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Diego’s already there, and though he’s at the bar, beer next to him, and he seems lost to texting, he looks at me the moment I come in like every instinct of his has been on alert.
Maybe he saw me before I came in. He has a way of watching people without them seeing it. But I always feel his gaze on me, like a live, tangible thing, and it doesn’t feel like him.
I glance around, but no one else is looking. So maybe I’m just jumpy. I slide my gaze back to Diego.
He’s drinking me in. Slow, appreciative, and inside, I throb. How he can turn me on with a look from across a crowded room is beyond me, but he does.
Diego smiles slowly as he takes me in, head to toe, and I finger the edge of my outfit. I donned a dress with leggings and Docs. The dress buttons all the way down. It’s something I can do a lot with, if he’s planning more after-dark missions.
My wardrobe doesn’t extend to the revealing clothes of the women at the bars, but this could work.
His shoulders relax as I come over and he speaks to the bartender. There’s a game on the big screen, but the sound is down and some soft decade old pop plays under the chatter and laughter.
When I reach him, a tequila with lime appears, and he slides an easy arm around me as he nuzzles my cheek.
“Tell me I don’t have to break fuckin’ legs, and you’re just late.”
I smile up at him, slipping into the fantasy this is us, our life together, instead of what it is, a temporary thing that ends when he leaves town.
A basket of sweet potato fries lands between us, dusted with chili, and I moan as I eat one.
Diego presses his mouth against my ear and murmurs, “Now, I’m fuckin’ jealous of those fries, getting you to make that sound.”
I twist my fingers around his tie near the knot. When Diego chooses to turn on the charm that seems to flow naturally in his blood, there’s nothing else like it in the world.
Of course, being Diego, he knows how to control it and never lets it out. Except maybe, for me.
Or the woman in his life, I amend. There’ve been those. People don’t live in vacuums when they’re broken up and apart. They live them, and I’m suddenly jealous of those women. Not that I’ve got a right to be.
It’s then I think back to Josie seeing the big guy and then Diego. Definitely not the same. So, who the hell was looking for me? Not someone known in town, not Diego, and not Riff, who she knows at least to say hello to.
Then again, maybe it doesn’t matter. Diego’s in a suit and he seems relaxed about his day, though he does text as we chat. I don’t think it’s a normal thing for him, so it’s got to be work. But this isn’t the place to ask.
“Nadia.”
I almost jump out of my skin and spill my drink as Riff stands there. Could he have been following me? This isn’t his place of choice.
“It’s Ralph,” Diego says.
Everything in me goes on high alert. Because though his voice is mild, the ice and steel there anything but. And Riff’s hackles rise. I don’t want a fight because Riff will lose.
“Threatening me again, Fernandez, and making moves on my fiancée?”
“I’m not your fiancée anymore. We broke up a long while ago.”
Diego touches my cheek, and I almost smack him away for his smooth caveman move. “Gotta talk about your taste in men who aren’t me.” Then he flicks his eyes at Riff. “Gonna order me out of town again?”
“I want you gone. You’re a troublemaker.”
“How so? I don’t have a record. You do, though, don’t you?” Diego says.
I narrow my eyes at him. What kind of pissing contest are they involved in here? And he’s been poking about my ex’s past?
“Speeding, beating up a teen who didn’t like how you played. Accusations of less than gentlemanly behavior at college, and my personal favorite, drugs.” Diego grins.
Jesus, I want to strangle them both. Diego for being an asshole and Riff for . . . well, whatever the fuck he might have done at college. I don’t care about any of that, but Diego’s not going to lie.
Riff turns red and shoves Diego. “All fucking lies. Get out of town and leave my businesses the fuck alone.” He steps back and straightens his jacket. “Nadia, we’ll talk soon.”
