Page 9 of The Trouble with Sexy (Rock Canyon, Idaho 0.50)

&n

bsp; RYAN LET GREGG lead her out onto Buck’s crowded floor and slip the hand he held up behind his neck. He released it and slid both hands over her sides to meet at her lower back, pulling her in close to his body. He opened his hands to press her chest and lower stomach against him and slipped his leg between hers. Their bodies swayed to the beat of a Brooks & Dunn song and he couldn’t seem to stop staring at her.

She cleared her throat and said, “You don’t like it, do you?”

He shook his head. “That’s not it. You just don’t look like yourself. It’s a little jarring, but I’ll get used to it.”

As far as compliments, it was definitely lacking in romance. “Gee, great.”

His mouth tilted up in a small smile. “I just mean it’s a difference, but I like it. I do. Now can you quit being so crabby with me and smile?”

She stuck her tongue out at him, and she felt his body stiffen. She watched his eyes darken as he stared at her mouth, and she pulled her tongue back in self-consciously. She was about to ask him what was wrong now, but when his lips descended toward her mouth, she froze. Gregg was going to kiss her. Feeling like her heart was going to explode from her chest, she caught her breath. His mouth had barely settled on hers with tender pressure when a voice broke the spell.

“Excuse me, Gregg, but I’d like to cut in.”

Ryan pulled back in Gregg’s arms to see Billy Montaigne standing behind Gregg’s shoulder, his white cowboy hat tilted up, showing his wide grin. Billy’s lean frame was covered by a loud button-up shirt and tight jeans, and Ryan almost scowled at the poor guy for his crappy timing.

Ryan waited for Gregg to tell Billy to get lost, and was disappointed when he stepped back and told her, “It’s up to you.”

Why would Gregg just step aside? If he was really interested in her, he wouldn’t just step aside for some other guy. And now he’d left it up to her, and Billy was looking at her so sweetly, she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, even if he was as dense as a brick.

She smiled in what she hoped was a friendly manner and said, “Sure, I’d love to.”

Gregg stepped back farther, and Billy stepped in to wrap his skinny arms around her. He held her respectfully, but Ryan’s eyes followed Gregg hungrily as he made his way back toward the bar. Ryan tried to concentrate on what Billy was yammering about, but her thoughts were so absorbed with Gregg that it was hard to keep up. Gregg had told her she was beautiful. He’d asked her to dance. He’d even kissed her in the middle of a crowded dance floor. Then given her up to another guy without protest.

She’d wanted to get a good man’s attention. But the only good man she really wanted had walked away from her without a backward glance.

THROUGHOUT THE REST of the night, Gregg couldn’t get another dance in with Ryan, and he was past losing his patience.

He felt Gracie lean over and ask, “So are you going to stand here all night festering, or are you gonna do something about that big old torch you’re carrying for her?”

Without answering her, Gregg marched onto the dance floor. He should have told Billy when he asked to cut in to get lost, but he didn’t want Ryan to think he was a possessive jerk. Now, as he watched Wayne Coulter’s hands trying to cop a feel of Ryan’s rear end, he wished he’d run the kid off, and told any other man that came tapping at his shoulder to take a hike too. Maybe if he had, he wouldn’t be watching Wayne Coulter’s hand creeping down Ryan’s back. If that hand crept any farther south, he was going to end up with a stub.

He tapped Wayne on the shoulder firmly and said, “Hey, Wayne, I’d like to cut in.”

Wayne, who was never quite a gentleman even when he was sober, snarled, “Back off, we’re busy.”

Gregg felt his blood boil and tapped him harder. “Look Wayne—”

Wayne turned around again and gave him another ornery glare. “Look, Gregg, I don’t want to tell you again. Get lost.”

Wayne’s hand drifted down onto Ryan’s butt, and she grabbed his hand, yanking it back up to her waist. “Please keep your hands on my waist.”

Wayne gave her a drunken grin. “Sure, sweet thang. How ’bout a kiss, then?”

Gregg’s vision blurred into a bright red, and without a second thought, he pulled Wayne around to face him and let his fist fly. Wayne crashed to the floor and Gregg stood over him, breathing hard. The whole bar was silent, and Gregg’s harsh tone was a boom in the quiet of the crowd: “You need to learn some manners, Wayne.”

When he lifted his gaze and caught Ryan watching him with a horrified gaze, he didn’t know who was more surprised by his actions, Ryan or himself.

RYAN DIDN’T KNOW whether to be grateful or angry. She was handling the drunk just fine without Gregg, but somehow the thought of him stepping in to defend her honor was . . . well, exciting.

Gracie pushed through the crowd, stopping when she reached Ryan’s side. She took in Gregg standing over the prone Wayne, and her lips kicked up into a smirk. “Are you causing bar fights now?”

Ryan looked at Gracie in surprise, but started laughing when she saw her amusement. “Apparently.”

Gracie slipped her arm through hers and squeezed. “That just means you’ve definitely achieved your goal.”

Ryan blushed, pleased with Gracie’s words if not with the situation. It had been fun to dance and be told how good she looked, but it hadn’t been the same as when Gregg held her so briefly. Every nerve in her body had felt alive in his arms.

---