That took him aback. “You never used to talk like that.”
“Wrong. I think you had some image in your head of me that’s patently untrue. You never really saw me.”
“I was young and cocky. Self-absorbed. People change.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to point out that little had changed with him.
“Anyway, it’s nice to see you’ve gotten out of the shell I could never crack.”
That’s because ham-handed you didn’t have the right tool.
“Although I’ll admit I didn’t expect to see you at a ten-thousand-dollar-a-plate dinner.”
Her head snapped up. “The pair of tickets for tonight’s dinner was twenty thousand dollars?”
“You didn’t know that? Black didn’t brag how much money he was dropping on this?”
“Ronin doesn’t brag.” He doesn’t have to went unsaid.
“Right. He’s pure of thought, deed, and motive.” Tyler spun them deeper into the dancers. “He’d like everyone to believe that. But the truth is he’s a dangerous, violent man.”
She shrugged. “Comes with the territory of living in the world of martial arts.”
Tyler’s eyes searched hers. “That’s not what I was talking about. He’s not what he appears to be, Amery.”
“Don’t pretend you know him. You don’t.”
“And you do?”
Sometimes. Other times he was as much a stranger as when they’d first met. But she wouldn’t give Tyler the satisfaction of admitting that. “Yes, I do.”
“Knowing him and him knowing you are two different things. Trust me. Break it off while you can.”
“Come on, Tyler. That’s a little vague. If you’ve got the low-down dirty on him, tell me.” Of course Tyler didn’t recognize her sarcasm.
“There’ve been rumors that he’s not who he says he is. Rumors that he hasn’t completely distanced himself from his violent past that financed his lifestyle and his dojo.”
Ronin had told her his fighting skills earned the money needed to buy the building he owned, but she wasn’t sure if that was common knowledge. “Where’d you hear that?”
“Denver is a small community in the realm of sports. Ronin is well respected, but he’s feared too. Don’t you wonder why? Don’t you wonder how he’s able to afford to run with major players like Thaddeus Pettigrew and Max Stanislovsky? His dojo is successful, but not to that extent.”
“I wonder why you’re so concerned about what kind of man Ronin is, and questioning his financial background, and listing who his friends are. Are you jealous?”
“No. I’m just worried about you. You’re in over your head with him. You didn’t see the self-satisfied looks he shot everyone who looked at you, but I did. He gets his kicks forcing you to do what he wants, when he wants, where he wants.”
Amery looked Tyler square in the eye, despite her suspicion that he knew what’d gone on beneath the table during dessert. “No one forces me to do anything anymore.”
Tyler stopped dancing. “Your blasé attitude is freaking me out. This is not you, Amery. What happened to the sweet, fun, shy girl from North Dakota that I loved?”
Her back snapped straight. “She grew up and shed that skin after the man she thought she loved made fun of her for retaining those embarrassing small-town traits. Now you’re claiming I should still be naive and clingy because that’s the version of me you loved? Bullshit. Need I point out that you couldn’t wait to get the hell away from me when I was the sweet, fun, and shy gal? You don’t need to worry for her, because she no longer exists. I know what I want and I ask for it because I deserve it. So back off. You don’t know me now, Tyler. You never really did.”
“Fine, I’ll drop it. But I have to ask, what do your folks think of these changes in you? Do they approve of you being involved with a guy like Ronin?”
“I don’t care. They’re not in my life. It only matters that I’m happy with the changes.”
“But are you making all these changes for him?”
“That’s an insulting insinuation.”
He grabbed her biceps and hauled her closer. “Listen to me. You may think you’re tough because you live in a city now rather than a small town, but you don’t have the experience to deal with a man like Ronin Black. Very few people do. He’ll chew you up and spit you out.”
Slightly alarmed by his vehemence, she said, “Tyler—”
“Let. Her. Go.” A pause. “Now.”
Ronin.
Tyler immediately retreated.
“Never put your hands on her like that again. It would end very badly for you. Am I clear?”
If Ronin’s tone were a weapon, Tyler would be lying in bloody chunks on the floor.
Tyler raised his hands in mock surrender. “Sorry. We have a history and it was easy to slip into those old roles.” He shot Amery a quick smile. “Great to see you, Amery. If you ever need to talk . . . now you know where to reach me.” He spun on his heel and left the dance floor.
Then Amery was wrapped in Ronin’s arms. She clutched his back and held on tight.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. He’s just a blowhard who hasn’t changed, except he’s become even more of an asshole.”
“Why did you dance with him?”
“He asked me to.”
His body stiffened. “That’s it? That’s the only reason?”
“Do you have any idea how long you were gone? I was just supposed to cool my heels until you returned? I’ve already done that once tonight, Ronin. I was bored and he was here.”
He made that displeased noise.
“Besides, I was involved with Tyler for a few years. It’s not like he was a strange guy hitting on me.”
“I would’ve preferred a stranger hitting on you to him.”
Amery tried to look at Ronin, but he kept the side of his face pressed into hers, holding her in place. “Why?”
“A stranger hasn’t seen you naked. Hasn’t touched you. Hasn’t fucked you. Tyler has. Goddammit, he had you for three years. The realization that he’d screwed up by letting you go was written all over his face tonight.”
Ronin had read that wrong. Tyler didn’t want to be with her; he just didn’t want her to be with anyone else. “It doesn’t matter because I’m not with him. I’m with you.”
His thumb swept over the pulse point in her throat. He repeated the motion and it felt as erotic as when he’d touched her clit. His scent, his touch, his uneven breathing stirred her hair and her desire. “But are you really with me?”
“I’m confused. With you how?”
“In every way I need you to be.”
“Still confused.”
“Come home with me and I’ll show you what I mean. What I need. You said anytime, any way. I want you to prove it to me tonight.”
She shivered. “Let’s go.”
They left the dance floor in the middle of the song.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
RONIN held her hand as they waited at the valet stand.
Amery’s entire body tingled just from Ronin lightly stroking the inside of her wrist with his callused thumb. How would it be between them when they were alone? Mind-blowing.
Maybe it did scare her how addicted she’d gotten to his touch.
She shivered.
He swept her hair over her shoulder. “You’re shaking. Are you cold?”
“A little.”
“Here.” He unbuttoned his jacket and shrugged it off. Then he draped it around her shoulders. “Better?”
This was worse actually. The body-heated fabric that carried his scent completely surrounded her. “Yes. Thank you.”
He curled his hands around her face. “Baby, what’s wrong?”