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“I’m plus-size.”Gabriella shrugged, and I watched as she played with her hair self-consciously.She definitely wasn’t as skinny as a pole, but she had a beautiful, curvy body.I knew some men preferred no curves, but I wanted to tell her that any real man would love her body.Plus-size or not, it didn’t stop her from being beautiful.
“So what?”Valentina said.“You’re the most gorgeous woman I know.”
Gabriella beamed with happiness at the compliment.I stared at Valentina for a few seconds, wanting to correct her.The most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen in my life was Valentina Ford, though I didn’t want to say that.I didn’t even want to think that.This was a case.The last thing I needed was to make this more complicated than it had to be.Hamilton had already deposited fifty grand into the agency’s business bank account.
“Can I buy you all another drink?”I asked as I looked at the other women as well.I really wanted to concentrate on Valentina, but I knew the way to get in with one woman was to pay more attention to her friends in situations like this.I hated the game, but sometimes, you were forced to play it.
“I’m going to dance,” the bride-to-be said, sounding bored.“Who’s coming with?”
“I will,” one of the ladies I hadn’t met answered.I watched Gabriella’s and Valentina’s faces and hoped they wouldn’t leave me standing here like a fool.
“Want to dance, Danny?”Valentina threw her head back with a flirtatious smile.Her long brunette locks shimmered in the light of the bar.
“Can I say no?”
“You can.”She grinned.“But then it will also be goodbye.”
“Then I guess tonight I dance.”
“What about our drinks?”Gabriella asked with a giggle as she downed her drink.“I need some liquid courage to get on that dance floor and shake my fat ass.”
“Gabby, you don’t have a fat ass.”Valentina shook her head.“You’ve got an ass men can’t quit.”
I felt my lips trembling at her comment.She was certainly Gabriella’s biggest cheerleader, but I wasn’t sure where she was getting her rather goofy colloquialisms from.
“Well, let’s see if I can find me a man on the dance floor.”Gabriella shook her hips back and forth in beat with the song playing.I wasn’t sure who the singer was, but his voice sounded vaguely familiar.
“What would you both like to drink?”I asked, addressing Gabriella only.
“Ooh, I’ll have a pear martini.”She smiled as she sang along to the song.“I just love Justin Bieber, don’t you?”
“Um …” I let my voice trail off as I looked to my right.Valentina was studying me with a curious expression on her face.“And what would you like?”I asked her softly, an odd feeling in my stomach.
“A beer.”She grinned, her eyes lighting up.“Dark.”
“Okay then.”I was impressed by her selection.I’d thought she was going to get a froufrou drink like her friend.
“Are you a Belieber?”Gabriella asked me, now hiccupping, and I wondered if I’d shown her too much attention.
“Yes, I believe in God,” I answered, wondering why she’d asked me that.
“No, not a believer.”She giggled and started jumping up and down.“I love this song.It’s called ‘Intentions.’”
“Um, okay …”
“I do need a filter, though.”She shimmied back and forth, and I looked over at Valentina with an expression of confusion on my face.
“Don’t worry about Gabriella.She doesn’t make much sense when she’s drunk.”Valentina shook her head.“She’s my best friend, and I love her, but she cannot handle her liquor.”
“Ah, okay.”I nodded.
“A Belieber is a super fan of Justin Bieber, the singer.”She grinned.“And in this song, he says you don’t need a filter … he’s saying the woman he’s with doesn’t need a filter, as she’s picture-perfect without one.”
“Ah, okies.”I smiled.“Thanks for the explanation.”
“No worries.”She ran her hands through her long, dark hair.“So, what’s your real name, Danny?”
“I thought you only wanted to know me as Danny?”I winked at her, and she blushed slightly.I was surprised by that.She seemed too self-confident to be the sort to blush.I wondered what she was really like inside.I didn’t know much about her aside from my assumptions based on her dad, but it seemed those assumptions were incorrect.
