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As the song ends, I’m grateful to have a song next that’s made for couples so I can cool down a bit. I start to walk back to Connor, my smile wide, where he stands tall, waiting for me, but an older man steps toward me.

“May I have this dance?” a gentleman I haven’t met yet, who I think is Jeff, the local taxi man, asks. He’s an older man, more my father’s age.

There’s only one man I want to dance with here. “Oh, actually, I—” I start to say.

“Sorry, Jeff, she’s all mine,” Connor says from behind me, and I turn on my heel in surprise to see him on the dance floor. He stands protectively next to me, and I hear Jeff chuckle.

“Thanks, your dad now owes me a fifty,” I hear him murmur as he shakes his head and walks over to Tanner, and sure enough, the two of them laugh. I spot Tanner hand over a fifty-dollar bill to Jeff, the two of them grinning at us.

“Ahhh, what’s that all about?” I ask, my cheeks feeling even more flushed, and I see Connor’s eyes throwing flames at his dad.

“That’s my dad being a pain in my ass. Let’s go.” Grabbing my hand, he spins me into him before we start to dance.

“You dance?” I blurt out, shocked. In my experience, men don’t dance that much, and a man like Connor I thought for sure would never step foot on a dance floor.

“Apparently,” he grits out, and I laugh as we start to move. I can’t remember the last time I danced with a man. Maybe at school, but I can’t really remember. While I love to dance, it’s usually a solo endeavor, with friends or just in my room with the music blaring.

I raise my eyebrows as he moves, clearly very rhythmic himself and knowing all the steps. Before long, I get the hang of it, letting him lead as he spins me away from him and then pulls me close, and we sway for a little longer before he spins me out again.

I lose myself in the music. The song has a sultry swing to it, making my hips move, and Connor knows exactly what to do with me. I trust him completely as he starts to spin me out faster, pulling me back to him and catching me against his chest and our hips grind together.

“Who taught you to dance?” I ask, trying to ignore the tension brewing between us. Otherwise, I won’t be able to keep my hands to myself in a less-than-audience-friendly way.

“My grandma. And the ladies from the sewing club,” he says with a boyish smile, one that warms my heart and makes me giggle.

“Well, they did a good job.”

“They taught me the steps. It isn’t until you get the right partner that you feel the beats through your boots and your hips know exactly where they need to go,” he tells me, eyes on mine, and I suck in a breath.

“Well, I’m just following your lead,” I admit, although I’m not missing any steps. Instead, I’m giving up all control to the man whose hands haven’t left my body.

“I’ll never lead you wrong. I’ve got you.”

I look up at his eyes, and he gives me a sly wink before he spins me quickly, then back in, and I go with it. That is, until I feel myself falling backward, my heart stuttering before his hand catches me at the back of my neck and flips me to standing just as quickly. As he does, his hands remain, gripping in my hair as he pulls my face to meet his in a chaste kiss that has me feeling all kinds of things. My heart feels like it moves out of my chest, both with the speed of the move and the feeling of his lips quickly taking mine.

“Told you I’ve got you,” he murmurs against my mouth, his own pulled up into a sexy-as-sin smirk, which has my body now entirely under his control as my mind turns to mush.

We just kissed in public. I’m not sure if anyone saw. I mean, we moved fast, and we’re surrounded by other couples doing similar dance moves. No one else looks at me, other than Tanner, who eyes his son like he’s grown a second head. I get the feeling that Connor doesn’t dance very often. I’m not sure why, though, as he clearly has the talent. But that thought sparks a small flame of jealousy in my stomach, because if this is the way Connor dances, then I don't want any other woman experiencing it.

I’ve seen this kind of dancing on the internet. Country Swing, I think it’s called. I always loved watching it, but never in a million years did I think I would try it. Not only because you would be hard-pressed to find a place in New York that would have this kind of thing authentically, but also because being a bigger girl, all the spinning and lifting and quick steps, I assumed it would be a little more difficult.

But I was wrong, because while I don’t know all the steps, my body is just going with whatever Connor delivers. I spin out again, and he pulls me back to him, lifting me slightly, and grabbing my ass, wrapping my leg over his hip. Again, the move is not unusual to what the others around us are doing, but he squeezes my ass, holds me tight, and I swear this is starting to feel more like foreplay than actual dancing. Especially with how my core clenches and stomach flutters.

Connor, in his jeans and button-down shirt, looks like every woman’s wet dream. But I’m the woman he’s with right now, and he never once lets go of my hand.

We’re in perfect sync, and I shouldn’t be surprised; it’s almost like our bodies know exactly what to do each time we’re together. Whether it’s yoga on the lawn or oral pleasure in my bed this morning. As I think about him naked, I swallow, watching him watch me just as intently and the feeling between the two of us continues to build, his hands cupping my waist, before spinning me again, the beat faster, then he pulls me back in and we do some more hip grinding. This time, his thigh is between my legs, and I almost groan at the contact my pussy makes with his jeans, the friction needed yet also building more yearning inside me. He grins like he knows exactly what he’s doing.

“You’re doing that on purpose,” I whisper, eyes narrowed as I look up at him, feeling worked up.

“Hmmmm, if there is any time I can touch you, I’m going to take it.” he grits out, and I know he feels it too. My pussy is already pulsing.

“Even in a packed bar?” I sway my hips, deliberately sliding them across his and feeling how hard he is.

A hiss slips through his teeth. “Fuck me, Daise… you’re the one doing the teasing.”

“Just giving you some of your own medicine.”

“You could give me any damn medicine, and I would take it.” He spins me around, making me gasp at the sudden movement, then places his hands firmly on my hips, bringing us back to swaying together.