Page 18 of It Happened in Vegas

“That’s for you, sweetheart. Join us in a toast? We’re celebrating my birthday.” Declan handed me the shot glass. “One shot won’t hurt.”

I hesitated, noticing Mr. Grumpy face scowling at me as he stopped by.

“Having a good time tonight, guys?” Keaton greeted them, voice taking on a new tone I hadn’t heard from him yet. Bossy, controlling, protective… sexy.

“Yep. Thanks. I commend you on your stout. It’s good,” Declan said, slyly eying me over the rim of his glass. “And Sophie has been taking really good care of us.”

“Good to hear. Carry on. Soph, can we talk?” He yanked his head toward the bar, and I followed.

“Oh, come on. Don’t take the pretty lady away,” Declan loudly complained behind us.

Keaton didn’t stop until we were behind the bar, with Jessa eyeing us carefully. He turned on me, closed in, and lowered his voice. “I need you to take table eight.”

“But what about?—”

“The hockey crew? I’ll take care of them. They need cut off anyway.” He must have noticed my scowl and continued. “Listen, I’ve been doing this longer than you. Trust me. Those guys will only get more rowdy.”

“And you don’t think I’m capable of handling myself?” I crossed my arms. “I’d say the past five years of bad dates have given me plenty of practice with assholes.”

He mirrored my stance. “Is that right? Damn shame, Soph. Sounds like you needed an intervention by a good man long ago.”

“Do you know where I could find a good man?” I taunted him with a cocked eyebrow.

We stared each other down for a beat until Jessa suddenly yelped when the music changed.

“Woo hoo. Let’s go. This is it!” she shouted, grabbing my wrist and dragging me along with a few of the other servers. We came to a stop right in front of the hockey guys.

“What is it?” Confused, I looked around.

“This is our song. We dance to it whenever it comes on, gets the crowd going. And the more we wiggle our asses, the more we get in tips. Come on, follow my steps,” she urged.

“Yee haw,” Declan yelled, and his friends whistled. The crowd shifted, making room for us to move.

Before I could protest, Jessa was line dancing like she was the product of two country singers for parents. She and the other bar staff shimmied and shook through the lyrics, and I finally joined in. I laughed as I stumbled through the first couple of moves until I gained more confidence with it.

I whooped, clapped, twirled, and lost myself in the music. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d let go like this. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Keaton staring, acting like he cleared off a vacated table nearby. More like he devoured my every move, pretending not to care while his eyes said everything.

When they landed on my hips, I nearly lost my footing.

“Why isn’t he dancing?” I called over to Jessa, loud enough for him to hear. We exchanged a look, and without another word, we each grabbed one of his arms and hauled him over to join us.

He resisted at first, stiff and broody as ever. Then the music shifted, the rhythm caught him, and… wow. The man couldmove. With a sexy Wrangler butt, his gyrating hips never stopped, surprising me at every turn.

Jessa whooped. “Okay, Kingston! Didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Neither did I,” I gasped.

Then the size of our dance group increased when the hockey players decided to crash in. I could see Declan headed right for me until Jessa intervened.

“Why if it isn’t Declan Majors? I thought that was you.” She forced him to take up her arms and dance. “I was just thinking the other day about those keg parties we used to have in the fields out on old route 365…”

With Declan occupied by her, Keaton suddenly grabbed me and twirled me. If I didn’t know better, Jessa mastermind this whole thing. I giggled and synced with him to the beat of the song.

Everywhere we touched—hands, thighs, knees—something sparked.

Keaton’s grip tightened, like he felt it too but didn’t know what to do with it.

He caught me around the waist and dipped me in a smooth move. My hair draped to the floor as my head lolled, and when he brought me back up, I was breathless in his arms, caught in a trance of his romantic mood. Our eyes met, mine half-lidded staring into his sultry blues. I’d exhausted any power I had to resist his charms.

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