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Feeling oddly out of sorts that he knew her name despite the fact she’d purposely not told him, that he was piling on the charm, she felt what little resistance she had to him ebbing away. “Do you always get what you want?”
One side of his mouth curved upward. “Not always, but it is Christmastime and I’ve been a very good boy.”
She doubted that. Besides which there was nothing boyish about his broad shoulders and testosterone-laden aura.
“I’m hopeful there will be something sweet under my Christmas tree this year. An angel.” He raised his brows. “You have plans? We could start a new holiday tradition.”
She should go. She knew that. Her tattered heart was no match for this man’s charisma. But the thought of going back to her lonely apartment just didn’t appeal. Not even with Casper there, waiting for her. Her cat might love her but, whether Trinity wanted to admit it or not, she craved the temptation Riley waved in front of her.
An escape, albeit temporary, from the deeply embedded loneliness that had taken hold of her soul from the moment Chase Langworthy had dumped her publicly at their hospital Christmas party two years ago and plunged her into depression and Scrooge-dom.
Darn him for doing that. Darn her for letting him.
She took the punch glass Riley still held and downed half the contents as if she were chugging a shot of whiskey. Ha, she never drank alcohol, but she needed something to give her the push to do what she suddenly wanted to. She’d pretend the punch was liquid courage. She’d pretend that she was the kind of girl used to men like him flirting and wanting to dance with her. She’d pretend she was the life of the party.
“Okay, Riley…” She drawled his name out. She would do this, would have fun. “I’ll dance with you, but I should warn you that I dance much better than I kiss so you might struggle to keep up.”
She had no clue how she managed the confident words, the brilliant smile, or where they had even come from. The only time she ever danced confidently was around her living room with only Casper around to yawn at her antics. Still, head high, she headed back into the ballroom.
Riley’s pleased laughter behind her warmed parts of her insides that hadn’t felt sunshine in a long, long time.
CHAPTER TWO
WHAT A PLEASANT enigma, Riley thought of the woman he held loosely in his arms. She really did dance like an angel. But she was crazy if she thought she danced better than she kissed.
No one danced better than this woman’s lips had felt against his. A meeting of their lips that hadn’t been an angelic kiss but one that lit hot fires all along his nerve endings. He still burned. of course, that might be because her curvy little body swayed next to his and every cell in him had an apparent surge of testosterone.
What other excuse could there be for that brief brushing of his mouth against hers to have set him on fire the way it had?
If he didn’t quit thinking about how much he’d wanted to deepen that kiss, about how he wanted to take her somewhere private and kiss her again and again and on places other than her juicy mouth, she was going to know exactly what he was thinking. He was intuitive enough to recognize she wasn’t the kind of girl who went for one-night stands.
And he wasn’t the kind of man who sweet-talked a woman into doing something she’d regret.
Exactly what he did want wasn’t entirely clear, but he sure wanted something.
Her.
He brushed his cheek across the top of her head, the light touch sending shockwaves of awareness through him. Yes, he wanted to know her in every sense. He’d always been the kind of person who’d known what he wanted and had gone after whatever that might be. He wanted Trinity with an intensity that made his head spin.
“How long have you been a nurse?”
Tilting her head back, she blinked her big brown eyes at him. Most of the women he knew would have had make-up accenting their large almond shape, would have made the most of the naturally thick lashes rimming her lids to lure some unsuspecting man into her snare. Not Trinity. As best he could tell, Trinity had nothing on Her face except the light sprinkling of freckles across her nose and a little mascara coating those already long lashes. Her hair was clipped back with loose springs, framing her heart-shaped face. She looked as if she could be sweet sixteen.
“Trinity?”
Her beautiful face had become pinched, as if she were troubled by his question. “Long enough that I know about men like you.”
Her instant defensiveness confused him. “Men like me?”
“You shouldn’t get ideas about me.” Her face flushed a pretty shade of pink, but she held his gaze. “I’m just here to dance, nothing more.”
Riley liked the spunk shining on her upward-tilted face and had to fight the urge to kiss her mouth again. “You shouldn’t get ideas about me,” he warned. “I’m simply making conversation with the beautiful woman I’m dancing with. Nothing more.”
Her gaze narrowed. He grinned. After a moment she sighed in resignation. “Fine. You win.” A sly smile slid onto her mouth. “This round.”
He looked forward to future rounds. “And?”
“I
