with this group. But that was so silly that he hadn’t bothered to respond.
The 80s music kept them all silly, dancing around like idiots. Everyone was celebrating—Girl Riley was home safely, and the Rileys were engaged. Zac and Anne were twisting their arms and forcing them to go to a private island to celebrate their wedding in a few months.
It was their town at its finest.
And for Baby, it was a perfect night.
Right up until the point he realized exactly what Quinn was wearing.
He’d noticed the pretty plum dress as soon as she walked in. How it accentuated her soft curves.
It hadn’t been until after several dances, during which he’d been sliding bobby pins out of her hair each time and pocketing them, that bun becoming looser and looser, that he’d realized she was wearing a wraparound dress.
That pretty little bow tied at her hip? A couple of strategic pulls at it and that dress would be completely off her lush body.
It was all he could do to keep his hands off the material. His fingers itched to pull at the bow.
“There’s that look again.” She stepped a little closer as they danced. “You almost look like you’re in pain. Are you sure you’re all right?”
A bead of sweat plunged a little lower between her breasts as she danced. He swallowed hard.
“I like your dress.”
“My dress? That’s what’s causing that look?”
He yanked her closer so they were once again slow dancing even though the music had a faster beat.
“Do you know what you look like right now?”
She automatically reached up to touch her hair like he’d known she would. He slipped his fingers over hers and removed the last of the bobby pins that had been holding her hair in the bun. Now it was just a straight high ponytail. “I look like a mess,” she said.
He eased back so he could look her in the eye. “You do look like a mess, and it’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
He’d expected her to argue with him, but instead, she reached back and pulled the elastic out of her hair so that it fell around her shoulders, straight and dark. He would’ve thought it was curly the way those little pieces had always tried to curl and escape the restriction.
“Better?” she asked.
He wrapped his arm lower around her hips and pulled her to him. “Hair up or down, you’re still the sexiest woman in here.”
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to say stuff like that, you know.”
“I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t the truth.”
“Then, why don’t you tell me what it is about my dress that’s upsetting you, since you’re telling the truth.”
“There’s not a damn thing about that dress that’s upsetting me. What it’s doing is driving me crazy.”
A knowing look came over her face. “Because you know all I have to do is pull on one tie and it’s going to fall open?”
This woman was dangerous. She might not have a lot of experience, but that didn’t make her naïve, and it certainly didn’t make her dumb.
“You wore it on purpose.”
Her smile was all woman. “I wasn’t sure I was going to see you tonight when I first put this on. And there was no guarantee you’d understand exactly what type of dress this was if I did see you.”
“Oh, I understand.” His voice was so guttural he barely recognized it.
“Good.” She leaned closer to his ear. “Can I ask you a question then?”
“Sure.”
“Will you take me home? I didn’t drive, Girl Riley gave me a ride.”
He sucked in a breath. “You do know that if we leave here together everyone is going to assume that we’re leaving here together.”
At this point the girls’ night out had broken down more into couples, almost everyone paired with someone.
“Is it okay with you if everyone knows we’re leaving together?” she asked. “My understanding is that you haven’t been taking women home lately.”
“Who told you that?” He swayed them softly and gently to the slower music.
She raised an eyebrow. “Are you denying it?”
“No. I just hadn’t realized it was common knowledge.” More than likely Wavy. His sister was probably the one who’d come closest to figuring out the truth about him. “Maybe I’ve made it a practice to only take home beautiful women in certain types of dresses.”
She stopped their swaying, arms wrapped around his neck. “Then I’m doubly glad I wore the dress. Take me home.”
He reached deep inside himself for a level of self-control he wasn’t certain