Chasing Julia (Rhode Island Romance #2) (13 page)

Julia
basked in the afternoon sunshine in her poolside lounge chair at the Four
Seasons. Earlier in the day, she’d enjoyed a luxurious massage and a nap while
Hannah had gone shopping. They’d both just had a swim in the beautiful private
pool. Now they sipped the fruit smoothies they’d purchased at the cafe and
talked lazily of nothing important.

The temperature was
perfect, still hovering close to eighty degrees. Julia had slathered on
sunscreen and wore a wide-brimmed sunhat. On a whim, she’d purchased a daring
red bikini at one of the shops at Mandalay Bay next door. She’d lost all the
weight she’d gained since the break-up. These last couple of weeks, she hadn’t
eaten much at all.

Hannah’s impromptu
invite to fly to Las Vegas for the weekend was proving to be the perfect balm
for Julia’s frazzled nerves. Away from Providence, from work, from Tony, she
was able to think more clearly, to take a step back and ponder all that had
happened the previous Friday night in Audrey’s office and all the things Tony
had said and done before that time.

Or she could choose
not to think at all.

It had been early
afternoon when she and Hannah had arrived the day before. After getting
situated in their guest room, they’d walked up the strip to the Forum Shops at
Caesars where they’d spent several hours ambling through the various stores
before having an early dinner at a restaurant that specialized in Mediterranean
cuisine. On the way back to their hotel, they had stopped for a while to watch
the water display at the Bellagio. When they had returned to their room, they
had sat and enjoyed their view of the strip for a while before Julia had tugged
the curtains closed and suggested they call it a night. Hannah had made a joke
about how old they were getting as she’d switched off the light between their
beds. “It’s only nine o’clock!”

Yawning as she
spoke, Julia had reminded her friend that they’d been up since four o’clock in
the morning east coast time.

They had a return
flight on Monday morning. It was fortunate Julia hadn’t had any events booked
this weekend. She’d needed this break. She’d been to Las Vegas several times in
the past for one event industry conference or another. She had no desire to see
any shows or hit the casinos. The Four Seasons was a non-gaming hotel; it fit
her agenda perfectly. Hannah was a shopaholic and had already planned another
shopping excursion for Sunday. She hadn’t been at all put out when Julia said
she’d rather laze around the pool all day and maybe get another massage.

Hannah was the
best.

Julia took another
sip of her drink and lifted her face to the sun. “This was the best idea ever,
Han. Thank you.”

“You needed it.”

“Yes, I did.”

Hannah flopped onto
her stomach. She removed her sunhat and shook out her shoulder-length brunette
hair. She turned her face towards Julia. “Has the distance from him helped
bring you to any kind of decision yet?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t know.”

“How much time is
he giving you?”

“He didn’t say. Not
much.” A shiver raced through Julia as she remembered the dark passion in
Tony’s voice when he had told her he would come after her if she took too long
to think things through.

“I love how he went
all dominant on you,” Hannah said, clearly on the same wavelength. “I like a
guy who isn’t afraid to take charge.”

Julia pressed her
icy drink cup to her hot cheek. “Let’s not talk about him right now, Han.
Okay?”

“Sure, hon.”

They were both
quiet for a while. Then Hannah propped herself up on one elbow and gave Julia a
sly grin. “Let’s go dancing tonight. We haven’t gone to a club in ages.”

“Where do you want
to go?”

“It’s Vegas, baby.
The sky’s the limit. Let’s get some suggestions from the concierge.”

Julia had packed a
sexy, shimmering silver club dress on the off-chance that she and Hannah would go
out. She definitely had some energy and pent-up emotions to burn. “Okay.”

Tony liked to
dance. She felt a stir of regret over the missed opportunity to take ballroom
dance classes with him.

She had so much fun
when she was with him.

He made her smile.
He made her laugh. He made her forget everything except the pleasure of his
company.

So why was she
holding back?

Because she’d had
her heart broken? Her confidence in herself, in her own desirability had been
bruised. Any woman in the same circumstances would feel a spark when an
attractive man held her hand or touched her face or kissed her. Wouldn’t she?

She thought about
the way she had felt sitting on the pier with him, or walking along the beach.
Just talking. How it had seemed that her world contained more vibrant color and
light whenever he was near.

He knew her. Only
recently had she begun to realize that he probably knew her better than Joe
did. Tony probed beneath the surface. He stirred her up, pushed her buttons,
got argumentative. Especially in the last month. It was as if he’d been wearing
kid gloves around her all these years. Now the gloves were off.

She liked that.

He made her think
beyond the perfect wedding day to the days and days after that, to the
possibility of a forever with him.

Honestly, he
was
all the things she desired in a potential husband.

She did love him.
She always had. But was she
in
love with him?

Was she drawn to
him, in part, because of her worry that she only had a few good years left to
start a family?

God, what a
horrible thing that would be to wake up one day and realize she’d only used him
to suit her own selfish purposes.

He wanted to marry
her. He’d bought a
house
for her, for Pete’s sake. It didn’t get more
real than that.

She didn’t doubt
him. She doubted herself.

This is what
happens when your self-confidence gets broken, she thought. Everything was all
jumbled around inside her brain. She had no problem making work decisions, no
problem juggling several demanding clients at once. But it was very, very hard
to make heart decisions when one’s heart was still feeling bruised.

A pool attendant
came by offering Evian mists for her and Hannah along with some ice waters. As Julia
brought the bottle of water to her lips, she felt someone watching her. She
peeked over the rim of her sunglasses, scanning the surroundings. The pool area
was busy with a mix of families, couples and singles. There was a group of
college guys across the way who’d ogled her and Hannah when they’d first
arrived, but those guys were now occupied with a bevy of fawning college girls.

There didn’t appear
to be anyone looking at her. Not blatantly anyhow.

Still…

She turned to
Hannah. “I think I’ve had enough sun for now. You?”

Hannah yawned.
“Yeah. Let’s go in. I’m hungry. Think I’ll take a nap later. This is the life,
huh?”

The
club, located at the MGM, was at full capacity. The DJ was the main attraction.
Most of the crowd was facing the stage, waving their arms in the air as he
worked the DJ booth with consummate skill.

Electronic dance
music pulsed. Multi-colored strobe lights flashed. The thump, thump, thump of the
invigorating beat echoed the pounding in Julia’s veins. Caught up in the energy
of the crowd, she pumped her fist in the air and swiveled her hips.

She was feeling
buzzed. A good buzz. She and Hannah had shared a bottle of wine at dinner. They’d
each had a mojito when they’d first arrived at the club at around eleven p.m. After
dancing for a couple of hours, they’d sat at the bar for a while and enjoyed
another round before heading back to the dance floor. That had been at least an
hour ago.

She was happy. She
wasn’t thinking of anything. There was just the music, the steady beat, the joy
of letting go and feeling unencumbered.

Someone bumped into
her from behind. A body pressed up against her. Too close.

Damn it. Some randy
jerk was
not
going to spoil her mood. This had happened a few other
times already tonight. Guys getting too close to her and Hannah. This one was
grinding his pelvis against her bottom.

Asshole.

She spun around and
glared at him.

He looked like a
college guy. Clearly drunk.

“Back off,” she
yelled.

“Come on, sweet
thing. I’m just dancing. Just having a little fun.”

“I didn’t give you
permission to touch me.”

“Can’t help it.
It’s crowded. Someone pushed me.”

As she continued to
glare at him, he held up his hands in mock surrender and backed away.

She exchanged an
eye roll with Hannah before returning her attention to the DJ.

A few minutes later
he was at it again.

She twisted away
from him. “I said back OFF!”

He pouted. “Don’t
be such a bitch.”

Suddenly, someone
grabbed the guy’s shirt collar. “The lady said to back off. Touch her again and
you’ll regret it.” The owner of that voice shoved the college guy hard. College
guy reeled backwards. His belligerent expression after he caught his balance
quickly evaporated into trepidation. He held up his hands in appeasement and slunk
away.

Tony?

“
Tony
? What
are you doing here?”

He stood directly
in front of her. Close enough that she felt the warm heat radiating from his body.
He didn’t look pleased. “What are
you
doing here?” he asked, his tone
seething.

“Dancing. Having
fun.” She was shouting to be heard. “Why are you here? Are you following me?”

“Yes, I am,” he
shouted back without a trace of apology in his tone. “Good thing, too, from the
looks of it.”

She glowered. “I
had it under control.”

“Hardly.”

“You were supposed
to give me time and space. Why are you here?”

He moved closer. He
gently grasped her chin between thumb and forefinger and bent his head down to
hers. “Keeping an eye on what belongs to me,” he said close to her ear.

Heat coiled low
inside her belly. She fought to suppress an exhilarating surge of desire. “I’m
not a possession. I don’t belong to you. I belong to myself.”

Hannah moved into
their space. “Tony? Wow. What are you doing here?”

His mouth
compressed in a grim line. “That seems to be the question of the night.” His penetrating
eyes returned to Julia.

“Go away,” Julia implored,
dismayed by how quickly and easily she fell under his allure.

He narrowed his
gaze, scrutinizing her face. “How much have you had to drink?”

“I’m not drunk.”

“You look it.”

Her glower turned
defiant.

He released her
chin and grabbed her hand. “Let’s dance.”

She tugged against
his firm grip. “No.”

He ignored her,
pulling her along as he walked towards the back of the dance floor where it was
slightly less crowded and noisy. He turned around to face her, wrapped his
other arm around her waist and drew her against his body. He kept her hand
clasped in his and brought it up to rest on his shoulder before he released it.
Now he had both arms around her waist; his hold tightened.

She shoved her hand
against his shoulder. He didn’t budge. “You’re being mean,” she fumed.

“Am I?” he said
with a smirk. He grabbed her hand and brought it behind her waist keeping it clasped
in his. This brought her fully against him, her breasts thrusting forward,
rubbing against his chest.

His eyes skimmed
downwards. A smile of blatant male appreciation tugged at his mouth as he ogled
her exposed cleavage. “Nice dress.”

“Pervert.”

“Almost as nice as
that little red bikini you were wearing by the pool earlier.”

“You were
there
?
You were watching me?”

“
Me and every other straight guy in the vicinity. You
were the sexiest woman out there.” His eyes seared into hers. “Not sure I like
my girl flaunting her wares to every Tom, Dick and Harry Dick in Las Vegas.
Only I should have that pleasure.”

“I thought I felt
someone watching me. Where were you hiding?”

“I was on the upper
patio.”

She still couldn’t
believe he was here, holding her. The buzzing in her head accelerated along
with the beat of her heart. “When did you get here?”

“This morning. All
the flights yesterday were sold out. What did you and your friend do last
night?”

She detected a hint
of worry in his voice. The little devil inside of her had her answering
flippantly, “We went to see Thunder from down Under and partied with the boys
until three in the morning.”