Dominik
The wait for Willow to come back to the table is worth it, especially since she returns solo. While I’m sure her friend Regan is very nice, I would prefer alone time with her.
I know I should feel guilty about the way I’m watching her as she struts my way. Her brother, Dax, would call it leering but I think it’s more like holy appreciation of beauty and sexual appeal.
She’s fucking perfect with dark brown hair that’s long and flowing over her shoulders. Long enough to wrap around my wrist a time or two. Her eyes are exotic looking, almost golden in color and tilted upward. There’s a lot of sun-kissed, glowing skin showing in her strapless black dress with deep cleavage. It’s the type of skin I’d spend a lot of time exploring if she’d let me.
I’m definitely going to ask.
“That look on your face is telling,” she says dryly as she approaches the booth I’d picked. It’s at the back of the restaurant and away from the rest of the players.
“Really?” I drawl with a slight smile, standing in gentlemanly fashion. I step aside slightly and motion for her to enter into the side I had just vacated.
Yes, my intent is to trap her so I have her devoted focus and attention.
Willow’s return smile is more of a smirk. “You’re wondering whether or not you can have me tonight.”
I incline my head at her, choosing honesty which is always the best policy. “More or less.”
She replies by merely sliding into the booth, on my side as silently requested. I know that doesn’t mean she’s saying I can have her, merely that she’s not repelled by my desire and is willing to sit and have a drink with me.
“Where’s your friend Regan?” I ask as I slide in beside her. I don’t get too close though, turning slightly to face her. I nod toward the glass of wine that was delivered by the waiter a few minutes ago.
“Dax is taking her home,” she replies as she picks up her wine glass and takes a long swallow.
Actually, more like a huge gulp.
“That bother you?” I surmise.
She swallows and shakes her head, staring at her glass as she sets it back down on the table. “No, not at all,” she says, despite her tone sounding slightly hysterical. “I mean… Regan is a childhood friend of ours and apparently Dax went and married her recently without telling any of us, but no… not bothered at all he’s taking her home.”
My eyebrows pop upward in surprise. “That’s an interesting family dynamic.”
Willow’s gaze comes back to me, and she gives a small but sheepish smile. “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t bother you with my drama.”
“I’m not bothered.”
She shakes her head emphatically. “No, it’s fine. Regan just told me it had something to do with health insurance so it sounds like he had a noble reason for doing it.” Willow then gives me a bright smile… an adorable effort to change the subject. “But I’m curious… why are you here at the rookie party? It’s not something that owners normally attend.”
She’s from a professional hockey family. Of course she’d know that.
I shrug. “I don’t like to consider myself a ‘normal’ type of owner.”
“That’s cryptic,” she murmurs.
“Not really,” I reply smoothly. “It just means I don’t confine myself to norms.”
“Like hitting on one of your player’s sisters?” she asks, a smug grin on her face.
I grimace slightly as I shake my head. “I don’t hit on women. It’s juvenile. What I’m doing in this moment is having a drink and some conversation with an incredibly beautiful woman who just happens to be related to one of my players. That fact is incidental and irrelevant.”
“But you want me?” she asks, and that catches me off guard. I’d expected blushing and maybe a little stuttering over my flattery. “That’s your end goal, right?”
I turn my attention toward my drink for a moment, realizing that this woman is going to be a challenge. I haven’t had one of those in a very long time.
When I bring my gaze back up to hers, I tell her the plain truth. “I do, in fact, want you. It would be stupid to deny it. But I don’t have an end goal. Just many, many ideas on how the rest of this evening can go between us. It could be we sit here and talk all night, and I’m fine with that. I could take you to the bathroom and fuck you up against the wall. I’m totally fine with that too. Or maybe I can convince you to come back to my hotel with me, and we can spend the evening talking and fucking, which would be my personal preference. Regardless of the path we choose tonight, I know I won’t regret meeting you, Willow.”
She stares at me a moment, before granting me a salacious grin. “I’m inclined to choose the bathroom option. That won’t make you think I’m slutty?”
“Not at all,” I reply truthfully, but now with a slight stirring in my pants she’d be so bold as to go there with me. While I’m more apt to whisk a woman off on a romantic weekend getaway to a fine resort, I’m not opposed to some quick, dirty fucking in the right situation.
I slide in a little closer to her, put my arm over the back of the booth and angle my body so I’ve got her shielded from the rest of the restaurant. She tips her head back to look at me, almost defiantly daring me to pull her out of this booth, toss her over my shoulder and take her to the nearest secluded place we can fuck.
My hand shifts so that my fingers tips brush over her shoulder. I skim them over the silky skin and fuck… knew it would be soft. She purrs in response and that causes my eyes to slide back up to hers.
“Your brother would murder me right now if he knew I was having this conversation with you,” I tell her, wondering if that’s a bother to her.
“Most definitely,” she murmurs, and slides in a little closer to me. I’m stunned when her hand comes to my thigh and slides up slowly. She stops before she gets to the goods, which has my heart galloping away. “But my brother isn’t my keeper. And besides… I don’t intend to tell him we’re having this conversation.”
“That’s good,” I reply. “Because it’s none of his business.”
“Truer words were never spoken.” Willow moves her hand from my thigh, picks up her wine glass and smiles at me over the edge before taking a sip. When she lowers it, she says, “Well, how about we have one more drink, which is technically our duty to try to make this painful for the rookies, and talk about it some more? I might need some convincing which way to go.”
I love that she’s not put off by my bluntness.
Admire the fuck out of her grit and sass.
Completely attracted to that body of hers.
While I hope to hell she chooses my bathroom idea and then agrees to go back to my hotel for the rest of the evening, I actually think I’m okay if she just wants to sit here and talk over drinks too. I do believe I’ll be happy to take whatever Willow Monahan is willing to give.
Dominik and Willow's story will continue in DOMINIK, releasing February 20, 2020!