Chapter 6 #2
He’d kicked his own ass nonstop since last night.
What the fuck had he been thinking?
He didn’t kiss. And he sure as shit didn’t kiss—he forced himself to use the safer signifier—Kayden’s sister.
Somewhere around three a.m., when he had given up all hope of sleeping, he’d decided to stop thinking of her as Keeley. If he could just put other descriptors at the forefront—Kayden’s sister, his employee, his friend—maybe he wouldn’t do any more stupid shit.
Like kiss her. Again.
He’d expected Gio to call him out for his actions last night, especially after Rafe had told him not to kiss her.
But as soon as they got back in the car, Gio had gotten a call from Tony.
There had been several break-in attempts at one of Moretti Brothers’ warehouses.
Copper piping was valuable, so thieves were on the prowl again last night.
They’d installed a state-of-the-art alarm system, but Tony had still wanted Gio to meet him at the warehouse to talk to the cops and make sure nothing had been stolen.
Rafe had dropped Gio off, and Tony had taken his brother home afterwards.
Rafe took a sip of his beer, his attention drawn back to the dance floor when he noticed Gio’s dark scowl.
Looking over his shoulder, he saw that Gianna had left the floor and was back at their table, texting someone.
Two men had joined Liza and Keeley, invading their personal space in a way that looked way too personal.
The man in the black shirt had stepped behind Keeley, and he was trying to pull her back against him, his hands on her waist. Keeley continued to dance, but Rafe noticed her subtle attempts at putting more distance between them, something the asshole continued to ignore.
The guy dancing with Liza was more circumspect, the two of them facing each other in a way that indicated they were just having fun, sharing a dance.
It was Keeley’s guy who kept crossing the line.
Gio stood up and cast a glance at Rafe, who nodded, albeit reluctantly, and rose as well.
“Where are you guys going?” Luca asked.
“Feel like dancing,” was all Gio said in reply. Or at least that was all Rafe heard because his friend was already storming toward the dance floor.
Before Rafe could consider his next course of action, or what it meant, he followed, the two of them entering the space next to Liza and Keeley. Liza narrowed her eyes at their arrival, something entirely unsurprising. She was no stranger to overprotective brothers and male cousins.
However, Rafe witnessed her expression changing to something infinitely more dangerous when she realized Gio wasn’t looking at her at all. Rather, his attention—and anger—was directed at the man dancing with Keeley.
Liza looked intrigued.
Something that was going to bite them in the ass later because Liza was like a dog with a bone whenever she sniffed out juicy gossip.
Gio reached out a hand to Keeley, who took it immediately, confirming Rafe’s suspicions. She wasn’t comfortable with the way the man was attempting to manhandle her.
The guy shot Gio a dirty look when Keeley danced away from him and into Gio’s arms.
“Hey,” the asshole bitched. “What the hell, man?”
Gio held her closely, possessively, as he shot daggers at the guy. The idiot was one more word away from Gio laying him out right there.
Rafe decided to step in before the confrontation ended in bloodshed. It was his nightclub after all.
“She’s with us,” he said, claiming the spot behind Keeley, his hands resting on her hips, just beneath Gio’s, closing them into a tight, dirty circle of sexy bumping and grinding.
Keeley—a great dancer—never missed a beat, her body swaying between theirs.
She flashed a grateful smile over her shoulder, one that might have made him grin at any other time.
Right now, he was having a hard time concentrating on anything except how good Keeley felt, dancing between them.
He leaned closer, taking a quick whiff of her hair.
God, she always smelled so good. Lemons and roses.
He’d wanted to indulge in another threesome with Gio since the affair with Jill ended, but there hadn’t been time, what with Grandpa’s illness and passing and then the unexpected inheritance. Now that Gio had opened to the door to that possibility with Keeley—
Fuck. What was he thinking?
He needed to put the brakes on that, and quick.
Something that might have been easier if Keeley hadn’t chosen that moment to grind her ass against him.
Rafe tightened his grip on her hips, his intention to push her away…
but instead, he held her there, not bothering to hide the impact she was having on him.
His cock was rock hard and ready to roll.
A quick glance over her head proved Gio was just as overwhelmed by the dance, by the closeness of their bodies. Gio’s hands were gliding up and down, stroking the sides of her breasts on every upswing. His leg split Keeley’s, their closeness ensuring that his thigh brushed against her pussy.
Their bodies swayed in time to the beat, their motions mimicking too closely what it would be like if they gave into their need and took her to bed.
Rafe loosened his grip on her hips, forcing himself to recall they were on a crowded dance floor. To hold on to the knowledge that they weren’t alone. There were too many people there, watching them, who were no doubt seeing all the things he and Gio weren’t exactly working overtime to hide.
Yep. He was in over his head and going down fast. His previous shared affairs with Gio had been so simple. For him, it was just sex. He’d never once crossed the line between physical and emotional, never felt the tug to do so.
But Keeley was…
Fuck.
He couldn’t finish that statement. Because he didn’t want to, not even to himself in the privacy of his own thoughts.
This was going nowhere good, and he needed to stop it before someone got the wrong idea.
And not just Gio and Keeley.
Luca and Liza were observant as hell, and Rafe wondered—not for the first time—how Kayden would feel about what was happening here.
Nothing is happening here.
Rafe had zero experience with relationships or love, and he intended to keep it that way.
Gio was the one who wanted love and marriage and all that crap.
It was glaringly obvious now that his emotions hadn’t really been engaged with Jill, Jennifer, or Vanessa either.
Sure, he stuck around longer, dating the women exclusively after Rafe bowed out, but those relationships had ultimately ended.
One glance at his best friend, at the way Gio was looking at Keeley as if she were made of pure diamonds, told him this time was different.
Which meant someone was going to get hurt if they didn’t stop playing this game.
The song ended, another beginning, and mercifully—or unfortunately—Keeley stepped away from them, fanning herself.
“I need a drink,” she said loudly, so that they could hear her over the music.
Liza pointed to the guy she was dancing with, signaling that she was going to keep dancing.
He and Gio led Keeley back to her table, where Gianna stood as if she’d been impatiently waiting on their return.
“I’m going to head out, Kee. Sam texted. He wants to talk. He’s out front waiting for me.”
Keeley nodded. “Okay. I hope you guys can work everything out. Call me later if you need to.”
Gianna gave her a quick hug, then said goodbye to them. Rafe followed her progress toward the exit, sneaking a peek at the bar. Luca was engaged in a conversation with…shit…
Kayden and Aldo.
Fortunately, all three men had their backs to the dance floor, so maybe they’d gotten lucky, and none of them had noticed their sexy dance with Keeley.
Now that they’d gotten Keeley off the dance floor and away from the asshole, Rafe was breathing easier. Her face was flushed, but Rafe couldn’t decide if that was due to the heat or a residual effect of the dance they’d all just shared.
“Thanks for the save,” Keeley said when the three of them were alone.
“I was this close,” she pinched her pointer finger and thumb together, “to kicking that guy in the balls. I hate when assholes think they can cop a feel on the dance floor. Like, who tells these guys that there’s any woman on the planet who enjoys some stranger coming up to her and grinding his tiny, limp dick against her ass? ”
Rafe frowned—because he’d just done the same thing. Not that Keeley had pulled away. If anything, she’d shifted closer. “That happens to you a lot?”
Keeley shrugged casually. “Enough to be annoying. But it was under control.”
Gio growled, “Didn’t look like it was under control.”
Keeley smirked. “I’d already given Liza the look, and we were a few seconds away from making our move.”
Rafe was intrigued. “What move?”
“We dance toward each other and do a sexy girl shimmy. The offending asshole always takes a step back to watch the show. Then, in the midst of the girl-on-girl action, either Liza or I—whoever is closer—slam our heel down on the jerk’s foot.
Works every time. Liza’s the best at it.
I swear I think she’s probably broken a few bones with her high heels.
” Keeley laughed, obviously amused by her own story.
“Is this the part where I thank you for not crippling me on the dance floor?” Rafe joked, aware Keeley’s story had done nothing to cool Gio’s jets. Rafe had seen his protective nature before, but it had never reached this level of…
No. Gio wasn’t feeling protective. He was jealous.
Which proved Rafe wasn’t the only one in over his head.
“You were in no danger of getting ‘the heel,’” she air-quoted. “That dance?” She fanned herself. “God…so hot.”
Rafe shook his head, fighting to restrain his cocky grin as she leaned her elbow on the table and shifted closer to him, her expression full flirt when she added, “So hard. And not tiny.”
Gio laughed, and it appeared he’d managed to shake off the worst of his jealousy. “Behave, minx. You’re gonna make Rafe blush.”