Page 15 of Breaking the Pucking Rules

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean?—”

“It’s okay. I’m not lying, though. Best dance partner I’ve had in quite a while.”

“I’ll take that,” I say as the song changes to something a little more upbeat. Although, neither of us speeds up. Instead, we remain moving to the song that only we can hear for a few more minutes.

But as the next song begins, my little troublemaker decides to up the ante. She spins around in my arms, sticks her ass out, and finally begins moving in time with the music.

Well, okay then.

Pushing aside my usual fears and insecurities, I allow myself to let go and dance with her. It’s something I haven’t done since college, but two songs in, I can’t deny that it feels good.

All my stress, the pressure that is constantly pressing down on my shoulders, all the expectations of me just vanish.

And as each song melds into the next one, I become more addicted to both the feeling and the woman in my arms.

I’m too lost in her to notice that another guy approaches through the crowd.

My brows pinch and my lips purse as he approaches my stranger, his eyes studying her with interest.

The second she notices him, her movements slow. She stares at him as he silently makes it known that he wants his turn next. Without realizing it, my grip on her hips tightens as a wave of something I’m not sure I’ve ever felt before floods through my veins.

Mine.

He steps closer, and I fear my possessive grip gets so tight that she’ll have bruises in the morning.

She shifts in my hold, and for a horrifying second, I think she’s going to slip away from me and join him. But just before I have to decide whether I’ll backaway and run off to lick my wounds or fight for the night I thought we’d planned, she makes the decision for me.

Spinning in my arms, she gives him her back, making it more than obvious where her interests lie tonight.

I want to say I take the victory privately, but that would be a lie. When I look up and meet the guy’s gaze, I’ve got a smug-as-fuck grin on my lips.

Irritated by the blatant rejection, he slips back into the crowd, probably on the hunt for his second pick for the night.

Rising on her toes, she whispers in my ear, “You don’t need to look so pleased with yourself, you know.”

“Why not? I just won gold.”

Half of her face might be hidden, but that doesn’t stop me from seeing the way it transforms with her wide smile.

“And to think, I was expecting tonight to be boring.”

“Same,” I agree.

“I only booked a room so I could leave when it got dull and go and watch movies in bed with room service.”

“So you didn’t plan on seducing a stranger tonight?” I ask, raising a brow.

“Well, I mean…if the opportunity presented itself, it would have been rude to waste it.”

She drags her fingertip along the line of my jaw, making my stomach knot, and my semi becomes…well, not so much a semi.

Her smirk tells me that she can feel it pressing against her.

And the second her delicate touch gets to my bottom lip, the situation becomes even more urgent.

“You really are a troublemaker.”

I didn’t think it was possible, but her smile turns even more wicked as she continues to drag her fingertip across my bottom lip, observing me closely.