Chapter 19
Dominic
We walk into the Cockpit through the back door, straight into the Ring Room. It’s already thick with people. Most fighters have a match tonight, so the energy is high and every table and stool is occupied.
“Hand on my arm,” I tell her through straight lips, and Mila hooks her hand into the crook of my elbow.
“Smile,” I add, and she grins. “Not like that,” I correct her, and it’s gone in a flash.
“Then how the hell do you want me to smile? That’s my waitress smile. It’s made me a lot of money, you know.”
“You’re not a waitress anymore, and you’re not smiling for money. You’re smiling for show. Just present a gentle smile that says I belong here, and I’m happy to be here. Don’t spread a smile across your face that says, I can’t believe I get to be here,” I say.
“Anything else?” she snaps through the smirk that is just the right type of smile.
“Yeah, loosen your grip,” I tell her. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. We’re just a happy couple.”
“Oh, is that what we are?” she jabs, and I smirk. I need to look happy to be here too, and her spicy attitude keeps me on my toes.
We make our way to our table in the VIP section and take a seat with Andrew and his date.
“Well, if it isn’t Mila,” Andrew says, standing until Mila is sitting. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Good things I hope,” she smiles.
“He never shuts up about you,” Andrew says.
“Oh?” she asks, and Andrew laughs. I resume my quarter of a smirk.
“My apologies,” Andrew says. “This is Bianca,” he introduces his date. Bianca isn’t new, but she’s not regular. Andrew has a habit of cycling through his women. Sometimes he adds a new one to the rotation.
“Hello,” Bianca says, neither put off nor impressed by Mila.
“Hi. Your dress is stunning,” Mila says, and Bianca only blinks. Then Mila adds, “Versace?”
Bianca’s expression shifts from bitchy to pleasantly surprised. “Yes. How did you know?”
“Who wouldn’t?” Mila practically purrs before taking a sip of water.
“Damn,” Andrew says under his breath, giving me a look of approval. I respond by slipping an arm around Mila.
The evening goes smoother than I expected. There are a lot of sideways remarks between us, but it comes off as sexy banter to everyone else. I guess it is both a relief and a surprise.
“So how is it living on beachfront property?” Bianca asks.
She is on her third martini, and both Andrew and I are nursing old fashions.
We are both fighting later tonight, so it’s only one drink for us.
Mila is sipping on a mocktail, insistent that she has a yoga class tomorrow and alcohol makes her bloat.
I’m starting to think the girl doesn’t drink at all, but I’m also loving that she can enjoy herself without it.
I think boozy Mila would put me on edge considering how unhinged her mouth can be without it.
Tonight she is behaving and playing the part beautifully.
“It’s lovely,” she says, smiling over at me. “Always something to do.”
“Dom does have the sweetest pool in the neighborhood,” Andrew adds.
“Let me guess, it has a waterfall,” Bianca says, and Mila’s eyes sparkle as she smiles toward Bianca.
“It has a grotto.”
Bianca shrieks and grabs Mila’s hand, squeezing it. Then she turns to Andrew.
“Why don’t you take me over there, Drew? I want to go in the beachfront grotto,” she pouts.
“We have to be invited first,” he says. It’s a jab at me. Mostly because outside of boxing, I don’t really do anything for fun. Andrew loves to remind me of that all the time, but our ideas of fun usually aren’t the same.
I smile. I don’t want to be the one to ruin the moment. I’ve seen a couple people around the room watching us, and when people watch, they listen. When they listen, they talk. When they talk, my dad finds out.
I’m about to say something, but Mila beats me to it.
“You’re invited,” she says. “We’ll have a barbecue and pool party. Won’t we, honey?”
Jesus Christ. I watch Andrew bite back a laugh. He is enjoying this so much.
“Of course, my love. Anything you want,” I answer.
My love? I don’t know where that came from. I’m not a ‘my love’ kind of guy. Hell, I’m not a pet name kind of guy. If I was it would be baby or sweetheart. But my love?
I down the rest of my drink, seriously contemplating a second one.
Bianca is beside herself, loving the promise of something a little more domestic as far as Andrew and her are concerned. I’ve wondered if she is interested in more than the occasional wine and dine followed by the walk of shame. Something more consistent could be good for Andrew.
She leans in then, and they kiss. It’s a peck at first, but then it goes deeper.
I clear my throat and glance at Mila. She is smiling down at her glass, circling the rim with her finger.
I turn in my chair and reach up, pressing the side of my pointer finger to her chin, turning her head to look at me.
Mila’s brown eyes are dark and wild as she gazes up at me. Her lips part as if they know what’s coming. I lean in and press my lips to hers. It’s a slow, soft, hot, lazy kiss. No tongue. No urgency. Just contact.
I feel her eyes flutter open as we pull away just enough to look at each other, and a small smirk tugs at the corners of her mouth. I consider doing it again, this time with tongue. I want to taste her. But before I can, music blasts through the speakers, making both of us jump back.
“Here they go,” Andrew shouts over the song Bottom’s Up by Trey Songz as it fills the room. We watch as Brynn and her girls hop into the ring for their dance routine. Brynn is in the middle with two girls on either side of her.
“Who’s the new girl?” Andrew asks. “The one in the braids on the end.”
“A temp, probably,” Bianca says.
“They’re looking for a new girl,” Mila says, and we all look at her.
“What? Brynn and I are friends.”
Friends. Right. I know they worked together, but Brynn and Mila are not friends as far as I know. Brynn doesn’t have any real friends.
We watch as they do their dance, a two song routine.
But as they transition from one song to the next, Brynn steps to the edge of the ring so a couple guys with fists full of dollar bills can shove them in her shorts.
One guy makes a show of giving her a hundred-dollar bill, and she blows him a kiss.
When she turns to walk back to the center of the ring, she rolls her ankle.
“Oh shit!” Andrew says. The girls all hover over her, but Brynn swats them away with a forced smile that is more of a grimace.
Then the medic who is on site for the fighters hops onto the stage.
He helps Brynn out of the ring, leaving the other girls standing there awkwardly as song two, Tipsy by J-Kwon, starts to play.
“They don’t know what to do without their queen bee,” Andrew says with amusement in his voice as he reaches for his drink.
“That’s because she’s the lead dancer,” Mila says, and I turn to look at her. But Mila stands up, and before I can ask where she is going, she dashes off towards the ring.
“Where’s she going?” Andrew asks.
“I don’t–” I shake my head, and then Bianca gasps and smiles.
“She’s going to dance,” she points.
Sure enough, Mila is ducking through the ropes and taking front and center. A moment later, she falls into step, executing the routine as if she knows it by heart, as if she’s done it a hundred times before.
“What the hell?” Andrew asks.
“Get it girl!” Bianca shouts.
What the hell is right. All I can do is watch as she leads the other girls in the dance, smoking Brynn at her own routine.
Andrew leans in close enough that only I can hear him. “Sexy waitress, sexy maid, sexy fake girlfriend and now…sexy dancer. Who knew?” he nudges me.
“Not me,” I say, snapping my fingers to get another Old Fashioned on the table stat. I had no idea she could do Ring Girl dances. Hell, I had no idea she could dance like this at all.
My drink arrives and I practically gulp the entire thing like a shot all in one go.
I watch her on the stage, all hips and smiles and perfect sync; I can’t decide what I’m feeling.
Surprise. Shock. Turned on. Angry. It’s a cocktail of unexpected emotions.
But as the song comes to an end, the room erupts in cheers and catcalls.
Money rains over Mila, and two of those feelings are for certain–
Arousal. And anger.