Page 108 of Griffin Undone
My gaze dropped to my drink. The tables around us held either men or couples, so I wasn’t mistaken about his focus. Which girl was he interested in? Sarah with her sweet smile? Or maybe Candy, with her unabashed sensuality?
An empty glass stared back at me. I reached for the pitcher.
“Hello, ladies.”
My hand froze on the handle as the words quivered through my body.Look up! Look at him!But I couldn’t; I could only sit there like a dumbass holding the pitcher in my shaking grip and praying I didn’t make a fool of myself.
No fear, remember?
No fear. I tightened my grip, lifted. So far, so good. Somehow I managed to pour a fresh drink without spilling, replace the pitcher on the table. Despite the sick pounding of my heart in my throat, I made myself glance up.
Gray eyes locked with mine.
Lord, he’s beautiful.
I expected him to look away, to focus on one of the other women. He didn’t. He stared—at me. Until the urge to squirm crawled up my spine and my cheeks burst into flames.
“Hello.”
Was that my voice, all breathy and…suggestive? It must’ve been; the other girls were staring, silent, their round eyes just as awed as I’m sure mine were. I looked back to the man looming over our table.
He reached a hand out to me. “I’m Levi.”
My fingers settled into his grip like they had been created to fit him. “Abby.”
My voice cracked. I cleared my throat.
“Hi, Abby.” He didn’t let go of my hand, didn’t glance around. Just held me captive with those intense eyes. “Would you dance with me?”
Me?
I barely managed not to say it aloud. Instead I looked to Sarah, who was frantically nodding. “Uh, okay. Sure.”
Could I be any more awkward if I tried? Where was the vaunted hostess who demurely handled every crisis that arose?
Maybe she’d died along with the dream that someday, somehow, my father would see me as his daughter and not his pawn.
Levi tugged on my hand, urging me to my feet. My body responded to his command automatically, breaking through the nerves that had held me frozen. I didn’t want to be frozen, not anymore. And I didn’t want to miss this, not a minute of it.
CHAPTER TWO
He kept ahold of me, merely lifting our joined hands over Candy’s and Renee’s heads. Was he afraid to let go, afraid I might run away? But no, a man like this wouldn’t feel fear. Could he sense my own? Was my palm clammy? God, please don’t let me make the biggest fool of myself ever.
An actual smile tugged at my lips.
“What?” he asked.
Had he been watching me that closely then? “Just…” I clamped my lips shut over the words. No one needed access to my insecurities but me. “Thank you for asking me to dance.”
Surprise softened his smile. “My pleasure.”
The music changed as we reached the dance floor, from the latest pop single to a slow, sultry song. Levi raised his arm and twirled me beneath it. On the second spin his body blocked mine, plastering me against the hard muscles beneath his black shirt and jeans. Hard and hot—his body seared mine, as if I’d carry the impression of him on my skin for the rest of my life. And maybe I would. I certainly wanted to. Everything feminine in me flared to painful life, urging me to rub against him like a cat, roll myself in his scent, his heat. The rough, tanned skin of his throat was right in front of me, a delicious sprinkle of dark stubble guiding my eyes down to the collar of his button-down where a hint of a tattoo peeked out. This man was nothing like any other I’d known—hard-edged, powerful. Dangerous. And yet his arms surrounding my body made me feel utterly safe.
He ducked his head beside mine and inhaled, taking in my scent. Like an animal.
Don’t faint, Abby. Just don’t.
I didn’t, but I did tighten my grip. My heeled boots brought me high enough that my head settled in the hollow vee beside his collarbone. I did my own inhaling. At my shiver, a hint of a smile tugged at the corner of Levi’s mouth. That smile fascinated me, made me want to forget the whole world and just focus right there, right now, shutting out everything but this moment. No worries, no pain, nobut this is only…Just Levi and now. Just this song. Just—
