“Mind if I cut in?”
And I froze.
Todd flushed again and sputtered, “Sure. Yes. Of course, Knight Commander. My apologies.” He disappeared as if he’d never been there at all.
Ryan Foxheart took his place.
His hand went to my waist and it burned.
His other hand took mine, and I felt every scrape of his fingers against my skin.
I could feel the heavy muscle of his arm under my touch.
This was not nice.
This was an inferno.
The music swelled.
We moved. I didn’t have to count for him.
He said, “You’ve been busy all night.” There was no smile on his face and a heat to his words.
And because I had enough of a buzz still going, I deflected and said, “Congratulations. On everything.” The words came out light and sweet.
“Thank you. You danced with him twice.”
“What?”
He moved as he always did, with beautiful precision. He was leading and I didn’t even try to fight it. “The others. You sent them away after one song.”
“Or they ran.”
His lip twitched and the skin around his eyes crinkled slightly. “Or that. But he didn’t.”
“No, Todd didn’t,” I agreed.
“Is that his name?”
“It is. He’s very nice.”
“Is he?”
“Yes.”
“Because you like nice.”
“Perhaps.”
We danced on.
“I’m not nice,” Ryan said suddenly. “Not all the time.”
“You’re a knight,” I said, because that almost meant the same thing.
“Knight Commander,” he said with a glint in his eyes.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m so impressed.”