Page 62 of Rivals Next Door

He sauntered away, and I glowered at his back. He thought I was still a prude. Well, I was, but his little laugh made it sound like an insult. He was the one who coaxed me out of my Puritan bubble when we dated, and he’d had to work hard to do it. I didn’t want him to think that I’d lived a downright dull life without him.

Elena said you should never let an ex think you’ve led a less-than-fabulous life since he left. Should I even listen to my borderline insane friend…? The competitive monster in me was irked, so yes, I was going to listen to her. I’d show Alex that I was capable of letting loose and having a great time without his encouragement.

I walked back to our private booth that afforded a little privacy and shrugged out of my jacket. My white silk camisole top with the plunging neckline was sexy enough without the boring black suit jacket. I then rolled my pencil skirt up at the waist to show a little more leg. Taking a quick look around to see if anyone was watching, I quickly took off my pantyhose and stuffed it into my purse, which was barely big enough. Pantyhose was definitely not sexy clubwear.

Looking down at myself, I decided that I looked halfway decent… Hopefully, more like the thirty-year-old that I was and less like the uptight fifty-year-old executive Elena said I dressed like. I tugged my hair from the immaculate chignon it was in and fluffed the tresses around my shoulders. Lastly, I found a tube of lipstick in my handbag—luckily—and used my phone’s camera to apply it. I was still teasing my hair when I spotted Alex coming back to our booth with the champagne he’d insisted on us drinking since we got here.

According to him, we were celebrating my minor win… asshole… but he was a very good-looking one. He was dressed more casually than I was, and he looked in his element. Women stopped dancing to give him second and third looks, but he didn’t seem to notice them. His attention had zeroed in on me and that made me feel ridiculously pleased… although I knew it meant nothing.

Alex stopped to stare at me. “Liv, what… did you…?” He swept me from head to toe. “Change?”

“No,” I said, taking the bottle from him.

“You look…” His eyebrows puckered as he assessed me again, and I pursed my lips to hide my satisfied smile.

“Yup,” I replied to his unfinished statement. Hopefully, he was going to say I looked nice. As I poured myself champagne, I said, “I’m showing you how wrong you are. I can let my hair down and have a good time in a club. When I said this wasn’t a great spot for a bachelor party, I just meant that it’s too loud. How are you guys going to engage in proper bro time to talk shit… or whatever when you can’t hear each other? Plus, I see absolutely no space for strippers.”

That made him throw his head back and laugh. “Strippers? Charlotte will decapitate me if I hire strippers.”

“Is that the bride?”

“Yes, and I think she knows how to fight, so no strippers.”

Taking a sip from my drink, I hummed, “Still, we should check out a few other spots.”

“We should?” He lifted an eyebrow. “I thought you’d be ready to turn in after this one.”

“It’s early. Besides, I’m still in a celebratory mood.” With a playful smirk, I brushed past him.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“To dance, of course.”

His eyes narrowed on me. “You don’t dance.”

“You haven’t been a part of my life for almost a decade. What makes you think you know everything about me?”

“You haven’t changed one bit.”

Maybe he didn’t mean for me to hear that because he murmured it and the music was deafening. However, I read his lips and I was annoyed that he might think I was a dull soul, living a painfully mundane life. Maybe I was, but he didn’t need to know that.

“I have plenty of fun, Alex. I… I… dance and… do fun things all the time…”

His eyes gleamed with laughter—maybe because of my defensive tone. “Is that so?”

“Yes.” God, I sounded like a preteen with something to prove to the popular guy in school.

He held me captive with those maddeningly intense eyes of his and then gestured to the empty space in front of our booth. “Then, by all means, dance. I’m sure I’ll enjoy the show.”

We held each other’s gaze as I backed away with my glass in hand. There was a clear challenge in his eyes. He didn’t think I’d really let go of my inhibitions to do something as simple as dance. I’d show him…

Truthfully, I was nervous as hell because, as he said, I didn’t dance. I doubted that I knew how, but I’d silently accepted his challenge and my fierce competitive streak wouldn’t allow me to back out now. It was a good thing the buzz from our first bottle of champagne was starting to kick in. If he wanted a show, I’d give him one.

23

ALEX

I was pleasantly surprised as I watched Olivia sway to the music. She hadn’t lost her nerve as I thought she would when I put out that subtle challenge earlier. Hell, she was putting on quite a show. My eyes were glued to her as she moved to the fast tempo. She had put down her empty glass and now her hands were raised above her head, lifting her breasts.

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