Page 38 of Love Off Course

She rolls her eyes at my teasing. “I told you I had to go to a wedding. And my man is there.”

I’d be jealous if I believed her, but I don’t.

“Your man, huh? Is this why your heart is unavailable?”

“Yeah.” She sighs. “His name is David. He’s my dad’s best friend. We’re practically a thing.”

Practically.

“Define practically,” I say slowly.

“We’ve gone on a few dates and kissed.” Her lips turn into a frown. “And done other things. I thought we could spend the week of the wedding growing closer. So he’d realize we need to be official.”

“So you’re telling me you have to convince this guy to be with you?” What a douchebag.

“You make it sound terrible,” she grumbles. “He’s a busy man.”

And fucking stupid to make this brilliant, feisty, hot-ass woman chase him. If he’s her father’s best friend, he’s probably old. He doesn’t deserve someone like Sher.

“You’re a good dancer,” I observe, leaning in so I can smell the tequila on her sweet lips. I’m all too happy to change the subject from that worthless asshole.

“I’m good at a lot of things. You just haven’t known me long enough to see them all.”

Cocky, this woman.

I fucking love it.

“What kinds of things?” I purr, brushing my lips against hers. “We’ve already established you’re a great kisser, though I’d be fine with you reminding me just how good you are at it.”

She laughs, the sound going straight to my cock that’s pressed against her tight body. “Just fine with it, huh?”

“Take it or leave it,” I lie.

“You’re such an asshole,” she says with a grin before pressing her lips to mine.

I groan against her mouth, happy as hell to kiss her again. I’m just squeezing her nice ass when the electricity goes out again. She stiffens, her body seeming to deflate along with the music. We break our kiss and she clings to me. A tremble rattles through her.

“Hey,” I murmur, rubbing circles on her back. “It’s just the power. Everything’s fine.”

“Are we going to die?” Her voice is small and fucking terrified.

“No, little bee, we’re not going to die.”

“How can you be so sure?” she demands.

“I can’t be,” I admit. “But I do know we’ve weathered a ton of hurricanes and Hotel Zaragoza is still standing. Rodrigo is just another asshole passing through.” I kiss the top of her head. “I’ll keep you safe.”

She relaxes in my arms and it does something to me. It makes me want to try really damn hard to prove to her that I can save her. That I can do a lot of things. For her. It’s weird as fuck not only being instantly attracted to someone, who is in every sense my opposite, but also wanting to protect her like she’s mine.

She’s not mine.

But she could be.

I’m so startled by that thought, I let her pull away from me. It’s dark, but people are quickly lighting candles, illuminating the restaurant. When I find her among the people, she’s standing in front of the piano. She sits down at it, her body visibly trembling.

“Go, sexy Mexi,” Damian hisses, handing me a candle.

I roll my eyes at him, but make my way over to her. Once I set the candle on top of the piano, I sit beside her.

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