Why did he make me feel like I shouldn’t be doing this? Like he was pissed at me for being with Stacey.

I didn’t know and I didn’t care.

There would be no more staring games.

Still, Travis’s gaze made my skin break into goosebumps, making me too aware of the light sweat on my skin, of the humid air all around me.

Travis looked down the length of my body to where Stacey was grinding against my groin. The sensation was electrifying, heating my core and making me hot all over.

Suddenly, my dancing became dirtier, more sensual, almost without my noticing. Stacey wrapped herself more tightly against me, chuckling and moving to the rhythm, and for a split second, it wasn’t her I was holding—it was Travis holding me in my mind. It was his hands I imagined wrapping around me and pushing me to his front, his calloused fingers going under my shirt—

Fuck.

I was hard.

Stacey noticed, and on her tiptoes, she said in my ear: “Want to pound me into the mattress, my Prince?”

No.

It brought everything to a stop.

My internal answer was so strong and sharp that I stayed frozen in place.

“We don’t have to, you know.” Stacey’s gaze was soft on me now, like she knew she had spooked me.

“Sorry, I…” I cleared my throat, quickly trying to rifle through my head for some excuse. “I think it’s kind of early, you know? Too soon after breaking up with my girlfriend.”

She gave me a compassionate smile I definitely didn’t deserve. “It’s okay. Still wanna dance?”

I kept at it for a bit longer, but it was futile. The room felt stifling, the shifting bodies suffocating, and I just knew I needed to get out, I neededair.

So I left, stepping into a hallway with a door to the alley behind the bar.

Then, as soon as I stepped outside, I froze on the spot.

I wasn’t alone.

Travis was here.

Chapter 2

Scott

The long chiseled form of Travis Ashford waited for me outside, leaning back against the opposite wall, wearing a black leather jacket to warn off the chill of the night. His half-lidded eyes met mine instantly, as they always did, and I stared at him, helpless, as the metallic door closed behind me.

He was smoking a cigarette, a fine line of smoke rising from it. It was such a cliché bad-boy look that it should have made me roll my eyes, but it didn’t. Instead, it made something coil in my gut, rendering me speechless for a long moment.

When I managed to react, I cleared my throat. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were here, I’ll—”

“No need to leave,” he drawled, his low husky voice a shock to my system. “You can stay here.”

Right.

Now I justcouldn’t leave.

A part of me wanted to run as far away from this guy as possible.

The other part felt a thrill at his indirect invitation.