Now, I know I’m an idiot for agreeing to be arm candy for a man I hardly know, but that doesn’t mean I’ll accept being made a fool. So, I excuse myself from the wives' table and glare at Enzo. He’s lighting a cigar when his gaze catches mine, and suddenly, his thumb can’t seem to flick the spark wheel.
But I keep walking and leave the private room.
There are over a hundred missed messages from my friends when I check my phone. Lord have mercy. Those girls can gab! A separate message is from Lydia, asking me to bring her a steak dinner, or she’ll tell Lucas what I’m doing. My nostrils flare at that threat. So I bang out a text telling her to go to hell.
She immediately texts back with a laughing emoji, a winky face, and a heart.
Ugh! I hate her, but I love her, too.
I’m halfway across the restaurant, the exit in sight, when Enzo’s hand wraps my elbow.
“Wait a sec, Mara.” He swerves in front of me, his brows creased. “What’s going on?”
“They think I’m a joke.” I point in the wives’ general direction.
“What did they say?”
“That you haven’t been in a relationship since you got divorced, and all you’ve had since then are flings. So, naturally, they look at me, our age difference, and view me as some flavor of the week.”
“Who cares what they think? We know what this is.”
“Do we?” I rub my forehead, groaning. “What was I thinking? This is a step away from Only Fans.”
“Hey…” He tilts my chin to look me in the eyes. “It’s just a couple of hours. Then we can leave, and you’ll get paid. We don’t have to do this ever again. I don’t want you doing something that makes you uncomfortable.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to do this. It’s that they laughed at me,” I whisper.
Enzo exhales a long breath while rubbing my arms. “I’m sorry. Jeannie and Audrey were good friends with my ex, Evelyn. So, they can be… territorial, but I didn’t think they would take jabs at you. That was my mistake.”
“It’s my age. I can tell they think we look ridiculous together. How is anyone supposed to believe this is real and not you paying me to be your date.”
“Let me handle that part. At the next event, you’ll understand why our age difference doesn’t matter. The women won’t be as vicious there. I promise, and I mean that this time.”
“Alright,” I sigh.
“Ready to go back in there?”
“Yes, but only if I can order a steak dinner for my sister, to-go.”
A laugh bubbles up from Enzo’s throat. “Don’t forget to throw in dessert.” He threads his fingers through mine and leads me back to the private room. “Any other demands?”
“No,” I say, but only because having our hands laced together like this seems too intimate to be pretend, and I stare at his profile, wondering if he feels the electric current traveling between our fingers, too.
When we re-enter the private room, there’s a hiccup in conversation from the wives as they turn our way. Their gazes go to our hands, and before Enzo drops me off with them, he pivots to rub my arms, which I’m beginning to like.
It's as if he's protective of me.
“Hold your chin high with them. Don’t let them shove you around.”
YOU ARE READING
Sugar Daddy Season (ONC 2024)
Romance𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 | 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 When Mara Santiago is laid off from work and dumped by her boyfriend, she moves in with her parents. Struggling to find another job as a ballerina, she begins go-go dan...
