Antonia laughed again. “Sal, you’ll never change, will you?” she said, and hugged him.
Heading back to their table, Antonia and Sal were stopped by one of Thomas’s vice presidents. “Would you like to dance?” the middle aged man asked Antonia.
Antonia smiled into the man’s eyes. “I’d love to,” she said before Sal could decline for her. She slipped her arm out from Sal’s and allowed herself to be escorted back onto the dance floor.
For the next hour, she danced one dance after another, smiling up into the various faces of her partners. All of them were charming in their own way, some were married, but the majority of them were single professionals, almost all of them employees of ATI.
They all flirted with her, regardless of their marital status. But Antonia brushed off their advances and continued to enjoy the dancing.
That’s how Brett first saw her.
Brett entered the ballroom and scanned the occupants. He was looking for one woman in particular. And when he spotted her, his frustration over the last two weeks became a white-hot anger.
There she was. She was in a sexy black dress that showed her legs with every step she took, and she was in the arms of a man that looked as if he was still in college. With as much restraint as possible, Brett walked up to Sal instead of storming onto the dance floor and ripping her out of the man’s arms. Antonia’s brother was standing at the edge of the ballroom, looking like the wrath of God.
Brett took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, wishing he had something stronger.
“She looks lovely,” Brett said as calmly as possible to Sal.
Sal looked at the man next to him, registering that he was angry about something, but couldn’t fathom what it might be about. “Yes, she does,” Sal agreed reluctantly and turned his attention back to watching his sister – or more accurately, the man she was dancing with.
“Nice dress,” Brett said, noting that another man stepped up to take the previous one’s place as soon as the music changed.
“Some think so,” Sal said.
“Where’d she get it?” Brett asked. Sal gritted his teeth. “I guess I bought it for her,” he said.
“Why?” Brett challenged.
Sal turned to the man standing next to him. “Why are you so interested?” he said, somewhat belligerently.
“I’m not,” Brett lied and tried to look around the room. But his eyes were drawn back to Antonia, wanting to punch the man who was currently dancing with her
– too closely in his mind.
Sal took a new look at the man and realized that he was jealous - furiously jealous that his sister was dancing with other men, vying for her attention. After studying Brett for a long moment, Sal came to a decision.
“So what are you going to do about it?” Sal asked, turning back to watch the dancers.
Brett said nothing for a moment, just stared at her as she laughed at something her current partner said. But then he carefully and calmly put his glass of champagne on the table next to him. “Retrieve her.”
off her, he would continue to be angry. he was going to have to deal with it. didn’t react to it well.
Brett’s casualness was all a façade. Until he’d gotten other men’s hands
He didn’t like that fact, but it was reality and Jealousy was a new emotion to him and he
Tapping her current partner on the shoulder, he elegantly stepped in and took Antonia’s hand in his, then placed her other one on his shoulder, since she seemed too stunned to do it herself. He barely glanced at the man who had been dancing with her, dismissing him as soon as her hand was in his.
“Nice dress,” he said as he moved them back into the line of dancers.
Antonia couldn’t breathe. How could one man be so incredibly gorgeous in a tuxedo? It was only a suit, for goodness sake. Why did the sight of him make her so crazy?
Taking a deep breath, she turned her head away, refusing to look at him. “What are you doing here?” Suddenly, she wished she was wearing the dress Sal originally chose. At least it would provide more coverage for her. She hadn’t felt exposed until Brett glanced down at her and she saw the heat in his eyes. The same heat she felt as she moved to the music, his legs touching hers accidentally during each turn.
“You’re a good dancer,” he said, pulling her closer.
“Thank you. But that doesn’t answer my question. Why are you here?” she asked, marveling at how strong he was. She could feel his muscles as they flexed under her fingers or against her legs.
“Your brother invited me.” He said simply.
“Don’t you have a date?” She was praying that there was a woman out there that would drag him away from her. She ignored the jealousy that almost choked her at the idea of him dancing with anyone but her.
“Nope. Sorry,” he said. “I got the impression that you are now my date.”
“Who gave you that impression?” she asked suspiciously, her eyes turning to slits. She tried to put some space between them but he wouldn’t allow it, just held her closer.
“Your brother,” Brett said, smiling suddenly. He returned a nod when Sal raised his champagne glass to him. Feeling immensely better than he had for the past two weeks, he pulled her imperceptibly closer and looked down into her fiery eyes. “You look beautiful tonight.”
“You said that already,” Antonia replied.
“No, I told you that your dress was nice. But I didn’t mention how lovely you look in it.”
His voice was husky and the sound of it sent shivers down Antonia’s spine. “Stop it,” she said.
“Stop what?” he asked.
“Stop doing this to me. I can’t see you,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“That’s impossible,” Brett said, swinging her around so that he wasn’t staring at all five brothers as they danced. “Come home with me,” he said.
“No.”
“Yes,” Brett whispered in her ear, his hand moving to the bare skin on her back.
“No,” Antonia repeated, but even she could hear the weakness in her voice. She tried to pull out of his arms, but Brett stopped her before she could move more than a millimeter.
“Oh, no you don’t,” he said, bending down so that his lips were almost touching her ear. “You did that twice already. It’s not going to happen three times. Don’t ever run away from me again,”