Page 15 of The Playboy

She looked around the club, and when her stare returned to me, she gave me no warning before she pushed herself off the platform.

Not that it mattered. I was more than prepared.

My arms immediately wrapped around her, and I held her against my body.

She was petite. I could tell that when she was dancing. But when I had her this close, bearing every inch of her, she felt weightless.

Even more perfect than I’d thought.

And,damn, she smelled good. A combination of the salty beach air and lemons.

I didn’t want to put her down, so I held her high, focusing on her eyes, leading her legs around my waist while I steadied my arms on her back.

Her body aligned with mine.

Chest against chest.

Face to face.

A thought was already there, but the longer and tighter I kept her pressed to me, it deepened. A thought that was so foreign that I didn’t know how to come to terms with it.

A thought that told me this woman was unlike anyone else.

“You broke my rule.” She sighed.

There was mint and warmth on her breath, the same heat that was coming off her skin.

“I had no other choice … unless you wanted me to drop you.”

“You can put me down.”

“I can. I don’t want to.”

“So, this is the way you’re going to hold me for the rest of the night?” She clung to the tops of my shoulders.

I smiled. “You’re already talking about spending all night with me, and I haven’t even kissed you yet.”

I had known my efforts with my Tiny Dancer would eventually pay off. I liked that I was right.

“That’s not what I meant,” she enforced.

I hadn’t needed the warning when she jumped. My arms had been ready, waiting.

But she wasn’t me.

And if I had to guess, this scenario wasn’t her. She had come here for one of the two reasons I’d mentioned before.

What she ended up getting was me—an unexpected surprise.

That was why I felt the need to say, “I’m going to kiss you.”

Her brows rose, eyelids lifting, like she was looking at a ghost. “Here?”

“Yes. Here.”

“In front of all these people?”

We were in the middle of the club. I hadn’t forgotten. I just didn’t give a fuck.

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