if the memory of her body pressed up against his wouldn’t be on his mind for a long time. But it all seemed too inappropriate, given their circumstances.
Smiling so sweetly it had him breathing in deeply, she nodded. “I had fun too.”
The moment went on a little long again until O cleared his throat loudly, reminding Nine where the hell he was. He turned to O, feeling stupid, then back to Dee. “Gotta go.”
She nodded again, smiling politely, then waved at O. “Until next time.”
Nine’s eyes were on her teeth again as the sunk into her bottom lip, but he was determined not to get caught up again. He opened the passenger door to O’s truck and got in. Glancing down at the flower arrangement she was carrying, he pointed at them. “You could plant those if you wanted to.” She glanced down at them then up at him with the odd look he expe
cted. O was already chuckling. “Google it,” he added, feeling like an even bigger moron, but he was already committed. “There’s probably how-to videos and shit.”
“Uh . . .” She nodded. “Okay.”
They finally pulled away and O laughed outright. “What are you Martha Stewart now?” He laughed even more as they drove down Sabian’s ridiculously long driveway. “Dude, what’s wrong with you?” His idiot friend’s voice went all high-pitched and stupid suddenly. “But you are a winner.”
“Dick,” Nine said, glancing out the window, feigning an indifferent chuckle, but felt his face heat. “I didn’t say it like that.”
“You into her or what? And don’t give me that ‘I ain’t into white chicks’ bullshit. ’Cause you and I know you’d hit that thing if you had the go-ahead.”
“Never said I wouldn’t,” Nine said, trying to deflect the question.
“Yeah, but not like how you’re trying to say you would. Like just for a good lay. You were all over her from the moment we got here. Then you two disappear and now you’re being all . . .” O mimicked Nine again as they reached the bottom of the driveway, flailing his arms outward all exaggerated then starting up with his high-pitched girlie voice. “Take my tickets. I want you to. They’re all yours.”
“They are hers!”
Nine did his best to not sound as annoyed as O’s remarks were making him. But he wasn’t as annoyed with his friend as he was with himself. He had no idea he’d been so obvious. Had she noticed?
“She won them off me,” Nine explained as O continued to laugh and shake his head.
He told O about the pins. How he’d slipped and used the forbidden word but she refused to take the pins from him. He patted his pocket. “So, technically, she would’ve won these things. What was I supposed to say when she said she won nothing but them stupid flowers.”
“Show her how to plant them?” O laughed.
“Whatever.” Nine grinned as he stared out the window, now infinitely glad O was the only one to witness that. “I know you can plant some of them centerpiece arrangements. My moms have done it. I seen it, okay?”