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Fisher and his wife won a weekend trip to Las Vegas, which surprised me. Financial types were not usually gamblers, but maybe they were going for the shows.
And Dennis won the Hawaii trip he’d bid an outrageous sum for.
They reached the end of the auction, and music began playing through the loud speakers.
Dennis stood and held a hand out to me. “Dance?”
The question took me by surprise. I’d figured this was a dinner and boring conversation function, maybe with some awards or something.
He cocked his head. “Well?”
“Go ahead,” Cindy urged.
I put my napkin on the table and stood to accept his hand, which quickly moved to my back to guide me to the open area rapidly filling with couples dancing—slow, intimate dancing. The heat of his touch was doing its brain-fog thing again.
I put my hands on his shoulders as we started to sway to the music.
He pulled me in. First our thighs touched, and then my chest met his.
I didn’t push away.
The heat was unmistakable, a dangerous heat that threatened to weld me to him.
His mouth brushed by my ear. “Thank you for coming.”
I looked up into his eyes. “Thank you for asking me.”
How a week had changed everything. When I’d blurted out that I was his date, I’d meant to antagonize his ex-wife and cause him trouble. Tonight though, it didn’t matter if I was using him, or he was using me. It felt good to be in his arms, and I was going to enjoy it.
His hand slipped lower on my back and pulled me tighter against him. The warmth of his chest against mine, the heat of his breath against my ear made my cares drift away.
Right now I wanted this, and I definitely deserved it. Thinking could wait until tomorrow. The how and the why weren’t important tonight, just the who and the where.
I closed my eyes. Him, me, the music and the motion on this dance floor. Nothing else mattered.
Chapter 20
Dennis
Her warmthagainst me as we slow danced was an elixir I needed more of. The scent of peaches in her hair reminded me of the whiff I’d gotten during that kiss in my office, and I smiled to myself as I played the memory over again.
Having noticed her at Starbucks, I’d wondered what she might feel like in my arms, but I’d never imagined it could be as intoxicating as this.
After the thrashing from the latest article by Sigurd and the harried spin-off workaround, a night like tonight was a welcome break. Family, friends, music, and a warm woman in my arms brought back to me what I had been denying myself for too long.
She looked up at me with soft eyes. “What are you thinking about?”
The question caught me off guard. “Nothing in particular.”
“You’re not a good liar, Denny.” It was the first time she’d used that nickname since the day of our kiss.
I went with at least a partial truth. “Nothing, really. I was noticing the peach fragrance in your hair.”
“You’re deflecting. I can hear the gears turning.”
I gave in. “I was thinking how nice it is to be here with you.” Saying the words to her didn’t feel as awkward as I’d expected, even though it was our first date.
Our first date. The words rattled around my head for a second. My subconscious was clearly voting for more time with her.
