“There’s no one in my life. I swear. You either trust me enough to take what I’m offering, or I’ll let you walk away for good this time.”
The smart thing would be to walk away. His evasiveness, his cryptic words worried her. Funny thing, she was never very smart when it came to men.
“I’m finally ready to go home. I’ve had enough of this wedding. How about you, Dax? Will you escort me home?”
His hesitation made her worry he changed his mind, but then he spoke. “It’d be my pleasure to make sure you made it home safely.”
Pleasure. Yes, there would be plenty of that when they reached her house.
“I have to say goodbye to Lily.”
“You do that. I’ll meet you outside.” He kissed her lightly on the lips and walked away.
Why wouldn’t he say goodbye with her? Perhaps he didn’t want to be seen leaving together. That would tell everyone what was about to happen tonight. He had the right idea.
Scanning the room for Lily, she saw her with Ryan and Travis. As soon as Lily saw her approach, she stepped away from them.
“Where’s Dax? Are you seriously not giving that man a chance?”
“What would you say if I was letting him take me home tonight?”
Lily’s face lit up with happiness until Sarafina gave her a look that said to stay quiet. “What aren’t you saying out loud?”
“I’m pretty sure this will be a one-time thing. I don’t want you to get your hopes up like this will be a new relationship or anything.”
“Ryan has better friends than that. Dax would never treat you like a one-night stand.”
“Well, maybe I’m treating him like one. Did you ever think about that? It’s been a while and he’s available. I’m stepping out of my comfort zone for once.”
Lily rolled her eyes in disbelief. “I would never believe that in a million years. There’s something you don’t want to say, but that’s okay. I’ll find out later when you’re ready to talk. And based on the looks from Dax, he’d never treat you like that. I know Ryan will be happy.”
Sarafina grabbed her arm with panic. “Don’t you dare tell Ryan I’m going home with Dax. Please, keep this to yourself. You’re right. We’ll talk later.”
“Fine. Have a great night.” Lily hugged her.
“You, too. Have a wonderful honeymoon. We’ll talk when you get back.”
Sarafina let her go, waved to Ryan and Travis, and started to make her way out of the ballroom. Almost reaching the exit, a hand grabbed her from behind.
“Saying goodbye with only a wave,” Travis said as he turned her around to face him.
“How silly of me. Goodbye, Travis.” She reached up to kiss him on the cheek and hugged him. “Is that better?”
He smiled. “Much better. Why are you leaving so early?”
“The party’s almost over. I’m tired.”
“Then I’ll leave with you and make sure you get home okay.”
Panic lit up in her eyes as she waved her hand. “I’m fine. What happened to the lovely brunette we picked out for you? You’re supposed to escort her home.”
“I changed my mind. I’m not into an easy lay tonight. I’d rather make sure you get home and then crash in my own bed. Why do I get the impression you have someone else taking you home?”
“What makes you think that?”
“I can always tell when you’re being evasive. Care to share who the lucky man is?”
“Not really, no.”
He gave her a look that said he wasn’t happy with her. “We talked about this. I screen any man who wants to take you home.”
“And I changed my mind. I appreciate you acting like the older brother here, but I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself. Sharing with my honorary brother about the man I’m taking home wouldn’t be a fair conversation since I don’t even talk like this with my real brother. Understand?”
“No, Fina, I don’t understand. I’m not okay with this.”
She gently laid a hand on his cheek. “You don’t have a say in the matter. I’m sorry if that bothers you, Travis.”
“I’m not letting you leave here until I know who it is. Don’t test me, Sarafina.”
The way her full name left his lips made her sad in a way she never felt with him before. She could see how upsetting this was, unsure of why it bothered him.
“What are you going to do, Travis? Tell me.”
Anger emerged on his face. Perhaps she was foolish to test him. He was the son of Martin Chilani, a man who always got his way. What made Travis any different?
Her hand dropped from his cheek when he took a step away from her. “I don’t think you’d like what I would do, so I’ll just say good night. You’re right. You can take care of yourself. Don’t think this means I forgive you.”
“Forgive me? Now you’re mad at me.”
“I feel many things right now, but I’m not sure anger is one of them. I saw you finally had a dance with Dax.”
He knew. She could tell in that one sentence that he knew who was taking her home. And he didn’t like it for some reason. “I did. Would you like to get lunch later this week?”
His features dipped into sadness but then nodded. “I’d like that. I’ll call you. Can the same thing be said about the man taking you home?”
“Goodnight, Travis.” She kissed him again on the cheek, despite him flinching, and left him standing there with the sorrow etched in his features.
Walking to the front of the hotel, she wondered if she was making a colossal mistake. Seeing Dax standing outside on the sidewalk, waiting next to a cab with the door open, his eyes drowning with desire as she walked toward him, she knew. This was no mistake.
“You didn’t say goodbye to anyone,” she said as she slid into the cab. He followed right behind her.
“I nodded a goodbye at Ryan. That’s the only person I needed to say goodbye to. And since I’m taking you home, there wasn’t a need to say goodbye to you.”
At least, not yet, were the unspoken words she heard. No sense worrying about it. She rested her head onto his shoulder, sighing with contentment at how right it felt.
“Where are we going? The cab driver needs to know,” he whispered with a chuckle.
“You have me all forgetful and flustered.” She laughed, then proceeded to rattle off her address to the cab driver.
Twenty minutes later, they made it to her brick stone house nestled on a quiet street at the end of the row of homes. Dax paid the cabbie without hesitation and guided her to the front door with one hand on her back. Surprised the nerves weren’t visible, she unlocked the door and stepped inside, flipping on the light.
“Welcome to my humble home. I’m pretty proud of it.”
“It’s definitely on a nice street. I didn’t ask you once tonight what you do. I feel like we’re skipping a lot of things and jumping right into something that should be taken slowly.”
She flipped the lock, then turned toward him and gazed strongly into his eyes. “Do you want to talk about what I do? Are you changing your mind about giving me more than one night? If you are, I’d be more than happy to talk as long as you want. But if you’re not, I prefer to skip a lot of things, as you put it.”