sexy
glance there, and no one truly sure of the other person's feelings, even though
I'd told her I loved her more than once since coming home from the hospital.
I
loathed the idea of going to a club, to be honest. After far too many nights
spent in supposedly the best places in the city doing things anyone with a
conscience should be ashamed of, I'd sworn off the city's nightlife, except for
the functions required because of my position as the head of Stone Worldwide. I
never even visited the clubs my company owned, but Nina wanted to go out to a
club, so I had little choice.
If
it made her happy, I'd go.
Jensen
dropped us off behind a club called ETA just outside of the West Village, and we snuck in the back door unseen by any of those leeches with cameras. ETA
was an enormous club that claimed to afford a person all the privacy he or she
desired as they sat amongst hundreds of other like-minded individuals. Its name
meant Estimated Time of Arrival, a not-so-clever ploy to get patrons thinking
even more about sex. Years ago, I would have been happy to come all over every
square inch of the place, but tonight I planned to find as secluded a spot as
possible for Nina and me and hopefully she'd enjoy herself.
We
were escorted into a semi-private room off the main club and seated in a dark
corner in a booth covered in soft purple velvet. Dim lights flickered around
the room and provided just enough light to see who you were with but not enough
light to notice their imperfections.
It
was the perfect place for people who craved privacy and those who didn't want
to face the reality of their night's companions. For us, it hopefully would be
secluded enough that no one would notice me and interrupt our time together. In
any event, I'd prepared for the worst, but I really hoped we could avoid any
unwanted attention and just enjoy being with each other.
The
beat of the music thrummed inside my head, making it hard to hear anything
else, so I pulled Nina close to me. "What do you want to drink?"
She
looked around the room as the place began to fill up and turned to smile up at
me. "What are you drinking?"
"Scotch."
"Do
I like scotch?" she asked with an innocence that made me rethink that idea
of not coming at ETA.
"No,
I don't think you do," I answered after thinking about that first night
we'd spent together. "Maybe something sweeter?"
"Okay,"
she said and then bit her lip nervously. "Any ideas?"
"I'll
have the bartender make something you'll love. Wait here. I'll be right
back."
The
guy behind the bar seemed to know exactly what Nina would like although I said
nothing more than 'make it something sweet', and I returned to the table with a
glass of twelve year old scotch and a chocolate martini.
Nina
looked down at the martini glass rimmed with sugar and then looked up at me.
"What is it?"
Leaning
over to whisper in her ear, I said, "Taste it. Lick the rim and then take
a taste of the drink. It's sweet."
She
tentatively slid her pink tongue over the frosted sugared rim of her glass and
took a tiny sip. The liquor slid down her throat, and she turned to face me
with a smile. "It's chocolate!"
A
tiny sugar crystal hung off her bottom lip, so I slid the pad of my thumb
across it to clean it off before I licked the sugar from my finger.
"Definitely sweeter than I'm used to," I joked as I reached for my
drink to wash the overwhelming sweetness down.
Nina
touched where I'd slid my finger across her lip and smiled. "You prefer
the harder stuff, don't you?"
"I
guess I do."
She
licked her lips and reached up with her fingertip to touch mine. When she
tasted the drop of scotch from her finger, she made a face like she'd just
sucked a lemon. "I think I'll stick with my sweet stuff and leave that to
you. That's gross."
"It's
an acquired taste, I guess."
"Maybe
someday I'll acquire it," she said with a tiny smile.
I
shook my head. "You're more the sweet kind."
Two
hours later, we'd talked little more because the music
glance there, and no one truly sure of the other person's feelings, even though
I'd told her I loved her more than once since coming home from the hospital.
I
loathed the idea of going to a club, to be honest. After far too many nights
spent in supposedly the best places in the city doing things anyone with a
conscience should be ashamed of, I'd sworn off the city's nightlife, except for
the functions required because of my position as the head of Stone Worldwide. I
never even visited the clubs my company owned, but Nina wanted to go out to a
club, so I had little choice.
If
it made her happy, I'd go.
Jensen
dropped us off behind a club called ETA just outside of the West Village, and we snuck in the back door unseen by any of those leeches with cameras. ETA
was an enormous club that claimed to afford a person all the privacy he or she
desired as they sat amongst hundreds of other like-minded individuals. Its name
meant Estimated Time of Arrival, a not-so-clever ploy to get patrons thinking
even more about sex. Years ago, I would have been happy to come all over every
square inch of the place, but tonight I planned to find as secluded a spot as
possible for Nina and me and hopefully she'd enjoy herself.
We
were escorted into a semi-private room off the main club and seated in a dark
corner in a booth covered in soft purple velvet. Dim lights flickered around
the room and provided just enough light to see who you were with but not enough
light to notice their imperfections.
It
was the perfect place for people who craved privacy and those who didn't want
to face the reality of their night's companions. For us, it hopefully would be
secluded enough that no one would notice me and interrupt our time together. In
any event, I'd prepared for the worst, but I really hoped we could avoid any
unwanted attention and just enjoy being with each other.
The
beat of the music thrummed inside my head, making it hard to hear anything
else, so I pulled Nina close to me. "What do you want to drink?"
She
looked around the room as the place began to fill up and turned to smile up at
me. "What are you drinking?"
"Scotch."
"Do
I like scotch?" she asked with an innocence that made me rethink that idea
of not coming at ETA.
"No,
I don't think you do," I answered after thinking about that first night
we'd spent together. "Maybe something sweeter?"
"Okay,"
she said and then bit her lip nervously. "Any ideas?"
"I'll
have the bartender make something you'll love. Wait here. I'll be right
back."
The
guy behind the bar seemed to know exactly what Nina would like although I said
nothing more than 'make it something sweet', and I returned to the table with a
glass of twelve year old scotch and a chocolate martini.
Nina
looked down at the martini glass rimmed with sugar and then looked up at me.
"What is it?"
Leaning
over to whisper in her ear, I said, "Taste it. Lick the rim and then take
a taste of the drink. It's sweet."
She
tentatively slid her pink tongue over the frosted sugared rim of her glass and
took a tiny sip. The liquor slid down her throat, and she turned to face me
with a smile. "It's chocolate!"
A
tiny sugar crystal hung off her bottom lip, so I slid the pad of my thumb
across it to clean it off before I licked the sugar from my finger.
"Definitely sweeter than I'm used to," I joked as I reached for my
drink to wash the overwhelming sweetness down.
Nina
touched where I'd slid my finger across her lip and smiled. "You prefer
the harder stuff, don't you?"
"I
guess I do."
She
licked her lips and reached up with her fingertip to touch mine. When she
tasted the drop of scotch from her finger, she made a face like she'd just
sucked a lemon. "I think I'll stick with my sweet stuff and leave that to
you. That's gross."
"It's
an acquired taste, I guess."
"Maybe
someday I'll acquire it," she said with a tiny smile.
I
shook my head. "You're more the sweet kind."
Two
hours later, we'd talked little more because the music
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