say he’s turned it around since high school, but back then? He was the kind of fuckup that could drag you down in a blink.”
Her eyes go wide. “Did something happen with you?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know it at the time, but he was into some pretty bad shit. And just being near him almost cost me my future.”
She stops moving. “Oh my God, Wade.”
Aww hell, I shouldn’t have brought it up. I’ll tell her the whole story sometime. But not on a night I promised to show her a good time.
“Hey, don’t worry.” I pull her back into motion, holding her a little closer. Giving her the smile she always gives back. “It all got straightened out in the end. But if you want to know why I’m so serious about keeping my nose clean… that guy is it.”
She pats my chest. “You’re a good guy.”
“Don’t forget it, Good Girl.”
We talk and dance. Harlow moves with me, her soft curves driving me out of my mind, her laugh making me ache for more. The next song has a heavier beat, a rhythm we fall into too easily. Our bodies sync up, the space between us becoming nonexistent.
She’s got one hand at the back of my neck. My arm is wrapped around her with my hand on the far side of her waist.
I’m not breaking the rules.
It’s just dancing.
It’s for show.
Harlow’s eyes lift to meet mine. Hold there. Her fingers move through my hair. Mine tighten at the side of her dress.
What if I’m not reading this wrong? What if—
A throat clears.
It’s fucking Tommy standing beside us, his shit-eating grin begging for a fist, hands pressed together into a wedge he’s literally driving between us.
“Enough of that,” he sort of sings with that chainsaw voice, prying us apart. “Wade, don’t be a dick, and stop hogging the girl.”
Dude.
He ignores the threat in my eyes, hip-checking me out of the way to grab Harlow’s hand. And as if cutting in on my girl wasn’t bad enough, the fucker spins her out and then reels her back into his arms in a showy move that makes mine look like crap.
Jesus, I can feel the caveman thumping on my chest.
Okay, maybe I owe Tommy something other than a good beating because that was close.
I head to an open spot at the bar where Carol pushes a water my way.
Delighted, Harlow waves to me from over Tommy’s shoulder. Her face is pure joy, and it’s a hell of a lot safer that I’m seeing it from across the room.
What if she lets me kiss her and things get weird? We’re sharing a hotel room. For another week. The only place she’d have to go is home, and I don’t want it to go that way. I don’t want to lose her.
It’s fine. Nothing happened.
I lean back against the bar, watching Harlow get danced around the Den by my oldest buddy. He dips her, chuckling, while I shore up my friend zone. I remind myself of all the reasons it’s the safest place for us, when reason number one walks through the door.
Kelsey. And she’s already seen me.
Shit.
There’s no pretending I don’t see her. No ignoring the fact that she’s already coming this way. Maybe if I just brush past her with a quick hello and head to the back like I’m going to take a leak, I can dodge another talk.
I push off my stool, but before I take a single step, there’s a warm, soft, and slightly sweaty woman bounding into my arms—Harlow—and I drop back down with a smile.
“Hey there, Good Girl.”
“Miss me, handsome?” she asks with a glint in her eyes that says she saw exactly what was happening.
“Absolutely. But a reunion like this makes it all worthwhile.”
She tosses her head back with a laugh, letting all those rebel ribbons of dark silk shake out. Damn. And when she comes up again, the look in her eyes is—I swallow hard—it’s really fucking convincing. Almost as convincing as the slow, hip-winding dance she’s doing in the vee of my legs.
Down boy. It’s for show.
Her hand snakes up my chest, her fingers walking over the buttons until she reaches the second from the top and one hooks inside. Eyes locked with mine, she bites her bottom lip and draws me in. Closer, closer. So close, I’m hovering a breath above her, my arm supporting her as she bows back.
“Wade,” she murmurs. “If you want to make a point, now seems like a really good