Page 88 of The Last Dance You Saved
“Jealous?”
“I already told you I was jealous of the two bozos you danced with at The Fortress. Now that I’ve had you to myself, the idea of any other man putting his hands on you makes me want to rip their fingers off one at a time.”
A little thrill went up my spine, and heat pooled low in my stomach at the idea of Rafe going nuts because someone touched me. Wouldn’t I feel the same if he was dancing with another person? If they held him tight? I’d want to rip them to shreds too.
“I’ll make you a deal,” I told him. He raised a brow as his finger continued to trail down my neck where it lingered on the curve of my collarbone. “You come back to me in one piece, and I promise you can have all my dances tonight.”
“Just tonight?” he grumbled, leaning in, kissing the soft spot below my ear that made my knees weak.
“I can’t promise youallmy dances from here to forever.”
“If you think I have any intention of watching while you dance with some other man after you told me you loved me, you can think again.”
“Well, my brothers like to kick it up with me at times, and my father is a damn good line dancer. Are you saying I can’t dance with them?” I almost laughed when I could see him considering just how much even that would bother him. “Can you even line dance, Slick? Cuz I’m not giving it up.”
“I’ve got moves, Tennessee. Ones you haven’t seen yet,” he said. The heat of his breath coasted over my skin, making my entire being tremble with yearning for another kiss. Another touch. “We still have lots to figure out about each other, but one thing I can promise you is, if I’m in your life, you’ll be saving all your dances for me. You’llwantmine to be the only hands on you. The only body tucked up against yours.”
“Hmm,” I taunted, tapping my chin. “I’ll have to wait and see if you can back up those words with the appropriate action.”
His mouth was enticingly hot as it hovered near my lips. “We still had a wager we never finished, darling, about who would be begging first. How about I bet I can make you beg from just a dance? That you’ll be pleading for relief even though there are people watching us. You’ll want me to take you right there on the dance floor. I won’t. Because no one else gets to see your face when you climax ever again, but I can promise, you’ll want me to.”
Just when I thought he was going to kiss me, to slant his delectable, torturous mouth over mine, he stepped back. I wanted him now, just as he’d said, not caring who was watching or that the safe door was wide open and anyone could walk by. I wanted him deep inside me. I wanted him whispering my name and demanding I give him every piece of me.
I swallowed hard, raised a brow, and put on my very best flirtatious smile. “You get back here safe and sound, Slick, and we’ll see which of us ends the night begging.”
Then, I ducked under his arm and sauntered out of the room with my hips swaying. I was rewarded by him swearing under his breath, and my smile grew.
It had been a raise I wasn’t sure I had the cards to back up, because I was already trembling with need for him, but I’d do my best. I’d give him a run for his money and hope we could spend another night skin on skin before reality hit, and I had to do the one thing I didn’t want to do anymore—get on a plane and fly away.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Sadie
UNIVERSE
Performed by Kelsea Ballerini
I didn’t have much time tothink about Rafe and me, or Rafe in LA confronting Adam, or what would happen after my plane left the next day, because the preparation for the wedding kept me going nonstop. The work was soothing, but it also made me wonder how Lauren had handled it without the extra pair of hands I provided. It wasn’t until after the bride and groom had said their ‘I dos’ by the waterfall with the sun setting around them, and the party had moved to the tents up by the corrals, that I finally stopped to catch a breath.
The temperatures, that had remained pleasantly in the low eighties all day, drifted downward into the chilly territory as twilight settled over the land. A wind brushed over me as I stood at the edge of the dance floor, watching the bride and groom’s first dance.
I looked down at my phone, hoping to hear Rafe had landed at the airport just outside of town. He’d texted me to say he was on his way over an hour ago. It had been another brief, concise, to-the-point text like all the ones he’d sent throughout the day, keeping me abreast of what was happening. If I hadn’t heard theI love youhe’d said that morning, the messages would have seemed cold and detached, but the simple fact he took the time to send them to me because he knew I’d be worried showed the depths of how much he cared.
Unfortunately, by the time the SWAT team had arrived at the hotel by the airport, Adam had been gone. Rafe had spent the day with the LA police as they’d tried to find him, but he’d vanished from sight again.
“Is he on his way?” Lauren asked, stepping up next to me with a clipboard in her hand.
“He should be here any minute.”
Lauren looked more put together, more beautiful tonight, than at any other time since I’d arrived. She wore a vivid magenta dress partnered with a pair of white cowboy boots that matched the ones Fallon was wearing. The teen and her friend were huddled on the other side of the dance floor, whispering and sending darted looks in Parker’s direction.
He was not dressed for a wedding. Like all of Steele’s security team, he was in black cargo pants and a black T-shirt with military boots on his feet. With his dark hair and gray eyes, he looked like he was made to blend into the shadows. If I’d been Fallon’s age, I might have had a crush on him too.
The marquee was brimming with the security tonight, just like the ranch had been overflowing with the teams all day. While Rafe’s men had been in black outfits like Parker, Lorenzo’s had worn dark suits and sunglasses like some sort of Secret Service wannabes. The two groups had been hyperaware, eyes scanning the surroundings, bodies tight and ready to shift into action, but they’d given each other a wide berth.
Seeing all the highly trained men with guns hovering, I’d felt silly requesting my own weapon, but it had given me a piece of my control back the shooting the night before had stolen away. It also brought me some sort of strange comfort, simply knowing it was a part of Rafe’s history that was touching my skin. This evening, I’d found a wide band that had allowed me to tuck the Liliput to my thigh under the lavender sundress I’d bought in Vegas—the same one I’d worn the night we’d found the rattler in Rafe’s bed.
Lauren sighed as she watched her daughter. “She’s going to have her heart broken if she keeps sending him googly eyes, but right now, she doesn’t want to hear anything I have to say about Parker or anything else. She’s furious at me for not seeing what she saw happening between Adam and Spence. I’m not sure she’ll ever forgive me for how I abandoned her this year, and I’m not sure she should.”
