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The DJ called the single women to the dance floor, interrupting the morose turn of Finn’s thoughts. A gaggle of women passed him, and Maria broke away from Brock to join them, holding a small bouquet above her head. She studied the eager group of women.
“Where’s Gretchen?” Maria called.
“Gretchen.” The DJ spoke into the microphone. “Gretchen, you’re needed on the dance floor.”
When Finn spotted her at the bar trying to duck behind an elderly man, he laughed.
Her mother took her arm, pulling her into the open.
Maria waved her over. “Come on.”
Gretchen’s eyes turned to daggers aimed at her new sister-in-law before she turned them on her mother. She may have also threatened bodily harm as she made her way through the crowd and to the dance floor.
The music started again, and Maria turned, lifting the bouquet in the air before tossing the flowers in a perfect arch. The women jumped, their arms lifted high above their heads. One woman’s dress slid down, forcing her to drop her arms to keep from revealing her breasts to the entire room. Two others bumped into each other and toppled to the floor. Gretchen stood statue still amid the chaos, watching the bouquet tumble toward the ground. Surprising him, she reached out at the last moment and saved it from hitting the floor.
Maria spun, her eyes going wide at the various states of her single female guests. When her gaze landed on Gretchen standing in her emerald satin, clutching the bouquet in her fist, her face split into a wide grin.
Gretchen’s mouth twitched as she tried to keep from smiling, but Finn had never known her to take life too seriously, and she ended up rolling her eyes as she laughed. Her laugh shouldn’t be so damn sexy. It was just a laugh, not exceptionally deep or husky, certainly not meant to be provocative or sexy, but the sound signaled Gretchen’s pleasure and that went straight to his groin.
“Come on.” Brock clamped a hand on the back of his neck, steering him toward the dance floor and Gretchen. “I can’t be the only one forced to participate in these ridiculous rituals.”
Normally, Finn would have told him yes, he could be the only one. But if his memory served him right, these rituals usually ended in a dance involving the single woman who had caught the bouquet and the poor bastard who caught the garter. If catching this scrap of lace would get his hands on Gretchen again, he’d let Brock lead him anywhere he wanted.
~ ~ ~
Gretchen eyed Finn as he slipped past her, lining up with the other single men on the dance floor. Most of them had been pushed out there by their girlfriends who believed them catching that garter really meant they were closer to getting a ring on their own fingers. So, why was Finn out there?
Brock disappeared under his new wife’s dress, drawing Gretchen’s attention away from the waiting men. Brock moved his hips in an imitation of a sexy dance, forcing giggles from her throat. She hoped for Maria’s sake her brother’s poor dance skills were not a reflection of his moves in the bedroom. Trying to conceal the laugh the thought had brought on, she turned her head, freezing when her gaze clashed with Finn’s. Instead of watching her brother’s attempt at seduction, he was staring at her. Heat flared in her chest, radiating up her neck and down between her thighs.
“Gentlemen, are you ready?” the DJ called as if starting a race.
Finn winked one gray eye before turning away.
She sucked air into her lungs, unaware she’d been holding her breath as she stared back at him. She tried to remind herself for the one hundredth time in two days that he was just a man. A man who had already broken her heart and humiliated her by rejecting her a decade ago, unworthy of another dose of pain. She almost had herself convinced, but then he plucked the garter from the air and turned right to her.
Gretchen could tell herself whatever she wanted, but man or not, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Finnegan James would screw like a god, and she was one hundred percent ready for rapture.
His full lips kicked up and he spun the satin and lace around one thick finger. “Do you get this too?”
Her body threatened to burst into flames right there.
His gaze was that incendiary. But she’d been working undercover for too long to let one too sexy man turn her to ash. At least until she was ready to burn.
She pulled her lip between her teeth and leaned forward. “Only if you’re going to slide it up my bare thigh.”
His gray eyes turned dark, the way she still saw in her dreams sometimes, and he moved closer, his hand clenching possessively at her waist. Before he could come up with a retort, Maria appeared behind him, already chattering excitedly.
Finn cleared his throat and took a step back, his gaze never leaving hers. His expression promised her they weren’t finished, and for the sake of her now damp panties, she hoped he was right.
“You two have to dance.” Maria beamed, locking her arms with theirs and steering them to the dance floor.
The smart, safe thing for Gretchen’s still fragile heart would’ve been for her to decline and walk away. Fortunately, before she could, Finn slid his hands to her waist and pulled her against him. She didn’t know much about Finn James, but her body instantly recognized his. Her nipples tightened, her womb clenched, and her knees threatened to give way, as she fit against his body like a puzzle piece. Of course, they’d fit perfectly ten years ago too, and he’d still turned her away.
His fingers kneaded the flesh at her hips, his warmth sinking through the fabric of her dress and setting her skin ablaze. Breath quickening, she dropped her gaze to where his hardening member pressed against her lower belly. He pulled her closer, moving his hips, rubbing against her and sending her pulse racing.
When the song ended, neither of them pulled away.
He bent his head, his mouth close to her ear. “I have a room upstairs.”
