Page 8 of Taking Root

Chapter Four

The whole point in tagging along with Lex was for Adrian to meet some women who weren’t family or coworkers. Lex was the one insisting he spread his seed across the land, something he preferred not to hear from his own sister. With her at the helm, they’d started chatting up a gorgeous woman, red lips like sin and dark, seductive eyes. Yet he didn’t even have a chance to start asking her questions before his sister swooped in for the kill, full flirt mode engaged. Based on the way Camilla twirled her hair in response to Lex’s advances, he wasn’t her type in the slightest anyway.

The electronica pounded beneath his feet, reverberating through the room like they weathered a full-out stampede. After another long shift and even less sleep, the noise managed to keep him awake, but five minutes in and this music already grated at his nerves. He was more of a soulful jazz guy, preferring the ambiance and vibe of the Gin Mill any day. Adrian heaved a sigh, standing around with his bottle of overpriced IPA and feeling more like a prop while his sister salivated over their new friend.

Camilla perked up and began waving to someone behind them. Thank fuck. Maybe if she had a friend, he’d at least have someone to talk to while he ignored his sister’s mating dance.

He turned around and forgot everything. Where he was, who the hell swerved around him, even the obnoxious bass beat of whatever spewed through the speakers.

The woman who stood before him would’ve demanded his attention even if he didn’t know her. Her hair glowed like liquid flame, and the tan minidress clung to curves he’d committed to memory. The neon lights illuminated her pale skin, turning her freckles even darker, and her jaw dropped the moment their eyes locked.

Danny Reynolds.

“And she’s back,” Camilla called out from beside him. “I thought you’d ditched me.”

Danny strode past him, even though the corner of her mouth lifted in a smirk as she tore her gaze away. “Now what sort of asshole do you take me for?” she asked, sidling up to Camilla with the familiarity of a friend.

His mouth dried at the sight of her, the reappearance a one-two punch to the gut. After a week passed with no sight of her, even though he’d tried to frequent the Gin Mill for no other damn reason, Adrian figured she’d vanished into thin air again. The girl he’d known in high school had done so spectacularly in a swirl of rumors about her father.

Lex passed him a lifted-brow glance, paying attention to him for the first time since she’d gotten Camilla in her sights. His sister possessed a lion’s dedication and intensity when it came to her one-night stands, something Adrian never could swing. Either he was uninterested or he became entranced to the point of obsession. And no one had ever captured his attention like Samantha Peterson, or as she currently called herself—Danny Reynolds.

“Make some new friends?” Danny asked, her voice light even as her scorching gaze slipped to him.

Camilla waved a hand at the two of them. “These guys decided to keep me company. Lex has spent the last ten minutes telling me about her made-up carnie experiences. Something about tightrope walking?”

Lex flashed one of her charming grins in Danny’s direction with the predatory look of a snake before it struck. Yeah, fuck no. Captain Cockblock already interfered once tonight.

“Danny Reynolds,” she said, nodding her head at Lex as she played with the hem of her skirt, drawing his attention to creamy thighs he wanted wrapped around him in a real way. Instead of staring at her like a dog in heat, he slipped his hands into his pockets and rocked forward on his heels.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” Lex asked, her brows narrowing. Because Alexis Dukas never forgot a pretty girl—and Danny was sunrise over the water stunning. Danny’s lips pressed together, and he caught the way her shoulders tensed like a deer ready to bolt into the woods. Not again. He wouldn’t let last time repeat.

Adrian stepped between them and extended his hand. “Want to dance?”

His heart started marching in double time when he caught sight of her again, but as they locked eyes, time froze between them. She stared at him with wide eyes, like the shifting greens of a windswept meadow.

“Go ahead,” Camilla encouraged. “That’s what you came here to do, right?” Her stare lingered on Lex. Their presence wasn’t wanted here.

Danny swallowed hard, and he didn’t miss the way her gaze darted to the door. However, as fast as the brief panic descended, her expression shifted. Her lips curled into a wicked smirk, and she placed her callused hand in his.

“All right, stud. Let’s see these dance moves of yours,” she responded, and the years melted away. Back then, she was the girl who leapt into the icy water first, the loner who’d snark back at assholes on the football team when no one else stood in her corner. Even now, he could see her rallying.

He squeezed her hand and took the lead toward a dance floor barely visible under the swarm of people stomping and thrashing around. Honestly, he’d avoided this spot since he stepped into the club. Throbbing bass beats and sweaty strangers held no allure for him, and the whole place reeked of loneliness. However, he’d even enjoy the nightmare zone he’d left behind at the hospital if it meant stealing another moment with Danny.

Even with the light way she rested her hand in his, a gravity settled into the touch, a grounding source for the electricity percolating between them, waiting to strike. So many bodies crushed together made for an impenetrable crowd, but the second Adrian spotted an opening, he slipped through, tugging Danny with him. The temperature shot up to sweltering, and drops of sweat pricked his forehead. The beat of the electronica reverberated the dance floor beneath them, amplified by the stomping boots and thrashing arms all around.

The moment he secured a square inch of space, Danny slipped her hand from his. The severing of their connection was a shock of cold water to his system.

She closed the space between them, her body a mere inch away, and she began to sway to the pulsing beat of the music. Fuck, she was gorgeous. Her eyes never left his, pure spellbinding seduction. Adrian wasn’t one for dancing in a crowd, this grating music, or clubs in general, but he gained a newfound appreciation in watching the way Danny swung her hips. Before he could argue with himself, he moved on gut impulse alone and slipped his hands around her waist.

Her following smirk traveled straight south. She leaned into his ear, her lips almost brushing it as her hot breath kissed his skin. “Thanks for the rescue back there.” He kept a firm grip around her slender waist, and the way she swayed in front of him launched his mind to messy sheets and his bedroom.

He locked gazes with her. “Not a problem, Danny.” He emphasized her name, and a knowing sparked in her eyes. Danny bit her lip again, a reflex she hadn’t abandoned from the older days. For whatever reason, she’d left her old name and life behind. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious, but if ignoring the past kept her around a little longer, he’d bury those questions. He might’ve been smitten with Sam Peterson back in the day, but the woman standing before him ensnared his interest all over again.

“So, what dragged the doctor out to the club?” she asked, dancing so close he could feel the heat combust between them. “This doesn’t look like your scene, Dukas.”

Adrian rolled his eyes, casting a wayward glance to his sister and Camilla. “Lex thinks I need to get my dick wet.” The second he repeated his sister’s words, he regretted it. Christ Almighty, he needed to get out more and remember how to socialize like a human being again. Right now, he fumbled blind.

Danny let out a laugh, her eyes sparkling. Instead of pulling away, she twisted to pivot her hips around and back again, moving closer and closer to him. Adrian swayed in return, running his hands down the length of her waist until he gripped those sloping hips. His cock ached at her proximity, at that pert ass inching closer to him. She moved in time to the beat of the music, the pulse of the electronica reverberating through the dance floor, through his body, and through his bones. While he danced with her like this, the rest of the bodies writhing around them vanished, as did any self-awareness when he lost himself to her seductive rhythm.

---