floor. The music slows down a good bit, changing tempo to something nice and easy to dance to.
I can actually ballroom dance. It’s just the whole dancing alone and looking like a fool thing I’m not good at.
I beckon to Pippa, putting my hand out. She takes it, an uncertain smile on her lips.
Then I pull her into my arms and dip her. When I pull her back up, she’s laughing. “Lars! I didn’t know you could dance.”
I tuck her snugly against my body, feeling cheeky. “I can slow dance.”
I slide my hands down the sides of her body, making her shiver. As I suspected, she isn’t wearing a bra. Bracketed in my big hands, her waist seems impossibly slim. I wonder if I were to let my hands wander down further if they would find a thong or not.
God damn, this woman in my arms is so hot.
“Hey!” Pippa’s voice breaks through my reverie. “Do you mind?”
…and I realize that I’m staring right at her tits. I look up at her, my neck heating. “Sorry,” I say with a shrug. “They were just right there…”
Pippa shoots me a glare and tries to pull away. Because I’m so much bigger than her, I just hold her a little tighter. She scowls at me, leaning close.
“Let me go,” she whispers, looking fierce.
I bite my lower lip, my eyes sinking to her lips. “I don’t want to.”
She grips my forearms. “Seriously, Lars? You’re drunk.”
I scoff a little. “You’re drunk too. Stop being melodramatic. We are supposed to be engaged. I’m just acting like an engaged guy who is super horny for his fiancée.” I cock my head. “Hell, maybe we should just sleep together. Call it an experiment.”
Her face turns red. In a second, all the teasing vanishes from her tone and body language. “Get off of me.”
Shit, I crossed a line. I immediately let go, stepping back. “I was just kidding,” I add lamely.
Pippa takes a deep breath in, looking me dead in the eyes. “Tomorrow, we are establishing better boundaries.”
Then she turns, zeroes in on a waiter carrying a tray of champagne flutes, and grabs two. She upends both of them, poring them down her gullet, and then wipes her mouth.
“Take it easy with the booze,” I say. “You throw up pretty easily.”
Her mouth twists. “Don’t worry about me.”
My brows rise. That’s impossible. I’ve always been looking out for Pippa’s best interests, even when she doesn’t know what they are.
Pippa makes a show of dancing with Margot and Nika, getting more and more drunk. With a sigh, I slow down my intake of alcohol.
One of us has to be sober enough to get us both home.
When the DJ turns the music down and tells us it’s almost midnight, I pluck two champagne flutes off a waiter’s tray and wade over to find Pippa. She is really drunk now and she screams with excitement when she sees me, throwing her arms up.
“Dance with me!” she says, bouncing up and down.
I roll my eyes. “You have had a lot of wine, haven’t you?”
She just laughs and hugs me, snagging one of the champagne flutes that I brought over. “You want to know something?”
I crack a smile. “What is that, drunk Pippa?”
She beams at me. “You look really handsome in that tux. Like… really. You know how to… to… work it. If you were anyone else, I would have already tried to come onto you.”
I roll my eyes at her drunk compliment, but I can’t help grinning. “Thank you. You look quite sexy in that dress.”
She opens her mouth. Before she can respond, the DJ comes over the mic. “All right, everyone! It’s fifteen seconds new until the new year. Let all count… ten! Nine! Eight!”
Pippa grins up at me, counting along. “Seven! Six! Five! Four!”
I squeeze her tightly. “Three! Two! One!”
Everyone shouts happy new year. That, I was prepared for.
But the hot, wet, drunken kiss that Pippa lays on me… the one that has me pulling her closer, and her grabbing my face… the one that goes for almost half a minute…
This is unexpected.
When she pulls away, my cock is hard, my breathing coming out in pants. I look down into her eyes, trying to make sense of that kiss.
What was that supposed to be for? She holds my gaze for a second, gazing back up at me. I press her body closer and try to read her expression.
“Do you—” I start.
Which is when she turns away, delicately putting the back of