“Perks of a B cup.”
He had no problem with that.
“And when I started high school, you told everyone I liked girls.”
“Hey, I had a pact with your brothers. Keep the boys away.”
She picked at the olive and sipped her drink. “Ha. I have news for you. The guys thought that shit was hot.”
“What?” Wait . . . it kinda was.
“Salena and I played that up our junior year. Dated anyone I wanted.”
“You’re kidding.” He was in college by then and already feeling the need to move away from the place he’d grown up.
“I had to do something with the legacy you guys left me with. If Salena and I are still single by our ten-year reunion, we’re going to tell people we were secretly married but it didn’t work out.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that.” The thought combated the liquor he was pouring in. Chloe had it much too together to be single forever.
“What? Being single? Finding the right person is impossible. Dating sucks.”
He lifted his drink. “We can agree to that.”
She touched her glass to his, they drank.
The buzz he’d collected earlier in the evening was quickly returning.
“It can’t be as bad for you,” she insisted.
“Why is that?”
“Oh, please. You walk in the room and women’s ovaries start dropping eggs like hens on a full moon.”
Dante tossed his head back and laughed so hard he felt tears in his eyes.
A waitress walked by. “You doing okay over here?”
He looked at their drinks, ordered another round.
“I promise you, it’s not that easy,” he said when they were alone again.
“Has to be better than Little Italy, where everyone still thinks you might go both ways.”
That almost made him feel guilty. “Italian men are more common in Italy.”
She pointed a finger in his face. “I’ve been to Italy. This . . . this isn’t on every corner.”
He snatched her finger, turned her hand her way. “Neither is this.”
The singer finished her song and the audience clapped, breaking their conversation.
The next song was louder and had him pushing his chair closer to Chloe so they could continue to talk. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked so openly with a woman.
From nowhere, Chloe started laughing.
The sound of it brought a smile to his face. “What?”
“I can’t believe we drove up a three-hundred-dollar bar bill at a strip club and I couldn’t pay it.”
“I’m going to hold that over you for a long time.”
“Don’t I know it.”
Their second round came. “Do you want to open a tab?”
Dante looked at Chloe and they both started laughing.
He reached for his wallet.
The dice flew to the other end of the table and those around it cheered.
Chloe had no idea what was happening, but the people surrounding her and Dante were very happy with how she tossed the dice.
She had no idea what time it was.
They’d had two drinks at the blues bar and made their way to the casino.
Dante stopped them at a craps table and the drinks kept coming.
His chips kept stacking up.
“C’mon, bella. Do it again.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said to him in Italian.
“Trust me. You’re doing fine,” he replied.
She tossed the dice again.
Cheers went up.
Dante pulled her into his arms with the hug he hadn’t given her earlier.
“The lady is on a roll.”
Dante took half of the chips the dealer had just given him off the table and rubbed Chloe’s shoulders. “It’s all gravy, cara.”
That sounded good.
Twice more, luck was on her side, and then the dice turned.
Dante took his chips from the table and told her to open her purse.
Her evening bag didn’t hold them all, but his pockets did the rest.
“We did good?”
His hand rested around her waist like it belonged there. And frankly, she’d gotten used to it since he’d slid it there over and over all night.
Even as many drinks in as she was, she was aware of that.
“We should go.”
She rolled her head from one side to the other. “Let’s walk a bit. I need to sober up or I’m going to regret this in the morning.”
“Anything you say, bella.”
The frigid temperatures outside hit her hard. “What time is it?”
“One thirty.”
“What? I thought it was later.” Only there were still people everywhere.
“Prime time in Vegas.”
“Shouldn’t we cash this stuff out?”
“Tomorrow.”
Once they reached the Strip, the lights and energy had them both smiling. “I don’t remember the last time I had this much fun.”
Dante looked at her. “Me either.”
She walked in front of him a few feet, turned to walk backward. “You know why?”
“Why’s that?” He was smiling.
“Because I don’t have to pretend with you. I mean . . .” Vodka was giving her all truth serum. And with any luck, she wouldn’t remember in the morning, or it wouldn’t be in vain. But Chloe didn’t feel the need to hold back. “Okay, total truth.” She tried to focus on him, knew he was as buzzed as she was.
“Total truth,” he replied.
She undid the tie of her coat and exposed her dress to him. “I wore this for you.”
His feet faltered.
“You did not.”
Chloe walked straight to him, pushed a finger in his chest. “And you didn’t even hug me.” Her hand fell away with a whole lot of drama.
He blinked, twice.
She twisted on her heel, felt his hand on her elbow keep her steady.
“It’s okay, though. You made up for earlier.” Damn, it was cold.
A group of men walking by whistled. “Right?” She was laughing.
Dante moved around her, stopped, and tied her jacket belt around her waist.
“I couldn’t,” he said.
“Couldn’t what?”
“Hold you.”
She stopped in the middle of the street.
“What?”
He placed his hand on the side of her face, stepped closer. “Jesus, Chloe. If Gio or Luca saw the way I look at you . . . really look at you, they’d gut me.”
Dante came into focus, his eyes drifted to her lips. “How do you look at me?”
He closed his eyes, and when they opened, they glanced over her head and he started to laugh.
Damn . . . for a minute there, she thought he was going to kiss her.
He took her shoulders in his hands and turned her around.
That’s when she saw what he did.
They were standing in front of a tiny Vegas wedding chapel.
“I look at you like a man looks at a woman he’s taken here first.”
She started laughing. “You’re not a virgin.”
His chin came to rest on her shoulder. “No,” he said in her ear with a chuckle.
“I’m not a virgin,” she said.