Page 39 of A Quick Stop in Paradise

“Oh—” I felt my face burn, suddenly dizzy, and Brooklyn rolled her eyes with an exasperated smile, elbowing Cici in the side.

“Busting my cover. I was enjoying seeing how jealous she got.”

“I wasn’t—” Oh, god, I was going to die. Cici grinned my way.

“Brooklyn was talking about you,” she said, her voice low, as she pushed past Brooklyn towards the other end of the bar. “Okay, BB, I should probably clock in. Have fun.”

“Uh…” My head was spinning.Right.Cici was just… one of her bartender friends. I shot Brooklyn a look once Cici was gone. “You pull that with everybody?”

She smiled wider, leaning back against the bar. “So, Cici’s not your type?”

“She’s… I’m not flirting with her,” I said. She flashed white teeth in a grin.

“You figured out your type, then.”

Oh, god, she had me laid out like a map. I flushed furiously, looking away. “I wasn’t… uh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“No, I should be the one to apologize. I just couldn’t help it. A little revenge.”

“Revenge?” I raised my eyebrows at her, thrown off enough that I forgot to be embarrassed. Her smile turned into something dangerous, a glint in her eyes, and my stomach dropped out when she swiped her tongue quickly over one corner of her lips.

“I was a little jealous watching you chat with the redhead.”

“Oh…” I felt my face burn, my breath suddenly short. Brooklyn smiled wider, eyes searching me, before she pushed off from the bar, holding a hand out towards me.

“Club’s a place to dance,” she said. “Join me?”

Oh, god, she wanted me too. Oh, Jesus. My heart took off beating a mile a minute, suddenly back to what Carmen had said about thebest-case scenario.Was that—were we on a countdown tonight until she was—

I wasn’t scared of getting what I wanted. I pushed out a breath, and I took her hand. “Never been much of a dancer,” I said, stepping close to her. “If you want to show me…”

She bit her lip, a flash there in her eyes. “I’ll show you all you like,” she said, her voice low and husky, and it gave me chills in every part of my body.

Fuck me, I was doing this.

Chapter 12

Brooklyn

I’d told myself a million times that I wasn’t making the first move on Ryan, but I think the way she looked at Cici like she’d punch her in the face to get me to herself—that probably counted as her making a move.

And, hey, she’d shown up at my door with flowers in my favorite color asking if I could help her find out what it was like with a girl. The least I could do was help out.

I held her close to me as we moved into the crowd, letting myself put a hand on her hip. She flushed, looking at me through her lashes, but she didn’t pull away, a loaded smile on her lips as she put one hand on my shoulder, the other on my hip.

“Don’t worry about dancing,” I said, tugging her a little closer. “Nobody’s watching. Just experience moving.”

“You’re on this floor with a lot of girls, aren’t you?”

“Don’t get too jealous.”

“I’m not,” she laughed, stepping in and out with me to the rhythm of the music. “Who was the best girl you’ve been with?”

I quirked a smile at her. “Why do I feel like this question is a trap?”

“It’s not. I’m going to ask what she did.”

Ah. I saw where this was going. And I liked where this was going. I guess it was no surprise—shewasa journalist. Girl knew how to get information.

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