Page 59 of The Wrong Date Deal

August clamped her lips together for a moment before moving further into Piper’s space. “Okay, but remember, it’s no replacement for the real thing. And if you want the real thing, I’m reliably informed Thursday nights are the ones to pick if you don’t want to run into my date from this evening.”

Part of Piper had already forgotten there had been a whole other woman August had been on a date with tonight. That probably wasn’t great of her.

August took a steady breath before she slipped a hand to Piper’s waist, and even through the sweater she was wearing, Piper burned as if August had touched her skin directly. With her free one, she directed Piper’s hands, her voice barely more than a whisper, and she avoided Piper’s gaze.

The air in the room felt thick. Piper’s heart was pounding and she felt lightheaded. It had been a very long time since she’d been on a date with anyone who made her feel even close to this much—and they weren’t even on a date.

After a moment of holding position, August looked Piper directly in the eyes. “We’re going to move like this,” she whispered, moving her body to demonstrate. “I’ll lead and you can just… follow.”

“Okay,” Piper murmured, and she wasn’t unaware of the needy edge in her voice. She could only hope August was.

They waited for a moment before August counted them in and then she moved them. Long, measured, sensuous movements. Their bodies flowed like water together, something driving and beautiful passing between them.

Piper had to hand it to August’s date, rumba lessons had been an incredibly intimate choice for a date. She could imagine exactly how electrifying a class would be, how much tension it would build up, and how, with the right person, it would have been the most incredible night.

August turned them on the spot, and Piper went willingly with her, their bodies pressed close together, August’s hand soft and warm in her own. Piper’s heart was pounding so painfully and obviously that she knew August must be able to feel it. And her whole body jolted when August’s fingers flexed against her waist.

She was pretty sure she’d had sex that was less erotic than this.

Chapter Fourteen

August had no idea what was going on. But she liked it.

The lights were low and the music soft, filling the space around them. Dancing with Piper was a million miles away from how the dance class had been—she could barely believe it had only been a couple of hours since then.

She walked Piper through another move she’d learned in the class, one that pulled them apart, arms twisting and bending gracefully in the air, before moving back together again. They didn’t even need words now, moving like they were two halves of the same whole.

August’s heart pounded painfully. She’d been worried and disappointed in her date because of the lack of communication. How was it that the same thing now felt electric and intoxicating?

Because this isn’t a lack of communication.The thought rang out in her skull like a bell. Their communication wasn’t verbal, but they were communicating more than August had ever communicated with anyone. They understood each other. They understood what the other was thinking, what they wanted.

Her breath caught. Did that mean Piper was feeling all of the things it seemed like she was? All of the things August was feeling?

Her hand found Piper’s hip—soft and warm and enveloped in worn-in denim—and every part of her felt like she’d been made to touch that hip. August had never wanted anything as much as she wanted to touch Piper without the layer of denim between them.

They flowed apart and back together again, and August couldn’t pretend she didn’t see the way Piper’s gaze was fixed on her, the way her dark brown eyes swam with so many emotions, especially when they pressed into each other.

Piper’s hand landed higher on August’s shoulder and, rather than adjusting it back to its earlier position, Piper lingered. Her gaze flickered from August’s eyes to her shoulder and back again.

August’s breath came faster—Piper’s did too. Then, it stopped completely because two of Piper’s fingertips grazed, featherlight, against the thin, delicate skin of August’s neck. Trailing, tracing, teasing softly.

August’s body took over functioning without her brain, sucking in a desperate breath, one that caused Piper to look directly at August’s mouth.

She tried, frantically, to think of something to say. Not even something that would break the moment, just something that suggested she was functioning and understood what was happening. But she couldn’t think of a single thing.

A mocking part of her mind pointed out that she was going to have to find some way to talk about tonight with Meilíng and how was she going to explain this part?

Maybe she wouldn’t talk about it at all.

August blinked rapidly, trying to bat the thoughts away before she looked at Piper again. So soft, so beautiful, so fully understanding of August.

And she wasn’t so far gone that she didn’t hear the second Ford’s key slipped into the lock behind them.

“Oh, god,” she muttered, stepping back from Piper.

Ford froze, half into the room, his hand still on the key in the lock. “Hello…?”

“Ford. Nice to see you.” August cleared her throat, unable to look at Piper. “I thought you were staying at your place tonight?”

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