“Nope. Never.”
She laughed again. Rynan didn’t seem like the dancing type. But as she noted his gaze following someone with dark intensity, she casually turned to look.
A small group of convoy members and crew had cleared an area in front of the bonfire to dance. She recognized the two female colonists from theNomad, twisting and shaking to the music. No, he wasn’t watching them.
Ah, three of his security team were with Aurina. Two men and a woman. The men had muscled builds that screamed “ex-military” and the woman was tiny, with a mass of dark curls. She danced along with one of the men, laughing hard as she did, then she spun away. The other man grabbed her hand and spun her around in some intricate dance steps. Then she and Aurina bumped hips, the woman’s rich, full-bodied laughter reaching all the way to the shadows.
“Some of your team?” Nissa asked.
Rynan made a murmur of assent. “They like to blow off steam when they can.” Then a smile tugged on his lips. “Here we go. Justyn’s about to liven up the dance floor. No idea where the guy got his moves.”
She spun…and saw the woman in the blue skirts was now dragging a feigning-reluctance Justyn onto the impromptu dance floor.
The two of them danced, not particularly closely, but they were smiling as they did. Their bodies brushed here and there as the jaunty music filled the air.
There it was again. That closeness, that intimacy.
An intimacy that was hers, dammit.
She looked at Rynan. “Sure you don’t want to join your team for a dance?”
“I’m sure. Think I’ll check in with our convoy members.”
And possibly the curvy blonde from one of the convoy ships who’d been watching him the entire time. Nissa saw Dare reclined on a blanket with two women beside him and the colonist from the ship shooting him hot glances every time she whirled past.
The Phoenix men were like black holes for women, drawing them in.
Well, Nissa damn well wasn’t going to flit around waiting for someone to notice.
She was taking what was hers.
She strode through the throng of revelers and onto the dance area. She tapped the Hydraen woman on the shoulder and smiled. “I’m cutting in.”
The woman grinned back. “You must be Nissa.”
Nissa blinked. “Ah…yes.”
“He’s been talking about you for nearly three years now. I feel like I know you. I’m Arlessa.”
“Hi.” Nissa raised her gaze to Justyn. He grinned and swiped a hand through his hair. Goddess, was that color in his cheeks?
“The kids are always retelling the stories Justyn’s told them about you.” Arlessa waved her hands around. “Captain Sander this, Captain Sander that.”
Now Nissa frowned. “Kids?”
Arlessa spun to face Justyn. “You haven’t told her?”
He shrugged. “We haven’t really had a chance?—”
Arlessa grabbed Nissa’s hand. “The man is a saint.”
A laugh burst out of Nissa. That was one word she’d never attached to Justyn Phoenix.
“Hey,” he grumbled.
The Hydraen rolled her eyes and smiled. “Okay, maybe not a saint. I run a small orphanage for abandoned and abused children. Justyn funds it.”
“Arlessa—”
