Page 76 of Between Desire and Denial
“Your problemsaremy problems.” He smiled down at me, and I wasn’t sure if this was just for show or not.
I shook away the thought and sighed as I looked on at the whole town packed in Melly’s backyard. “Sorry. Everything here is so much more complicated than you probably thought,” I whispered. “My father is…”
“Don’t be sorry for someone else’s actions. They aren’t your responsibility.” Dimitri pulled me close to whisper, “Now, want to dance on that ridiculous dance floor?”
“Nope.” I couldn’t shake those terrible memories of falling in no matter how long ago it was.
Dimitri stared at me as the melody of the band swelled with a slow song. “Come on. I’ll hold you close. Won’t let you fall overboard. I promise.”
“I’ll pass.”
He hummed. “But Olive, aren’t you the least bit interested in theexperience?”
“Seriously? I’m not that curious about everything,” I grumbled, but now I was thinking about it and wondering a little. “Maybe you could go out there and tell me?”
He shook his head. “I go only if you go.”
I glanced around and didn’t see Melly or any of her friends. And the people standing on the clear plastic were doing just fine. Yet, I didn’t like how the platform only covered about three-quarters of the pool. Sure, there was a bit of a clear ledge so people wouldn’t fall in, but years ago, that wouldn’t have mattered. My fall back then had been epic.
Still, I couldn’t pass on the opportunity and sighed. “Let me put down my purse.” I walked over to the lounge chairs and realized half of the guests were now in swimsuits. It was unusually warm for springtime, sure, but Melly had also been squawking about how the pool had been “heated to perfection.” My being in a bathing suit was a smart decision in case I did fall in anyway. I shimmied out of my pants and coverup and went to go meet Dimitri at the edge of the shimmering water.
When he saw me, he stalked off the dance floor and started marching me back to the lounge chairs. “No.” He shook his head. “Absolutely not.”
I halted as I chuckled. This man made me feel like my ego should have been bigger, like I was worth it even if I didn’t have a job, didn’t have anything to brag about at this virtual high school reunion masquerading as a grill out. “Stop it, Dimitri. Don’t worry about what I’m wearing, and let’s go dance.”
“You’re in panties and a bra, Olive.” He pulled me over to the side of the backyard. “How the hell am I not supposed to worry about that?”
Chapter Twenty-Six
DIMITRI
“It’s a bathing suit—likeevery other person has on here. And if I happen to fall in the water by some ill-fated turn of events, I don’t want my stuff all ruined.”
I’d stared at Olive all night like she was mine. She was sleeping in my bed. She was sharing my food. My home.Ourhome now. I’d started to see little things of hers everywhere. Her flowers in a bowl on the bathroom counter, her clothing in the drawers, and her notes about her thesis everywhere.
She had invaded my life, and I couldn’t look away, not even for a second. She had started to become mine. Not just my fake girlfriend. My real one.
It’s why I unbuttoned my suit jacket and practically growled as I stared at her. I wanted to jump at whoever looked at her longer than they were supposed to. I held it out. “Put this on.”
“What for?” She looked incredulous. Or confused. I wasn’t sure which. “I don’t even know why you’re wearing it. It’s like seventy degrees and balmy.”
My blood began to boil thinking about her not listening to me, my muscles tensed. “Because every man out here has their eyes on you.”
She glanced around in disbelief. But I know she caught how Jameson waved at her. Motherfucker. I didn’t care how nice he was to his kid and everyone in town. The man barely worked. What type of hours did he have when he was on his porch every damn day, anyway?
“Dimitri, no one is looking. Even if that were the case, who cares?”
Who cares? Did she think it was okay for men to ogle her? “Are you kidding me right now?” I harrumphed. “I do. Me. Your boyfriend. You’re mine, and I’m not here to show off every part of you to anyone else.”
“But, Dimitri, this between us is—”
“Say fake, Honeybee. I dare you.” Something percolated in the air between us, and she knew it. I pulled her close and slid my hand up her body to her collarbone and then held her neck. The view of us to anyone around must have been extremely intimate when she shivered at my touch. She couldn’t deny this. Couldn’t deny us. Couldn’t say everything was fake between us when I squeezed just a little and she gasped.
Her eyes darkened and narrowed, and I wondered if she was going to meet my challenge. “Well, itisfake.” She pushed me with a smirk on her face, and I felt how the blood rushed through my veins. Didn’t she know I lived for this sort of thing?
I brushed a thumb over her lips slowly. I was proud she’d defied me. Then I took the jacket I was still holding behind her and stuffed her right into it.
Challenge met. I was going to make it completely clear to everyone that I didn’t want them staring at her.
