She swallowed a whimper. “There’s no music.” She hovered on the knife’s edge, between paralyzing fear and intense desire. If he teased his fingers under the waistband of her jeans, she’d have a difficult time saying no. But she couldn’t imagine dancing here, with so many people around.
He removed one of his hands from its resting spot, and seconds later, a heavy dance beat spilled from behind her. She assumed it came from his phone. People turned to look, muttering to each other.
Humiliation flooded her. “Please stop.”
“I told you how this works.” His lips moved against her skin. “You do things by my rules, or we call it quits. If you stop now, we’re done. I’ll take you home, and we won’t speak of this again.” He swayed her hips to the beat, moving with her.
It felt forced. She couldn’t bring herself to do anything more than respond mechanically. Too many thoughts pressed in on her at once, fuzzing the world around her, until all she saw were the stares and all she felt was him.
“Stop caring what they think. What you want is all that matters.” His voice was low and hypnotic.
“It doesn’t work that way.”
“Focus on my voice and the music. Ignore the people. Block out the rest of the world.”
Temptation mingled with desire and embarrassment, racing through her. Clouding her mind. Humming in her head and over her body.
“I can’t.” She pulled out of his grasp but couldn’t turn to look at him.
The music vanished. He didn’t respond. Her heart hammered in her ears, as seconds ticked away. Why wasn’t he saying anything? She whirled to see him walking toward the parking lot.
She sprinted to catch up and tugged the sleeve of his jacket. “I’m sorry.”
“If you’re not serious, you’re wasting your time and mine.”
“I am serious. I told you I want this. I’ll do it. Stop, please.”
“No.”
“Why not?” Her throat was raw with frustration.
He didn’t look at her. “I can prompt you. Coerce you. Encourage you and go so far as to seduce you. But at the end of the day, if you do this for anyone’s approval except your own, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.”
“I want to try. Please? I’m doing it for me. I promise.” She pulled him to a stop. “Damn it. Look at me.”
He spun and grabbed her wrist, locking his gaze on hers. “If you lie about this, to me or yourself, it doesn’t work.” The smooth tone was gone from his voice.
The power in his grip terrified and excited her. She refused to look away. “I’m not lying.” She was, though. The idea of doing this still terrified her. Did it show?
Expression going flat, he let go and turned away. “I don’t know how many ways I can say this. You didn’t follow my rules. We’re done. We have to work in the morning, it’s more than a half-hour drive up the canyon, and you have to tell your B.F.F. nothing horrible happened to you. We should go.”