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“Yeah, whatever.”
“But in case you’re interested, I think that Jack fellow is a bit more aggressive than Charlie may be accustomed to handling. I mean... It just appeared to me that she might be struggling a bit. I don’t want to cause any tr—”
Josh’s chair scraped the floor as he stood up, his eyes searching the dance floor. Without a word, he was gone.
“Well done, Derek,” said Grace. “Did you make that up on the fly?”
“No. I’m afraid I didn’t have to make that one up. She was fighting him off out there.”
CHARLIE WAS GETTING tired of struggling with Arrington as they danced. His wandering hands seemed to be everywhere at once. She forgot her embarrassment over the dress in her humiliation of his public assault.
“Jack! Stop it!” she said for the umpteenth time.
“I’m sorry.” His face had insincere written all over it. “I’m afraid I’ve had just a bit too much to drink. My inhibitions seem to be altogether gone.”
The gagging smell of alcohol on his breath attested to the truth in his words.
“I just can’t help myself. The temptation is more than I can handle.” His hand traced the edge of her dress down from her shoulder until she grabbed it with her right hand.
“If you can’t keep your hands to yourself, we should stop dancing.” Only her guilt over the fact she was using Arrington to get back at Josh kept her from slapping his face.
“I don’t want to embarrass you in public.” He led her off the dance floor. “Let’s go out to the balcony and take a peek toward Times Square.”
“I don’t know—I left my coat at the table.”
He shrugged off his suit coat and laid it across her shoulders. “This should help.” He kept his arm on her shoulder, guiding her toward the door. She shivered as the chill wind hit her bare skin. He urged her outside and shut the door behind them, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tightly against him.
“Beautiful!” he said.
“I wouldn’t know,” she mumbled, trembling in the freezing air. “I’m so cold I can’t even look.”
“I’m not talking about Times Square—I’m talking about you.” He pushed her up against the wall, trapping her with his arms as he pressed against her, his legs scissored around hers.
She squirmed against the rough wall as the coat slipped off her shoulders and the stones scratched her bare back. “Jack, let me go!” He grasped her hands, stretching her arms above her head and trapping them against the wall.
“Don’t fight it, baby. You know you want it.”
She turned her face from his putrid breath.
“I don’t want it! Let me go!” She tried to kick him with her knee, but he kept her pinned.
“Charlie... Baby... Your body is amazing!” He tightened his grip with one hand and slipped his other hand between them, pushing aside the dress where it was taped to her skin.
“Stop!” she cried, tears stinging her eyes. “Please! Stop it! You’re hurting me!” She tried to scream, but his body squeezed against her chest, the sharp pain making her gasp for air.
Suddenly, the pressure was gone and her hands were free. She sagged forward.
“What the f—” Jack’s words were cut off with a resounding smack.
He tried to put up his hands in defense as Josh pummeled his face and then his stomach until he collapsed on the balcony floor.
Standing only by means of the wall behind her, she watched in stunned relief. Josh pulled her into his arms, and she sobbed, shivering from terror and cold. His chest rumbled as he murmured soothing words.
“Did he hurt you?”
She nodded wordlessly and heard him make a growling sound in his chest. The balcony door crashed open, and Steven Gherring stepped outside.
“What happened?” he asked, surveying Charlie, disheveled and crying in Josh’s arms and Jack moaning on the balcony floor. “Is that Jack Arrington?”
