Page 30 of The Cottage on Pelican Bay

Sierra smiled in an assuring manner. “I suggest you let Saint handle Samantha, Robin and any others who try to claim his attention. There is no doubt in my mind that he will find you after he does.”

Saint did find her.

Zara had known the moment he’d joined the group and greeted everyone. When conversations started up again, she tried not looking over at him but knew his eyes were on her the entire time. She felt his gaze like a physical caress, which heightened the beat of her pulse.

The party planner got everybody’s attention to announce that the first dance would be the official engagement dance for Jaye and Velvet. Everyone looked toward the huge portable dance floor as Jaye took Velvet into his arms in a slow dance. He wrapped her in his embrace like he never intended to let her go.

Zara and the other ladies around her fought back tears as they watched the couple. It was so obvious they were deeply in love and wanted everyone to know it. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind that she would never take part in that kind of love with a man. Mainly because she would never let one get that close to her heart again.

She peeked over at Saint. Like her and everyone else, he was watching the couple. But then, as if he felt her eyes on him, he switched his gaze to her. The intensity in his eyes made her feel as if she was burning alive from the inside out. How did Saint have the ability to do that to her?

She broke eye contact to watch the couple again just as they ended their dance with a kiss, which had all the teary-eyed women fanning their faces with their hands. When they ended their kiss, everyone clapped and cheered.

The DJ played another song, and everyone was invited to the dance floor to join the couple. “I want to dance,” Sierra said, taking Vaughn’s hand and tugging him toward the dance floor.

“So do I,” Bryce said, grabbing her husband Kaegan’s hand.

It was obvious Vashti thought her two friends had the right idea as she took Sawyer’s hand and led him to the dance floor, too. That left Zara and Saint standing there alone.

He inched up beside her. “Do you want to dance, Zara?”

She met his gaze and recalled that night when he’d taken her dancing in New Orleans. Just the thought of her body pressed up against his had her pulse pounding. Whenever she was in Saint’s arms, whether it was on the dance floor, flat on her back with him above her or stretched out on top of him in bed, she had a tendency to lose herself.

“Do you honestly think that’s a good idea?” she asked.

She knew he understood her meaning when a grin touched his lips. “I guess you’re right.”

She chuckled softly. “You know I am.” She took a sip of her drink as they stood there watching the dancers as a slow song played.

A short while later, because she couldn’t let go of something Sierra had said, she asked, “So you used to have a crush on Samantha Groover?”

He looked at her. “That’s what I’ve been told by Samantha and pretty much verified by my mother. Mom claims I insisted on buying Samantha a box of Valentine candy one year.”

Zara tilted her head. “Don’t you remember?”

“No. That was a long time ago. I didn’t even recall her name until she told it to me the other day.”

“She evidently remembers,” Zara said.

“Doesn’t matter since I’d forgotten.” He studied her features for a minute and asked, “Is there something we need to talk about, Zara?”

The last thing she wanted was to come across as emotionally attached—especially not jealous. “No, there’s nothing we need to discuss.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m positive.”

He was about to say something when everybody returned from the dance floor. She regretted even bringing up Samantha. What he did was his business just like what she did was hers.

Saint tried not to notice the man dancing with Zara. He didn’t recognize him from the cove, so he figured he was one of Jaye’s friends from Phoenix since a number of them were here. So far, Zara and the guy had only danced to fast songs. Why did it matter to him if they danced to a slow one?

He of all people knew how much Zara liked to dance and, so far, she hadn’t missed a chance to be on the dance floor, except for the one time she turned down his offer to dance. She hadn’t exactly turned him down, but wisely suggested they didn’t dance together. Remembering how they’d danced that night in New Orleans and the seductive moves they’d made to each other, she was right. Dancing with her was sensuality in motion. Sharing a dance wasn’t a good idea. Still, it bothered him that that one guy was claiming all of her time.

The song ended and he watched as Zara walked away from the dance floor. More than one man stared as she passed. There was something pulse-throbbing about the elegant sway of her hips and those gorgeous legs as she strolled to one of the open bars. The guy who’d dominated her time was still with her, right on her heels. Saint frowned, wondering who the hell he was. If he were to ask Jaye that would be a dead giveaway that he was asking for a particular reason.

“Why are you standing over here by yourself and not out there on the dance floor?”

Saint looked at the man who’d entered his space under a cluster of cypress trees. It was the perfect spot where he could observe unnoticed. Several women had approached him to dance and he’d politely turned each one down.

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