CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Reynolds
I couldn’t believe I was breaking yet another one of my rules for Nadine.
And this one was stupid. Really stupid. I had realized that right after we’d pulled up to the restaurant.
There was almost no way that people wouldn’t realize I was here.
That’s what being a local celebrity did for me.
I looked around nervously. Tonight would be the only time I took her out.
Maybe I would get lucky, and no one would take pictures.
The outside of the restaurant was beautiful, as were all the buildings in what was considered the ‘new’ downtown area.
The Salazars owned almost all of them. It had been easy to enforce a code over the years that forced all future businesses to use the same brick exteriors, gas lamps, and wrought iron that the Salazars had initially used over three decades ago.
It gave the area a New Orleans or Savannah vibe, and I loved it.
I didn’t really want to take her to a restaurant where she might run into Leo Salazar, but that was difficult in this town.
The Salazars owned so much of West Bay. Leo and Joaquin, the twins, owned most of the upscale restaurants and some trendy cafés and coffee bars.
Nico and Carmen owned the clubs. Their father, Enzo, and Javier were real estate magnates.
They opened Salazar Towers, the exclusive downtown condominium complex in which everyone wanted to live, a couple of years ago.
It was already full. Salazar Heights, where Nadine and the other Cinnamon Girls from the auction always lived, was another one of their popular condominium communities.
They also owned townhomes in the city, and beach front hotels and condos.
There was no escaping their influence on this town.
I was lucky to have a good relationship with the family, and I always wanted to stay on their good side. Especially with the upcoming election. They’d supported my campaigns very publicly. I couldn’t get mad at Leo Salazar if I saw him and he flirted with Nadine.
Nadine looked gorgeous tonight. She always did, but she’d started to look more elegant.
More polished somehow. Maybe that’s why I didn’t want Leo to see her.
The only part that still looked a little less than polished was her cleavage.
The dress wasn’t that low-cut, but her tits were big enough that it made the dress look racier than it actually was.
I liked it, though, and we’d be in a private room at the restaurant, so I’d thought it would be fine.
Looking at her now, across from me, she almost looked like a polished society lady. I couldn’t say that I hated it. She was gorgeous in whatever she was wearing. But right now, she looked like she fit into my world.
The smile fell off my face, though, when the waiter came in to take our orders.
I expected any illusion that she belonged in upper crust society to disappear, but I was wrong.
It was clear that her etiquette lessons were paying off.
Instead of freaking out that the menu was in Spanish, she just leaned in a little.
“Feel free to order for me, Reynolds,” she said.
I was impressed. “We’ll have the menu del día, please. And a bottle of your nicest Cava.”
The waiter nodded. “Of course, sir.”
Nadine waited until he left, then looked at me with wide eyes. “Menu del día? What is that?”
“It’s like a prix fixe menu. Do you know what that is?
“Oh. Yes, Lonnie Maitland taught me about that. It’s where they bring out several courses for a certain price, right?”
I nodded, impressed.
“But what is Cava?”
“It’s a Spanish sparkling wine similar to champagne.”
“Ah. Okay.” Her mouth twisted into a smile that she tried to hide.
I grinned at her. “What?”
“The fanciest meal I ever had before I came to West Bay was when my ex-boyfriend, Mark, took me to the Red Lobster outside shitty Wilkins and I got crab legs.” She laughed. “I didn’t know how the hell to eat them, and he had to crack mine for me. It was a mess.”
I studied her face. She was no longer the picture of wide-eyed innocence, but I could still tell she was taking everything in, from the furniture to the light fixtures.
I knew she’d been around luxury before since the accoutrements in Sugar and Salazar Nights screamed wealth and opulence.
But it seemed she was still getting used to this kind of environment.
“You lived at Cinnamon House, right?”
Her eyes slid back to mine. “Yes.”
I nodded. “So, you’re used to this kind of setting?”
“Um… no. I don’t feel like I’m used to it at all.
I’m twenty-two. I’ve spent my time in West Bay kind of living like a rich person.
Before that? I lived in a single-wide trailer with my mama.
I barely remember my dad. He left. It was real hard for Mama to raise me alone.
She did her best but…” she shrugged and trailed off.
She looked away from me. “I say I kind of lived like a rich person because it’s not elegant or whatever to strip for your job, you know? ”
I nodded. I’d known our lives were different, but this was more extreme than I’d thought. I was almost reminded of the play Pygmalion I’d had to read in high school. Nadine and I hadn’t done much talking. Not about real things, anyway, and I found myself wishing we hadn’t started.
She put on a bright smile. “But let’s not talk about any of that. It’s kind of depressing, and I’m just excited to be out with you like this.”
“Me too.” I reached for her hand and held it until the waiter came back with the Cava.
“Mr. Salazar is in the restaurant tonight, and he says that your meal is taken care of. He’s also asked if he might send in the chef’s specialties for you to try. Will that be okay?”
I smiled tightly. “Of course. But just out of curiosity, which Salazar is in the house?”
“Mr. Leo Salazar.”
I nodded, frustrated but not wanting to show it. I was afraid Leo would try to infiltrate the date. Joaquin would have left us alone.
“That was so nice of him,” Nadine proclaimed as soon as the waiter left. I’d seen her pick up a glass of champagne and down the whole thing before, so I was pleased when she limited herself to a refined sip of the Cava.
“It was.” I lied. It wasn’t nice at all.
I knew he was trying to get under my skin by comping the dinner.
He was trying to make himself look rich and powerful to Nadine.
I gritted my teeth, though, and smiled. There was no need to ruin the night with my jealousy.
It was hard for me to admit that’s what I was feeling, but it was the truth.
I was jealous that after my contract with Nadine was up, he’d be right there to claim her next.
I hated that thought.
I saw that she was staring at me as if waiting for me to say something, and I found that I didn’t know what to talk to her about. “So, you said you’re busy. I know about some things you’re doing, but what all does Carmen have you up to during the day?”
“A lot,” she said, and I got the sense that she didn’t want to talk about it.
“Okay.” It was awkward between us. She looked as uncomfortable as I felt. “I, um, noticed that Carmen hasn’t set you up with a car yet. What kind would you like? I can take care of that if she’s too busy.”
Nadine started laughing. “I can’t drive.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Me and Mama didn’t have a car. We walked everywhere we needed to go or got rides from friends. Mama had an old junker for a while, but it died. She had a co-worker that picked her up most days and Mama split the gas money with her.”
I realized my mouth was hanging open, and I snapped it shut. “Oh. So do you have a driver’s license?”
She shook her beautiful head. “Nope. I didn’t have a car to practice on, you know?”
No. I didn’t know. I cleared my throat. “Okay, then.”
“Don’t worry, though,” she said. “Carmen has me in a driver’s education course.
Once I pass it, I’ll get a learner’s permit.
Carmen said her family has lots of cars I can practice driving on, and that she’ll help me finish learning after you and I are…
you know, finished or whatever.” Her voice trailed off and her eyes looked worried as if she’d said too much.
Damn. I didn’t like this. I just wanted things to be sexy and fun between us. Not serious.
“Great,” I said with a forced smile. My eyes kept trailing back to her body.
She was so damn hot. I looked around the room.
I knew there was a lock on the door. I wanted to fuck her, to bring back the fun sexiness between us.
I’d reserved the private room for more than one reason.
And staring at her breasts was making me hard.
The waiter came in with the start of our meal. He set the plates in front of us. There were a variety of oysters on them—raw, stuffed and baked, fried—and Nadine looked at them like they were maggots.
“Thank you,” I said. “Could we have some privacy for about thirty minutes?”
The waiter’s eyebrows shot up. He knew what was up. “Certainly, sir. I’ll lock the door on my way out. Just unlock it and press the button when you’re ready to resume service.”
I nodded.
“What is this?” Nadine pointed to the raw oyster.
I told her, and she held it up and shook it. It moved around a little. “Um, no. I’m not eating that. I swallow enough cum as it is, and that’s exactly what that looks like.”
I gaped at her. “God, Nadine. You’re not wrong, but you shouldn’t say shit like that out loud, honey. Those thoughts should stay inside your pretty head, okay?”
She turned a little pink. “Oh. Okay. Of course. I should have known that.” She bit back a laugh. “Oh my God. What if I had said that in front of Lonnie Maitland? She might have fainted.”
I couldn’t help laughing, too, and the ease we usually felt around each other seemed to come back to us. I was relieved. And horny.