Unleash Me, Vol. 1 (Unleash Me, Annihilate Me Series) (26 page)

He ordered the drinks, they came, and
Marco pretty much downed his.

“
That
was quick.
”

“
Would
you like another?
”

“
I
’
ve barely tasted mine.
”

“
I
’
m having another.
”

“
So
have another.
”

He did.
 
When he turned around with it, he said,
“
Sorry about that.
 
I told you she was crazy.
”

“
She
’
s crazy about
something.
 
But none of that
’
s my business.
 
We should seek out Julian.
 
I believe we
’
re here to meet him,
aren
’
t
we?
”

“
In time.
”

“
Why
wait?
 
You don
’
t want another former
girlfriend to accost you, do you?
 
Why not cut your losses while you can?
”

“
I
seriously doubt that there
’
s
anyone else here whom I
’
ve
dated.
”

“
Just
dated?
”

“
You
can stop having your fun any time now.
”

“
Hmmmm,
”
I
said, sipping my martini.
 
“
The night
’
s so young, and
already so memorable.
”

He looked at me, and in his eyes I
saw a challenge I met with my own.
 
He might have had the upper hand when it came to my book because he was
my acquiring editor, but he didn
’
t
intimidate me
—
not
after what just happened.
 
Marco
Boss was a confirmed playboy, and that was something I just couldn
’
t take seriously.
 
But I
’
d taunted him enough.
 
I looked away from him and said,
“
Quite a crowd.
 
You
’
d
think we were at the Academy Awards.
”
 
My
tongue knew no bounds, and it couldn
’
t be stopped.
 
“
Or Hooters.
”

“
Is
this going to go on all night?
”

I put my hand on his arm.
 
“
I
’
ll
let it go.
 
Lighten up.
 
We
’
re just having fun.
”

“
One
of us is.
”

“
Look,
you
’
re
an adult.
 
I really could care less
about your affairs.
”

“
Not
by the sounds of it.
”

“
If
you
’
ve
read my book, then you
’
re
well aware of my wit.
 
If it makes
you feel any better, she
’
s
the one who came off as a fool.
 
You
were polite, and you handled her well.
 
We got away as quickly as we could.
 
So, don
’
t
worry about it.
”

He finished his drink, reached around
him, and put it on the bar.
 
I had
had only three sips of mine.
 
Was he
going to order another?
 
Given his
size, he probably could handle it.
 
But, still.
 
We were about to
meet a director whose films were mostly major commercial successes.
 
I certainly didn
’
t need a humiliated,
drunken editor on my hands.

But Boss didn
’
t get another
drink.
 
Instead, he nodded over at
the dance floor.
 
“
Care to have a dance?
”
he
asked.

That surprised me.
 
“
I think we should go over
—”

“
It
’
s just a dance,
Lisa.
 
We
’
ll meet Julian
afterward.
 
He
’
s right over
there?
 
See him?
 
And it
’
s still early.
 
We haven
’
t
been here long.
 
It
’
s not as if he
’
s going to leave his
own party with this many people here.
 
So?
 
Dance?
”

The orchestra started to play a
waltz.
 
Years ago, when Jennifer and
I were young, we
’
d
had dance lessons that lasted into our early teen years.
 
I could handle a waltz.
 
The question was whether I could handle
him at this point.

“
Come
on,
”
he
said.
 
“
Why not?
”

Maybe getting him on that floor will
calm him down
, I thought.
 
“
All right.
 
One dance.
”

He took my martini from me, put it on
the bar, and led me to the dance floor.
 
When he swept me into his arms, I was struck by how strong he was
—
and
how graceful.
 
With his right hand
pressed against the middle of my back, he lifted my right hand high into his
left and began to move me around the crowded dance floor with practiced ease.

“
And
here I thought you
’
d
be all left feet,
”
I
said to him.

“
The
things you don
’
t
know about me.
”

“
The
things I just learned.
”

“
I
thought we were going to drop that.
”

He pulled me in so close to him that
I could feel him against my thigh.
 
He wasn
’
t
erect
—
not
even close
—
but
I still could feel the length and the weight of him, and I could tell for a
fact that he wasn
’
t
wearing any underwear.
 
I also knew
that, for whatever reason, what he
’
d just done was intentional.
 
And so, blushing, I put some distance
between us.

“
You
look flushed,
”
he
said.

“
Not
at all.
”

He spun me around, and my dress
fanned out, but he was such a good dancer that he never once allowed me to lose
a step.

“
You
dance well,
”
he
said.
 
“
Where did you learn?
”

“
When
Jennifer and I were young, our mothers made sure we had dance lessons.
”

“
Apparently,
they took.
”

“
And
you?
”

“
To
earn extra money, my mother taught dance after school.
 
They didn
’
t pay her shit as a teacher, so she had to earn money where
she could.
 
She loved to dance.
 
Her father taught her how.
 
So, it was kind of natural.
 
She taught all of us kids what she knew.
”

“
How
many are you again?
”

“
Seven,
including me.
”

“
How
in the hell did she do it?
”

“
She
’
s a saint,
”
he
said.
 
“
Five boys, all as tall
as I am, and two girls who were a handful.
 
We put her through hell when we were young, but we
’
ve paid her back as
adults.
 
My mother knows how
grateful all of us are to her for what she did for us, even if we didn
’
t realize it when we
were kids.
”

“
What
kind of stuff?
”

“
Nothing
big.
 
Just the normal crap that goes
with having seven kids.
 
We weren
’
t perfect, but who is
at that age?
 
At least none of us
got into drugs
—
then
she really would have had a time of it.
 
And my father?
 
He wouldn
’
t have had any of it.
”

He spun me around again and went for
the throwaway, which I nailed, much to my own surprise.
 
When he turned me back into his arms, I
met his eyes, and what I saw there was desire.
 
It was as unmistakable as it was
palpable.
 
Since the waltz wasn
’
t over, I decided to
deflect rather than to end the dance.
 
I didn
’
t
want to embarrass either of us by walking off the dance floor early.

“
I
miss Tank,
”
I
said.

“
You
do?
”

“
I
do.
”

“
I
wonder what brought that up?
”

“
I
’
m just thinking of
him.
 
They
’
re all in the air at
this point.
”

“
Singapore,
right?
”

“
That
’
s right.
”

“
But
isn
’
t
this enough?
 
Doesn
’
t dancing take your
mind off him?
”

“
When
you
’
re
in love with someone as much as I
’
m in love with Tank, nothing takes your mind off that
person.
 
Have you ever been in love
before, Marco?
”

“
I
’
m not sure.
”

“
Then
you haven
’
t
been.
 
Because if you had, you
’
d be sure.
 
You would have said
‘
yes
’
at
once.
”

“
How
long have you been seeing each other?
”

“
Officially?
 
Just over two weeks.
 
But we
’
ve been dating for over three months.
”

“
It
took you that long to make it official?
 
How is that?
”

“
Everyone
is in a rush these days.
 
Tank and I
took things more slowly.
”

“
I
wonder how he managed that.
”

I didn
’
t offer an answer because there were times in my
relationship with Tank that I
’
d
wondered the same thing.
 
Why had it
taken so long for him to fully trust me?
 
Of course, I eventually found out that the one woman he
’
d been with for six
years had cheated on him, and it had caused its share of trust issues for
Tank.
 
But that had been years
ago.
 
And while I could never know
the profound sense of betrayal Tank had felt, I knew now that it must have been
devastating.