What’s the matter, Rachel? Don’t you like it when your lies catch up with you?
I give her a careless smile, enjoying it as her confusion intensifies. “You’re a great dancer.”
Her brow furrows. “Thanks?”
Her voice stokes my memories from our night together and blood rushes toward my groin. I hold out a hand, willing her to take it. I want to feel her skin again. I want to smell her hair, taste her lips… “Come on,” I say, like we’re old friends. “Join me.”
Her hand is soft in mine, and my skin tingles where we touch. I draw her down beside me, still holding her hand as I order more drinks. She smells of peach shampoo and a soft flowery perfume, and the combination is intoxicating.
“What are you doing here?” The curiosity in her voice is tinged with accusation.
I lean toward her, close enough to see her pupils dilate. My voice is silky. “I was in the area.”
She pulls back from me. “Really?”
“Really.” I’m enjoying her suspicion, and I bring my face close to hers again. She’s trembling, and when her lips part on a soft breath, all I want to do is taste that pretty mouth and make it mine.
Something flares in her eyes. I take a deep breath, drawing back just as our drinks arrive. I release her hand and she gulps her cocktail. She’s nervous.
“So…” she starts, and I can sense the effort behind the lightness in her voice. “Are you on the prowl or what?”
I hold her gaze. “Are you working tonight?”
That confusion again. “Working?” she repeats.
“Are you working the joint?” My words are deliberate, and I watch with satisfaction as her face shadows with a quiet indignation. I wait for her to come clean, but she doesn’t.
“Not tonight.” She meets my gaze in a silent challenge. “I’m here with my cousin and her boyfriend.”
Her tone makes me want to apologize, but that makes no sense. She should be the one apologizing to me. She should be telling me the truth right about now.
I sip my drink. “Does she know what you do for a living?”
“No.”
Tell me the truth, Rachel.
Her eyes search the club. Is she looking for her cousin? Thinking of leaving? She rises from the seat.
I should let her go. Whatever I hoped to achieve here, to make her confess or explain…I haven’t achieved it. Yet, I can’t bear for her to walk away. I catch her hand in mine. “Don’t go.”
She loses her balance and falls back on the seat, closer to me than before. She inhales softly, lips parted and as soft as temptation. I’m aching to taste her, to send everyone out of the club so I can bury myself deep inside her, right here and right now.
She licks her bottom lip and my cock presses against my pants.
“Don’t do that,” I warn.
Her breath catches. “Why not?”
Because I’m in danger of forgetting myself. I want her, and I can feel the arousal like a drug, clouding my senses. My hand is on her thigh, and my fingers are aching to go higher, to explore more, to touch, to possess. I pull in a breath and lift one hand to stroke her cheek. “I think your cousin is looking for you.”
She looks a little dazed. At the sound of her name, she turns to face Laurie, who is approaching us with her boyfriend in tow.
“I was looking for you.” Laurie frowns in my direction as if I’m to blame for Rachel’s temporary misplacement, which I am. “Why’d you move tables?”
“I… This is Landon,” Rachel says, her eyes on Laurie.
Something passes between them, and I realize her cousin knows about that night. I rise from my seat and hold out my hand. “Please join us,” I say with a smile. “I’m Landon Court.”