Page 17 of Reclaimed Dreams
Chapter6
43 years ago
Domenico Valenti got what he wanted. Confident and outgoing, he led with his charm. If that didn’t work, he put his shoulder into it and pushed until it gave way. At the ripe old age of twenty-one, the world was his oyster. He had a strong back and a sturdy if sometimes stubborn mind. His future was bright.
So when he walked into the bar for the blind double date with his brother and saw her, he had no doubt she’d be his. Across the smoky bar she smiled and laughed, and he couldn’t stop staring. Everything else fell away. Tony elbowed him to get him moving again. But even as they walked past the bouncer, Dom couldn’t stop staring.
As he made his way to the bar to order his beer, he kept an eye on the mystery girl hanging out near the pool table. She clinked her bottle with Elena, Tony’s girl, and his hopes rose. If she was his blind date, he’d take back every gripe about driving Tony to see Elena.
When he finally approached her, it was with the confidence that life had given him as a favored son. He leaned against the wall behind the pool tables and watched her.
It wasn’t the curve of her hips or her breasts that drew his attention, although those would have been enough for a second glance. No, it was the curve of her mouth that pulled him in. The flash of teeth, the glint in her eyes, finding delight in a dive bar, her smile open and amused and so fucking sexy he couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her joy was infectious. He wanted to know what she was smiling about. Hell, he wanted her to be smiling because of him.
And yet, he’d been standing there for ten minutes, and she hadn’t even made eye contact. Dom wasn’t used to being ignored.
Tony had abandoned him, cuddled up in a booth playing tonsil hockey with Elena. No help there. Dom straightened his collar and tucked a hand in his pocket. He leaned forward and placed a small stack of quarters on the edge of the pool table.
“I’d like your next game.”
She twirled her cue and looked him up and down. “I’m meeting someone,” she demurred.
“I’m someone. Dom Valenti, nice to meet you.” Dom grinned and held out a hand.
“Nice try, but I don’t think so.” She kept her hands firmly on her stick.
Dom wasn’t going down without a fight. “How about we play a game before you decide if you’re meeting me too?”
The friend she’d been playing abandoned their game and waved her off with a smile. He reached past her to grab a cue from the rack. Close enough to touch, but he didn’t. Close enough to smell, and God help him he did. Her scent, deep and sultry sweet jasmine, cut through the smoky bar and swam through his senses like a drug, temporarily stunning him.
She stepped around him and began expertly racking the balls, while he tried to shake himself from his intoxication.
“So are you going to tell me your name?” Dom asked.
“Depends. If you win, I’ll meet you. If I win, you’ll leave me alone.” Her lips kicked up on one side and the dimple that appeared in her cheek charmed him. “Your break.”
Lining up the cue ball, he shot and broke the triangle with his usual straightforward power shot. She nodded with reluctant admiration as the two ball fell in the pocket.
“Solids.” He crowed and thumped a hand on his chest. “Just like me, solid, dependable.”
That smirk he wanted to taste showed up again.
“Yeah, you look a little thick. Although if I were you, I wouldn’t be so proud of claiming the blue ball.”
Did she just drop a double dick joke into the mix? My God, she’s perfect.
“I sure hope that’s not how tonight ends up,” he said and lined up his next shot.
“Well, I’m not one to argue with a sign.”
That was good. She wouldn’t argue when he explained that the universe had aligned tonight to bring them together. Wrapped up in imagining how that conversation would go down, Dom missed his shot.
Gentleman that he was, he stepped back and let her have the table. He didn’t even check out her ass in those jeans when she leaned over the table. Well, he glanced, but he didn’t leer.
She sank the ten easily.
“There, now all the blue balls are off the table.” She winked at him and assessed her options, scoping out her next shot.
“Does that mean I’ll get to meet you later?”
