Page 72 of City of Sin (Men of Manhattan 1)

"It's definitely true. You're the most beautiful girl here, Bee."

The way he was looking at me made my heart beat quicken. Kiss me! Instead of answering my silent plea, he just stared down at me. I was very aware of his hands on my back. They seemed to slide a fraction of an inch lower. He slowly raised his left eyebrow.

I swallowed hard. Did he want me to ask him? It seemed like he said he wanted to take things slow out of respect for me. He was just being nice. But I didn't want him to be nice anymore. I wanted him to be like how he was that first night. I wanted him to say what was on his mind.

"What do you want, Bee?" He ran the tip of his nose down the length of mine. But his lips avoided mine again. "Tell me what you want."

I wanted unspeakable things. And I was too embarrassed to ask him. "What do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious? I want you." He leaned down and placed a soft kiss against my lips.

I grabbed the back of his head and immediately deepened the kiss. I had missed the taste of him. And the tingly feeling he gave my body. I loved the way he kissed me. It made me feel like I was floating. I was vaguely aware of the fact that his hands had slid down onto my ass. But I didn't care. I loved his hands as much as his tongue. I ran my fingers through his hair and made out with him in the middle of the dance floor. Just like I had always dreamed about doing during high school dances when no one even asked me as their date. And I didn't care that people could see us.

He seemed to pull back far too soon. "It's impossible to control myself around you." He squeezed my ass before moving his hands back up.

"I don't want you to control yourself around me anymore."

He seemed to study my face for a second. "How about I give you that tour of my place?"

"Okay." Showing me his place was just a nice way of asking for sex, right? I hoped so. I wasn't sure how much longer I could wait. I was done taking things slow. It was time to move into the fast lane and press my foot down on the gas.

He grabbed my hand and led me off the dance floor. "I'm going to go get our coats. I'll be right back." He dropped my hand and walked toward the doors. God was he sexy. I folded my arms across my chest as I watched him walk away.

"You always looked beautiful in those earrings."

The blood in my body seemed to freeze. I'd recognize his voice anywhere. Patrick. I turned around. I hadn't seen him in person in a few months. His hair was different. He looked good. He certainly seemed to be handling the breakup better than me, at least before I met Mason. But then again, Patrick wasn't the one who's heart had been broken. He had done the breaking.

I blinked hard. For some reason, seeing him made me want to cry. All those memories of us seemed to flood back. It was like ripping off a Band-Aid too soon. Maybe my wound wasn't healed yet. But he wasn't the same person that I loved. I didn't even know him anymore. It was like looking at someone I loved and looking at a complete stranger at the same time. And I didn't know what to say to him. I wasn't going to thank him for a compliment, that was for sure. I didn't want to speak to him at all.

"You look amazing, Bee."

"Thanks." Damn it! He doesn't deserve my thanks!

"Do you want to dance?"

"No. I'm here with someone."

"Oh."

"What about you?" I didn't really want to know the answer. But at the same time I did.

"Yeah." He looked over his shoulder. "My girlfriend just went to the restroom."

Girlfriend? "That's great. I'm happy for you." I wasn't happy for him. Is that why he had come over here? To tell me he was dating someone else? My chest was starting to hurt. This dress was too tight. It was growing hard to breathe. I wanted to walk away but my feet seemed stuck in place. There were so many things I still wanted to say to him.

He gave me a small smile. "I still miss you. I think I always will."

"Don't, Patrick." Why is he doing this to me?

"I'm just telling you the truth."

"I didn't realize you were capable of telling the truth."

"Bee..."

"You don't get to say that you miss me, Patrick. That's not fair. You're the one that messed this up. You don't get to miss me now. Not when you didn't like being with me when we were together."

He stared at me. "You know that's not true. I loved you. You know that."

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