“Ben!” I slap his chest and step back… right into a pair of hands that stop on my hips. Jesus, Riley’s stepping up. “Go dance with your sister, Benny.” When a blonde haired girl catches my eye from the side of the dancefloor, I grin. “Or better yet. Go dance with Evie. I’ve seen you watch her all day.”
“I have not!”
Riley’s strong hands don’t loosen on my hips. If anything, they get firmer and his chest gets closer to my back. “She’s been watching you, too. I promise. And she looks so pretty tonight, huh?”
“Shut the hell up. You have no clue what you’re talking about. She’s annoying.”
“Her dress is so cute. And her mom is hot, so you know where your life is headed. May as well ask her to dance before Mac does. He looks handsome tonight, too. It would burn to lose her to your best friend.” I shouldn’t tease him, but he’s too easy, and Riley’s hands make it so I’m willing to toss my teenage nephew to the wolves. “Her daddy just got up to pee, so you have three minutes to get in and snatch her up before he comes back and snaps your arms.”
“Shut up!” He backs away and glares at Riley over my shoulder. “She’s trying to piss me off so I let you dance with her. Watch your step, pig. Go and ask Oz what happened last time someone tried to hit on one of my women.”
Riley’s straight jaw twitches with a smile. “We’re at their wedding, Ben. So… I’m assuming not much happened at all. You’re all bark, no bite, kid.”
With the way Benny’s eyes narrow and his hands flex closed, I step back into Riley’s chest in protection. My nephew has a protective streak a mile wide, and though it’s mostly for his mom, I get a large chunk of the spillover. Every time I dated a man over the years and he met me at the door, this kid stood there with whatever weapon was most convenient and scared them away. I never minded, because I was looking for fun, not a wedding ring, and his tactics worked better than any excuse I could think up. But Riley’s not backing away, and I refuse to referee a fight on the dancefloor.
“Go, Ben.” I turn on my serious-Aunt voice, the voice I so rarely use. “I wanna dance with Officer Cruz for a minute. He’s my friend, and friends are allowed to dance.”
Narrowing his eyes until they’re almost shut, he turns on his heels and strides off the dancefloor.
At the sound of Riley’s gritty chuckle, I turn and wind my arms around his neck. He’s a foot taller than me, but with heels, my eyes come up to his nose. “He’s sixteen. What’s your excuse?”
“Excuse?” His hands possessively tighten on my hips. “For what?”
“For acting like a possessive fool? I was dancing with my nephew, and now I have pee on my shoes because you wanted to feel like a man.”
“Nah.” Laughing, he lowers until his lips rest by my ear. “I was waiting for you, then you got tackled into a dance. Benny would’ve kept you forever, and I heard you say you’re going home again tomorrow, so I decided I was done waiting.”
“You were done. Just like that? You think you get to monopolize my time? I have eighteen hours until my flight leaves, Riley, you think you get all of them? When do you expect me to fit Blake in?”
“You don’t.” Pulling back, his hazel eyes stare directly into mine as the band sings Elvis’Can’t Help Falling In Love. “You spend your time with me. You don’t have time for him or anyone else.” His hand slides around to my back. Then an inch lower. Then another inch. “I’ve been waiting months for you to come back. You think I didn’t know you were here recently for the bachelorette party?”
I grin and step in closer. “You knew I was here?”
“Of course. This is a small town. Pretty sure I could smell you as soon as you crossed the tracks.”
“Smell me?” I pull back to catch his eyes. “You saying I stink?”
“No. I’m saying you pull me in. You smell amazing; a little bit like mangoes, a little bit like summer, you smell like vacation and relaxation and sipping an ice-cold beer on the beach.”
“Really?” That’s super detailed. “I don’t even like mangoes.”
He laughs and pulls me in so my ear rests on his shoulder. “That’s okay, because I do. Summer’s my favorite time of year. The beach, the sand, the saltwater; it’s relaxing as fuck. And those mangoes.” He flashes a wolfish grin. “I eat ‘em up till the juice drips off my chin.”
Tingles shoot straight to my mango and make me breathless.
“Do you live near the beach, Dee?”
“Uh-huh.” I lick my parched lips. “Not so far from the beach. Twenty minute drive.”
He tucks his jaw in to my neck. Daringly, the virginal boy slides his tongue along my flesh and makes me wonder if perhaps I judged him wrong.
“You remind me of relaxation, summer fruits, and cold drinks,” he whispers. “And fucked if I don’t wanna know what a night with you feels like.”
“A whole night?” I whimper when his teeth join his tongue. “Before, you just wanted a minute in the closet. Now you’re asking for a night. I dunno… That’s a lot of commitment.”
“Mm’mm.” He shakes his head and drags his jaw over my sensitive skin. “A minute is not even close to enough time, and a closet isn’t enough space. It’s been almost a whole year since I first saw you. You wore itty bitty jeans that showed off your ass, and a floaty top that made me wanna pull it forward just to see what you got under there. You were hanging with Macchio, but you watched me.”
“You were fucking me with your eyes.”