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Unsurprisingly, the name of Four Leaf’s new club is Club. Caleb may be a smart businessman, but he is wholly unoriginal when it comes to naming things. In elementary school and middle school, he had two dogs, one named Golden Retriever and the other Labrador. Despite the lame name and it being the early afternoon, Club is packed with thirsty 20-and-30-somethings.
“You got another pina colada?” I shout at Alex. I swear this must be her fourth one.
“What? They’re good! You can barely taste the alcohol in them.”
“That makes them all the more dangerous!”
“Chica, I’m part-Irish and 6 feet tall. I’ll be fine. I’m not the one who starts walking funny after 2 beers.”
“Shut up.” I am a notorious lightweight. When I turned 21, I had 2 glasses of wine and ended up dancing on a tabletop with my shirt off. Luckily, Alex dragged me away before I could remove my bra. Hence why I’m nursing a non-alcoholic Shirley Temple.
“You know it’s true.” She takes another sip of her pina colada and goes, “Ooh, this is good. I hate your ex, but damn if there aren’t perks to being associated with him.”
Due to the staff thinking I’m their boss’s woman, our drinks are free, which Alex intends to take full advantage of. I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t enjoy the star treatment a little bit.
“You sure we can’t ditch Secret Service and make a run for it?” Alex asks.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Kelly holding a glass of merlot at the bar. In spite of her drinking, her eyes are trained on Alex and me. No doubt she is prepared to pounce if Alex and I try to escape the casino. “Let’s not try. Kelly seems super-competent at her job.”
“If you say so.” Then Alex whistles. “Ooh, that guy is cute. And he’s looking at you.”
Across the dancefloor, a good-looking black-haired guy who looks like he could star in a Korean beauty commercial is indeed staring in our direction. “Are you sure he’s not looking at you?” My friend is beautiful. She inherited her mother’s large green eyes and bee-stung lips, and her father’s shiny black curls and blemish-free olive complexion. And she has a magnificent rack.
“He’s looking at you. See, he’s smiling and waving at you now.”
“Really?”
“Confirm for yourself.”
I point at myself, mouthing, Who, me?
His smile becomes bigger. He nods, mouthing, Yes.
“Wow,” I say, feeling incredibly flattered. Besides the potential K-beauty model, the only handsome guy who has shown an interest in me is Caleb. The other guys I attract tend to be strictly average looks-wise.
“You should dance with him!”
“I don’t know...” Caleb crosses my mind.
“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of him,” Alex says with disgust. Then she shouts across the room, over a remix of a Selena Gomez song, “She wants to dance with you!”
Mortification warms my cheeks. “Alex!”
“You should be thanking me. He’s coming over.”
The guy stands in front of me. “Hey.”
Lord, he’s so handsome. “Hey,” I say.
“I’m Paul.”
“I’m Allison.”
“Your friend said you wanted to dance?”
Pushing away thoughts of Caleb, I say, “Yes, she did. Would you like to dance with me?”
“It would be my pleasure.”
Alex sends me a thumbs-up as Paul pulls me onto the dancefloor.
“I have to warn you, I kind of suck at dancing,” Paul says.
I grin. “That’s okay. I’m mediocre at best.”
We do our best to emulate the movements of the people around us, but we’re hopelessly awkward and stiff. Nevertheless, I’m having fun and Paul is really, really cute.
Our dance is cut short, however, when I feel two hands that definitely aren’t Paul’s grab my waist.
Caleb hisses into my ear, “What the hell are you doing?”
“Hey, dude, who are you?” Paul asks.
Without blinking, Caleb answers, “I’m her fiancé.”
“What?” I squawk. “You are not—”
Paul holds his hands up. “Whoa, she and I were just dancing.”
“That better be the case,” Caleb says coldly. “Now run along before I break your nose.”
And like that, Paul is gone.
I swat Caleb’s chest. “You have some nerve,” I hiss.
“Me? You were the one dancing with another man!”
“You have no right to be jealous!”
“Like hell I don’t.” Then he throws me over his shoulder like a Neanderthal. I gasp when he slaps my ass. My face burns. Did he just spank me in public?
“Kelly, take Allison’s friend home,” he growls as he marches toward the exit.
“Yes, sir,” Kelly says.
Alex yells, “You fucking asshole, put my friend down or—”
Kelly grabs Alex’s elbow. “Let’s go, Miss.”
My fists land uselessly on Caleb’s back. “Put me down.”
“Not till we’re in our apartment.”
“Our apartment? Have you lost your mind? We’re not together and you’re sure as hell not my fiancé!”
With a maddening calm, he says, “We’ll see about that.”
When I hit his back again, he swats my butt.
“Hit me another time, and I’ll give you a bare-bottomed spanking over my knee,” he says.
I blanch, letting my hands go limp. His tone is fucking serious. Though a tiny horny part of me wants to hit him and see him make good on his threat.
Once we’re in his bedroom, I’m finally on my feet and seeing things right side up again.
“Why do you keep acting like you don’t want to be with me?” he asks.
“Because I don’t want to be with you!”
“Your eye is twitching,” he says in a low voice. “And you kissed me last night. You wouldn’t kiss me unless you still had feelings for me.”
“I...I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
“Okay. Then look at me and tell me you possess no feelings for me whatsoever. Tell me you don’t still love me.”
I pause. Too long.
He pulls me to him. “You still love me, Allie. Admit it.”
“I...I need to go.”
He grabs my ass before I can take a step. “I’m not letting you get away from me again.” Then he kisses me. I groan against his mouth as he clutches my sex. He whispers into my ear, “You can tell me to stop anytime. But you’re not going to tell me to stop.” He pulls down my jeans and panties, leaving them bunched around my ankles. Mewls escape my lips when he presses on my clitoris.
Stop. I open my mouth, but only silence comes out. Fuck, I want this—him—too much.
“Let’s take this to the bed.” He picks me up, then lays me down on top of the comforter. His mouth attacks mine, and I eagerly take in the taste of Red Bull and coffee. He slips a hand under my shirt and cups my breast, causing me to gasp. “Your nipple’s so fucking hard.” He twists it, making me groan with pain and pleasure. Then his hand travels down to my pussy, which by now is soaked. Clutching it, he orders, “Tell me you love me, Allie.”
All of my walls gone and now mere dust, I whisper, “I love you, Caleb.”
“Thank fucking Christ. I love you too, Allison.” His lips go to my neck. I moan as he bites the skin, claiming his territory. After giving me a fresh hickey, he yanks down his pants and boxers. I grip his shoulders as he places his cock inside me. Grunting, he pushes his shaft deeper and my accommodating pussy takes all of him. An explosive orgasm comes over me as he fills my sex with his hot cum.
Breathing hard, he sits up, pulling me onto his lap.
I rest my head on his chest. I should be full of regret—I told my ex I still love him—but I’m filled with only relief and joy. Caleb loves me. The smile drops off my face when something dawns on me. Did we just have unprotected sex? Again? “Fuck, Caleb, you didn’t put on a condom.”
“Marry me.”
“Huh?”
“Marry me. Let me take care of you and our baby. If you end up not being pregnant, let me take care of you.”
I rub my eyes. “Caleb...”
“You love me. I love you.”
“Yes...but...”
“But what, Allie?”
I glare at him. “The only reason I’m here in the first place is because you fucking threatened my father if I didn’t have sex with you.”
“How else was I supposed to get you back in my life? You wouldn’t return my calls, you wouldn’t talk to me.”
My voice drips disbelief. “Seriously? That’s what you have to say for yourself?”
“Sometimes, the ends justify the means.”
“Jesus Christ, Caleb!”
“Why do you think we can’t be together?”
“Besides the fact that you’re obviously insane, you...you’re a casino owner.”
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”
I twist my hands, finding my nails fascinating all of a sudden. “You make money off people’s self-destructive tendencies. I mean, I know you don’t force them to gamble, but the casino takes advantage of people, people like my father, and you harass people who can’t pay up. I know you care about me, but I don’t know if I can ever really be okay with what you do.”
He exhales. He must know I’m right. There’s no way we can work out in the long run. Instead of saying, “Yeah, you’re right,” he asks me, “What if I become a doctor or something?”
“What?”
“If I get a new career you’d be okay with, will you marry me?”
“I can’t ask you to give up the casino for me.” Four Leaf is Caleb’s baby. He put his body and soul into it, saw its birth, and helped it grow. I’m not selfish enough to let him give up his baby for my sake.
“So we’re just not going to be together?” he asks, grinding his teeth.
“It’s for the best.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it. What would be for the best is you becoming my wife. You don’t want to be with some boring-ass accountant or doctor. You want to be with me. So be with me.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Yes, it is. You have to stop making it so goddamn difficult.”
I bite my lip. I want to be with him—so, so badly. Can I overlook the less savory things about his job? Can I spend the rest of my life with him?
Can I be without him?
He cups my face. “Marry me, Huang.”
I realize for that last question, the answer is no. I don’t know if I’ll ever be comfortable with his profession, but I know I can’t be without him.
So I tell him, “Yes, Romans.”