He steps back, looking alarmed by my abrupt arrival, but it’s clear he’s waiting for a dismissal from her, not just me.
But Julia steps closer tome. She reaches forme, her hand circling the underside of my forearm. “Thank you for the dance. Hope you have fun tonight,” she says before turning her attention back my way.
The first few notes of a slow song waft through the speakers, and she quirks a dark brow up at me.
“What?” I grump, reaching for her waist and drawing her in as I sway.
Her body rumbles with a knowing chuckle as she reaches up, hooking one arm behind my neck as she falls into step.
Then she throws me for a loop when she pulls my hand with the bourbon and Coke toward her. Dainty fingers folded over mine, she lifts the straw and takes a long sip, holding my gaze the entire time.
Her lips on that straw. Dark eyes homed in on mine. My brain fucking spirals.
“What happened to not drinking?”
She lifts one slender shoulder, the thin red strap pulling up over her elegant collarbone, before she really takes my breath away by simply stating, “Felt safe. Felt thirsty.”
Safe.
With me?
I blink a few times, wondering if I’m interpreting her casual comment correctly.
I twirl her out, then draw her back toward me, slipping her arm up over the back of my neck as my hand trails over her skin.
She smirks up at me, unaware of how caught off guard I am by her. By my own reaction to her.
“Pulling out all the stops on the dance floor, huh? What happened to you not being in charge?” Her tone is teasing as she straightens and slips her other arm over my shoulder.
“I lied.”
“Is that so?” She shakes her head, a teasing smile curving her lips. “James was such a sweet guy compared to you.”
A thrill courses through me. I secretly love when she taunts me. “James, huh?” I lean in closer, my lipsalmostbrushing against the shell of her ear. “Too bad he doesn’t realize a sweet guy would bore you to tears.”
I swear she shivers, a sharp breath slipping past her lips, though she doesn’t pull away. Instead, she turns her head toward me, her mouth mere inches from mine.
“I guess I’ll find out when I take Riley up on the blind date she offered to set up for me. She described him as asweet guy, too.”
My heart thunders in my ears as she steals another sip of my drink. We dance for another song. And then another. We move comfortably together, taking in our surroundings but never drifting away from each other even as one song bleeds into the next.
Not talking, just being. Well, actually, my brain is stuck on the wordsweet.I’m basically stewing over it.
Finally, after a fourth song, I blurt, “Is sweet what you’re after?”
“What?” She blinks, confused by my random question after being silent for so long.
“In a guy.”
“Oh. Well…” She bites down on her bottom lip as she considers. “Haven’t been out with a guy in over two years, so it’s hard to say for sure what I like nowadays.”
Alarm bells ring in my head as I draw back ever so slightly. I know exactly what that timeline means.
Yet, she’s here. With me. Taking sips of my drink, fingers toying with the hair at the back of my neck.
“What do you call this then?” I ask, sounding more desperate than I intended.
She swallows. “Work.”
