Page 284 of The Havenport Collection

Sam

“ W here are we going and why am I dressed like this?”

I gestured to the sexy green dress with a full swingy skirt that Nora dropped off at my house this afternoon.

She also came armed with shoes, a purse, and boob tape.

I managed to survive forty years on this earth without the aid of boob tape, but I knew better than to question the brilliance of Nora Rossi.

She had me taped and scraped into this dress before I could even protest.

It had a halter neck, no back, and a full skirt. I had never worn anything like it. The fanciest I got was a simple shift dress, or maybe if I was feeling saucy, a wrap dress.

But here I was, totally out of my comfort zone. She had blown out my hair and lent me some large, dangly earrings to complete a look that was as far from my usual as possible. I felt sexy and a bit wild. If there was any night to finally get Gio naked, this was it.

Gio whistled, pulling me close and kissing my neck. “You should always dress like that. You look incredible.”

We kissed for a few minutes before he led me to his truck. Kissing Gio never got old. It made me feel giddy and sexy and alive.

“Are you going to give me any clues?”

“I’m taking my girl dancing,” he said, reaching over the center console and grabbing my hand, bringing it up to his lips for a quick kiss.

My cheeks turned pink and I immediately dropped my gaze, hoping he didn’t see the effect he had on me. I was still recovering from the other night, the feel of his hands on my body as well as his warmth as he held me through the night.

We hadn’t talked about it. And while I enjoyed the car orgasms and cuddles, I still had not fully worked out the parameters of this fling.

Casual, I kept telling myself. Easy breezy sexy fling.

Logically, my brain knew this. But the rest of me, including my traitorous vagina, simply wouldn’t listen. I wanted more. I craved his touch, the feel of skin, but there was so much unsaid.

I focused on the road and reminded myself to enjoy all of it—the flirting, the lingering looks, and the kissing.

I had no idea how much kissing could add to a friendship.

We had the laughing and the talking and the support and admiration—but now there were tongues involved, and that just made everything better.

I admired his profile as he drove—the cut of his jaw, his plump lips.

“Are you checking me out?” His eyes danced over my quickly reddening face.

I cocked an eyebrow at him. “So what if I was? What are you going to do about it?”

Gio looked at me, his face serious. “Oh, Sam. What aren’t I going to do to you?” He gave me a slow wink and then turned his eyes back to the road.

A while later, we pulled up in front of a nondescript brick building somewhere in Boston. Like practically every other block in Boston, there was a Dunkin’ on one side and a bus stop on the other.

Gio got out and handed his keys to a valet with a head nod and came around and opened my door.

“Are you ready?”

“Ready for what?”

“To dance, beautiful.”

He led me past a bouncer holding a velvet rope into a dark club. “We have a lesson first, to help you learn the steps, and then this place will really fill up.”

The space was dark and sultry, and the live band was warming up. There were already people dancing and laughing.

“Is this…” I looked around, unsure.

“Salsa,” he said, pulling me close.

“You know how to salsa?”

He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

“My gorgeous girl, of course I can salsa. I’ve spent the past few decades traveling for work.

And where there is wine, there is always dancing.

I can also waltz, and dance the Paso Doble, the bachata, the hora, and the electric slide.

Hell, I’ve even tried the cancan before, but I’d have to be pretty tipsy to do that again.

Sadly, I don’t have the legs for the high kicks. ”

He shrugged, and it was so fucking adorable I wanted to jump into his arms and just kiss the ever-loving shit out of him.

“But I don’t know how to salsa,” I said, my sexy dress confidence beginning to wane.

He brought my hand to his lips and gently kissed it. “Doesn’t matter. You’re going to love it.”

I did love it. The music and energy were unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I was able to pick up the basics during our lesson with Amarylis, our gorgeous instructor. She made it seem so natural and easy, and explained everything patiently.

I probably looked like an idiot, but I was having a blast as she taught me the basic steps to an eight count.

Both feet together, then step forward with my left, shift my weight to the right, and then step back with my left and pause.

Then we did the other side, her mirroring my steps.

I felt myself getting more comfortable, and by the time the club filled up, I was having fun.

The music was loud and the dance floor was crowded, but Gio held me close, protecting me from the flying figures around us, and I marveled at the skills on display.

But Gio’s gaze never wavered.

His hand was on my back, right where my dress dipped at the top of my hipbone, and his fingertips teased my bare skin.

We moved, slowly at first, Gio leading me expertly. I let the music pulse through me, trying to find my rhythm.

At first I struggled, pushing when I should pull, stepping left when I should have stepped right.

“Relax,” Gio whispered into my ear. “Just let your body move to the music. Submit, Sam. Let me be in charge.”

I bit my lip and looked up at him. His gaze was intense and unrelenting. I didn’t think he was just talking about dancing.

I nodded nervously. What was I agreeing to?

But the more I let him lead me, the less I thought about it, and the better I became, until he was spinning me and we were dancing to a fast song together.

I could feel the heat of his breath on my neck.

“Are you liking this, pretty girl? You like it when I lead you around.” I had met bedroom Gio briefly the other night in the cab of his truck, and I still hadn’t recovered.

It looked like he was back tonight. The man I was dancing with was not my funny friend, but this intense, serious, sexy beast. I wasn’t sure if my lady parts would ever recover.

“I like being in charge.” He winked and my knees buckled. I had a brief flash of what it would be like to give up control to him. To let him fully have his way with me.

And if the way he was leading me around the dance floor was any indication, it would be pretty fucking spectacular.

“Keep your steps small,” he reminded me. “I’ll protect you. Focus on my body and responding to me, babe.”

The dance floor was packed with people dancing with abandon, swinging and spinning everywhere.

Unlike many clubs I had been to in my younger days, no one was hanging at the bar, and no one was sitting at the few small tables scattered in a corner. Nope, everyone was dancing, moving and gyrating with more rhythm than I could ever hope to possess in my wildest dreams.

But I didn’t care. I wasn’t self-conscious or worried. I loved to dance.

Gio led me, whispering the steps to me and guiding me until I got it. Well, in my own way. I’m sure a true dancer would be horrified by my clunky moves, but I found it—the feel of the music in my body.

As the songs changed, Gio got bolder, spinning me and catching me with his opposite hand, swinging me around and making my skirt twirl up so high I was worried I was flashing the entire world my thong.

“Here, gorgeous,” he said, pulling me close. “Feel that?” Our bodies were in perfect sync and it felt fantastic. The music was moving through me and I felt less inhibited by the minute.

“Atta girl.” I blushed. I liked his praise and the intensity of his attention. “Now try again, but get those sexy hips into it.”

We were sweaty and probably doing a terrible job, but it was just so much fun. I felt comfortable with Gio, not afraid to make a fool out of myself and willing to just let go.

I was not in the habit of just winging it. Most of my life had been carefully planned and executed. I wasn’t a live in the moment girl, wildly shaking her ass on the dance floor. I was the snarky girl in the corner, judging that carefree girl.

But not tonight; tonight something changed. I don’t know if it was the sexy dress, or my even sexier partner, or the intoxicating energy of this music, but I was a changed woman.

We never left the dance floor except for water breaks, our hands roving all over each other, sneaking kisses between dances, and just moving our bodies. It was the most tantalizing foreplay I had ever experienced.

Gio had always been a competent dancer. We had danced together over the years, and he was always in demand at weddings. But this was different. The way he moved was so seductive. For a big guy, he was light on his feet, nimble, and strong.

And in the dark club under dim lights, with his warm breath on my neck, I couldn’t fight it anymore.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered into my ear, our bodies flush as a singer crooned a Marc Anthony song. “Getting to touch you like this, it’s a fantasy of mine.”

I clenched my thighs together. “You fantasize about me?” I asked.

“Don’t ask silly questions,” he said, bending to kiss the spot where my neck met my shoulder. “You know I do.”

“You do or you did?” I asked saucily.

“Both, my gorgeous girl. Both.”

We were close now, cheek to cheek.

The song was slow and seductive, and the couples on the dance floor gyrated with abandon.

Gio turned me around, so his chest was flush against my back.

His fingers trailed across my collarbone and down my arm slowly, before grabbing my hip and squeezing.

I sighed, my body flushed and aroused.

“Fuck,” he growled into my ear. “Sam, touching you like this, it’s shredding every ounce of self-control I have.”

He reached across my waist, grabbing my hand, and spun me until we were face to face.

“I don’t want you to be controlled,” I said with a seductive smile. “I want you to want me.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “Want you? I have always wanted you. Ever since the summer after ninth grade when you wore that tiny yellow bikini to the beach. You were the stuff of my fantasies even then, and nothing has changed.”

I was taken aback. There had always been chemistry between us and some light flirtation. But no matter how often he told me, I still couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Ninth grade? Had I been blind to this for that long?

We were in a dark corner now, his hands roaming all over me as he lightly kissed my jaw. “But this isn’t about me; this is about you and what you want. And as hard as it is, I am your friend first.”

And that statement just broke me. Because that was who Gio was, selfless to his core. Always putting others first. And even though the lights were dim, I could see him so clearly. The anxious boy who wanted to help everyone and do everything. The man who would move mountains to make me smile.

And suddenly, there was nothing else on earth I could ever want more.

“Tell me you want this, Sam,” he whispered. “Tell me you want me as much as I want you.”

It was time. Time to face the feeling I’d been hiding from for so long.

“I want you so much. I can’t remember a day when I didn’t want you, didn’t ache for you,” I said, observing the desire in his face.

“When you dated other girls I seethed with jealousy, convincing myself you would never want me. I could never be the type of girl you wanted.”

He held his finger up to my lips. “You are the only thing I’ve ever wanted.”

And then we were kissing. Our mouths crashed together desperately, and my hands pawed at his chest through his shirt.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said, already leading me toward the exit.

I followed, desperate to be alone with him. I had never known this feeling, this ache before. And I knew I’d never feel it for anyone else.

My body wanted Gio. My mind wanted Gio. My heart wanted Gio.