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Ella’s eyes widened. I heard her breath catch.
Wordlessly, I slipped my hand around her waist. She succumbed, allowing me to hold her body close.
I didn’t care that we were blocking the doorway, that we were sequestered off to the side, away from the other dancers. In fact, I preferred it that way.
It almost seemed wrong to have to mingle with anyone else when all I wanted was her.
Her hands rested on my chest. Her breath came in short spurts, and I found myself enraptured by the sparkle in her eyes, by the red fullness of her mouth.
I dipped in, ready to taste it, ready to take her…
Ella lifted her chin. Her eyelashes feathered closed.
The moment grew wings. It beat. It drummed. It triggered.
A small cough scattered the stardust.
Molecules away from her lips, I paused. My hands fisted behind her, and it took more self-control than I knew I possessed to retreat and face the source of our interruption.
TWENTY-TWO
ella
I thoughtI’d known disappointment before.
But having the prospect of kissing Hawk snatched away so unexpectedly brought the sensation on in an entirely new way I’d never experienced.
His eyes filled with apologies and the slightest flash of frustration as they met mine before he turned to find a short woman with red hair and a flattering black dress watching us expectantly.
She cast me an apologetic glance before speaking.
“Hey, boss,” she said. “I’m sorry, but I wanted to run something past you before I headed home for the night.”
Hawk hesitated. He turned back to me, edged in to brush his cheek across mine, and whispered, “Save me that dance?”
Disbelief continued to razz me. “You bet,” I managed to say.
He brushed a soft kiss against my cheek, making mylashes flutter. As he lowered his arm, he allowed his fingers to graze down my skin and turned to walk away with her.
I was putty under his glance, under his touch. How had I ever considered not coming tonight?
As he strode across the ballroom, Hawk filled my vision. With the glittering lights and pine swag wreathing across the ceiling every several feet toward what I assumed was the ballroom, everything else misted.
His tux was black and white. Black slacks, white suit coat and shirt, with a black bowtie. With his hair slicked back, his clean-shaven jawline, and his blue eyes flashing, he was enough of a distraction to make me forget why I was standing there in too-high heels, in a dress that swam over me like silk, or why my pulse was off the charts.
I meandered deeper into the room, attempting to regain a sense of normalcy after that greeting. Winter Wonderland was a complete cliché, but whoever had been in charge of decorations for this event had created a veritable North Pole of the ballroom.
I couldn’t fathom how much time it must have taken to create hills of snow along the room’s edges or to decorate the lavish trees. The DJ, the swirling dancers, and the sheer energy of the room spiked my blood.
I drank in the sight until a different sensation shivered along my skin.
Tingling straight to my toes, my glance glided to find Hawk admiring—not the surrounding area as I was, not giving his attention to the redhead—but me.
Just me.
His attention was unraveling, to say the least. My lungs struggled for breath.
The redhead took his jaw in her hand and guided his face toward her again, and the thought made me smile.
