Page 15 of The Billionaire's Off Chance

“Hello, beautiful.” I turn at the sound of the voice. It’s a young guy, and from what I can see he’s close to my age at twenty. He looks a bit naïve but sweet with his toothy smile. He nervously pulls on the jacket of his suit. I smile and ease his nerves.

“Hello. I’m Chasmin.” He regains his confidence and gives his hand to me, palm up. Tentatively, I place my hand in his.

“I’m Chase, and I'd like to have a dance with you.”

“Sure.” Lance said I can have fun, and it won’t hurt to have a dance with Chase. I beckon one of the servers; he arrives to take my coat. Chase ogles at me, and I try to look unperturbed

We walk to the center of the room. The music starts, slow and rhythmic. It’s awkward at first having another man’s arms around me. I look around to find Lance, but there’s no sign of him. Everyone is blocking my sight. I relax. Lance won’t be mad. We have to keep our cover in public.

Chase and I begin to talk as we dance. I learn a few things about him like he had moved to Italy from the U.S and has been living here for a year now. He even volunteers to take me on a tour of the city. I reject his offer, but he’s really sweet about it. I can see that he has a growing interest in me, but I have none toward him. I continue talking and enjoying his company for the few moments we share.

Chase spins me, and I feel someone else taking over, his hands larger and firm, like Lance’s. When I settle from the spin, I see Lance’s face close at hand. “Is this what you’re doing when I’m not close by?” His voice is low and calm, but I can see the storm in his eyes.

He doesn’t wait for my answer and turns his sharp gaze to the dumbfounded Chase. “What are you still doing here? Can’t you see that she’s with me?”

“Lance, he’s an acquaintance. You can’t speak to him that way,” I say indignantly. Why is he being such a jerk? He agreed to us staying apart in public, and he’s going against everything we had agreed to.

“Oh, so you two are nowacquaintances.What else will you guys have become….”

“Hell, Lance, it was just a silly dance and we’re having fun, nothing more.” I’m defensive. Lance’s anger is getting the better of him, and he isn’t seeing reason.

Chase sees the argument going on and walks away. This time around, I’m the one who is angry. Doesn’t Lance trust me enough to keep me away from something as simple as a dance?

“Lance, this is annoying and frankly unreasonable. You know we said…”

“I know what we said, goddammit. But I can’t stand you being with that goofy ass man.”

“What…” He doesn’t give me a chance to speak. His arm around my waist pulls me tight against him. He kisses me, hard and demanding. My heart begins to race, and my skin tingles. It feels like a jolt of electricity running through my body, stimulating my nerves. When we break apart, I’m trying to catch my breath. I glare at Lance, worried everyone in the party has seen us kissing. What will this turn out to be?

He presses his forehead to mine, sighing. I touch his face for a moment forgetting where we are. “We shouldn’t do this, Lance. It could be disastrous.”

“I don’t care. We can deal with whatever anyone throws at us,” he insists and smiles.

I stamp my foot in annoyance. He isn’t listening! “Regardless, we should be careful.”

“We’ll talk about this later. I have to finish my discussion with a friend.” He kisses my forehead and I watch him leave. I have nothing to do with him chasing my dancing partner away. I follow him.

I see Lance speaking to a tall lady in a pink see-through crystal dress. She presses herself close to Lance, holding his arm. She makes sure her breasts are rubbing his arm and looks at Lance with adoring eyes. Immediately, I tag her as a threat. She shouldn’t be that close to him and Lance shouldn’t let her!

My anger goes to my head. I feel a chill come over me as if I’m losing Lance this very instant. I am beginning to understand how Lance felt when he saw me with Chase, but that doesn’t mean I’ll sit by and watch. Confidently, I head to them.

Lance brightens up when he sees me, and I feel a bit at ease inside. The woman doesn’t seem to have taken notice of me.

“Italy has been boring without you, Lance,” she says with a milky voice.

“That’s true, he has a way of bringing life to wherever he is. Isn’t that true, darling.” I am standing in front of Lance, wrapping my arms around his neck. He shakes the woman off, hugging me.

“I think I do.” He doesn’t look angry, but rather happy.

“You’re? Lance, I haven’t seen her with you before.” The woman’s voice shows she’s hurt and angry. I ignore her gaze, looking dreamily into Lance’s eyes.

“She’s someone special, Cecil. Have a nice night. We should dance, my dear.”

We move away from Cecil and dance around the room. Lance is a great dancer, taking me through several patterns. I’m carried away by his enthusiasm, and I give him my all. When the music stops, we get drinks and leave the ballroom. He takes me to a large glass door, leading to a balcony.

The darkness reigns, in sharp contrast to the brightness of the ballroom. I sip my drink, staring out to the garden and array of trees lit with ambient lights.

“I don’t say this often, but I’m sorry for the way I acted. Seeing you with that guy drove me out of my mind.” He leans his back to the rail. I step in front of him, hugging him and nuzzling my face in his neck.

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