“I’ve got faith in you, Eric. You’ll figure something out.” Dom tipped back his barstool a little and fought a smile. “Me, I’m just kicking back.”
Eric signaled the bartender. “You’ll kick back better with another shot, my man. As your lawyer, I advise you to drink heavily.”
“Ripping off Hunter S. Thompson, now?”
“It’s not a rip-off, it’s an homage.”
“You lawyers do have a way with words.” Dom clinked his glass against Eric’s. “To hitting it big.”
“Hah!” Eric pounced. “I knew you were thinking about that damned IPO again. You had that look.”
“What look?”
“The look that says you’re running through your road-show pitch. Dude, you’re on vacation. You’re supposed to be having a good time, not working.”
“Do I look like I’m working?”
“Yeah. Either that or thinking about what’s her name.”
Dom flicked his gaze to the ceiling and back. “Her name was Lynn, and trust me, I wasn’t thinking about her.” Their breakup a couple of months before had been a relief as much as anything. Lynn had been one more thing to manage, one more demand on his time, and as things got crunchier and crunchier between them, all pleasure had bled away.
“Well, you definitely don’t need to worry about the IPO,” Eric advised. “The numbers in the prospectus will sell the stock for us.”
Scowling, Dom took a swig of his tequila. “IPOs don’t happen by magic, you know. And if it doesn’t fly, I’m the one who’s on the hook.” Meaning, he should have been back in the room working the way he had every other night they’d been there, not blowing off the evening in a bar. Diving all day, sure, that was why he’d come. But there was a price for every pleasure, he’d learned that the hard way.
Eric, however, wasn’t buying it. “Number one, you’re on the hook to your mother and little brother and sister, who all worship the ground you walk on. Even if the IPO tanks, they’ll still walk away with more money than most of us have ever seen at one sitting, so you’re taking care of them. Number two,” he continued, warming to his topic, “we have a week of dead time anyway while the SEC combs over the draft of the prospectus. Then we go on the road to do the presentations, and I want you fresh for it. You’re supposed to relax. That’s the whole point of being here.”
Dom stared at Eric. “Really? It didn’t have anything to do with you wanting to dive the Colombia Deep and practice your Spanish on the señoritas?”
“Just looking out for your welfare,” he responded blandly.
“Because I could have relaxed at home.”
Eric snorted. “You wouldn’t have relaxed at home. Hell, you’re not even relaxing here.”
Dom thought of his e-mail inbox, piled high already with things he couldn’t handle long distance. “Too much going on right now for that.”
Eric sighed. “Look, Dom, there’s time. In a couple of days, you’ll be in the office. You can go back to being a workaholic then. But I’m telling you—”
“Give it a rest, Eric.” Even Dom could hear the edge in his voice. “Why are you busting on me about this?”
“Maybe it’s enlightened self-interest. You were a lot more fun in the old days.” The joking look disappeared for a moment. “And maybe because I’m your friend and I don’t like what I’m seeing. You’ve been doing this nose-to-the-grind-stone thing for five years now, ever since—”
“Got it,” Dom interrupted. “You don’t need to remind me.”
Eric hesitated. “You’re fried, my man, and I don’t mean sunburned. Time for a break. You’ve got competent people on staff and if they can’t handle things, they know where to find you. So do us all a favor, including yourself—for the rest of the week, kick back and have a good time. Tonight, you’re not a minitycoon in training, you’re not the next Wall Street phenom. You’re just a guy who runs a garage.”
“Oh, great. That’ll turn women on.”
“You kidding me? I bet there are a dozen grease monkeys between here and Cancun who are going to get lucky tonight. And at least one uptight millionaire-to-be who’s not, unless he lightens up a little.”
The night air was humid, but the breeze coming off the water was fresh enough to keep it from being oppressive. It had been a while since he’d been with a woman, felt soft, warm skin, driven himself into her heat. Maybe Eric was right. Maybe a quick, no-strings hookup with the right woman would be the way to forget his responsibilities for a night.
The problem was, thinking about the business had become a habit.
“Look around,” Eric invited. “This bar is packed with gorgeous women. Smile at one of them for a change. Shoot, I’ll even let you have first pick to show you what a generous guy I am. What about that redhead over there? Or the blonde? Or—oh, honey.”
At the change in Eric’s voice, Dom’s glance flicked over to see what occupied his friend’s gaze.
And found himself dumbstruck.
She was slender and blond, her hair cut short like some kind of little wood sprite, strands of silver and gold scattering over her forehead. She was dressed like a wood sprite, too, in a short, flippy dress of green that showed a lot of long, sleek leg. Something in the curve of her mouth suggested mischief, something in her eyes sparkled with devilry. She’d walked in with a half dozen other women, but she was the one he’d fixed on.
“That one with the long dark hair, she’s a model, I know it,” Eric said feverishly.
“I doubt it.” But Dom didn’t even bother to look.
“No, for real. I saw her in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition about eight, ten years ago. Look at that face, and, buddy, you wouldn’t believe her body.”
“Uh-huh,” Dom said, unable to take his eyes off the blonde. It was as though more light gathered around her than around anyone else in the bar. She walked—no, sashayed—into the room with an exuberance that made him wonder if she carried it over into everything she did.
Including making love.
When she leaned over to whisper something to one of her girlfriends, he could hear the husky murmur in his own ear, feel the warmth of her breath. He looked at her mouth and he knew what she would taste like, how soft her lips would be. She might have appeared as a pixie but she’d feel all woman in his arms. She’d press up against him and her breath would catch when he touched her just so.
And if he didn’t know how she’d look naked, his imagination was already efficiently painting the picture for him.
With a click of drumsticks, the band launched into a fast salsa number. The blonde swung her hips a bit, moving to the music. A night, Dom thought feverishly. An hour. Five minutes, even.
They could do a lot of things in five minutes.
“She ought to have a license to be so fine in public.” It was only when he heard his voice that he realized he’d spoken aloud.
“Hey, you can’t go after her,” Eric said aggrievedly.
“You were the one who was talking about relaxing.”
“Yeah, but not by hitting on her. That’s my job. Go after one of your own.”
Reaching for his tequila, Dom knocked it back in one swallow and stood.
“Trust me, buddy, I am.”
2
“NOW THIS IS A BAR,” Delaney announced as they threaded their way through the sea of