hadn’t been enough to get messy, but it was enough to get giggly and chatty.
“Of course, boss,” Nico said with another wink to me.
I bit my lip against a laugh and nodded to him, and Kit slid into position effortlessly.
“Hey,” I said softly.
“Hi,” he replied and the look in his eyes made my stomach flutter excitedly. “Having a good night?”
I nodded. “Yes. Thank you.”
His eyes slid away from me for a moment. “You deserve it.”
“I will pay you back for the dress one day.” I waggled my head. “If I ever get a job that pays half as well as yours.”
He chuckled and his grip on my tightened momentarily, as though he’d been about to tickle me or kiss me or something. Then he cleared his throat. “I’ll make you a deal.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Get through your doctorate and we’ll worry about what you owe me then.”
“What if I never finish it?”
His smirk was rueful and his eyes blazed with something that made tingles shoot through me. “Then I guess you’re stuck with me.”
Bare skin only touched in two places – our hands and my back – but it felt like everything ignited. It felt like nothing I’d ever felt before. I was no stranger to heavy petting, as it were, and Kit made me very interested just then in some very heavy petting. I kept replaying the almost-kiss from the night before in my mind and wondering what a real one would feel like.
Despite the champagne powering my system, I was determined to keep at least a semblance of cool.
12
Kit
I looked down and my heart thumped awkwardly in my chest at the look in her eyes. She was so light and free and happy that night and it hit me in a place I hadn’t been aware I still had. And now she was looking up at me like there was definitely more.
I’d danced with a lot of women in my time, but none had felt like Amber. None had given me that feeling of butterflies in my chest and a goofy smile on my face I was barely able to hide. Certainly, none had had me cutting in out of jealousy. Something seemed to be zinging between us, something that I couldn’t control and something I had no delusions was one-sided.
I wanted to pick her up and wrap her legs around my waist while we found the nearest surface and… And, while the look in her eyes suggested she’d be very willing if I kissed her, if I wasn’t going to do something inadvisable then I needed a break. I gave her a warm smile and passed her off to her brother as soon as possible.
“She’s something else, isn’t she?” Rollie asked as I dropped back into my seat.
I nodded. “She is.”
Amber had danced with each of the guys and I’d watched her with each of them with no concerns at all. Except for the twinge of jealousy that hit me at the way she laughed with Nico. I couldn’t get a read on the two of them, but she was comfortable with him and he with her. Which seemed odd on both sides. It was good. I wanted Amber to get along with the Grace Grayson team as much as I was sure Hawk did. I had far less reason to, so I wasn’t quite sure why I did so much.
And I couldn’t work it out while I was constantly distracted by the way her hips swayed in that dress. She was dancing with her brother, so there was nothing inherently sexual in the way she was moving. But I was fighting for control.
“Whiskey,” I said to the waiter as he went by and Rollie held his hand for one as well.
Amber had spent all week messing up my tidy equilibrium and it was now totally shot. I needed to get my head on straight. I pulled my eyes off her and managed to get through most of the rest of the night without thinking of her in ways I really shouldn’t.
We finally said our goodnights, being the last customers and realising we should really let McLean and his people pack up and go home. I invited the guys back but, as high as our tolerance for alcohol had become, if we were going to make it into work before midday, then we were going to need to sleep.
Amber gave each of the boys a hug goodbye, then I slid her coat on and we headed back to