“James, good to see you.”
“You too, great game today.”
“Thanks, good way to start the year.” Why did Will seem so totally unaffected? I was still having trouble breathing, let alone carrying on a conversation.
I listened to their exchange as if I was behind a one-way mirror, my mind still trying to process what had just happened. Only I wasn’t behind one-way glass and I was just as visible to everyone else as they were to me.
I watched James’ hand land on my shoulder, his features creased with concern. “How you doing there Em, you feeling okay?”
I blinked up at him, trying to clear the fog that had unpacked its bags and settled in my brain. “I’m good…fine. Will and I were just…chatting…about the game and stuff.”
My warped response clearly hadn’t done anything to lessen his concern. “Have you been drinking margarita’s with Carrie?”
Will laughed. “I think she might have had a few.” I finally built up the courage to turn around, but could barely look at him, averting my gaze the minute our eyes met. Now that we had been pulled from whatever trance had us captivated before, I was strangely shy and more than a little embarrassed. What the hell would I say next time we had to work together?
Hi, so here’s the lowdown on the gig. Oh, and by the way, thanks for almost fingering me in the club the other night—we should finish that off some time.
The sheer thought of how wrong all this would feel in the clear light of day made me break out in a sweat.
Will gave my leg another squeeze, leaning in close. “Breathe Emma. It’s okay.”
I met his eyes and he gave me the briefest of smiles before looking over as Carrie plonked herself down next to me.
“Em, let’s go, it’s time to dance.” She put her arm around me and giggled, leaning across me to Will. “Unless you mind Jensen, given how
amazing
she thinks you are.”
Right, good to see my earlier word vomit was still haunting me.
I wanted to slap her over the head with my clutch, but I wanted to get away from Will more. “I would LOVE to dance,” I said, all but pushing Carrie back out of the booth. Will’s grip on my thigh tightened again but I didn’t look back. I needed space. I needed time to think, to pull myself back together so I could start behaving like a rational human being again.
Standing up after Carrie, I grabbed her outstretched hand and followed her through the crowd of writhing, sweaty bodies.
Yelling over her shoulder she shouted, “I might have had a few too many margaritas but Jensen definitely looked like he wanted to throw you over his shoulder caveman-style back there!”
I laughed, realizing how naive it was to think they wouldn’t have picked up on the vibe between us. Carrie stopped, turning to face me as she started to move in the tiny patch of dance floor real estate we had created.
“Well?”
“Well what?”
She shimmied, way out of sync with the music as she yelled into my ear again. “Well. Am I right? Did he go all caveman on you?”
I shook my head. “Quit it with the caveman talk. I came for a dance to get away from him!”
She shrugged, laughing. “Your call, but just so you know, my vote’s for going back to the hotel and banging the hell out of the caveman.”
I laughed. “Yeah, you would say that—such a romantic.”
We spent the better part of half an hour dancing away, mindless to anything but the beat of the music. Thanks to the noise, the light show and the mass of writhing bodies, I somehow managed to block out Will, concentrating only on the rhythmic thump, thump, thump of the track. Every so often when I’d close my eyes in an effort to lose myself even further to the music, a flashback of his hand on my thigh would take my breath away, causing my eyes to snap open and my lungs to scream for air. I was equal parts mortified and turned on, not sure whether to run from the club or go in search of Will so he could finish what he’d started.
Carrie grabbed my arm, motioning to the bar. “I need some water, you want to come?”
I shook my head. No way was I going back over there just yet. “I’ll wait here. Can you bring me one too?”
She gave me the thumbs up before heading off into the crowd. I moved to the music on my own, enjoying the freedom of being surrounded by hundreds of people but knowing next to no one.
“Are you hiding from me?” I jumped when Will wrapped his arm around my waist, his voice low in my ear. Turning, my breath caught as I met his eyes, a hint of a smile on his face.
“I might have been.”
“But we were having such a
nice
time.”
“You’re dangerous, Will Jensen.”
His eyes flared. “You make me dangerous.”
Taking my wrists, he wrapped them around his neck, slowly running his hands back down my body to rest on my hips. If I made him dangerous, then he made me positively lethal. The man had barely touched me and I was a mess. Thankfully I had the sense to look around us, to check for prying eyes. By some sort of miracle, Will had managed to insert himself into the packed dance floor completely unnoticed, the over-crowded space working in his favor and providing him with anonymity he rarely got.
We moved together, hips rolling and chests pressing as the steady thrum of the base created a living, breathing pulse throughout the dance floor. With the alcohol well and truly running through my veins, my inhibitions once again left the building. My hands explored the breadth of Will’s chest and the smooth skin of his arms that only just masked the corded muscle underneath. I moved myself against his body, loving the way his grip on my hips tightened as I ran my nails up the back of his neck. I knew I should have walked away, but something about this man made me a little crazy.
He growled, his voice vibrating against my skin. “You’re fucking
killing
me, Em.”
I paused, bringing my hands back to the relative safety of his shoulders. Why the hell couldn’t I keep it together around him?
Strong hands tightened on my hips as he leaned down to whisper in my ear, “Doesn’t mean I want you to stop.”
He gripped my waist, spinning me round to pull me back into him and my breath caught as I realized just
how
turned on he was. The feel of him pushing into me was enough to make me audibly groan, the sexual tension that had built up between us all night—hell, for weeks now—was a palpable, living thing.
I let my head fall back against his chest and closed my eyes, happy to trust him to do what he wanted with me. His hands continued to roam across my skin, his touch demanding and gentle all at the same time—my God, how I wanted to find out what those hands could really do to me.
His mouth met the nape of my neck, his lips on my skin a searing heat, a lightning bolt that went right through me.
“Oh my God,
Will
.”
He grunted against my skin, teeth nipping my neck as his body tensed around mine. I pulled myself out of his grip, the sensation of his mouth on my skin like a fire alarm going off, bringing me back to the reality of what I was doing and how easily it could all go wrong. For the second time in one night, I’d lost total control thanks to Will.
I turned to meet his eyes and understanding was there, almost as if he knew what we were doing had an expiration date, that we were living on borrowed time. I opened my mouth to speak—God only knew what there was to say—but he just shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets. “It’s fine Em. I get it, you can’t go there.”
I leaned into him. “I’m sorry, but we shouldn’t—”
His hands wrapped around my biceps, pushing me away gently. “Just leave it.”
His jaw ticked with tension, his eyes dark as we stood staring at each other. When James appeared, the pretence of dancing had gone out the window, the only movement coming as we were bumped and pushed around by the mass of people surrounding us.
“From Carrie,” he mouthed, handing me a bottle of water.
I gratefully accepted it, gulping down the icy liquid in an attempt to cool my heated skin and take my focus off the looming, agitated quarterback standing in front of me.
James’ eyes moved from me to Will and back again, a frown marring his forehead as he picked up on the tension between us. “I think we’re going to head back to the hotel now,” he yelled, motioning over his shoulder to where Carrie must have waited. Looking at Will he said, “The rest of the guys are leaving too. I can get us out the back entrance and we can walk. It’s only a few blocks.”
“I’ll come with you.” I spat the words out, desperate to get away from Will and this weird hold we seemed to have on one another. James and I looked over to Will and I half expected him to say he’d stay on his own but he just nodded, signalling with his arm for one of us to lead the way. He stayed close to me, his hand on the small of my back as we weaved through the crowd. Peripherally I could see people staring, hear his name mentioned a few times as we made our way through, his anonymity blown.
As we stepped off the dancefloor Buck made himself apparent, as only Buck can, wrapping his big bear-like arms over Will’s and my shoulders. He pulled our heads together, practically engulfing me under his armpit. “Don’t think I didn’t see you two out there. Damn, ya’ll had me getting worked up!”
“Shut it Buck, I mean it,” Will snapped.
His laugh was short and sharp, his head thrown back. “I got your back my man, but just don’t go thinking you can pull the wool over big Buck’s eyes. I know what’s happening here.”
I tried to step away but he pulled me in closer, so I was face to face with Will. “I love it when good people come together. That’s all I’m sayin’. Now let’s get the fuck outta here!”
As soon as he let me go, I made a beeline for Carrie, needing a safety net. I looped my arm through hers pulling her forward. “I need to get out of here, like now.”
The burst of fresh air as we pushed through the back entrance was a welcome change, the cooler temperature sending chills across my damp skin. I led the charge, dragging Carrie ahead down the dimly lit lane, leaving James to make sure the rest of the group got out all right.
“Whoa, what’s with the rush? I’ll break an ankle in these heels if you’re not careful.” Carrie’s words were slightly giddy as I dragged her out onto the street.
“Sorry, I just want to beat everyone else back to the hotel.” I looked back over my shoulder as we turned the corner to see Will walking with the main group, a lovely little blond thing fawning all over him.
Wonderful. I give the man blue balls and send him back to his hotel room with a hussy. Way to go, Emma.
“What’s the matter, afraid you’re going to get manhandled back to the caveman’s room?” Carrie leaned her head into mine, giggling.
“Something like that.”
She pulled back a little, slowing us down. “Well let’s not get too far ahead. I don’t want to get back without James.”
“God, you two are so….
on
. I can’t believe I didn’t notice it earlier.”
She smiled lazily. “I know, I can’t believe I didn’t notice
him
earlier.”
We were now at a dawdling pace, and I could hear the laughter and voices of the group getting closer. God how I wanted to get back to the safety of my own room. Alone.
My somewhat alcohol-clouded mind wandered back to the club, to the insane things I’d done with Will. Inside I was screaming at my idiotic self for letting it happen in the first place, but my body,
my body
was still wanting—desperate to find out how the story of
Emma and Will do Dallas
finished. I was sure it would be a good ending. This was the problem with taking things just to the edge without going over it—it made you so much more curious to know what was on the other side, what was so good that you were missing out on. And boy did I feel like I was missing out. Now that I’d had a taste, that I’d allowed myself to take things a little bit further with Will, I didn’t know how I was going to come back from the edge.
Deciding my inner Eve had had enough tempting by the forbidden fruit for one night, I disentangled my arm from Carrie’s.
“You go back to lover boy, I’m going to run ahead. The hotel’s just around the corner.” She tried to protest, but I patted her hand and skipped forward a few steps. “I’m fine.” I yelled, waving my hand over my head. The hotel was in sight, the big H of the Hilton sign beaming down at me like a welcome beacon, right across the main intersection.
I looked at my watch. It was 2:30 in the morning and the streets were practically deserted. The choice of being hit by a car seemed far more palatable than allowing Will and the blond hussy to catch up to me at the lights, so I darted from the sidewalk to the edge of the road, ready to skip across after the few approaching cars passed. I stepped out as the last car went by, only to be yanked back to the curb, my arm feeling like it was about to be pulled out of its socket. And then somehow—in less than half a second—my feet were off the ground and I came face to face with Will.
“What the
fuck
were you doing?” He glared at me while my body scrambled uselessly to get out of his grip.
“What was
I
doing? What are YOU doing? Put me down!” My words came out as furious whispers. I was painfully aware of all the eyes on us. And the fact that everyone could probably see up my dress. I bet Carrie hadn’t factored this situation into the dress choice when she labelled it
non-stripper
.
“Why, so you can run across the highway like a drunk idiot again?”
Did he just call me an idiot?
“Did you just call me an idiot?”
“Yeah, I did. Why did you do that? The lights are like, fifty yards away.” He nodded up ahead to the intersection.
“I checked for cars. Thoroughly. This is humiliating, would you just put me down already?” I didn’t even know where to look. His angry face was so close to mine and beyond him, I could feel the stares of our shocked little entourage bearing down on me.