Her gaze was straightforward—no batting lashes or shy glances. He liked that immediately. She was a woman who wasn’t hesitant. Despite her directness, that hot spark from when their eyes first met was nowhere to be seen. He wanted the spark back.
“I’d be happy to sing it for you anytime you’d like.”
Her smile tipped up at the corners, and she slowly slid her hand out of his. The gentle glide of her slim fingers sent shivers down his arm. “Raymond didn’t tell me you were having a party. I expected a business meeting.”
She’d ignored his obvious flirtation, which meant she was going to try to ignore what he’d noticed and felt between them. He should do the same, but direct and beautiful women were his weakness.
“A friend came over, and before we knew it there was a houseful of people. The whole party happened on a whim.”
“Hmm, is opening your club also due to a whim?” She looked from Dante to Raymond. He heard the insinuation that they were wasting her time. Dante grinned. Direct, beautiful and bold. Ballsy for a woman trying to go into business with him. He liked her even more, even if he didn’t like the assumption that he wasn’t serious about opening the club.
“I promise you, I’m very serious about the opening of my club. I’d like to debut new artists under my own label there. My family wouldn’t support these artists at venues owned and managed by W. M. Records.”
Her brows rose. He’d surprised her.
“Then I’ll do everything I can to make sure this place opens smoothly.”
Raymond smiled at them both. “I’m telling you, Dante, Julie is the right person for the job.”
His body was definitely on board with Julie handling this project, but his brain interjected. This was important to him for multiple reasons; he couldn’t just go with the decision the head below his belt was trying to get him to make.
“We’ll see. I’m talking to a few other developers.”
The corner of her inviting lips lifted, and her head tilted to the side. “Talk to them all you want. I know I’m the right person. In the next few days, you’ll know it, too.”
Dante added “confident” to the things about Julie Dominick that were making ignoring the head below his belt harder.
One of the women from the piano came over. “Are you ready to sing for us again?” she asked with a bright smile.
Julie stepped back. “I mentioned to Raymond that I can come back tomorrow to discuss business. I’m more than happy to do that.”
Raymond placed a hand on her arm. “Don’t leave, Julie.”
Dante zeroed in on Raymond’s hands on Julie, so familiar, without a bit of hesitation or awkwardness between them. Raymond said nothing was going on between him and Julie, but he’d also said she was the woman he could consider settling down with later, which meant Dante should pull back. No matter how his body reacted to her, he shouldn’t step on Raymond’s toes that way.
“Stay,” Dante said. “Change and join the party.”
She shook her head. “I’m not prepared for a pool party.”
Raymond chuckled. “You can’t tell me you came to Malibu and didn’t bring a swimsuit. Get the thing out, and come sit by the pool. I know this is a business trip, but you can have a few minutes to enjoy yourself.”
She glanced at Dante, and he nodded. He may not step on Raymond’s toes, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want her to stick around so he could see her in a bathing suit. Maybe the desire caused by that thought showed in his expression because the spark he’d witnessed earlier made a brief appearance in Julie’s eyes. It was quickly hidden when she turned to Raymond. “Fine. I’ll change and join you.”
Raymond dragged Julie away to get her bags and showed her where to change. Dante would have preferred to do that himself, but she was Raymond’s friend. Better for Dante to keep his distance.
He sang another song for the ladies in the music room but wasn’t really into having fun with them anymore, so he ushered them back to the pool. They kept him company, and he listened to them talk about inconsequential things. Each one tried to gain his attention and figure out who he’d spend the rest of the day with. It was a question he’d been debating before Julie walked through the door and broke his thoughts, scattering them like balls on a pool table.
The source of the scattering came out onto the patio, Raymond with her. Dante took a sip of beer that stuck in his throat. He coughed and sat up in his chair. Julie in a business suit was a man’s fantasy; Julie in a bathing suit was a man’s erotic dream. The red one-piece suit was plastered to full breasts and a flat stomach. It rose high on her hips; no sarong or wrap hid the perfection of her thighs and legs. Confident with a capital C. She’d switched the heels for a pair of red sandals. Dante took another gulp of his beer to stop his groan of appreciation from escaping.
She and Raymond settled into chairs across the pool. They talked and laughed, looking every bit the close friends Raymond said they were. She glanced around the space. Her gaze stopped several times as she took in the various people. When she stopped on him, a small smile lifted her lips and made his heart jump before she continued her perusal. What did that smile mean? Did she feel the same knocked-out-of-breath feeling when their eyes met, or was she just smiling at a potential business partner she had to acknowledge? He couldn’t say she was looking only for him because she seemed to check out everyone there.
He ran a hand over his face. What the hell? When did he become the guy obsessing over what a woman was thinking? Julie’s closeness with Raymond meant he had to keep his hands to himself. If she did get the job, getting involved with her might cloud his judgment about the club. He should ignore her.
A woman that Raymond had hooked up with came over to him and Julie. Raymond introduced her. Julie smiled and held out her hand. Dante noted her friendly and jealous-free greeting. The woman clung to Raymond’s side. After a few minutes of talking, Julie waved Raymond and the woman away. They strolled toward the door. Julie watched them, but there was no hint of regret, anger or disappointment on her face. Okay, maybe they are just friends.
Her eyes lifted and met his. Dante’s heart danced behind his rib cage. Again, she gave him a small smile, then looked away. He was up and out of the chair in an instant.
“I’ll have to tell Raymond to never leave a beautiful woman alone at a party,” he said as he sat next to her. “Someone else may slip in.”
Her smile was good-natured, not flirtatious. “Actually, I was waiting for him to leave. He has a way of unintentionally blocking. Now I’m free to talk with whomever I want.”
Dante liked the sound of that. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Anyone here you’re interested in having a conversation with?”
Her smile made him hot all over. “Actually, there is a guy I wouldn’t mind talking to.”
Dante’s grin widened. He slid his arm across the back of the chair and moved closer. “I’d love to know who.”
She looked over his shoulder, then used her head to indicate behind Dante. “Him. The guy in the green trunks.”
Dante frowned and glanced around. Carlos, the drummer they’d had to call in on the last leg of the tour after Dante’s original drummer got sick, stood on the other side of the pool. There was something about Carlos that Dante didn’t really like, but he’d chalked his feelings up to his dislike of unexpected changes. Carlos played well and hadn’t caused any problems on tour, so Dante ignored his weird feelings toward the guy.
“Him?”
“You sound surprised,” she said, and he swore amusement filled her voice.
“I