There was no way that hand said anything other than mine.
‘Darling,’ Raoul said as he dropped Luke’s hand and returned his attention to Claudia. ‘They’re playing a cha-cha. Your favourite.’
Claudia didn’t need to be asked twice. Luke might disapprove but she’d been dying to dance the second she’d slipped the gorgeous red dress over her head. And she was going out there to shake her booty with the best dancer in the room.
‘Lead the way,’ she said, ignoring Luke’s glowering, and allowed herself to be swept onto the dance floor.
Luke stood there stewing, watching as the other man walked off with Claudia.
His Claudia.
And he did not like what he saw as the dancing began. The dance floor had cleared a little around Claudia and Raoul as people stopped dancing to watch—consequently he could see every move they made. Thankfully the cha-cha didn’t appear to be a dance where the couples got too close and Mr Glitterpants seemed to be all about the rules of posture and body space and maintained his ruthlessly—Luke had seen enough clips from Strictly Come Dancing to know that.
But hell, if he had Claudia that close in that dress, the rules be damned.
He shook his head of the useless thought.
‘She’s good, isn’t she?’ Avery enthused from across the table.
Luke, who was about ready to gouge his own eyes out, was grateful for the interruption. He turned back around to face Avery. ‘Yes, she is. Where’d she learn to dance like that?’
‘Raoul taught her.’ Avery gave him a wink. ‘Private lessons, I think.’
Luke bet he had. His lips tightened. He did not want to think about Raoul and Claudia having private lessons.
‘We’re going to dance,’ Avery said, standing up, Jonah taking her hand and following suit. ‘You should ask Claudia to dance.’
Luke shook his head. ‘I don’t dance.’ Not like that anyway.
‘Sure you do,’ Avery teased. ‘All you have to do is hang on tight and shuffle your feet. That’s what Jonah’ll be doing.’
‘You got that right.’ Jonah grinned.
The cha-cha music came to an end and another tune started up. ‘Oh, I love this one!’ Avery exclaimed and dragged Jonah onto the dance floor leaving Luke to his indecision.
Luke wasn’t entirely sure what this one was but as Raoul’s swivel hips got a bit too near Claudia’s it was evidently going to be a lot more up close and personal than the cha-cha.
A little too up close and personal for his liking.
Before he knew it he was on his feet and storming onto the dance floor.
* * *
Claudia shut her eyes, pleased to be losing herself in the music and the syncopation of the dance. Raoul had taught her all she knew and was an excellent dance partner. Luckily on the dance floor he let all his ego and pretentions drop and just became one with the rhythm. Dancing with him was like dancing with the notes as they floated in the air.
And then Luke came along and ruined it. She heard a firm, ‘May I cut in,’ and opened her eyes to find Luke tapping Raoul very firmly on the shoulder while staring at her.
Raoul, who’d also been lost in the dance, looked momentarily puzzled, but he was much too indoctrinated with the code of the dance floor to deny Luke his request. There was an insane moment when she wanted to cling to Raoul’s shoulders and beg him not to leave her.
Luke didn’t really want to dance. He just didn’t want her to dance with Raoul. In her dress. With no wrap.
And there was also something slightly wild about Luke tonight. He didn’t look in the mood for anything light-hearted.
But then Raoul was bowing slightly and saying, ‘Of course,’ and moving away and Claudia was left facing Luke on a crowded dance floor. One hand had slid onto her hip and she couldn’t decide if the skin beneath burned or tingled.
‘I didn’t think you could dance,’ she said waspishly.
Luke nodded. ‘I can’t dance like that,’ he said. Raoul was all about keeping the frame and executing the moves perfectly. He was a dancer.
Luke wasn’t.
‘But I can dance like this,’ he said and yanked her body hard against him.
Claudia gasped at the sudden intimate contact. It was completely out of left-field and she hadn’t had time to prepare for the impact. And then he started to move and things rubbed and there was friction and it felt so good—better than any expert dance move Raoul could pull—and she knew he felt it too as his hand tightened on her hip.
She wasn’t sure she could do this with Luke. This was twenty years of friendship on the line.
‘This isn’t dancing,’ she murmured, the husky note in her voice cutting straight through the music.