“Uh…you did?” Colleen noticed Tony’s neck had turned brick-red above his collar as he glared at Eric.
“Yes.” He held out a hand toward her. “Come and dance with me.”
Colleen wavered, confused by the turn of events. Tony looked furiously flummoxed, Mari appeared amused and Eric just stood there, his face completely impassive, his arm stretched toward her in a beckoning gesture.
“Er…okay,” she muttered gracelessly. Dancing with Eric would separate him and Tony, which Colleen thought was a pretty darn good idea at the moment. When she placed her hand in his, he immediately swept her into his arms. He moved her gracefully out of the kitchen and beyond the patio and the pavilion until they were beneath the star-spangled, ebony dome of the night sky. The brisk autumn air felt nice against her heated skin.
Natalie and Liam and several other couples were also swaying to the jazz music, but they remained beneath the silk pavilion, closer to the patio doors. Colleen fleetingly noticed Natalie’s pinched expression of concern as she glanced at her brother. Had Natalie noticed Tony Tejada’s anger?
“Is it your mission in life to make trouble wherever you go?” Colleen hissed. Eric hadn’t touched her since that kiss in his office nine days ago. He’d been nothing but polite and businesslike as they planned the engagement party together. She’d convinced herself she was glad he hadn’t tried to touch her again…or kiss her…
She’d hadn’t entirely convinced herself, apparently. The heat and pressure of his hand resting on her hip was making her breathless.
He leaned back slightly and looked into her face. “A dance is trouble?”
“Not this dance,” Colleen grated out, trying to ignore the sensation of his flat belly, pelvis and thighs brushing against her own. “I’m talking about the fact that you were flirting with Janice while you danced. You knew Tony was watching. You were putting your little plan into place…plotting. I thought you said you weren’t going to do anything malicious to make your point,” she said accusingly and with the deepest of sarcasm.
His dark brows rose. “I
wasn’t plotting. That happened all of its own accord. And I wasn’t flirting.”
Colleen made a disgusted noise. “I was watching. You were so flirting.”
“You were?” Eric asked, his question confusing her. He moved the hand on her hip to the middle of her back and pushed her slightly toward him. The contact between their bodies increased. Her breasts brushed against the lapel of his suit jacket, making her breath catch in her throat.
Colleen glanced up instinctively into his face. In her heels, her eye level was just above his mouth.
“I…I was…what?”
“Watching me?” he clarified while she studied his lips moving. When she realized what she was doing, her gaze zipped up to meet his.
“Not everyone is watching you,” she said, exasperated.
He chuckled. “I wasn’t asking about everyone,” he replied, smiling in the face of her sarcasm.
As usual.
Before she could give him a blistering response, the music swelled and he spun and dipped her expertly. She laughed in surprised delight when he spun her again. She was suddenly back swaying in his arms, neither of them missing a beat.
“Where did an ex-hockey player learn moves like that?” she asked, still grinning.
“Dancing with the Stars?” he asked.
She gave him a give me a break look, and he chuckled.
“I had a girlfriend in college who loved dancing. We took a few lessons together.”
“Hmm… Well, I suppose it makes sense that you’re a good dancer. Natalie’s brilliant. You two must have gotten good genes. So, what happened to the girlfriend?”
He looked puzzled.
“The dancing one,” Colleen clarified.
“Oh.” He shrugged, the movement of his jacket sliding against her body causing her breasts to tingle. Had he just pulled her subtly closer?
“It was college. Time to experiment a little. Didn’t you date a lot in college?”
“No. I started dating Darin my sophomore year.”