Page 18 of Close Encounters of the Sexy Kind
Energy coursed through his body, firing every nerve and lighting him up from the inside out.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, righting herself.
He wasn’t. It took every ounce of discipline he possessed not to pull her right back into his embrace.
When another surge of the crowd threatened, he placed his hand on her lower back and firmly but gently guided her out of harm’s way. “May I purchase a beverage for you?”
She blinked then shook her head slightly as if to clear it. “Thank you, but no. I was just leaving.”
Leaving? No, he couldn’t allow that. Not until he knew more about her and this inexplicable pull she seemed to have on him.
“Unacceptable.”
“Why unacceptable?”
“Because I have only just found you.”
“Does that line usually work?”
“I do not know. You are the first woman to whom I have spoken those words.”
Her eyes softened, then she cleared her throat. “Oh, you’re good.”
He grinned. “Does that mean it is working?”
She laughed, the sound filling his chest with light. “Kind of, yeah. But I really was just leaving. This”—she waved her hand around her—“isn’t really for me.”
“Then perhaps you will allow me to suggest a quieter venue, one where we may talk and get to know each other. There is a small eatery just down the street. I have been told it is quite good.”
She considered him for a moment then nodded. “Yeah, okay. Why not?”
