Free Star of Wonder by Angel Payne Page B

opulence, elegance, and a classic Hollywood vibe of romance. Indigo and red velvet drapes were complemented by matching settees and understated lighting. The black carpet was so thick, it felt like treading on memory foam. Music played through hidden speakers, a throbbing dance beat turned soothing by strings and a singer who mixed Madonna’s eroticism with Adele’s soul.
    Not the kind of music she’d expected to hear at Trev’s birthday bash.
    Not the kind of place she expected Trev to pick at all, actually.
    “This is weird,” she murmured. “You guys, don’t you think this is weird? Is anyone even here? Are we sure this is the…right…”
    She stammered into silence as a figure seemed to materialize from the curtains. A black T-shirt outlined every hard striation of his tapered torso. Charcoal cargo pants covered the endless inches of his legs. Leather biker boots encased his feet. His ink-dark hair was a rough tumble against his set jaw. And then she confronted that deep-as-midnight gaze, shaded with just a hint of indigo, enduring its probe straight into her psyche, trembling as it stabbed right into her sex.
    And fuming as Dante lifted a slow smile.
    He knew. He just knew, didn’t he? He could see her thoughts, knowing that every moment of Friday night flooded back to her in a dizzy rush.
    She stumbled backward and grabbed for the curtains. Like that helped. The room turned into a fun house anyway, tilting wildly on her. She tottered again, feeling ridiculous as a clown in that fun house. Guess that was what fury and exhilaration did when they hit like taunting squirt gun blasts.
    Her mortification doubled when he closed the gap between them in three strides. “Easy, cara .” He braced her arms like she weighed no more than a feather. “You okay?”
    “Easy.” She threw it back from tight teeth. “Easy? You’re daring to use that word on me right now? Really?” She squirmed, but he didn’t let go. She swung out a glare at both her friends. “Don’t either of you even think about some half-baked apology right now!”
    “Who says we’re sorry?” Eve countered.
    A giggle—a giggle!—spilled from Reiley, who hadn’t even left the elevator. She adopted a coy pose, holding the button to keep the doors open. “I’m just sorry we’re the ones who have to go.”
    Celina ripped a stare between both of them. “Ohhh no! Wait a second! You guys aren’t—”
    “They’ll be right up the street, stellina.”
    Eve nodded. “Trev’s party is actually at Muldoon’s. It’s right around the corner. We’re a phone call away. Honest.”
    Celina huffed. “‘Honest’ isn’t working so well for you right now.”
    “And ‘denial’ hasn’t been working great for you this whole week, Cel.” Damn it, the little redhead pulled out her I’m-right-and-you-know-it stance. “He wouldn’t have had to resort to this if you’d just returned a phone call.”
    “Thank you,” Dante murmured.
    “Shut up,” Celina snapped.
    “Damn it, Cel.” Her friend added a glower to the pose. “Why don’t you give him a chance?”
    Celina dropped her head. She refused to let them all see the conflict that was certainly twisting its way across her face. Because I gave him a chance already. In a moment of hormones, pheromones, and crazy, I gave him way more than a chance. And I liked it. No, I loved it. And I can’t love it again. I can’t let him in again. I’m not a key acquisition for Dante Tieri’s relationship portfolio!
    He dissolved the diatribe with his next words, given in a low, sincere tone. “One hour.” He slid his grip down to her hands. “Celina. Cara . Sixty minutes is all this will take. After that”—he nodded toward Eve and Reiley—“you’ll call your friends, if you want to.”
    “What do you mean, if I want to?” She snapped another glare as Eve stepped back to the elevator. “Would you two stop laughing?”
    Reiley tossed her hair over one shoulder and waved with her fingertips.