As he walked away, Charlee stood there, trying not to smile too silly. She felt a little ridiculous about how excited something as simple as his touching her arm could make her. “What happened?” Drew leaned into her. “Where’d he go?”
“I don’t know. He got called away.” Again she did her best to flatten the silly smile that threatened to burst when she added, “But he said he’d be right back.”
Charlee glanced back in the direction he’d walked away. He was talking to his brother and Noah. She’d never admit it to anyone, even Drew, because it was too embarrassing, but she knew the names and recognized the two other owners of 5th Street from all the Google-stalking she’d done this past week.
Drew smiled just as big as Charlee wanted to. “I know we said we have to leave early.” Her best friend sounded almost as excited as she felt. “But we can stay as long as you want to.”
Just the thought of dancing with him again, being held against his body, and seeing that special something she’d seen in his eyes earlier had her insides going wild again. She had to get it together. Hector had walked in tonight with two girls for crying out loud: girls she was certain he’d already slept with and at the same time to make it worse. Now he was ignoring them to hang out with her. Next time, she could very well be the one being ignored. Those girls could deal with it, obviously, since they hadn’t left immediately like Charlee would’ve.
She knew all too well that even going into this knowing the type of guy she was dealing with, she’d be crushed just the same—absolutely, positively crushed. There was no way she could be dumb enough to let herself get caught up in something like this again. Oh, but she was. She could feel it already. And this was completely different from last year. She never felt the kind of intensity she felt from Hector. There was no comparison, and there was no way to describe it, but she felt something with him she knew she’d never felt before. This was truly a first for her. So why was she still so scared.
Drew touched her arm, leaning in again and whispering so Maurice or anyone around wouldn’t hear. “I see your brain working. Relax, okay? This is nothing like what you’re thinking. You may be the same person on the inside, but you’re completely different on the outside now.” She shrugged, giving Charlee a little smile. “So you dance with him again if he asks, and you enjoy the party. It doesn’t have to go any further than that. You can do this. It’s been long enough, Charlee. And remember my sixth sense about these things? I’m telling you this is not the same.”
Charlee nodded, smiling and feeling extremely grateful to have Drew. She’s the only one who really knew all about her fears. Drew had been there and lived through her worst nightmare with her.
“You wanna another drink?”
“No.” Charlee shook her head adamantly. “No more alcohol. I’d like at least a fighting chance of not doing or saying anything too stupid tonight. I’m already a wreck.”
“Don’t be.” Her best friend smiled reassuringly. “You’re doing fine.”
Drew glanced up in the direction where Hector had been standing with Noah and Abel, and the immediate change in her demeanor was enough to alarm Charlee. She didn’t want to be so obvious about it and jerk her head around like she was so tempted to. Whatever it was Drew had seen, had her feisty friend practically glaring now.
“What is it?” Charlee focused on the revolted look in Drew’s eyes to keep from turning around. It wasn’t that hard a temptation to fight anymore because she had a feeling what it could be.
“He’s dancing.”
Charlee swallowed hard, ignoring the plunging drop she just felt her stomach do. His dancing wasn’t a big deal. It was partly his party. But that look on Drew’s face said there was more to it. What did she expect? After everything she already knew, did she honestly think one dance with him was enough to get all stupidly excited about? She didn’t have to ask. She already knew the answer just by the look on Drew’s face, but she had to know, and she refused to look. “Is it Leticia, and can you please stop looking that way already?” The only consolation was the song playing was not a slow one.
Drew finally turned her glare away from him. “It’s both of them.”
Now Charlee couldn’t help but look. She turned just as his eyes looked up and met hers. The song was not a fast one, but it may as well have been a slow sensual one the way the two shameless bitches worked their bodies up against his. Noah and Gio were also on the dance floor, though each danced respectfully with only one girl, and neither of their girls was behaving as vile as Hector’s partners.
Unlike he had earlier, Hector didn’t stare. Instead, he glanced away quickly. He wasn’t dancing nearly as sensually as the girls were, but he did sway his hips to the music and was in no way protesting their bodies against his. Visions of that night in the parking lot came crashing down on her. How could she have been stupid enough to let a few gazes from him, one dance, and one moment, no matter how intense it was, block every fact she already knew about him? She could never deal with this. Ever. “Maybe we should get out of here early.”
She turned to see her friend’s repentant frown. “Whatever you want.”
Charlee knew what Drew was thinking. Her sixth sense had been wrong, and now she felt guilty about adding to Charlee’s premature excitement. But this wasn’t Drew's fault. Charlee should’ve known better. Thankfully, it was a quick slip and early on. She’d never let on just what a letdown this really was because she’d begun to think she, too, had some kind of sixth sense. Obviously, she’d been completely wrong—again.
Pouting but then quickly replacing it with a smile, she tried her damnedest to shake it off. “There’s still ice cream at home, right?”
Drew’s smile was equally forced too, but Charlee appreciated the effort. “And wine coolers.”
“Ugh, I don’t think I want any more alcohol tonight, but I’ll take more ice cream.”
Waving at the guys from the chess team, Charlee, Drew, and Maurice made their way to the exit. Knowing Drew had used the ladies’ room not too long ago, Charlee took advantage when she saw the ladies’ room outside the banquet room to tell Drew and Maurice to go on without her. She remembered Drew saying Maurice would probably want to kiss her goodnight, and she wanted to give them a little privacy.
Drew began to protest, saying they could wait for her, but Charlee insisted they go on ahead without her. Finally alone as she walked down the empty hallway toward the ladies’ room, she let the disappointment set in. She didn’t even need to use the restroom, but she went in anyway. Charlee was only thankful that the banquet rooms had restrooms so this one and the halls leading to it were completely abandoned now that the gym was closed off for anything more than the exclusive party.
She stood in front of the mirror, staring at the clueless girl in the mirror. Gawd, she was stupid or pathetic or both. Why didn’t she ever just trust her first instincts? Sure she’d made a big change physically since last year. It might’ve even been big enough to attract a guy like Hector but certainly not enough to tame him. Guys like Hector obviously couldn’t even be tamed by sex kittens like the ones he’d been dancing with tonight. And in all the photos she’d found of him online with girls, they were all Latinas—dark-haired, dark-eyed girls, who could probably all move on the dance floor as sensually as Leticia and Miriam had. There was never one as lily-white as Charlee with her ridiculously bright red hair that exuded about as much sensuality as a nun.
She leaned into the mirror to get a closer look at her face. At least makeup helped conceal most of her infuriating freckles. Surprised by how knotted up she was still feeling, she walked away from the mirror toward the door even more angry with herself. It was embarrassing how easily her made-up mind had been changed just by the few nice things he said to her and his flirtatious gazes. She walked out, determined to leave this behind her and stop thinking about him.
Wanting to give Drew and Maurice a little more alone time, Charlee took her time walking down the hallway, peering into the windows of the doors she passed. Each room was for some kind of specific training. The one with the trophies and photos on the wall caught her attention for a little longer. There was one light on in the corner, and it was hard to make out much. Standing on her tiptoes, she strained to see the photos furthest away. As if she hadn’t gotten her fix of photos of Hector online already, she scanned the wall, looking for more of him.
“Looking for something?”
Charlee gasped at the sound of Hector’s voice echoing off the walls. She spun around, feeling her face flush immediately. “I was just . . . I had to use the ladies’ room and uh . . . the trophies,” she pointed behind her. “I was just curious.”
Hector smiled, easily making her heart flutter even after everything that had happened tonight alone. “It’s okay,” he said, walking toward her. “Is Drew in the ladies’ room still?”
Charlee shook her head. “No, she’s waiting in the car for me,” she said, trying not to be too obvious, but her eyes seemed to have a mind of their own now.
They roamed his entire body up and down. No longer wearing his coat, his snug black vest over his long-sleeved white dress shirt accentuated his chest perfectly. For a moment, she wondered if he’d taken the coat off himself or if had been stripped off by his dance partners.
“There’s actually some pretty cool stuff in there,” he said as he got close enough for her senses to be once again overloaded by everything about him: his eyes, his lips, his scent, and even the heat from his body when he got close enough that she could almost touch it. This was the very body she’d fantasized about so many times and now knew for a fact just how hard and solid it really was. “I could show you quickly before you go.”
Feeling glued to the spot where she stood, she managed to move so that he could get by her to open the door. “No, I couldn’t,” she said, still embarrassed about being caught snooping and not wanting to confirm just how nosey she could really be.
“Why not?” he turned back with a quizzical expression then chuckled. “This stuff isn’t top secret. Come on in,” he said, opening the door and walking into the room.
She followed him into the dimly lit room and stood in place, taking in the photos on the wall as he walked around turning on lights. With her heart already beating way too fast, she took deep slow breaths to try and calm herself. Not only could she do this but she would and with as much dignity and poise as she could muster. He was after all just a guy—a guy she would in no way be getting involved with.
She turned to see him loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt. Her eyes flew open, and she nearly stopped breathing when he began to unbutton the vest.
Hector stopped midway through taking the vest off and gave her that same bedroom-eyed gaze along with the sexy smile that had left her breathless earlier. “Don’t worry. I’ll stop at the vest. I just feel a little stuffy.”
Gulping hard as he continued to remove the vest then pull off the tie altogether, she nodded, knowing full well if she attempted to talk, there likely be no sound. Good Lord, she’d have to dig deep for any poise if he dared remove even one more piece of clothing.