Page 53 of Off-Limits Love
“There’s dancing here,” Elias said, pointing to the space in front of the singer. “It’s not a club, but I think we all know you’re not going anywhere without the rest of us.”
Gage jerked a thumb toward those seated at the table. “What they said. And I’m pretty sure Isla can still be grounded.”
“No, I can’t,” Isla shot right back, crossing her arms over her chest in a battle-ready stance. “You’re being ridiculous. All of you.”
Quinley made a show of rolling her eyes and eyeing the guys with just the right amount of feminine irritation.
“Well, girls? What do you say? Listen to them grumble all night while they bang their chests to keep the men away at the club, or stay here and make them dance to our hearts’ content to make up for denying us our fun?”
Ana laughed softly and wrapped her arms around Cole’s neck, leaning over him to kiss his cheek before swinging around to sit on his lap.
“That’s one down. What about you?” Quinley asked the rest of the ladies.
The girls exchanged amused looks with each other but one by one joined their husbands and fiancés, until only Mak and Isla were left standing.
“Come on, Mak. You can sit on my lap,” Hudson said.
This time Finn was the one growling. He didn’t stop to think but shifted sideways on his chair, swept an arm out to wrap around Mak’s slim waist and tugged her down on his thighs.
The act drew a few surprised looks from the other girls, but Mak didn’t protest the move, though her face went up in flames. She sat stiff and awkward, head averted for a second while she apparently gathered her wits, and then eventually relaxed against the arm bracketing her low back.
“Well that’s just disappointing,” Hudson said, earning chuckles from the others.
“Scoot over, loser,” Isla said to a still grumbling Hudson. “We can share it.”
The two bickered over chair space like they always had as children until settling down with grins.
The waitress returned and took another round of drink orders along with a few small-plate appetizers. The guitar player started up again, and once the waitress left, Quinley and Ana stood.
“Time to pay up, boys. Let’s get our dance on,” Quinley said to the table as a whole.
Mak glanced at Finn from beneath her lashes, and because he knew Hudson would ask if he didn’t, Finn nudged her off his lap before snagging her fingers and leading the way to the dance floor.
“I’m sorry about this,” she said softly. “The girls were insistent. I didn’t know how to gracefully get out of it without seeming rude.”
He pulled Mak close, his hands resting along her back as they began to sway to the slow song. Even in the heels she wore, she barely came to midchest. “I’d r-rather you b-be here with m… us.” He’d almost saidmebut caught himself just in time.
“They might get the wrong idea though. Especially after…the table.”
He didn’t care if they did. Agreeing to be her friend but only feeling friendship toward her was proving harder than he thought it would. He cleared his throat to fight off the sudden tension.
What was it about this woman? He knew he had to keep his hands to himself, but he felt drawn to her in so many ways. She was overwhelmed by life at the moment and he understood that. But it didn’t make him any less interested. “L-let th-them. It’ll k-keep Hud away.”
It was the truth. And an excuse they could both accept at face value.
Mak’s soft laugh filled his ears and had him tugging her closer until she was plastered against him from chest to knees as they swayed.
“You know I don’t take his flirting seriously.”
She might not. But Hudson knew exactly what it did to Finn, and his baby brother had a mean streak when he felt Finn sold himself short and didn’t go after certain things. Like women.
And now one in particular.
But while Mak had made her boundaries clear, it didn’t mean Hudson wouldn’t keep trying to charm her—just to get under Finn’s skin to push him to act.
He ran his hands up her back and lightly pressed to ease the tight muscles he felt. Then he reveled in the hitch of her breath and the way her lashes fluttered with pleasure as the knots loosened between her shoulder blades. “I d-do.”
“You take his flirting seriously? Why?”
