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Tatum turned toward him in a leisurely fashion. “What’s up?”
Nicu leaned into him, and I heard him speak in Romanian. Whatever he said was clear enough for the young woman beside him to let out a gasp.
Tatum smirked, while nodding in agreement. “Point made,” he replied with a grin. “We’re just conversing.”
Nicu gave a rapid-fire response in Romanian.
Tatum chuckled as the waiters whisked our dishes away and placed new ones in front of us all. I liked how nonplussed Tatum was. It was almost as if he regarded Nicu like a younger brother. Watching their dynamic was fascinating.
The proprietor was explaining that this was the vegetarian option. Tilting my head, I cast a look at my perfectly grilled salmon. Is this what typically passed for vegetarian to Romanians?
I grabbed my wineglass and downed half of it. While I wasn’t yet of legal drinking age, the rules were different here. Not only did they apparently consider fish to be a vegetarian option, but whenever I had dinner at Cat’s house, wine and ?uica, a Romanian liquor that went down like gasoline on fire, was poured into the glasses of every person present, regardless of age.
Nicu’s eyes snapped up to me.
He pointed a finger at me and warned, “And you, watch how fast you drink.”
“Yes, Daddy,” I retorted.
His face contorted, giving me a glimpse of the raging sexy beast inside. He snuffed it quickly and muttered, “Brat, you’re lucky we’re in public right now.”
The girl beside him made a shocked, gurgling noise.
I gave him my best, satisfied smirk.
Gotcha.
I’d gotten his complete attention, despite his attempt at making me jealous, and he’d just claimed me in front of everyone.
Irritated, he crossed his arms over his wide chest, which bunched the fabric of his suit around his biceps in a way that made me want to strip and lick every delicious inch of him.
“You’ve won this round,” he conceded.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Nicu. I win every round,” I replied with a seductive drawl. I didn’t know what it was about him that drove me to prod and taunt him. I was normally polite and conversational, but something about him tore up my insides, leaving me achy and needy. Worst of all, it made me want to push him over the edge and get a reaction out of him.
He was a maddening blend of conflicting traits. There was a wild, untamed quality to him, and yet he clearly prided himself on his self-restraint, on quelling his animal-like tendencies. From what Cat told me, he seemed to only give in to them in a few prescribed areas, such as racing and other crazy activities, like snowboarding and bungee jumping. From my own limited experience, he clearly let loose when he had sex. But outside of those areas, he was as controlled and disciplined as his eyes were glacial.
“That remains to be seen,” he retorted. “There’ve been only a few skirmishes between us as of yet.” He leaned over, holding my gaze with a stern one of his own, and said, “I’ve allowed you to win these minor scuffles, but I intend to win the war.”
The way he husked out the word allowed sent heat pooling between my legs. Dammit, it was unnerving how easily he got to me.
“Ha, easy thing to say when I got you, right here, right now,” I refuted his claim, pressing my index finger into the table for emphasis.
“Mediocre wins, at best. Trust me, when it counts, you will yield to me.”
Hands trembling from the desire to choke him—or kiss him, I wasn’t sure which—I sputtered at his conceit, “Y-you, your arrogance is staggering.”
Everything around me had fallen away; nothing existed outside of Nicu, me, and our showdown. Yet, even with my complete attention on him, I noticed from my side, Tatum’s head swinging back and forth, following our tit for tat, unsure whether to intervene or not. The girl who’d been flirting with Nicu, had all but shrunk in her seat like a wilted flower.
Good, I thought viciously, she was a nonfactor.
“It’s only arrogance if it isn’t true, and we both know you can’t help but give in to me. In fact, I’d go as far as state that you ache to do so.”
The insinuation was beyond blatant and was close to goading me to physical violence. Images of his dark head moving between my thighs rose to the forefront of my mind. Suddenly hot and bothered, I shifted in my seat. Besides turning me on, his comment angered me because it suggested we’d been intimate. I didn’t care what people thought of me, but this was Cat’s world, and I didn’t want anyone gossiping about us. He was her former fiancé, after all.
“Don’t suggest things that never actually happened between us,” I boldly lied, hinting for him to back down when my gaze moved to Cat at the next table over.
If nothing else, the man was quick on the uptick. He pulled back as if I’d offended him, but at least he covered my lie. “There you go, letting your imagination run wild again. Is it because, underneath that prickly personality, you can’t help but want me, I wonder.” He checked his nails nonchalantly. “No worries, I’m used to that kind of attention. Nothing to be embarrassed about.’
