Page 63 of Fundamentals in Flirting

I was barely coherent. All my senses were assaulted at once, overloaded with all the input he was throwing in my direction, but my feet seemed to just magically follow Teddy’s as he slow-danced me steadily in circles on the grass. I was eminently grateful that at least I had some motor function remaining, because I seemed to be experiencing significant wiring issues in the rest of my brain.

We started off with our bodies barely touching, but slowly the gap between us closed until my dress brushed the front of his jacket, and I could feel his cheek close to my hair, his breathing light and regular. With my nose this close to the crook of his neck, his scent was at its most intoxicating, citrus and spice, coupled with fresh male skin and pheromones. I wasn’t sure what the ingredients were, but it was as if he’d bottled sexual attraction and liberally sprayed it on himself.

The feel of his body under my hand suddenly seemed intrusively intimate and my mind was unable to think of anything but the hard, broad muscles of his shoulder and chest beneath his clothes. I couldn’t escape the occasional bump of our hips, but it was the firm hold he now had on my body that was elevating my blood pressure to cardiac instability levels.

“You did really well with the peopling, you know,” Teddy murmured, breaking the spell and allowing me to breathe again, banishing the impending girly faint that was threatening to engulf me.

“I managed not to insult or offend any of Chipping-on-the-Water’s key business owners, so Giles will definitely see that as a win.”

He huffed a laugh, causing warm air to tickle across my neck and send an electric shock down my spine. Leaning away from me he looked into my eyes.

“I think you’ve learnt all I am able to teach you, Hannah-san.”

“Is this the end of our student–teacher relationship then, Mr Miyagi.”

Teddy smiled and stared at my lips. “I really hope so.”

“You do? Was I that bad a student?”

“You were pretty awful.”

“Thanks! Don’t spare my feelings, will you?”

Teddy shifted slightly, both hands dropping to my waist, so that I instinctively reached up around his neck. Our bodies were now aligned and close, inescapably face to face.

“I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to work out your feelings, Hannah.”

“You do?”

“I do. It’s like a full-time scientific study for me.”

“And what conclusions have you drawn?”

A flash of uncertainty crossed his face, but then the usual charm and swagger returned and his gaze darkened.

“I think I will only know your true feelings by retracing our steps back to my eighteenth birthday party. Perhaps we should revisit that particularly profound moment in my life and see how it plays out a second time?”

“Can I give you some advice? Don’t call me a porn star – it won’t go well.”

With a soft laugh, he edged in closer. “Oh no, I’d never say something like that. Hot librarian perhaps?”

Our noses were almost touching and it felt like the world around us had faded to black; as if we were the only ones here dancing in this dark corner of a moonlit garden.

“I think hot librarian is better, but still not ideal.”

“No?”

I could practically taste him, we were that close together – the faint aroma of Pimm’s, the long-anticipated feel of his mouth just millimetres from mine. His unique flavour, one that had been seared onto my memory, was now just a hair’s breadth away. Tantalisingly close.

“No,” I confirmed

“Mmmmm.” The sound rumbled over my skin, my lips parting involuntarily. “How about the ravishing vet?”

“Now you’re talking…”

His grip on my body tightened and I was lost. I knew that at this moment he could do exactly what he wanted and I would be entirely complicit. I let out a little sigh, a strange gusty sound that made his pupils widen.

“Teddy?”

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