“Probably,” I said, drawing my fingers along the strap of my purse.
His gaze flickered from the offices to me to Zane. When I didn’t move, he raised a brow. “I thought you were here to see him?”
“I am, but I have time.” To talk to you.
Eros leaned closer, gaze wandering down my body and lingering on my hips, brow arched. “I bet you do.”
Zane placed his beer down on the counter. “I’m gonna head out. It was nice seeing you again, Dani.”
Eros placed his glass on the bar. “Do a favor for me and take Javier on your way out. I don’t want to deal with him tonight.” Eros gazed back over at me, taking me in.
“Javier came with you?” I asked. I expected him to be doing Maria somewhere in the apartment.
“Yeah, he’s probably drunk off his ass in the bathroom,” Zane said, rolling his eyes and heading toward the back.
Eros brushed his finger against my blazer, dangerously close to my abdomen, and pulled me closer to him. “Sit down, Dani. Have a drink with me.” He lifted two fingers to the bartender, asking for two shots, then turned back to me.
I sat on the stool, knees touching his. “You remember what happened the last time I had a drink at this place, don’t you?”
“Your drink won’t be spiked again.”
The bartender placed down glasses and carefully poured two shots of Vodka. He was new. I wondered why they hired him. Usually Samantha worked the bar Monday nights.
When he was finished, he slid them across the counter. I gazed down at the drink, feeling paranoid. “How do you know it’s not spiked?”
“Dani, you just watched him pour it in front of you,” Eros said.
So many bad memories have come from this place, I was afraid to try anything.
Eros took the glass from me. “If you really want me to make sure…” He brought the drink to his lips like he was going to drink it and sniffed. “All good.”
“What was that?”
His foot brushed against mine. “I was making sure your drink wasn’t spiked.”
“You can do that by smelling it?”
He clacked his glass against mine and threw the shot back. “I can do a lot of things you don’t know about.” There was a dark glint in his eyes.
I stared at him for a few moments and smiled. He was something else. I sat back in the stool and relaxed, my fingers curling around the glass. I placed it on my lips and threw it back. The alcohol burned the back of my throat, but it was just what I needed.
Eros ordered two more, and I wasted no time drinking it down again.
My head started to feel light. I felt better, good even. So damn good. For the first time—in a long time—I could just relax.
I was working on my third drink. My cheeks were warm. He brushed his foot against mine again, eyes dark in this light. Every time I looked at him, all I could picture were horns on his head and alluring black eyes. So sexy.
My gaze lingered on top of his head, and I pressed my knees together. Fuck, Dani. Get yourself together.
But I couldn’t stop staring. My heart was racing.
“Is there something on my head?” Eros asked, eyes studying mine.
I licked my lips, trying to moisten them.
After wedging one of his knees between mine, he smiled. I watched his soft lips move so effortlessly. “What are you thinking about, Dani?” He rested his forearm against the bar and leaned closer, fingers trailing down my shoulder.
“Nothing.” I shook my head. “Nothing—It’s stupid.”
He chuckled. “I think we’re past the point of looking stupid in front of each other, don’t you think?”
My cheeks flushed even more. I looked down at my glass, then back at him. “It’s—uh…” I shook my head. Fuck it. “You were in my dream last night.”
His lips curled into a smirk. “And?”
“And…” I smiled, looking back down. “You were wearing those horns I wore at the Halloween party.” I gazed back at the top of his head, gnawing on the inside of my lip. The dream was torturing me. Visions, sensations, feelings of last night replayed over and over in my mind. Not letting me think straight once today. It wasn’t even real and here I was frustrated just by the thought of it. “I just thought you looked really, really good in them.”
He raised a sharp brow. “You liked them?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been thinking about me with horns?”
“Yes. And…” My head swayed slightly.
“And?”
“Your eyes.” I brushed my fingers against his cheek bone, heart pounding in my chest. “They were so black.”
He smirked. “What’d you think of that?”
I thought a lot about it, but all of those thoughts would get me sent straight to Hell. So, instead of telling him what I really thought of them, I giggled softly to myself. “They were… nice.”
“Nice?”
“Yes. Very, very nice,” I said. I closed my eyes, listening to him chuckle, and smiled. “Crazy dream, huh?”
He sipped the rest of his drink and gazed at the table, looking like he was contemplating something. After a few moments, he gazed back at me. “No, not really.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my head feeling light.
His fingertips paled around the glass. “It’s not something that we should discuss right now.”
“When?”
“I don’t know...” He sighed. “Why don’t you go find Trevon?”
“But—”
“Dani, please.” His voice was quiet. “When I tell you—really tell you—there isn’t any going back. I’d prefer us to stay like this for now.”
CHAPTER 16
Dani
After downing the rest of my shot—because I needed all the liquid courage I could get—I staggered down the hallway, fingers gliding against the wall to guide me toward Trevon’s office. I still didn’t know what I was going to say to him. Hell, maybe he wouldn’t even want to talk to me since I reeked of alcohol and was a tiny bit tipsy.
By the time I made it to his office, I was rubbing Mom’s pendant between my sweaty palms and breathing heavily. Scenario after scenario was playing out in my head of how this could all go. Some were bad: Trevon yells at me for being immature by drinking before we talk. Most were really, really bad: I tell him I was going to give him another chance and spend the rest of my life feeling like shit.
So much for drinking to calm my nerves. That plan went right out the window.
I took a deep breath and knocked against the cold door. No answer. I knocked again. Nothing.
I jingled the doorknob and walked into an empty office. I had done it a million times before but barging into Trevon’s office never felt so wrong.
His black peacoat was draped over the arm of the couch and his baseball cap was sitting on his desk. I shut the door behind me and wandered over to sit in his big comfy chair. He was probably in the bathroom.
My head still felt light, and I swayed in the chair, knees bouncing.
A manila folder was sitting on top of a bunch of legal documents on the desk. Termination of Employee: Samantha Bernard. My eyes widened, and I picked up the folder.
Trevon fired Samantha? Why would he do that? I mean, sure, she was a bit rude to me. Okay… she was very rude to me. But he wouldn’t fire her because of that, would he?