if it were the truth. And it really wasn’t that far from the truth. “I worked as a programmer in Virginia for a while, then got burned out on that, came to California and started a survival training business.”
“Survival training,” Yasmine said. “You mean like living in the wild and killing your own food?”
“Those are a few of the skills I taught.” In truth, he’d spent summers in college teaching survival training in the mountains of Virginia, so it was a natural choice for his fake previous career.
“So that’s where you got the big muscles and the tan,” she said. “Certainly not from sitting at a computer all day.”
“Please don’t tell me you killed actual animals,” Hannah said, the color gone from her cheeks.
“We tried hunting teddy bears, but no one could bring themselves to eat the polyester stuffing.”
He didn’t see any point in getting into the whole issue of killing one’s food to eat. It wasn’t something he’d ever enjoyed doing—matter of fact, he’d hated it—but it was an essential element of survival in the wild.
Under the table, Yasmine’s foot nudged his, and she was trying hard not to smile.
Hannah pushed herself away from the table and stood. “I can’t sit here with someone who kills animals for sport.”
Drew looked at her without making a move to stand as well. “Um…would you like a ride home?”
“I’ll take a cab!” she said and walked away.
Drew sighed as he looked from Alex to Yasmine. “And that is the official end of my adventures in online dating.”
“So I guess her dream guy’s shoes would be made of cruelty-free materials,” Yasmine said.
“Sorry, man, I didn’t mean to open a can of worms,” Alex said.
“I’m sorry, too, but she had to go,” Yasmine said. “You can do a hundred times better than her.”
Drew made a face and shrugged, then downed his drink. “I knew it was a doomed date when she made a big fuss over my driving a car with a gas-powered engine. Apparently, she prefers guys who use electric.”
“I told you, I’ve already got the perfect woman for you. I just need to figure out a way to hook you up,” Yasmine said.
“Well, whatever. I think I’m going to grab some chow over there at the buffet,” Drew said as he stood up from the table.
Across the room, the band transitioned from playing holiday music Alex had been ignoring, to an up-tempo dance number, and people began to fill the dance floor. He craned his head to watch, unable to resist the spectacle of a bunch of techno-geeks dancing without rhythm.
“Want to dance?” Yasmine said.
“Um…” He didn’t especially, but he loved the idea of watching her dance. “Sure.”
A few seconds later that’s exactly what he was doing, and Yasmine’s moves were even hotter than he’d imagined. Mesmerized by the sway of her hips, he forgot about everyone else in the room.
They danced through one song, then another and another. Finally a slow song came on, and they moved close together.
Her hands slid up his chest, around his neck. Their first real physical contact. Her body pressed against him, moving to the slow beat of the music, coaxing him into an intimate dance with a promise of something more.
Where their bodies met, he burned.
He wanted her, no getting around it, no ignoring it for a second; his body wouldn’t let him. And as he grew hard against her, she couldn’t help but know it too.
Then she did something unexpected. She pressed her abdomen more firmly against him, against his erection, stoking his desire. Her gaze sparked with daring.
“I’ve got a thing for you, you know,” she said into his ear.
“You do?”
“And it has nothing to do with your feet.”
“I’ve got good feet, just so you know.”
She smiled. “I’ve been having trouble concentrating at work.”
“Because of me?”
She nodded, her eyes locked on his.
“I’d hate to affect your job performance.”
“Then I think we need to come up with a fix for this.”
The last shred of Alex’s will to resist disappeared. Whatever fix she proposed, he was all over it.
What the hell. Didn’t he deserve one night without self-control? He wanted Yasmine, she wanted him—what was the harm in giving in to their urges? If anything, it would help him get closer to her, right?
Right.
The music changed to an Elvis rendition of “White Christmas.” Alex took Yasmine’s hand and led her off the dance floor.
Who needed mistletoe and chestnuts roasting on an open fire? They’d started a fire of their own, and it was time to