“Come on, Zara,” he purrs. “It’s my party.”
“It’s not just your party,” I remind him. “You’re not the only person who was made senior partner.”
A smirk tugs at his lips. “Perhaps not. But I’m the only one who matters.”
“How do you manage to hold your head up with an ego that large?”
Giovanni throws his head back and laughs. “I have missed your quick wit.”
I take another sip of my drink. “Is there something you wanted, or can I get back to my friend?”
I look around for Karlie, but the room is so crowded she’s impossible to find.
“Oh, there’s something I want, but it can wait until later. Enjoy the party.” He flashes me a wink.
I barely register the fact that he’s left.
My body is trembling, and my eyes are stinging with tears. My stomach churns as I fight the memories trying to resurface.
Not here. Not now.
“Hey, Zara!” Karlie appears at my side, snapping me back to reality. “Sorry, got caught up chatting with Harrison.Urgh, it’s unfair that he gets to be that good looking and successful.”
“Mmm…”
“Is everything okay? You look pale.”
“Huh? Oh, I’m fine.” I force a smile, though my eyes keep scanning the room for Giovanni. “It’s been a long few weeks.”
“Tell me about it.” Karlie rolls her eyes. “I’ll be glad when all this is over. The new senior partners seem nice, though, which is good. I was worried they’d all be a bunch of egotistical douchebags.”
I open my mouth to tell Karlie to watch her back just in case, when someone who gets my heart pounding even more than Giovanni catches my eye. But this time not from fear…
“Oh no.”
Dimitri Koslov.
What the hell is he doing here?
He’s my best friend’s brother-in-law and a complete and utter playboy.
I can’t deny the fact that the man is incredibly sexy with his broad shoulders, dark eyes, and dark hair that curls slightly around the back of his neck.
I’ve never known someone to work a black shirt and pants as well as he does. But he fucking knows it, and that’s the problem.
And so do all the girls at my firm, apparently. There’s a swarm of them surrounding him, hanging off his every word as he flashes them each an easy smile.
I’ve been with guys like Dimitri before. It’s all fun and exciting to begin with, but when it comes down to actually putting a label on things, they run in the opposite direction and leave you a weeping mess on the bathroom floor.
I refuse to do that again. I’ve worked too hard to getto a place where I’m confident and secure not just in myself but in my career too, and I’m not going to jeopardize that for sex, no matter how mind blowing it would be.
Dimitri certainly looks like he knows what he’s doing.
As if he can read the dirty thoughts running through my mind, he looks up and catches my eye, flashing me a wink that has my cheeks burning and heat pooling in my lower belly.
“What?” Karlie glances around, most likely to try to see who or what’s caught my attention.
“N-nothing.” I grab her by the hand. “Come with me to the bathroom?” I don’t give her a chance to reply before I’m dragging us in the opposite direction before Dimitri has a chance to come over.