Hector (17 page)

“I don’t like beer,” Walter said, looking
down at his drink again. “What’s wrong with this?”

Hector lowered his voice, but even then
couldn’t hide the annoyance in his words. “Because you’re here to try and
impress her, not stand there hiding behind your girlie drink while someone else
dances with her.” Hector shook his head.
“Fruit Tingle?
Seriously?
You hold your pinky out when you drink that
too?”

Walter started whispering something back, but
Hector didn’t hear any of it. He was too busy trying catch what Horny Toad was
saying to Charlee. With the music so damn loud, it was hard to catch every
word. The good thing was she held her drink in front of her strategically so
the guy couldn’t lean in as close as he had on the dance floor, giving him no
choice but to speak loudly.

“It’s really cool. I have a sound system in
my front room, and since we don’t use the dining room, we have a pool table in
there instead. My roommate’s gone tonight. We’d have the place to ourselves. I
can show you how to play pool.”

Charlee smiled but shook her head. She was
further away and spoke softer than the guy, so Hector couldn’t hear what she
said, but based on what he was saying now, she’d obviously turned him down.

“That’s too bad,” the guy said. “Well, you at
least have to dance a few more with me.”

Charlee shook her head again, saying
something that was inaudible to Hector, but she looked uncomfortable. “Go ask
her to dance,” Hector whispered at Walter, reaching for his drink.

“What? No!” Walter pulled back his drink
before Hector could take it. “She’s with that guy.”

“Trust me.” Hector whispered a little more
urgently.
“That guy’s annoying as shit.
She’ll thank
you.” Walter shook his head again defiantly, the panic already all over his face
as if Hector were going to force him.

“C’mon just one more dance,” the guy said,
reaching for Charlee, who seemed almost as alarmed as Walter.

No shit she looked alarmed. The guy was a
pushy ass. Hector was glad she didn’t seem willing at all to get back on the
dance floor and have him pushing himself on her again. To make things worse,
the song playing now was a slow one.

“Damn it, Walter,” Hector whispered through
his teeth. “If you don’t ask her, I will.”

Just looking at Walter’s annoyingly terrified
face, Hector knew Walter wasn’t going to. Glancing back in
Charlee’s
direction, he saw the guy had repositioned himself on the other side of her so
he could now lean in again close to her ear. There was no way Hector could hear
what he was saying now, but one thing was clear from the way she kept pulling
back away from the guy’s face, Charlee was as uncomfortable as she had been on
the dance floor.

“Here,” He handed his beer bottle to Walter
roughly. “You’re seriously gonna have to man up. You should be doing this.”

Who was Hector kidding? There was no way
Walter would do what he was about to. He took the few steps to reach Charlee
and smiled at her, ignoring the guy. “Dance with me?” Without waiting for an
answer, he took her drink and handed it to the asshole. “Hold this.”

They both seemed stunned, but neither said a
word, and to Hector’s relief, she didn’t say no or protest his taking her hand
in his as he walked her onto the dance floor.

Chapter 10

Before Charlee could wrap her head
around what just happened, she was on the dance floor, pressed up against
Hector’s hard body, taking in the glorious scent of his cologne. His big arms
wrapped around her waist felt nothing like when Roger had held her earlier.
Just as she’d imagined, her body trembled in reaction to him inhaling deeply
against her ear.

“I didn’t mean to startle you or disrespect
your friend,” he whispered against the side of her face. “But you looked
uncomfortable. I didn’t like seeing you like that.”

Like magic, his words warmed her insides
instantly. He’d been watching her with Roger, and he hadn’t liked it. Drew had
been right. It was practically an admission of interest. Why else would he be
watching her? Why else would he have whisked her away the way he had.

“Thank you. He did make me a little
uncomfortable,” she admitted. “I didn’t realize it was so obvious.”

Hector pulled back to look her in the eyes. His
brows pulled together with that same hardened expression he wore when he’d taken
her hand and shoved her drink at Roger. “He was the obvious one,” he said,
sounding a little more than annoyed. “Your reaction to him was to be expected.
You just met him, right?”

Charlee nodded, swallowing hard and trying to
stay poised. Standing this close to him was a reminder of yesterday, and just like
yesterday, she was suddenly at a loss for words. What he did to her was unreal.
It rattled her yesterday, but it really scared her tonight, because after being
held by another guy so recently, she knew now nothing compared to this. Just
feeling Hector’s warm hard body against hers did things to her she couldn’t
even begin to understand—explain. It felt as nerve-racking as it did amazing.
Even though she could barely comprehend it, the feeling was everything she
imagined it would be. Taking a deep breath, she hoped he didn’t notice the
trembling manner in which she slowly let it out. Her entire body felt as if it
could go into spasms at any moment.

“I can say something to him if you want me
to.”

Charlee smiled, trying to hide the excitement
his offer made her. “I think you already made a statement back there. I doubt
he’ll even be there when I get back.”

His rigid stare softened a bit, and he smiled
playfully. “Did you want him to be?”

Fighting the urge to run her finger over the
scar on his brow, the only imperfection she’d noticed the first time she’d been
close enough to see it on his otherwise flawless face, she shook her head.

The playful smile vanished, and he was
suddenly serious again. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen eyes as blue as yours.
They’re . . .” He looked so deeply into her eyes she had to remind herself to
breathe. “They’re beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she heard herself say but really
had no idea how she managed.

It wasn’t what he said but how he said it
that made Charlee nearly quiver. Again it was something she couldn’t begin to
explain. What she was seeing in his eyes was the very thing she was feeling.
Impossible.

Neither of them noticed the song had ended
until the D.J. started talking about giving away prizes: 5th Street t-shirts,
tickets to upcoming bouts, and more. Hector cleared his throat, and to
Charlee’s
relief, he seemed as embarrassed as she felt
about not having noticed they were the only two still dancing even after the
music had stopped.

He stepped away from her, leaving her body yearning
to be pressed against his again. He even dropped her hand, which he’d held from
the moment he took it in his and led her onto the dance floor.

Everyone’s attention was suddenly averted to
the entryway of the banquet room. A group of people were arriving, and the D.J.
announced that Felix Sanchez had entered the building. The people around them
began talking and whispering all at once.

“You wanna meet him?” Hector asked. “I know
Walter does.”

Drew was suddenly at her side, smiling.
Charlee didn’t even get a chance to answer Hector’s question. He informed her
and Drew that he would bring Felix over to introduce him to them and the rest
of the people from the chess club.

As soon as he was out of earshot, Drew began
the inquisition. “What was that all about?”

Since Charlee didn’t know what to make of it
either and the pulse in her ears was still humming too loudly to try to make
sense of it yet, she shrugged as they made their way back toward Walter and the
rest of their group. “I’m not sure. He just said I looked uncomfortable with
Roger and he didn’t like it.”

“Really?”
Drew smiled. “Roger was kind of pissed.”

“Was he?”

“Yeah,” Drew nodded then laughed. “He said
someone should’ve told him you were Hector’s property.” She rolled her eyes. “I
told the idiot you were no one’s property. Although it was kind of hard to say
it with a whole lot of conviction, considering the way Hector held you on the
dance floor,” she lifted an eyebrow with a smirk, “even after the music was
over. What
else
did he say to you?”

Charlee felt her face flush, lowering her
voice as they reached Walter and the others, almost afraid to say it out loud.
“He said I have beautiful eyes.”

Seeing the instant excitement in Drew’s face
was enough. Charlee wouldn’t even attempt to explain what that moment felt like.

“I knew I’d prove my point tonight. There’s
no denying he’s feeling something for you. And by the way,” Drew reached over
and squeezed
Charlee’s
arm softly, “I didn’t get a
chance to tell you, but you did really well when you were talking to him
earlier. I know you were nervous about facing him so soon after yesterday, and
when he brought that up, I thought for sure you were going to choke, but you
handled it beautifully.”

Charlee couldn’t help rolling her eyes now.
“That was the wine, I’m sure. I choked when we were dancing. I could barely
breathe straight, let alone talk.”

Drew waved her hand at Charlee. “I wouldn’t
worry about it. He seemed so lost in your little dance I’m sure he didn’t even
notice.” She smiled wickedly. “I mean, geez, neither of you noticed the music
had stopped.” Drew laughed again. “That’s when Roger said he was out of here.”

“What about Maurice?” Charlee asked, still
feeling a little warm in the face that Drew wasn’t the only one who noticed the
room and everyone in it had disappeared for Charlee when she’d been in Hector’s
arms. And unbelievably her heart had sped up even more ever since hearing Drew
say there was no denying Hector was feeling something for her.

“Oh, he’ll be back. He had to go help the
D.J. out with the giveaways.” Drew smiled sheepishly. “I told him we’d be
leaving early, and he said he wanted to walk me out to my car. I think he wants
to kiss me goodnight. He almost did on the dance floor.”

Charlee smiled now too. “Are you gonna let
him?”

Drew lifted and dropped her shoulders
quickly. “I might. He is kind of cute. And I heard Roger and saw the way he
kept getting so close to your face. No wonder Hector came to your rescue.
Maurice isn’t nearly as pushy.” Something caught Drew’s attention. “Oh, wow,
here comes the megastar in the flesh.”

Charlee turned to see Hector and Felix
walking toward them. The crowd literally spread for them as they walked through
it. There were a lot more people there now than there were earlier, and they
all stared at both Felix and Hector as they walked by them.

Taking a deep breath like she had when she’d
danced with Hector, Charlee tried to gather herself. Hector was already smiling
big before he even reached them. She’d dream of that smile and that moment time
had stood still for Charlee tonight no doubt—all night.

“So you guys might have heard of this little-known
boxer named Felix Sanchez.” Hector patted Felix on the shoulder.

Hector began introducing them one by one, and
they all smiled and shook Felix’s hand. Even though Charlee should have been
feeling as
starstruck
as everyone else appeared to be,
her insides were still going wild as the reality of what had happened earlier
with Hector set in.

Felix was very nice and surprisingly down to
earth, considering how famous and not to mention good-looking he was. He was
actually better looking in person than in all the tabloids she’d seen him in.

As much as Charlee tried to focus on what
Felix was saying to them and attempted to mimic Drew’s excited smile, she
couldn’t help it. Her mind kept going back to Hector and what an about-face his
behavior toward her had done.

Another huge distraction was that he was
doing it again. Every time she glanced his way, she caught him looking at her.
He didn’t even try to hide it now. He’d smile every time. A few times she
thought he might laugh because she’d caught him yet again. And he wasn’t just
looking at her face either. Several times, like earlier when she caught him
taking her in completely, she noticed he was engrossed in her hair or her hands.

She knew her hair was eye-catching. It always
had been, and she’d always hated that, but the way he looked at it was
different, almost as if he were in awe. All her life, she’d had people comment
on her hair—compliment it even. But no one had ever gazed at her quite the way
he did. It made her insides warm but in a good way.

Felix finished answering a few more questions
from the guys then excused himself. To
Charlee’s
surprise, Hector didn’t go with him. Felix walked away with his entourage to
the next group of people waiting to talk to him.

“Is it weird having a friend that’s so
famous?” Drew asked Hector.

Even though it wasn’t directed at her, his
playful smile made Charlee breathe deeper. “People’s reaction to seeing him
will probably never get old. That’s different but hanging out with him, not at
all. He’s the same guy he’s always been.”