Collide (Collide, #1)(14)

Confusion knitted her brows. “Isn’t that what all guys want anyway?”

“Not quite, but I like the way you think,” he laughed, studying the way she nervously tucked her hair behind her ear. He liked it more than he should. “No, seriously though, I don’t want to come off like a conceited ass, but there’s a fine line between me and my money.”

His remark struck an odd cord with Emily. She knew he had money—the whole damn city did. However, to assume women were strictly after him for his cash was obviously some sort of insecurity he had.

“Oh, so in your eyes, every woman you date’s a gold digger?” she remarked, drawing the bottle to her mouth as she leaned casually into her seat.

Gavin tried hard to fixate his eyes on hers instead of her lips. “No, it’s not that at all. That came out the wrong way; I apologize.” He placed his empty drink on the bar. “It’s just hard to tell who’s real and who’s not. I want a woman who wants me with or without my money.” He flashed a sheepish grin. “And, for some reason, I seem to attract the all-beauty-and-no-brains type, too.”

“Oh.” Emily shifted in her seat, embarrassed at her assumption. She tried to deflect her earlier statement. “Sounds like you’re trolling the wrong places, buddy.”

The bartender put their drinks down.

Gavin laughed, immensely enjoying her honesty. “Apparently, I do.” An infectious smile ran across his mouth. “Where is it you said you hang out these days other than Bella Lucina?”

“Dillon’s apartment, but thanks for trying again,” she laughed. She tipped her beer to her lips, allowing herself to hold his gaze a little longer this time. “Maybe you should search for women at the library? That would take care of the no-brains problem you seem to attract.”

“You’re a pretty funny girl, Emily,” he remarked, shifting his body to face hers. “I’m really starting to regret Dillon getting his hands on you first.”

Emily’s heart skidded across her chest at his declaration. Before she could answer, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and assumed it was Dillon.

She turned and found Trevor flashing his winning smile, his thick blonde hair falling onto his forehead. “I’m here. Let the party begin!” he hooted, slapping his hand on Gavin’s shoulder. He then gave Emily a hug and inched his way in between them to order a drink. “It’s going to be a bender tonight!”

Emily smiled, happy to see Trevor. She’d grown close to him over the last few months. Besides the fact that he was Olivia’s brother, he was an all-around good man. Even before she moved to New York, he would call to check up on her to make sure she was doing okay.

Trevor glanced around the club from behind his glasses. “Where’s Dillon?” he asked, accepting his drink from the bartender.

“Think he fell in,” Gavin smirked, motioning toward the restrooms.

“I know he left the office way before I did, but that sounds like something he would do, especially if he’s drunk enough,” Trevor laughed. He then turned to Gavin. “So how’ve you been, man? Feels like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

“Good. Had to do some traveling for work, but I’m hunkered down for the summer.”

“Having your yearly Fourth of July party at your house in the Hamptons, right?”

“Absolutely,” Gavin answered. “I’m actually heading out there this week to open up the place.”

Trevor turned to Emily who wasn’t paying attention to the conversation. His laughing brown eyes were wide with excitement. “Yoo-hoo, Emily, you’re going right?”

She looked puzzled as she scanned the club, knowing Dillon had been gone for a while. “Going where?” her voice trailed off as she looked away from Trevor.

“Gavin’s party in the Hamptons on the Fourth of July. Dillon told you about it, right?”

She shrugged, bringing her attention back to Trevor. “He hasn’t mentioned it yet, but it sounds like fun. I’m sure we’ll be there.”

Dillon’s voice broke through the conversation. “Be where?” he asked, leaning in to kiss Emily’s neck. “I hope these guys weren’t trying to proposition you while I was gone.”

Twisting her body to face his, Emily smiled. “No worries; they were entertaining me. You took a while. Are you okay?”

“I had to make a quick phone call.”

A mischievous smile tugged at Gavin’s lips. “We thought you fell in, and we were actually about to assemble a search party. But don’t get high on yourself though; we weren’t going to look too hard.”

“Wow, you two are brutal with one another,” Emily laughed.

Trevor took a swig of beer. “You haven’t seen anything yet, Em. They’re just getting warmed up.”

Dillon shook his head and eyed Gavin. “Once a wiseass, always a wiseass, Blake. Never fails.”

Gavin hung his head and laughed. He took a long pull from his beer, swung his eyes over to Emily, and then reluctantly looked at Dillon. “So how’s about it? Are you two coming to the party?”

“I totally forgot about it,” Dillon replied. “But, of course, we’ll be there.”

Trevor cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean you forgot? Dude, you’ve been coming for the last couple of years.”