Page 43 of Dirty Intentions

The slow, satisfied smile on her face let me know she was sorely tempted to find out and skip the reception. But if I was to make up for earlier, then I needed to ensure I escorted her downstairs.

By the time we walked into the ballroom, most people were seated and eating dinner. I hadn’t been to many weddings in my lifetime, but it was clear, from the flowers to the china, that no expense had been spared on this one.

As we made our way towards our table, I swallowed hard, fighting the panic about meeting her parents. But she gave me a reprieve by leading us to the bar first.

“Figured you might want a whiskey first.”

“You figured right. Uh, I—” I decided just to put the disclaimer out there while we were alone. “Look, I don’t want to cause you any judgment from these people.”

She straightened my tie, giving me a smile. “Let them judge away. I’m through caring. And think of it this way. You’ll never have to see any of them again after tonight.”

Right. The thought should’ve comforted me. But instead, for reasons I didn’t want to examine, it annoyed me.

After we gathered our drinks and me my nerve, we made our way over to the table. A woman who had to be Daniella’s mother sat beside a man who had to be her father.

The urge to flee was strong, but not as strong as my feelings for the woman beside me. Shit. Where had that thought come from? But I didn’t have the time to examine it because introductions were happening.

I smiled tightly, taking my seat next to Daniella after I’d pulled out hers like a gentleman. The entire table went around introducing themselves: her aunt, uncle, a couple cousins and, last but not least, her parents.

“Why are you so late? And why did you take off after the ceremony? We were looking for you for family pictures,” her mother started in.

My annoyance immediately flared, but I noticed my date simply took a sip of her martini and replied, her lips twitching. “I found out Shane was able to make it and was waiting at the hotel.”

“Yes, well, at least it’s not wasted money with an empty place setting.”

I gritted my teeth, thinking it was no wonder Daniella wanted company if this was her family.

She turned and gave me an apologetic smile.

We ate quickly, but not quickly enough. Her father leveled his eyes to mine. “So, Shane, what is it you do?”

I dabbed my mouth with my napkin. “I own a bar in Manhattan.”

“What kind of bar?”

Before the wedding, I would have answered that question with the blunt truth. Absolutely, no question about it. But I couldn’t do that to Daniella. I didn’t want the disapproval at the table to be directed in the slightest towards her. “It’s geared towards singles and requires a club membership.”

Daniella about choked on her drink, obviously not expecting me to lie.

“Is it successful?” her mother asked.

“Mother, really?” Dani gave her a glare.

I waved a hand, used to this sort of interrogation from people. Although I was tempted to blurt out something equally tacky, like: does clearing forty million over the last decade satisfy you? But I managed not to. “Depends on your perspective. We’ve been in business ten years and operated in the black for nine. Matter of fact, I met your daughter when she started doing our taxes.”

They got to stew on that tidbit while the toasts were made and the first dance started. When the other couples were invited out, I took Daniella’s hand. “May I have this dance?”

She smirked and let me lead her out to the floor.

“What’s with the smug look?”

“I was thinking you must really want anal tonight to put up with this and then ask me to dance.”

I laughed, moving my hands down to inappropriately cop a feel on the subject matter. “I have no issue with dancing, and your mother’s questions aren’t unlike other judgments I’ve received over the last decade. And to think, she’s made all these negative conclusions without even knowing it’s a sex club.”

She leaned back, studying my eyes. I swore she could see through all my defenses. “Did your mom judge you?”

“Yeah.” But I didn’t want to get into it here. “So back to the anal. When do you think we can get out of here?”

---