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After about half an hour, I’m ready to go. None of the other dancers who’ve taken the stage are as impressive as the one who did all the pole tricks. I watch Dex here and there. Talking to customers, the bouncers, and the dancers. He seems so…different in this environment. Tense. No, maybe that’s not the right word. Focused. Definitely not the relaxed, easygoing man I’m intimately acquainted with. It really seems like just a job to him. One that he takes seriously.
I sip my lukewarm lemonade and check the time.
Someone touches my back and leans into my space. Dex presses a kiss to my cheek. His familiar woodsy, soapy scent wraps around me. A faint trace of something chemical and coconutty follows his comforting scent. Cheap body spray from one of the dancers who took a moment to rub up against him?
“Sorry that took so long,” he says.
I force a cheerful smile. “It’s okay.” I pick up my cup and finish my drink. “It’s time for me to head home, though.”
“Libby have rehearsal tonight?” he asks.
I nod. “Her friend’s mom is supposed to give her a ride, but I still want to be home when she gets there.”
“Sure. Let me walk out with you.” He lifts his hand, waving to Willow some sort of gesture that must mean he’ll be right back.
The stool at the entrance is vacant but Malik’s still outside the door.
His mouth slides into a sly smile when his dark eyes land on us. “Meetin’ someone, huh?”
Heat sears my cheeks.
“Malik,” Dex says, “this is my girlfriend, Emily.”
“I’ll remember you next time,” he says.
Dex frowns slightly, then shakes it off and we continue to my car. “You gonna be all right?” he asks.
“Driving home? Sure. I do it every night.” I rest my hand on his shoulder. “You’ve got a full plate in there.” I still don’t love it. But I understand better now.
“A lot of moving pieces to keep things operating smoothly,” he says. “Most nights it’s not hard.”
“But you never know which nights will be the difficult ones.”
His lips curve into an appreciative grin. “Exactly.”
I lean up and press a quick kiss to his cheek. He stops me from pulling away with an arm around my waist, holding me against his chest. I tip my head back, staring up at him.
“Give me an actual kiss and I’ll let you go,” he says just loud enough for me to hear above the traffic noises.
I turn my head. We’re standing out in the parking lot by a rather busy road.
“No,” he rumbles. “Eyes up here. On me.”
That’s the only warning he gives before crashing his lips into mine. I gasp in surprise and he strokes his tongue against mine. Any concern about drivers getting a peep show gopoof. Liquid heat shoots straight between my thighs. I slide my arms around his neck, lifting myself closer. He tastes sweet like butterscotch candies with a hint of smoky burnt caramel, and I can’t get enough.
His arms tighten around my waist, holding me like something rare and precious. The kiss consumes everything around us. He’s hard against me and I have to fight the urge to press my leg to his hip and climb on him.
He groans against my mouth. “Emily, how am I supposed to send you home now?”
My eyes blink open. “You sure know how to give a girl a proper send-off.”
He hugs me to his chest. “And you know how to get me hard as steel in ten seconds flat,” he says against my ear.
“I noticed,” I murmur, a surge of feminine pride rising in me.
He releases me, but still keeps one arm at my back. “Go. Before I do very indecent things to you in this parking lot.”
He pulls my door open and I lean up to give him one more quick kiss before sliding into the driver’s seat.
