Page 34 of Where We Fall

"Sure."

He grabs my hand and leads me out onto the dance floor. He twirls me in a circle before pulling me towards him. I laugh as I spin, feeling lighter and happier than ever before. His eyes sparkle as he smiles at me. I love the small lines that form around the corner of his eyes, looking so handsome and sophisticated.

He pulls me closer and everything changes. Our smiles fade, the moment shifts, and it feels like nothing will ever be the same.

My body is connected to his, I can feel everything. Every hard muscle, every breath he takes, I feel it.

I'm so lost in the moment, I don't even realize I haven't made any move to touch him back until he grabs my arms and wraps them around his neck. Then his hands move to my ribs as they slowly move down my body, settling on my lower back.

His eyes never leave mine while his hands explore my body.

How is he able to garner this much of a reaction just by dancing with me? I've never felt like this before. This level of desire isn't something I thought was real.

My heels give me a bit of height, so our lips aren't that far apart. I can feel his breath on my mouth. The smell of wine and mint is intoxicating.

He leads us around the dance floor, clearly no stranger to the art of dancing.

He breaks the silence. "We seem to have an audience."

I don't even look, I don't care who is watching us.

When he notices my attention never leaves him, his eyes turn dark.

"If you would've told me last week…" he starts but closes his eyes and shakes his head.

"What?" I whisper.

"You keep surprising me." He leans in a bit closer.

I feel myself lean into him. It's impossible not to.

Then next thing I know, his lips are on mine. It's a gentle kiss, but it lights my body on fire. I feel him start to pull away, and I panic. I want more.

I rise on my toes and deepen the kiss. My tongue mixing with his.

He groans into my mouth. For a second, he doesn't kiss me back, and I think I've made a terrible mistake.

I try to pull back slowly, but he stops me. Then he takes control as his lips press firmly into mine. His hands move up and grab my face. His tongue is invasive as it plays with mine. The kiss is like a drug. I feel my entire body lose control and submit to the feeling. I don't know how long we kiss. Time ceases to exist. All I'm aware of is the feeling of his wet lips moving along mine.

Eventually, he pulls away, but only slightly, our faces only a breath apart.

I don't know what just happened. Was that a real kiss or did he do it because people were watching? We never talked about kissing as part of the deal, but it makes sense. My brain is spinning right now with questions.

He looks past my shoulder.

"Hi, guys," Savannah appears by our side with a serious looking Luke while they dance. "Nice work. After that kiss, there's no way William's doubting anything. It looked pretty damn real."

I laugh nervously as my body freezes. Then I feel his hand on my hip, giving it a couple squeezes like he's trying to reassure me that he's got this.

"I saw you guys looking at us while talking to him. I figured it was the end of the evening, we needed to seal the deal, right?" he says with a wink.

I know I'm supposed to feel relieved. He took the heat off us. But are his words true or is he just covering for us?

After we finish our dance, Luke calls it a night since Savannah is getting tired. Which leads to everybody deciding to head back to the hotel.

Marcus holds my hand the entire time he says his goodbyes. When we are all walking out to the limo, I look down at our locked hands and wonder if this is it. Will this be the last time I get to enjoy a touch like this from him? After this, him and I will no longer be playing the part.

I don't know if I'll be able to handle things going back to the way they were. Friendly hellos and nods around the office, but no laughs or touches. I feel like tonight was my time to do something different, be someone different, and it's slipping away.

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