Lacey
After a long day at work, where confusing thoughts of Nolan had spun through my brain, all I wanted to do was to curl up on the couch and watch mindless TV while I ate dinner. But I had no groceries in the house, and since the last thing I felt like doing was grocery shopping and then cooking, I decided to call for takeout.
Vino’s was a wine bar and bistro just a short drive away. My boss, Jamie, had suggested it when I asked if there were any good Italian restaurants in town. When I arrived, the parking lot was filled, which was surprising for a weeknight. Their food must be even better than Jamie said.
Inside, I learned why the place was really so crowded. A banner announced that the Nurses’ Ball was to my left, in a private banquet room. I headed straight toward the bar, where I paid for my order and was told it would be ten more minutes.
I tried not to get annoyed. Ten more minutes until warm fettuccine Alfredo and garlicky breadsticks were in my tummy. I was hoping there was an empty seat at the bar—I could have a glass of wine while I waited, maybe text Brynn—but it was packed too. So I wandered over to the hostess station to wait for my name to be called.
But a very different voice called for me. A familiar masculine one.
“Lacey?”
I turned and spotted Nolan, looking devastatingly handsome in a black tuxedo and crisp white shirt. His black silk bowtie rested perfectly over the hollow of his throat. The unexpected sight stole my breath for a moment.
“Nolan? What are you doing here?”
He tipped his head toward the banquet room. “I’m here with Daniella.”
I thought he might offer to introduce us, but he didn’t. Which was fine by me. My heart was hammering against my ribs and all I wanted to do was flee. After the evening we’d spent together, the waltzing, the way he’d tugged down my wet panties and devoured me . . . I shuddered. And now he was here with her?
“I was just getting takeout,” I explained, even though he hadn’t asked.
He just stood there watching me, freshly shaved and smelling lightly of cologne. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. The idea that he was here, on a date, with another woman was mind-boggling. As was the fact that he’d taken the time to dress up and look so handsome . . . for her, not me. It stung much more than I thought it would.
“I better get back in there before she comes looking for me,” he said.
“Of course.” I smiled, trying to shove down the tidal wave of jealousy inside me. “Have fun.”
The words were a damn lie. I wanted him to have a terrible time, so terrible he ran straight into my arms without looking back. But I knew that wouldn’t happen.
Nolan watched me sadly. “I’ll call you later.”
The bitter side of me wanted to tell him not to bother. But I stuffed those words down my throat and smiled instead. He’d been honest from the beginning. What did I expect?
I watched him walk into the elegant room with black-clothed tables and sconces dimmed low. He stopped beside a woman in a long green evening gown, and she whispered something in his ear. He nodded and patted her hand. And that was how I caught my first glimpse of Daniella.
Whenever I thought of the other woman in his life, it was always some abstract concept, a hazy figure. Something I could pretend was far away from me and my relationship with him. But the Daniella in front of me was all too solid and clear. She was a real person, with a profession and colleagues . . . and a pseudo-boyfriend she wanted to show off to them.
She took his elbow. Sensing they were coming closer, I faced the hostess station again and pressed my back to the wall, not wanting to be seen.
The image of them together was burned into my brain. She was nothing like how I pictured she’d be. She was tall—in her heels, almost as tall as Nolan. Her dark auburn hair was twisted into a sophisticated knot at the nape of her pale neck. I hadn’t seen her face, which was a good thing. I didn’t want to know if she was beautiful; my insecurity would crush me. Better to stay in the dark.
“See that guy over there with the dark hair and goatee?”
That low, faintly husky voice must be Daniella. They were only a few feet away now, just past the doorway I leaned against.
“What about him?” Nolan responded.
“He’s a new doctor . . . and rumor has it, he’s a Dominant.”
“That guy?” Nolan asked in disbelief. “Dude doesn’t have a Dominant bone in his body. Look at him.”
Hearing their private conversation, how comfortable they were together, was startling. I was spying on a stolen moment between them. But I felt frozen in place, unable to move, barely even breathing.
“Don’t be mean. Just because he’s not built like a linebacker—or a SEAL, for that matter—doesn’t mean anything. I’ve heard he’s all varieties of naughty. He even joined the club downtown.”
“You tempted?” Nolan sounded surprised.