“You’re a good dancer,” I murmur.
“You’re nervous,” he replies softly. “There’s no need to be. It’s just a dance.”
I take a deep breath and offer him a smile. He’s right. It’s just a dance.
The fact that he’s maybe the hottest man I’ve ever seen is a huge bonus.
And if he can move like this, with all of our clothes on, I can only imagine what it could be like if we were naked.
Mercy.
“I never got your name,” he says and guides me closer to him so we can talk into each other’s ears. I glance around the room, seeing my sister and the other girls smiling at us, watching us dance.
“Anastasia,” I say and turn my head, not quite planting my nose against his neck. The smell of this man is going to kill me.
And not because it triggers my asthma.
Because it’s too sexy.
I watch the pulse in his neck and enjoy the feeling of his strong arms holding me.
“That’s a lovely name.” The accent is thicker in his voice now. Irish? I’m not good with accents, but I’d bet he’s Irish.
His last name might be an indicator.
“Thank you.”
The song ends and flows into another ballad. Adele sings about finding another lover, as Kane moves against me, with me.
I wonder if it looks as sexy as it feels.
“You said yesterday,” he whispers against my ear, “that you’d be using your sketch for something else. What will that something be?”
“A cake.”
He pulls back far enough to smile down at me in surprise. “A cake, is it?”
I nod, more comfortable talking about what I do for a living than just dancing in silence.
“I design and build wedding cakes for a living. I can do them for other occasions, as well, but wedding cakes are what I’m known for.”
“Interesting.”
“I have a client who came into my shop about a month ago to hire me. They didn’t give me any direction at all. No colors, no requests. It just has to feed about two hundred guests.” I shake my head in disgust. “Not that I want them to tell me to copy a photo. I won’t do that, but usually, they have colors they like or flowers in mind. Something. Not these two. When I need inspiration, I like to look at what others have created. Or have conversations with people I enjoy.”
“That makes sense,” he says and leans in to kiss my forehead, which sends a shiver right down my spine to my lady parts—which had already sat up and taken notice of Kane.
“What was that for?” I ask.
“An apology,” he replies. “For being difficult yesterday.”
“Apology accepted.”
His lips quirk into that half-smile, his green eyes shining. The song is almost over, and I know I should thank him for the dance and find Lia and the others.
“Thanks for the dance.”
The last note plays, and I pull back, immediately wishing I was back in his arms.
He’s a stranger, and it’s crazy, but it’s true.
“Do you belong to a man, Anastasia?” Kane brushes his knuckles down the side of my cheek.
I frown. “I’ll never belong to anyone.”
“You know what I mean. Are you taken?”
“I’m single if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Good.” He kisses the back of my hand. “I have a room here for the night. Join me.”
I blink at him. If I’m not mistaken, Kane O’Callaghan just invited me up to his hotel room. I’m not naïve. I know what he’s proposing.
And every single brain cell in me screams, this is not a good idea.
But my body says, hell yes, it’s a great idea.
“I’m here with people.”
He nods. “Let’s find them, then.”
I laugh, a full-on guffaw because this is just so ridiculous. And because I’m totally going to do as he suggests.
That self-care thing I was talking about? Maybe it includes enjoying a random night with a hot stranger once in my life. It’s not like this happens often. But once? What the hell.
I walk off the dance floor, not bothering to glance behind me to see if Kane’s following me. He is. I can feel his eyes on me.
“Hey,” Lia says with a huge smile. “And you didn’t think you’d know anyone here.”
“This is Kane O’Callaghan,” I say, introducing Kane to our group. “Amelia is my sister.”
“You’re the spitting image of each other,” Kane says, flashing a grin.
I make the rounds at the table, pointing out Jace and his brothers and their wives. When I get to Starla, Kane’s eyes widen.
“I listen to your music in my barn,” he says.
“And I have pieces of yours in my homes,” she says with a smile. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“I do believe the pleasure is mine.” Kane’s green eyes turn down to me. “Shall we say goodnight, then?”
“Wait, what?” Levi, one of the cops in our family says with narrowed eyes. “You just got here.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to have Anastasia to myself for a while,” Kane says as he slips his hand into mine.