Whatever games other people played, I didn't have the patience for them. I wanted this man, despite throwing around the wordfriendslike a weapon. If Rhett and Sassy could do whatever it was they were doing, surely Brody and I could do whatever it waswewere doing without interfering with my work or my newfound friendship with Sass.
"Honey, huh? Friends don't call friends honey either, Calvin."
"But we're so much more than friends, aren't we, boy scout?"
I stared up at him. A challenge. Waiting to see if he'd rise to it.
It took a beat or two, but he didn't disappoint.
Brody tugged me into his big body by the hand he still held in his. He didn't let go—just bent down, tilted his head to avoid knocking his hat off, and kissed me like he meant it.
There was no lie in my words, and no lies in this kiss, either. It was nothing like the kisses we'd shared stumbling our way up the steps toward his apartment less than a week ago. This was less desperate and more reverent.
I'd never felt anything like it.
Like I was being savored.
Cherished.
Like he was memorizing the taste of my lips and the way they felt against his.
When he pulled away, I was the one chasing his mouth this time. I wanted more of whatever that was. I wanted teeth and tongue. But all I'd gotten was the axis-altering glide of his mouth against mine.
He smirked down at what I could only imagine was a dazed, lust-drunk expression on my face. The music switched from the sweet, slow shit Rhett and Sassy were swaying to into a more upbeat song.
"Ah, this is a good one." Brody grinned. "Now how's about that dance?"
Before I could fully pull myself out of my Brody-induced stupor, he was pulling me onto the dance floor. Gone was the melancholy man mourning his fool-heartedness. The Brody that stood before me now was all confident cowboy, manhandling my body until I was pressed up against him, one hand in his and the other around his neck, playing with the ends of his hair as he two-stepped us in circles around the rest of the crowd. In addition to very enthusiastically eating pussy, my boy scout coulddance.
I vaguely registered the shapes of Rhett and Sassy moving nearby as Brody suddenly spun me out before pulling me back in. I crashed into him on a laugh that had him smiling down at me like he'd just won first prize in the rodeo.
Other patrons hooted and hollered, as enthralled by the show Brody was putting on as I was. Being in his orbit, in his arms, was intoxicating. Despite all that lay underneath, Brody was a good-time guy. He was fun—energetic and entertaining. He drew the eyes of every person in the bar, and when he dipped me at the end of the song, letting me hang there dramatically, it was Sassy's eyes I caught. There was no malice in her gaze, no jealousy. More like understanding or approval, even. After all, if anyone knew the spell that Brody Lancaster could put you under, it was her. Hell, it had her avoiding her feelings for Rhett for the better part of a decade.
The music shifted back to something slower. I was sweating and smiling.
Happy.
Brody pulled me impossibly closer and pressed a kiss to my forehead. For fuck's sake, I wasn't a woman who swooned, butJesus…this man was doing things to me that he had no business doing.
Before we could cement this little number as more than simple fun between two more-than-friends but not-quite-lovers, I panted up at Brody. "Need some water."
He nodded, leading me back toward the bar with a hand on my lower back. That small gesture alone had my heart banging against my rib cage.
Instinct told me to beat it into submission.
But I found I didn't totally hate it.
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
"Can I take you somewhere?"I whispered in Calvin's ear.
She was back to sittin' on a stool at the bar, my front pressed to her back. I had my hands planted on the bar top on either side of her, cagin' her in. The wood was sticky under my palms. She had her perfect lips wrapped around a straw, suckin' down water like she'd been stranded in the desert for weeks instead of one little spin on the dance floor.
We'd have to work on her stamina if she was gonna keep up with my twinkle toes.
She peeked up at me over her shoulder, lickin' her lips. The bar lights caught the gloss there, made it shine. "Ifsomewheremeans up to your bed, then the answer is an enthusiasticyes."
I stole a quick kiss, tastin' water and the faint bite of the tequila she'd had earlier. "Reel it in, little horn dog."
