Chapter Nine
Stephanie
I didn’t see much of Venezio for the next few days.
It was mostly because of me and how busy I was. And, fine, a little bit because I didn’t quite trust myself to be around him and not try to, I don’t know, hump his leg or something like that.
I’d been in a heightened, constant state of arousal since the damn night on the street. I’d imagined those hands of his gliding, squeezing, slapping, thrusting. I thought about those lips and that tongue of his touching and tasting every inch of me.
And, well, yeah, other things too.
I’d chosen my next work project specifically because there was no spice in it. I was worried that narrating it would push me to the brink, and it felt wholly unprofessional to read a book sounding all husky and breathless.
So I’d been narrating this horrifically gory action drama that occasionally crossed the line into out-and-out body horror.
It managed to put ice on my libido. But only for as long as I was reading it. Then all bets were off because my stupid mind refused to think about anything but Venezio.
I’d literally gone through a set of batteries already. To no avail. I still ached at the thought of him and that sexy, rough voice, those mesmerizing eyes, and his gruff but protective nature.
Even his absence in my life wasn’t enough to calm my system down. Each time I smelled coffee or spotted a leather coat, I nearly wept with need.
To the point where I almost considered just… making a move on him.
Almost.
If it weren’t for the charity event I was depending on him to take me to, I might have done just that.
As it was, it was getting too late to find a replacement date. So I just had to suffer until then.
“You okay?” Craig asked, snapping me out of thoughts I should not be thinking of while sitting at a phone bank where I was supposed to be begging strangers for money to buy children’s toys.
“Hm? Yep. Yeah. Of course. Just got lost in my to-do list, I guess.”
“You have visitors,” he said, waving over toward the door.
I glanced up, spotting Andy and Sammy standing there, glancing around the warehouse with wide eyes.
They’d never visited before. And, yeah, if I tried to see it through their eyes, it wasn’t much to write home about. At least it was no longer freezing.
“Hey, guys!” I called, a genuine smile tugging at my lips as we walked toward each other. “What are you doing here?”
Andy was wearing a red velvet dress with red and black plaid leggings underneath. Sammy was clearly still dressed from work in her black pantsuit. But I noticed the pattern on her white silk blouse that looked like dots from afar was actually little Santa hats.
The two women were a study in contrasts. Where Andy was petite and red-headed with honey-brown eyes, Sammy was tall and curvy with dark brown hair, a sharp face, and light blue eyes.
“For two reasons, really,” Sammy started.
“For one, I have a donation I scrounged up at my mom’s work,” Andy said, reaching into her purse to pull out a brown sandwich bag seemingly full of cash. “They were pretty generous. I didn’t count. But I think—”
“‘Scuse me,” a deep voice that had been starring in all my bedtime fantasies said, scooting around the two women.
“Whoops, sorry,” Sammy said, leading Andy forward a step so Venezio could come in behind them.
“Wait, who is this?” Andy asked, eyes bright. Because she knew exactly who it was.
“Andy, Sammy, this is Venezio. He volunteers here. Venezio, this is Andy and Sammy, my best friends.”
Venezio gave them a nod. “Nice to meet you.”
“They came by to drop off some donations,” I said, reaching into the bag to produce the cash. “Looks like, maybe…” I started, fanning the cash, impressed by how many tens and twenties were in the stack.
“Twenty-eight hundred, give or take,” Venezio said, making my eyes widen.
“No way you can tell that.”
“Count it,” he invited.
Andy shot me a bemused little shrug as I started to count the stack of cash.
“Twenty-eight hundred and forty-three dollars,” I said, shaking my head at Venezio. “That is seriously impressive.”
“Hundred and fifteen more kids get gifts.”
“I’ve always been envious of people who can do math off the top of their heads like that,” I admitted, tucking the money away. “This is so great, Andy. Thank you so much.”
“You the lawyer?” Venezio asked, looking at Sammy.
“My reputation precedes me,” Sammy said.
“So, Venezio, what are you up to tonight?” Andy asked.
I shot her stern eyes, the universal ‘What are you doing?’ look. She promptly ignored it, as was her nature.
“Me? Nothing.”
It was crazy, but I liked how taciturn he was. He didn’t ask why she was asking or inquire about her night.
I might feel differently if I thought he was an asshole.
I had several instances of that not being the case, though.
He was just socially awkward and withdrawn.
I figured he didn’t ask or engage not because he was being a jerk but because he was a private person and didn’t want to put anyone else in an awkward situation where they had to engage when they didn’t want to.
“Well, that’s perfect then,” Andy said.
“Andy…” I tried.
“Oh, we both know there’s no stopping her now,” Sammy said, sliding her arm around her girlfriend’s lower back.
Venezio looked between the three of us, confused but maybe a little intrigued.
“Sammy and I were invited to a little friendsmas. You guys should totally come.”
“We weren’t invited,” I reminded her.
“Oh, come on. It’s Drake and Adam’s party. You know how that is.”
Drake and Adam were a wealthy middle-aged couple who owned a small apartment building in Chelsea. They threw notoriously over-the-top parties where basically the whole building was invited, so no one complained about the noise.
The last Drake and Adam party I’d been to had been a Galentine’s Day one from four years prior, in which I got wasted on Pretty In Pink martinis and woke up in my bra in the bathtub, covered in glitter at two in the afternoon the following day.
By the time I could climb out of the tub, Drake and Adam already had a massive hangover meal spread across the kitchen island.
It had been the best party of my life.
And now I was getting invited to a Christmas one.
Even if the invitation didn’t come directly from Adam or Drake, I knew they’d be fine with not only me being there but Venezio as well.
“Adam made frosted mistletoe margaritas,” Andy went on, knowing margaritas were my weakness.
A little groan escaped me, drawing Venezio’s attention. He shot me a devilish smirk. “Margs, huh?” he asked.
“My weakness,” I agreed.
“Anyway, you two have to come with us. You’ve got to be done around here for the night.”
I glanced back, seeing that most of the volunteers had cleared out. Save for Craig, who seemed to be waiting for an invite to the conversation.
“Come on. You work so hard,” Andy said.
“She’s got you there,” Sammy agreed. “Come on. You know you want to come.”
I did, actually.
And that felt like a major step forward for me. I’d been avoiding most social gatherings since my mom passed. There’d been no desire to go. Now that there was, it felt wrong to pass on the chance to get out, socialize, and have a good time.
“You too,” Andy insisted, looking at Venezio.
“Don’t let her bully you,” I insisted. “Sometimes it’s hard to accept that Sammy is the lawyer and Andy isn’t,” I added. “If you don’t want to—”
“I’ll go,” Venezio cut me off.
“Really?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Well… okay then,” I agreed, trying to seem casual while my heart was doing a little flip-flop at the idea of getting to spend more time with Venezio outside of the charity. Even if maybe mixing him with alcohol was not the smartest of ideas.
Just this once, I was going to let myself be stupid.
“Craig, I’m locking up if you’re all done here,” I called, taking the cash with me through to the back room so I could lock it up.
By the time I came back out, Venezio had turned off the space heaters and Craig was gone.
“Is there a dress code?” I asked as we all moved outside.
“Nope. You’re all set.”
The girls took off ahead of us, leaving me to trail behind with Venezio.
“It’s okay if this isn’t your kind of thing. I know it’s hard to say no to Andy. But if you get there and aren’t having a good time, it’s okay if you want to head out.”
“Why wouldn’t I have a good time?”
“Well, I know Christmas isn’t your thing. And Drake and Adam always take the party’s theme to the extreme.”
“I can endure the cheer.”
Endure the cheer.
Only I would find that saying charming.
All of us made our way into the subway, where Venezio stood near us like a moody guard dog, staring down anyone who dared to look our way. Once, when some woman curled her lip at Andy and Sammy holding hands, called out, “The fuck you looking at?”
Behind his back, Andy beamed and mouthed I like him!
The thing was, I did too.
Whether that was good for me or not.
When we walked up to the building, we could hear the music and chatter from down on the street.
“Sounds like shit’s already in full swing,” Venezio said as we reached the door.
“Dammit,” Andy grumbled at the locked door.
Sammy tried all of the apartment buzzers to no avail.
“Want me to get it?” Venezio offered.
“Sure,” Andy said, moving back a step to stand by me. “Get it how?” she whispered.
I had no answers for her, though, until Venezio pulled something out of his pocket and got to work on the lock.
Fifteen seconds—that was all it took.
“I don’t know if I’m impressed or concerned,” Andy admitted before Sammy pulled her into the building.
“Picked a lot of locks, have you?” I asked as I walked past him.
“Something like that,” he agreed but, again, didn’t elaborate.
Speaking became difficult by the time we made it to the top floor that Drake and Adam had converted from three apartments into one giant one.
It featured an open floor plan, save for the three bedrooms. And every square inch seemed to be covered in holiday decor.