Page 36 of Temptress

“Okay, this was so worth waking up early for. I want to know everything,” I stressed. “How’d he do it? Was he nervous? Did he ask your dad first? Oh, I bet your mom is beside herself right now!”

She spent the next ten minutes detailing every moment of the proposal from the night before with me cutting in occasionally tooohorawwover something incredibly sweet.

I could still remember when Asher had called to tell me about her ex-fiancé proposing, and she hadn’t been half as excited as she was sitting across from me now, practically glowing with happiness.

Like most of her friends and family, I’d known Jackson was all wrong for her from the very beginning, but as long as she was happy, who was I to say anything? Fortunately, it all turned out for the best when he bailed out a bathroom window and she’d followed suit not long after.

I’d heard of a bride or groom being left at the altar, but I’d never heard of thembothpulling a runner the day of their wedding. Now that she was engaged to Owen Shields, I could only figure everything had worked out exactly as it was supposed to.

“I need to ask you something,” she said, chewing nervously on the side of her thumb. “I know you’ve already done this once before, and I know bridesmaid dresses aren’t exactly cheap but would you—”

I lifted a hand to stop her before she had a chance to finish. “You don’t even have to ask. I’d be honored to be a part of your wedding, babe!”

She lifted her shoulders nervously. “Really?”

“Absolutely! I didn’t get to walk the aisle like it was a runway the last time, so I’m looking forward to having a second chance.”

She giggled brightly and broke off a piece of her muffin, popping it into her mouth. She spoke as she chewed. “I know for sure I want you and Hardin standing up there with me, but that’s about all I’ve figured out. I know my mom’s going crazy already, talking about bridal magazines and expos and stuff, but right now all I can really focus on is the fact that I get to marry Owen. If I didn’t think it would give Mom a heart attack, I’d march right down to the courthouse today to make it official.”

I reached across the table and placed my hand over hers, my heart swelling for my best friend. “There’s time to figure it all out. Just take some time to be happy.”

“You know what?” she started, that ridiculous grin of hers still firmly in place. “I think that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

* * *

After leaving Muffin Top, I’d driven around a bit aimlessly. I didn’t have anywhere I needed to be, but I wasn’t in the mood to go home, so I headed for the club. There wasn’t a rehearsal today, so the studio would be empty. A few people would be working to get the place ready for the club to open later tonight, stocking the bar and doing or checking inventory and the like, but they’d mainly stay at the front of the club, so I’d have the back and the studio all to myself.

Mac didn’t mind if we wanted to come in on our off time to use the space, so I went in through the back and headed for the dressing rooms where I kept a change of clothes. I traded my jeans and T-shirt for body-hugging shorts and a sports bra, pulled my hair onto a knot at the top of my head with a few of the shorter pieces at the base of my neck falling free, and headed for the studio.

I treasured times like this, where I wasn’t limited to practicing for a performance and could simply lose myself to dancing. My mom might not have done much for me growing up, but the one thing she’d given me that I’d always appreciated was dance. She’d put me in classes as soon as I was old enough, and there was no turning back from there. A love developed, and even once she lost interest in coming to my performances and recitals, she’d still shelled out the money for more classes every time I begged. By the time I graduated from high school, I’d studied everything from ballet to tap to contemporary and everything in between. It was like I’d been bitten by a bug and couldn’t get enough.

Being a burlesque dancer was kind of limiting as far as the types of performances we put on but being able to come in a few times a month like this made up for it.

I hooked my phone into the Bluetooth port and scrolled to the song that was calling my name. the melody kicked on, coming through the sound system as I reached the center of the large space, and as soon as Chris Stapleton’s deep bluesy voice started singing the opening lines of “Cold” I moved, losing myself to the sad, soulful song.

My muscles warmed, stretching and elongating as I spun on the balls of my feet or lifted a single leg straight up in the air. As the melody built, I pushed my body harder, executing leaps and turns that had been easier when I was younger, closing my eyes and smiling when I pulled them off.

As he sang about the woman who broke his heart being so cold, a fine mist of sweat spread across my body. The song was five minutes long, and by the time it came to an end, my breathing was labored and my muscles tired, but I feltgreat.

“Jesus,” a voice said from the back of the room, giving me a start. “How did I not know you were so fucking beautiful when you danced?”

My heart jolted as I spun around and found Silas leaning against the back wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at me in a way he never had before, in a way that made my skin tingle. I’d been so lost in the song I hadn’t noticed he’d entered the room, but now that he was here, the large room suddenly felt small.

“Silas,” I whispered, the frantic beating of my heart having nothing to do with the workout I’d just put my body through. “How long have you been standing there?”

He pushed off the wall and started moving toward me, his steps slow and measured, reminding me of a predator stalking its prey, waiting for the moment it lets its guard down so it could strike. He didn’t walk, he prowled, and watching as those long, thick legs moved, my core pulsed, feeling uncomfortably empty.

“Long enough,” he answered, his voice sounding deeper than normal, more sinful. “Saw you come in on the monitors. After you changed and came in here, I followed.”

My pulse fluttered wildly as he came to a stop only inches from me. My tongue darted out, trailing across my bottom lip before I pulled it between my teeth and bit down, relishing the way Silas’s eyes darkened as he watched my mouth. “Why did you follow me?”

His hand shot out, hooking me around the back of my neck and yanking me forward. I let out a gasp as I slammed into his solid body. “You know why,” he growled, then his mouth crashed down on mine. The kiss started wild, almost punishing, and as he tangled his fingers in my hair, pulling it free of the holder so it spilled down around my shoulders, I wrapped my arms around his neck and lifted myself up, desperate to get closer.

“I might know, but I want to hear you say it,” I demanded between kisses as his hands came down on my ass. He kneaded the flesh before using his grip to lift me off my feet, forcing my legs to wrap around his trim waist.

“I need you,” he grunted, his rock-hard cock pressing into my belly as he moved us across the room until my back slammed up against the wall. “If I don’t bury my cock inside you in the next thirty seconds, I’m going to lose my goddamn mind.” He kissed me like he wanted to punish me for making him want me so badly, and it only made me that much needier. My thong was soaked through, completely ruined the instant I caught him watching me, his gaze downright possessive. “I haven’t been able to think about anything since I tasted you last night.”

I dropped my head against the wall as he trailed wet, stinging kisses down my neck, dragging his teeth across the sensitive flesh. “I can still feel you between my thighs,” I admitted. “Every time I move, it’s there, so I think of you every time I feel a twinge. You were all I could think about the entire time I was dancing.”

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