Cherry Creek - Dani Matthews Page 0,46

you,” I can’t help but say bluntly. I don’t want there to be any miscommunications tonight.

He grins at me, not the slightest bit offended by my rudeness. “I'm not in the mood to get rejected twice. But if you change your mind, I'm right here,” he says, waving a hand at his body.

“Not. Happening.” I rise to my feet and walk back over to the balcony as I sip my drink. I can feel Nathan's eyes burning into me, more likely my butt than anything else, and I scan the club and look for the others. There's just so many people here that it's impossible to make out one single person. I give up on searching for them, and instead, I listen to the music and enjoy the atmosphere.

After a while, I feel myself relaxing. The music calls to me and as I stand on the balcony, watching the others dance, my body sways slightly in time to the beat. I'm wishing I was down there.

“You want to go dance, Livvy?” Nathan asks from behind me.

I turn and look at him. I can't help but admire how cute he is. He's tall, muscular, and very yummy. I blink. Yummy? Where did that come from? I've never thought of anyone as yummy before, not even Brad.

“Want to go dance?” he repeats.

“Sure.” Why not? Dancing looks fun.

He plucks my empty glass out of my hands and walks away to set it on the glass table. He comes back to me and holds out a hand. Before I can think better of it, I move towards him and readily slip my hand in his. He leads me down the stairs and shields me with his body as we make our way through the packed crowd. As we head towards the dance floor, I spy more couches sporadically placed throughout the club. My thoughts on the club décor disappear as Nathan sweeps me out onto the dance floor.

I'm in a weird mood, and it doesn't take much for me to start dancing to the music. Nathan dances in front of me, matching my movements. He's not too bad. At least I don't think so. I've never gone to any parties before or anything that involves dancing to music, so this is all new to me.

As we dance song after song, Nathan seems to be getting closer and closer to me. By the time his hands settle on my hips, and his body brushes mine, I'm thrilled with getting closer to him. I don't know why I'm okay with getting close to him now—when I wasn't in the kitchen, but for some reason he seems more attractive tonight. I'm not in the mood to fight it. I smile up at him as our bodies brush against one another. My eyes drift to his chest, and I wonder how it would feel. Would he let me touch him? Would I let him touch me?

My face must betray my thoughts, because Nathan moves closer, his head lowering to mine deliberately. I can't wait to feel his lips on mine, so I tilt my head back. Right before his lips touch mine, reality crashes in. I pull away abruptly. What the hell? Why do I suddenly feel the need to be with him? Why do I want him so badly?

This is wrong.

“Excuse me,” I mumble before I dart away from him and make my way through the dancing bodies. I get bumped and jostled here and there, but I barely notice.

It takes me five minutes of walking around before I spy the restrooms. I go inside, feeling slightly overheated. I walk over to a sink and run cold water over my hands. I feel confused. My mind feels jumbled, and my limbs feel kind of heavy. Am I drunk or something? I've never been drunk before. Had Tatum lied about that drink? I should have known!

I think I want to go back to the mansion before I do something stupid. Like kiss Nathan. Or worse. And even as I think of him, my body grows heated again, and I feel a hint of longing. Okay, that's not normal. At least not for me. I grab some paper towel and dry my hands as I lecture myself on all the reasons I should stay away from guys, especially Nathan. Think of Brad, I tell myself as I leave the bathroom.

When I re-enter the club, there's a darkened corner along the wall, and I walk over and try to pull