Page 90 of The Holiday Heartbreaker

Brody had sunken right into selfishness. Because his primary concern was himself. His own comfort. Yet. He was kind of a selfish bastard. If his family knew...

He had grown up sometimes feeling like it was Tag, Lach, Hunter, Gus...and him. Separate. On his own. And if they knew...if they knew what he’d done, that would confirm it.

He clenched his teeth and shut that off.

He was with Elizabeth. And he definitely didn’t need to spoil anything by thinking about his father.

Yeah. Definitely not.

The song picked up tempo, and he used his only really good dance move and spun her out, then back into his body. “I’m a one-trick pony. So I hope you enjoyed that.”

“I did,” she said, smiling.

So at least there was that. At least he’d given her something to smile about. He didn’t know why he cared about that so much with her. But he did. He really did. She was just really special and he didn’t think anyone had ever treated her like she was. Not to the degree he thought she should be. And something about that felt wrong to him. Especially having grown up being treated like he was special. That he somehow mattered more than his brothers did, or whatever the hell. And feeling like he shouldn’t be treated that way at all. And there was Elizabeth... Not getting even a fraction of what she deserved.

And he couldn’t help himself. Not even if he tried. But the truth of the matter was, he wasn’t trying. He had asked her out, and it was kind of a date. And he wanted to dance with her because he wanted to. Not just because it was what she deserved.

And he didn’t want to be one and done, even though it was supposed to be. Even though he’d spent all evening telling himself it had to be.

Benny was gone. For two weeks. They had a chance to do what they wanted to with those two weeks. It made it neat. Gave it a cutoff. Made it something that felt manageable. Made something that seemed doable.

Made it something that maybe they could handle.

So he gave in.

And he kissed her. Right there on the dance floor, right in front of everybody.

They were all consumed in their own potential hookups. And he didn’t care even if they did stare. But they wouldn’t. Because everybody was out for themselves tonight.

And it turned out so was he.

Except... He was out for her too. And that made it feel different.

Because it wasn’t just about hooking up. It was about her. Because she mattered, not just physical pleasure. Not just scratching an itch. That was how it had been. It was how it had been since he had first met her. And he couldn’t fight it anymore.

He just couldn’t.

She moaned, her body going soft against his as he consumed her lips, drank from them. Took what he’d been fantasizing about, ever since that last time they were together, and amplified it. Made his desire a beast that he could hardly keep a handle on.

He wanted her. He wanted her so damned bad.

And he wanted her to know that. Wanted everybody in the room to know that she was a desirable woman. That all the men in here should be mad that it wasn’t her they were going home with. Because she was incredible. She deserved for people to know that.

He sure did. Down to his bones.

He wrapped his arm around her waist, cupped her cheek with his hand.

And he was getting hard. Could hardly control himself. Right there in Smokey’s bar, and he really should get a grip. Except the only thing he wanted to get a grip on was her.

He couldn’t help it. She was everything he’d ever fantasized about, and a whole hell of a lot of things he hadn’t known to fantasize about.

She was singular. There had never been another person in his life that affected him the way that she did.

He just admired her. All that strength. All the everything.

He pulled away from her, and she was breathing hard, her lips swollen from the kiss.

“Brody...”

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