Page 13 of Mr. Dangerous

He laughed and pulled me close. Even through my t-shirt, I could feel my nipples rubbing against those built pecs, and the slightest motion made them throb, a throb that traveled straight down to my panties. His t-shirt strained over his broad chest and then fell away over those hard abs. I breathed in his Rob-scent so deeply that my head swam withdesire.

I was not going tosurvivethis.

I wiggled my hips back from his, pushing back slightly on his warm shoulder beneath my palm. “Leave a little room for the Holy Ghost, huh,Delaney?”

He smiledslightly.

I cleared my throat. "I've never been interested indancing."

He rested his forearm lightly against the small of my back. I could feel the warmth of his arm, the cast hard againstmyskin.

"You're missing out." His voice, always low and sexy, was right inmyear.

"I don't want you to hurt your wrist." Even to my own ears, I soundedplaintive.

“Oh, Naomi.” There was laughter in his voice. He nudged me gently, swaying one hip against mine. “When I take a step forward, you step back withthisleg.”

I tried to follow his movement as he pushed gently against me. But I couldn’t concentrate on the salsa when I was all-too-aware of his body and all-too-embarrassed by that fact. When I made a misstep, his arm tightened on my lower back, keeping me close. I felt his hard length through his jeans once when my thigh brushed between his. His body felt so warm and rightagainstmine.

"Step, step, like this," he murmured. I stepped on the edge of his running shoe and almost stumbled, if not for his powerful arm tightening around me. "Can youfollow?"

I tried to focus, but within a few minutes, I looked up to find him grinning. "No. No, you can't follow. Why am I notsurprised?"

He pushed me away, raising his arm. To spin me? Did people really do that? I hesitated and then twirled under his arm. For a moment, I felt weightless.Girlish.

He reeled me in again close. Our hips met again. Oh, fuck it; I liked it. I liked being so close to him, breathing in his scent, pulled tight into his arms and feeling his bodyagainstmine.

He led me seamlessly across the tile. I felt myself begin to smile, energized by the music and his body so near mine. I raised my eyes to his and found him smiling down at me. The way his lips quirked up slightly above that firm jaw, the distinct smile lines around his eyes that gave away his pleasure, made me want to kiss him. I was tempted to drag him down by those powerful shoulders and press my lips against his, to kiss him to the sound of thissexybeat.

He released my hand, and I stumbled with confusion. Right before he tilted my chin up with one finger and leaned in towards me. Those deep blue eyes drifted shut, his long, black lashes resting on chiseledcheekbones.

I put my palm over his lips, faster thanthought.

Those eyes opened in a hurry, and I already regretted it as he looked down at me. The smile lines around his eyes weregonenow.

I tried to smile. “I know you’re bored. But that’s not what you paymefor.”

The warmth of his arm dropped away. He took a step back from me. Another. His back bumped the big granite island before he crossed his arms over his powerful chest, his jaw set. I felt my stomachtighten.

God, that was a stupid, stupid thing to say. Too late to takeitback.

"Did I do something to you? When we were in high school, maybe, since that's the last time we saw each other?" His voice was deceptivelycasual.

"No. You've never done anything to me." My tone cameouthot.

He half-shrugged, his lips quirking mysteriously, as if to say,have it your way, honey.He turned and walked away, toward the deck. "Could you bring me out a cup of coffee when you get the chance? I thought I'd catch up onthenews."

I watched him stride away, wishing I could rewind two minutes. Wishing I could just kiss him back this time. His t-shirt clung to his delts with sweat. His long legs with muscular calves, firmly defined under his shorts, betrayed his anger through his quick stride. As irritated and regretful as I felt, watching him me feel another powerful thrum ofdesire.

He turned to close the French doors between us. I glanced away once his eyes met mine. Those eyes were cool as ice water, and they chilled me; I was already addicted again to the way his eyes lit up when they met minesometimes.

I still remembered the night Alice betrayed my crush over a family dinner of penne. I had picked at my garlic bread as Dad went off, picking at the Delaney family. Rob had a tall, angular swimmer’s body then, but Dad had called him apipe cleaner.That had been the best thing Dad had to sayabouthim.

I hadn't tried to defend Rob from Dad's vent that night. It was clear that years of working for the Delaneys made him feel that way. Alice had spent the rest of dinner trying to catch my eye across the dinner table, offering an apologetic smile over the Brusselssprouts.

After that, I didn’t talk about my crush on Rob. Not to my friends, not to my sister. I would raise my eyebrows and play dumb if someone broughthimup.

But after our meets, exhausted from the individual medley, I would pretend to fall asleep against his shoulder as the bus droned homeward. He always smelled good back then, too. I would breathe in his scent of soap and aftershave and lingering chlorine until I really did drift off. On those long rides, he let me sleep. He smiled at me when I woke up yawning, those blue eyes crinkling around the edges in a way that madememelt.

But like I said, he never did anythingtome.

Except broke my heart. But that was my fault,nothis.

I wouldn't make that mistakeagain.

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