“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Melanie,” he said, as his eyes locked on mine.
“It’s very nice to meet you too Mike,” I said, smiling brightly at him.
“I hope both of you are hungry,” Mike said, as he released my hand and turned back to James. “If you’ll follow me I’ll show you to your table.”
I noticed the look of disgust on a few of the people’s faces who were waiting, as we cut the line and walked into the restaurant, my heels clicking on the beautiful brown ceramic tiles. The pub had a modern, yet rustic look. The walls were mainly brick, broken up by wood columns and the ceiling had large wooden planks giving it a bucolic, unfinished look which added to the chic, modern charm of the restaurant.
Mike sat us at our table and then told James that if there was anything that he needed, to just ask for him.
I looked at James and smiled at him across the table.
“You didn’t really think we were going to wait in that line did you?” he said sardonically, returning my smile.
“Of course not,” I said, as he reached out across the table and took my hand affectionately.
I looked around, surveying the packed restaurant. It was a very young crowd that looked to be mostly college-aged kids who were probably a mix of locals and tourists I thought. There was an amazing vibe to the place, the restaurant felt fresh and hip, exactly how the article I read described it.
Because it was a younger crowd of people my age, I felt very comfortable, and the majority of the women were dressed like me wearing short, sexy eveningwear style dresses, so I didn’t stand out the way I did in James’ restaurant in Summerlin last month. I surmised that the majority of the patrons in this restaurant were eating dinner and getting a few drinks before they headed out to the clubs and bars on the strip.
After the waitress took our order, James asked, “So what do you think of the place?”
“I really like it, and Mike was very nice,” I said enthusiastically.
“He’s a good guy, I met him when I was in college, and he’s done very well for himself. He has two other restaurants here in Las Vegas, and another in San Diego,” James said, as he intently surveyed our surroundings.
“I get the feeling this isn’t a purely social evening out,” I said smiling.
James returned my smile, “No it isn’t,” he said, matter-of-factly. “My business partner and I are going to open a Gastropub in West Hollywood and Mike’s is so successful, I wanted to see this place for myself so I could size it up and maybe get a few ideas.”
“I didn’t know you had a business partner,” I said, while sipping my wine.
“I own all of my restaurants except the two that I own with my partner, he said thoughtfully. These types of trendy restaurants, like Gastropubs, are much riskier and less likely to return a steady profit. However, when they are done right, they can be very lucrative. Because they are so risky, it makes better business sense to share that risk with someone, hence, my partner.”
He was so smart and business savvy. Intelligence was a huge turn on for me, and James had that in spades.
Our conversation was momentarily put on hold as our server brought us our dinner. I had ordered a chicken sandwich which came with a small side salad and James had ordered a steak sandwich with a baked potato instead of fries.
The food was delicious and we continued our conversation while we ate. We talked about my classes and his restaurants. The more he talked about his restaurants in Los Angeles the more I thought of how much I missed my family there.
I have three older brothers. My oldest brother’s wife is pregnant with their second child and my second oldest brother had told me a few days before that his wife is pregnant with their first child.
My two elder brothers were very stable, both had wives and were starting families, but my youngest brother was a much different story. He was the classic pretty boy and very few women could say no to him, including a lot of my friends in high school that he had bedded. I teased him constantly, telling him that he was a man-whore and an affront to all women.
Even though we traded barbs constantly, I loved him dearly and I was closer to him than my other two brothers. I knew all of his secrets and unlike the rest of my family, he knew all of mine. And in truth, we were much more alike than I cared to admit. We both constantly bed hopped with women and we seemed to refuse to settle down with anyone. However, maybe Gianna was changing that for me I thought.
My thoughts then turned to my father. We spoke at least twice a week and I knew how much he missed me and wanted me to come home and visit more, but it seemed like my absence from him couldn’t be helped. My mom and I could barely be in the same room with each other most of the time, much less be civil and hold a normal adult conversation. It was just easier to stay away than see her and fight constantly. Unfortunately, that kept me from seeing the rest of my family.
Just as we had finished eating, Mike came to our table and asked us how our dinner was. We both agreed that the food was delicious and James teased Mike about attempting to steal his chef. Once we had finished eating, James paid the check and bid goodbye to Mike and we started to make our way towards the door.
As we were walking, James very roughly and possessively pulled me towards him until it felt that he was crushing me against his body. At first, I wasn’t sure why he pulled me to him, then l noticed that a lot of the young college-aged guys at the bar were staring at me as we were walking through the restaurant towards the front door. I looked straight ahead ignoring their lustful gawking until we had exited the restaurant.
As soon as the driver saw us, he immediately got out of the limo and walked around to open the door for us. James and I slid into the back seat and James’ instantly put his hand on my leg as I tried to pull the hem of my dress down in an attempt to cover some of the acres of my thighs that was being revealed.
James looked at me thoughtfully.
“Did that bother you?” he asked.
I knew exactly what he was referring to, but I decided to tease him a bit.
“Did what bother me?” I deadpanned back, keeping a straight face.
“The men in the bar,” James said, looking at me incredulously.
“I didn’t notice them, what were they doing?”
“They were very blatantly checking you out Melanie,” he said, in amazement.
“They were checking you out James, not me,” I said, giving him a stone cold look, “we have a very active gay community here in Las Vegas and you have a really nice ass.”
His eyes got wide as he looked into mine, and I could no longer keep up the charade and I broke out in a fit of laughter. James shook his head and smiled at me.
“Any more of that young lady and I’ll put you over my knee right here in the back of this car,” he said smiling, as he leaned in and gave me a passionate kiss.
These were the moments that I missed the most during our month apart when we laughed and joked and it felt like we were a real couple. He made it so hard for me to keep an emotional distance.
I thought for a moment, focusing on his original question.
“It doesn’t bother me, the way they look at me,” I said seriously, “especially when I’m wearing a dress like this, I think it’s almost to be expected. It’s fairly easy to ignore the looks, but the catcalls from drunken guys in the clubs, that can be a little more difficult to handle.”
He looked at me, deep in thought.
I looked into his eyes and thought about this complex man who at times was so mystifying to me.
I wanted so badly to ask him, how did it make you feel as they gawked at me? Why did you crush me against you when they looked at me the way they did? You made me put on this dress, did you think they wouldn’t look? Or, was them looking the point? Did it make you jealous?
I pondered that last question, James jealous? No, that wasn’t him.
Then it dawned on me that the answer wasn’t that complicated. He was just being the Alpha-Male. When he pulled me against him, he was just telling the rest of the pack that this one was his, this one was taken, this one was property, this one was owned.
I felt a tingle between my legs when I came to the realization that like his car, or one of his restaurants, I was his possession.
We drove for a few more miles in silence. Even though I felt comfortable and relaxed, there was still a bit of tension in the air, because I didn’t know what James had planned for the rest of the evening. I felt his hand as it rested gently on my thigh, his gentle touch always seemed to steady me and give me confidence somehow.
We pulled onto Industrial Road. It was an area of Las Vegas near the strip, but one I hadn’t ever really been to. The name of the road seemed to describe this section of town perfectly as we drove by small construction companies and rental supply businesses. For being so close to the lavish Las Vegas strip, this area of town looked dank and dirty and I was starting to get an uneasy feeling about where James was taking me until we started to pass by one gentleman’s club after another which gave away our destination. The limo started to slow down and we pulled into the parking lot of the ‘Sapphire Gentleman’s Club’.
I remember hearing guys in the dorms talk about going to strip clubs, but I had never been in one myself. Guys seemed to love going to them and I guess being a woman I was supposed to hate them.
I remembered my roommate Rachel fighting with her boyfriend for three days straight because he went to a bachelor party in a strip club for one of his friends without telling her, and she somehow found out. To be honest, I felt sorry for the poor guy, she yelled at him for a full week and I know he didn’t get laid for at least a month. That was a pretty big price to pay to see some breasts I thought.
I looked outside the limo window to the parking lot which was packed with cars. It was definitely Friday night in Las Vegas. The limo pulled up underneath a large canopy which covered the front door and our driver once again exited the vehicle and walked around to open the door for us. I could hear the music from the moment the limo door was open. It was a sensual, erotic R&B song, perfect for sexy slow grinding on the dance floor, and I could only imagine how the girls inside this club were dancing to it.
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