Page 64 of Take Me Home

His hands dug into my waist and he deposited me onto my own bar stool. My mouth hung agape, shocked and cooling off from that intense tease. When was he going to fucking kiss me already? I scowled at him.

“Whatever. You liked it. Two girls fighting over you,” I said, pouting.

He held my gaze, tongue darting out to wet his bottom lip. “She’s really not my type.” He paused, giving me a long look up and down with the tip of his thumb tucked between his teeth. The mood had made a major shift. Every look, every word, and every action dripped with sex. “Can I get you a drink?”

“Just water,” I said casually. “All that boot scootin’ takes it out of you. These boots aren’t the most comfortable in the long haul.”

“Let me help with that,” he said, bending to lift my feet off the rim of my barstool and into his lap. “Put those dancing feet up for a bit.”

Jake flagged down the bartender, got me a water, and dropped a dollar for a tip on the bar with a nod. He lifted his own water cup to mine for a toast.

“Cheers to another time that I owe you one,” he said, eyes bright.

“Cheers,” I said, drinking deeply. I smirked. “If you think this is you repaying your many debts to me, Mr. Warren, you’re sadly mistaken.”

“No, I’ve got better ideas for how to repay those,” Jake said, expression full of dangerous promise. His fingertip traced lazily along my calf at the edge of my boot. Just that tiny touch was enough to make me suppress a moan. This was some 1800s shit, getting turned on by a light leg touch, but it was the way he was doing it, and how he was looking at me while he did it. He was watching me for a reaction.

A new song started, breaking the spell between us as he perked up.

“Come on, Rossetti. I’ve got a surprise for you. Hope you’re rested enough,” he said, guiding my ankles off his lap.

“I’ll manage. Can’t wait to see what you’ve got up your sleeve,” I said, intrigued.

Jake led me out to the dance floor for a slower song, You in a Honky Tonk by Randall King. “You trust me?”

“I guess I have to,” I mused.

“Just let me lead you. I’ll take care of the rest,” he said. He backed us into a spot on the floor and shuffled me around. I had no issue following him, his steps confident. After a few counts, he spun me around with some elaborate arm twists. I caught his wide smile between turns, giggling as he genuinely surprised me with his skill.

“Didn’t see this coming, did you?” he laughed as he caught me for some in-between steps.

“I did not!”

Jake worked in some more turns and rolls, one where it made sense to whip my hair. “Damn, Darcy, you’re good, too. Not your first rodeo?”

“You’re making it easy,” I said, still delighted. Then he hit me with a perfectly timed dip. I threw my head back. He dragged his hand up my thigh to lift my knee and ran his nose along my neck as he brought me back to standing, taking his time and brushing a light kiss along the column of my throat.

I was so, so gone, hormones on fire. He held the back of my head for a long look as he got me upright, my knee still draped over his hand. “Beautiful,” he whispered, then whipped me back out for a twirl. He kept me busy with twists and turns until the song ended and he picked me up off my feet to spin me around. Jake’s smile was so broad, so gorgeous that it was nearly blinding. Seeing him so happy and knowing I was part of it was a heady feeling.

I hung from his neck and smooched his cheek. “Thank you,” I said.

The steel guitar of the next song kicked in, a Garth Brooks song I’d always loved. “Stay out here with me? I wanna talk to you about something.”

“About where you got those moves, and where you’ve been hiding them tonight?” I asked. Jake brought me into his arms, resting my hand over his heart and covering it with his own.

“It’s good for a man to maintain a sense of mystery,” he said, grinning down at me.

“So what did you want to talk to me about, then?”

Jake swallowed, looking a bit nervous. “I want to make you an offer. If you accept, I think we should not waste any more time and get to it right away. If you don’t like it, we’ll move on and I won’t bring it up again.”

I rubbed my hand on his chest to relax him. “Okay. Let’s hear it.”

He took a breath, searching the room for something, then focused on my eyes. “I think there’s something really strong between us, and you and I could be really good together. I think you’ve been holding back because you don’t think you’re worth it, or you’re afraid it’s wrong. But I don’t care if it’s wrong to someone else. I don’t want any more ‘almosts’ with you. I just want you. I want to be us. So what I’m asking is, can we give us a shot?”

My breath caught. This was exactly what I’d wanted all summer, to know for sure that he wanted me. But there were still unanswered questions. I needed to clear the four million anxieties about him that floated in my head. I took a shaky breath before launching into them.

“And you don’t care that I’m older than you?”

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