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‘It’s about more than just being polite, Birdie.’ Her eyes met his then slid away. ‘You must kno
w that.’
The scarlet stain was creeping its way down her neck now. And lower. Hayden couldn’t help wondering how far below that sexy neckline it extended, and he couldn’t stop wishing he could find out.
‘You really don’t have any idea how attractive you are, do you?’ he realised with surprise, as she startled, tried to shoot him a defiant glare, and then shrugged with embarrassment. ‘Even without this.’
As if he couldn’t help himself, he lifted his hand, making a small circling gesture, unsure whether he meant her screen siren body or the dress currently showcasing it so perfectly.
She took a step back, as if searching for the wall to lend her some support, taking refuge in the corner where the dark wall met the edge of the booths. Protected from the sight of the rest of group. Even most of the club.
But her eyes were on him and he was pretty sure she was flirting with him. Badly, but still. Just as he knew that she was as caught up as he was in this...thing between them. Somehow he made himself stay still and not step towards her. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t intrigued.
Sure, Mattie had asked him to look out for her friend because, in her words, Bridget was ‘unworldly’. But he was beginning to suspect it was more than that.
He knew she was younger than Mattie by about five or six years, which would probably make her around twenty-six, maybe twenty-seven. So was it more that Bridget was inexperienced? If so, how much?
‘You’ve had boyfriends before who’ve paid you compliments?’ he mused, apparently idly.
‘Hmm?’ She pulled her eyebrows together and cocked her head, clearly not hearing him.
He took a step closer and tried not to feel like a bull being pulled around by its nose ring. Then he repeated the question.
And there was no disguising the way the blood was beginning to thunder through his veins in a way that made absolutely no sense at all.
‘Of course.’ She jutted her chin out but refused to meet his eyes. In his experience, that was a tell-tale indicator that she was lying.
But about having had boyfriends? Or about them having paid her compliments?
‘If not actual boyfriends,’ he amended, leaning in closer like she was drawing him down, ‘then those who might want to be?’
‘Boyfriends?’ she asked, and he could hear the shake in her voice before she jerked her chin higher. ‘Or those who might flatter a girl to get into her underwear?’
There was something about the snippy way that she said it that made Hayden take notice. As though she was trying to appear more sophisticated and knowledgeable than she really was.
As if...
But, no, that couldn’t be right. Still, he turned to face her fully, sliding his fingers to her chin and lifting it, just like he had before.
‘And how many men have got into your underwear, Birdie?’ He barely recognised his own voice. Or that primal, driving edginess slicing through him. ‘A few? A couple? One?’
He could feel her breath, hot and fast on his hand. See the way her chest was moving quickly, shuddery. Hayden couldn’t help it, he wanted to stop himself, but he couldn’t, she was too damn intoxicating. He dipped his head until his mouth was brushing her ear.
‘None?’
She licked her lips, and it was all he could do not to catch it in his mouth.
‘I don’t really think that’s any of your business,’ she managed. ‘Do you?’
And then, before he could say anything more, she lifted her trembling hands to his chest and spread her palms over him as though she meant to push him.
Only she didn’t.
It was ridiculous that the action should burst inside him like a detonation. Before he could stop himself, Hayden stepped closer, pinning her to the wall, no longer able to pretend that he could resist her when his entire body was roaring at him to claim her as his own.
Shooting out his arm, Hayden rested his entire forearm on the wall by her head, not missing a single detail from her parted lips, from her rapidly rising and falling chest to the heat pouring off her—and into him.
And then he stopped noticing anything more as he dipped his head and fused his mouth to hers. Plundering her heat and raking his tongue against hers—ruthless and demanding—the way he’d wanted to do all night.
