do all the things I normally just think about doing but never act on.”
“Oh.”
“Say that again. I like it. Your lips go all round and pretty.”
Before I could respond, Alicia appeared in front of us.
“Mind if I cut in?” she asked.
I wasn’t sure why, probably because I felt awkward and embarrassed by what Damon had just said, but I decided to make a joke. “Admit it, you’ve been dying to dance with me all night.”
I had to give her credit — Alicia didn’t miss a beat. “As tempting as that sounds, Rose, I meant Damon.”
Pulling away from his arms, I gestured with my hands and spoke louder than was necessary. “He’s all yours.”
When I left the dance floor, I found Julian waiting for me with a glass of wine. “I thought you might need this.”
“You thought right,” I said, taking a sip. “I guess your attempt at wooing Alicia through dance failed, then.”
“She’s a tough nut to crack, but that only makes the challenge greater,” he answered, unfazed.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, because all women adore you, but I just don’t think you’re her type. She wants Damon.” Even saying the words was painful.
“No need to sound so glum, my darling. She thinks she wants Damon because he’s safe and loyal like a puppy. Before long she’ll come to realise that puppy dogs don’t have eyes for vixens.” At this he cast me a sidelong glance. “They have eyes for sweet blossoming flowers.”
I snickered. “Is that a reference to my name?”
“It is.”
“Well, it was corny as fuck, and it looks like we’ve both lost our dance partners for the night. Want to watch me get drunk?”
Julian smiled around his glass of tonic and lime. “But of course. Once you’re good and sloshed, I’ll coax out all your secrets.”
“The trouble with that plan is you already know them all,” I said, and downed a long gulp.
***
I was on my fifth glass of wine when I felt the sudden and uncontrollable urge to pee. Hurrying to the ladies’ room, I hopped from anxiously from foot to foot, willing the queue to move quicker.
When I finally got into a cubicle, I sighed with relief before emerging to wash my hands. Alicia had skilfully kept Damon and me apart ever since she took him for her dance partner. I tried not to be bothered by it, because it was for the best if I was going to stick to my “no more actors” rule.
Let them have each other, my drunken, unhappy brain grumped.
All these gloomy thoughts had me gumming for a cigarette, and though I’d given up socially smoking years ago, I found myself wandering down the corridor that led to the bathrooms, searching for a way to the club’s smoking area so I could bum one off somebody.
I hadn’t gotten far when I bumped into a rock-hard chest and glanced up to find Damon staring down at me.
“Been looking for you,” he said, the shine of intoxication in his eyes.
Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was sour grapes, but I replied somewhat curtly, “I was sitting at the bar with Julian all night.”
Damon’s brows furrowed. “I meant just now.”
“Of course you did.”
“Are you pissed at me?”
I folded my arms and cocked a hip, which looked much sassier when you were wearing five-inch heels. I liked how they also made it so there was less of a height difference between us. “Nooo.”
Okay, so the sasstastic posturing was ruined by the worst comeback ever.
“You are. You’ve got a right stroppy look on your face,” he said, and I noticed he was moving us now so that my back became flush with the wall.
“I’m just drunk.”
“You said you were a giddy drunk. You don’t look giddy.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I simply lowered my gaze and hoped he’d let the subject drop. He didn’t.
“I’m sorry about Alicia. She won’t leave off. It’s starting to grate.”
“You didn’t seem very bothered,” I retorted, and his features darkened.
“I was bothered,” he stated firmly.
I just scoffed and looked away. Damon caught my chin and pulled my face back to him a little roughly. “You’re the only one I want to spend time with, Rose.”
I shivered as a moment of intense quiet passed between us. Our gazes locked, and I inhaled shakily. His eyes were hooded, sharpening when they focused in on my lips. I swallowed unconsciously, and my breathing grew deeper. The loud club music was slightly muted out here, and all I