Page 16 of Destry

I glanced over at the dance floor then back to him. One dance. That’s all it would be.

I slid off my stool, standing in front of him. “One dance, Callahan.”

His grin widened. I expected him to stand and take the lead like he did with everything else but instead, he stayed put, tilting his chin up, letting his voice drop just enough to make my pulse race.

“Come here, then.”

The way he said it, smooth and certain, had my fingers twitching at my sides.

I huffed a breath and stepped closer. He didn’t reach for me. Just let me come to him and when I was close enough, his hands found my hips, his touch light but confident like he had been waiting for this moment.

“See?” he murmured. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

I rolled my eyes, but before I could say anything, he pulled me into the rhythm of the song, moving us like we had done this a thousand times before and for some reason, I let him. After the end of the song, he leaned in close. “That was practice. Now let’s go do the real thing.” He lifted and smoothly led us to the dance floor.

I told myself it was just a dance, that it didn’t mean anything, but the moment his hands settled against my hips, warm and sure, my pulse was racing again.

The bar faded away, the voices, the music and everything blurred to the rhythm of his movements and mine.

“Didn’t take you for a dancer.” I kept my voice even, my hands resting lightly against his arms.

His grip tightened slightly, just enough to make me feel it. “Didn’t take you for someone who’d let me lead.”

“Don’t get used to it.”

He smiled, sexy as hell. “Too late.”

I tried to focus on anything other than the way he felt, the way the heat from his body seeped into mine. I tried to ignore the fact that, despite my best efforts, I was relaxed and my body fell into rhythm with his like it was second nature.

I tilted my chin slightly, glancing up at him. “This your usual game? Get a girl out on the dance floor and smooth talk her until she forgets she doesn’t like you?”

Destry chuckled. “You really want me to believe you’re forgetting and not falling?”

“Yes.”

“Then why you still here?”

I didn’t have an answer for that, so I looked away, watching the way people moved around us, some watching, some lost in their own worlds.

Destry’s hands shifted, sliding over the denim at my waist. Not enough to be too much, but enough to make my skin prickle beneath the fabric. He was enjoying this.

“Relax, Savvy. There’s nothin’ wrong with enjoying yourself.”

“I was enjoying myself before you dragged me into this.”

He laughed arrogantly, unconvinced. “I’m sure you were.”

I was about to argue, but then he did something I wasn’t expecting. He spun me. An effortless turn reminding me that he could take control any time he wanted.

When I landed against him, my back to his chest, my breath hitched, and for a split second, I felt everything. The way his chest brushed my back, the firm press of his hands on my stomach, and the undeniable pull between us I’d been fighting since the first time he looked at me.

I was too aware of him, too aware of myself, and he was too damn perceptive of all those things. I straightened, shaking it off as I stepped out of his hold, turning to face him. “You’re getting too comfortable?”

Destry grinned, sexy and lazy. “A little bit but so are you.”

I brushed past him, heading toward the bar. “You got your dance. Now I’m getting another drink.”

He let me go, but I felt his gaze trailing after me and the heat of it followed. I reached the bar and tapped my fingers against the counter, trying to get a hold of myself. I needed a minute, just one minute, to breathe where I didn’t feel his touch or smell his cologne. One minute to push past whatever the hell was happening between us but before I could order, I felt him again which meant the problem was now right behind me.

---