I moved on instinct, almost instantly placing my hand on her back between her shoulder blades. Her bare skin was soft under my palm. Pressing and taking a step at the same time, I held her against me—ignoring how good the pressure of her stomach on my erection felt. I would be embarrassed at how quickly I’d gotten hard, but my cock had twitched every time I thought of her since our dance lesson. Instead, I used my body to protect her privacy.
She tucked her face into my chest as I glared over her head at the stranger who’d run into her. He tossed a slurred sorry over his shoulder but froze when he registered my furrowed brow that must have conveyed how I would seriously injure him if I wasn’t currently using my body as a modesty shield. It was his fault that Sadie clungto me for dear life, as if she were afraid I’d shift and leave her exposed when there was no way that would ever happen.
The guy blinked turning to face me. He held his hands up in a calming gesture, a beer pinched between two fingers. “Hey man, my bad. I’m sorry.”
My fingers twitched on her back. “You ran intoher. Why the fuck are you apologizing to me?”
“Right . . . uh . . . sorry.”
“Just go away,” she said into my shirt.
There was no way he could have heard her, but when he didn’t immediately turn on his heel and run away my vision actually turned red. “Get. Away.”
He jerked his head in a nod before heading to a table in the corner.
“Oh, God,” she groaned.
“It’s gonna be okay.” I searched for a hallway or cubby nearby, somewhere that could give her some privacy.
“I just flashed the whole bar.”
“No, baby, only me.”
Her stomach bounced with a humorless chuckle, which was a little distracting, but I’d found a route to the hallway leading to the bathrooms. “Well, if it’s only you.”
With my free hand, I took a fistful of her skirt, my fingers brushing the back of her upper thigh. “I’m gonna walk you backward, so you can...fix this. Just hang on.”
She nodded with her face pressed to me.
Hooking my arm across her back, I half-guided her, half-carried her to the darkened hallway. Luckily, there wasn’t anyone waiting in line for the bathrooms and it was just us. Even the sounds of people were deafened slightly. I loosened my hold of her angling my bodyperpendicular with the wall creating a corner for her to shift her dress back into place.
Lifting my gaze to the ceiling, I promised, “I won’t look.”
“It’s not like you haven’t seen me before, like literally seconds ago.”
“Yeah, well...” There was no way I could tell her how hard I’d been fighting my need for her. That every second near her was torture and perfection.
“I cannot believe that just happened,” she said. “Wow, you really aren’t looking, I’m done.”
She hadn’t moved from the protective barrier of my body. Instead, she shifted, placing her temple against my chest, and I gave in just a little bit. Just for a moment. I wrapped my arms around her, letting my hands clasp near her hip and rested my cheek to the top of her head.
“I’m so embarrassed,” she whispered.
“Don’t be. No one saw.”
“You did.”
“I’m sure you could feel that wasn’t much of a hardship.”
“Oh, it was hard alright.”
My chest bounced once with a laugh. “I have to go.”
She nuzzled her cheek against me. “Why?”
My heart was a puddle on the floor. The idea of letting her go was physically painful. But still, I joked, “I have a raging boner.”
“Stop it.” Giggling, she pulled away, covering her face in her hands and peeking up at me through her fingers.
