Page 71 of Say Yes to the Hot Mess

“Ouch,” he says, jerking away and rubbing his chin.

“Oh!” I say, turning to face him. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry! But you know, you shouldn’t sneak up on me.”

“I’m right next to you,” he says, still rubbing the spot. “I couldn’t sneak up on you.”

“You were all of a sudden talking in my ear,” I point out. I reach for his face, touching his chin. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he says.

“I was thinking—do you want to dance?” I ask, feeling strangely hopeful.

“Uh,” he says, his gaze darting away from mine. When he reaches up to rub the back of his neck, my heart sinks in disappointment.

“It’s okay!” I say before he can turn me down. “Don’t worry about it. I know not everybody likes to dance.”

“Ilike to dance,” comes a voice from behind me.

I jump in my seat, clapping my hand over my heart and twisting around to see who the newcomer is.

“Jude,” I say when I find him smiling down at me. “Hi. You came out of absolutely nowhere.”

He laughs, his eyes sparkling. “Sorry. I just couldn’t help but overhear my idiot brother hesitating. His loss is my gain, though.” Then he holds one hand out. “Dance with me?”

I smile gratefully up at him. He’s giving me an opportunity to save face, and I’ll happily take it. “I’d love to,” I say, offering a silent apology to Scarlett in my head. Then I place my hand in his and stand. I’m tempted to look at Dex, just to see what he thinks, but I stop myself. He doesn’t have to dance with me, but then he can’t complain if I dance with someone else, either.

So I let Jude lead me to the small dance floor. It seems to be one of those portable, removable dance floors, because this section of the restaurant didn’t have wood tiles last time I was here. We find a place near the edge before Jude rests his hands lightly on my waist and I put mine around his neck.

“Ooh,” Jude murmurs after a few seconds of swaying to the music, his amused eyes trained over my shoulder. “My brother doesn’t like this atall. Let’s push him a little further, shall we?”

“Jude,” I say, but the chastisement doesn’t hold much weight. He’s like a puppy dog getting into mischief—part of you wants to tell him off, but part of you just thinks it’s cute.

“I’m about to pull you a whole lot closer,” he says, glancing down at me. “Speak now or forever hold your peace. Or at least, you’ll hold your peace until Dex blows a gasket.”

I shake my head, smiling. I would’ve been happy to just avoid the embarrassment of being rejected, but…“Fine.” At this, Jude’s arms wrap more fully around me until our bodies are flush, our faces uncomfortably close together. Then he spins us around so that his back is to Dex, and now I can’t see Dex over Jude’s shoulder. He’s too tall.

“This isn’t going to work like you think it is, though,” I add, still amused. “He’s not some territorial caveman.”

“Allow me to know my own brother,” he says with a grin. “He’s going to turn up in thirty seconds, tops.”

I raise a brow at him, unimpressed but also genuinely curious. “Because…?”

“Because he wants you,” Jude says simply. “And all he can see is you dancingveryclosely with another man. Plus I turned us around, so now he can’t even keep his eyes on you. All he sees is the back of my head. We could be doing anything over here. That’s the part that will bug him the most.”

This man is incorrigible.

“All right,” I say, nodding. “You’re on. Thirty seconds?”

Jude smirks. “Twenty seconds.”

And then he begins counting, speaking quietly so that only we can hear.

When he reaches ten seconds, nothing has happened. And when he reaches fifteen seconds, I’m starting to feel pretty smug, if not a little disappointed.

But when he reaches seventeen seconds…a hand clamps down firmly on his shoulder.

And by second eighteen, Dex’s voice, low and commanding, is saying, “I think that’s enough for today, Jude.”

Jude gives a loud, completely fake, completely over-the-top gasp. “Dexter, what a surprise,” he says sarcastically. “I hadno ideayou would turn up like this—”

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