Her breasts brush against my chest while I hold her close and we glide around the dance floor. Everyone else in the room seems to fade away, leaving only the soft strains of the music and the feel of this woman cradled in my arms.
I bend my head to whisper in her ear. "Couldnae stop thinking about ye. All night, all morning, every second till I found ye here."
Spinning us round and round the floor, I maneuver between other couples while keeping my mouth near her ear. All I see is her. All I want is her.
"Did you think about me?" I purr into her ear.
"Yes."
"Good." I pull her even closer, our bodies pressed together, her breasts mashed into my chest. "I went too far last night. I'm sorry."
"I gave you permission to kiss me. Which makes it my fault, not yours."
"You're not angry?"
"No."
"The party's almost over," I say. "Spend the evening with me."
"What?" She pulls her head back to stare at me. "I don't know you."
"Get to know me, then." I skate my hand up her back, then down again, my fingers teasing the upper curve of her erse through her dress. "I want to know you. Give me the rest of tonight, please."
"I'm flying home to Michigan in the morning. Have to pack and get some sleep."
"Can't you stay an extra day?"
"Why are you so determined? We're essentially strangers."
"Been told I'm impulsive, and you are the most captivating woman I've ever met." I lift our hands to my lips, feathering kisses across her knuckles. "When I see what I want, I donnae give up easily."
Calli glances at something past my shoulder.
She disentangles her hand from mine. "The bride and groom are heading out. I have to see them off, so please excuse me. It was nice meeting you."
My mouth opens and then shuts again as I track her journey across the dance floor away from me. She's leaving? Just like that?
Calli glances back at me once, then she's gone.
Chapter Five
After Calli disappears, I stand frozen on the dance floor, wondering why the lass seems determined to get away from me. She likes me. Why else would she have kissed me last night and danced with me today?It was nice meeting you, she said. Nice? Meeting her is the best thing that's ever happened to me, but I can't seem to convince Calli to stay in the same room with me for more than ten minutes.
Most of the guests have wandered away to enjoy the buffet or to chat to each other while seated at the tables that surround the dance floor. Calli had said she was going to see the bride and groom off. Does that mean she'll come back?
I have never been the sort of man who waits for a lass to summon me.
When I check the hallway, I don't find her there. I head outside where Tara had told me the wedding took place, though I hadn't attended that event. I understand why Tara didn't invite me to the wedding. I'm a stranger, after all, and it was kind of her to let me come to the reception.
A glassy pond catches my eye, and I amble over there in search of the lass who keeps fleeing from me. I don't expect to find her there, but I do. Calli stands beneath a large tree with its canopy of branches spread out above her while she gazes at the pond with a bleak expression. What fashes her? I want to know because I need to learn everything about her—if she'll let me.
She lays a hand on the tree trunk and shuts her eyes. Her expression softens as if she's enjoying a happy memory.
I walk over to her. "There you are."
With a yelp and a jump, Calli whirls toward me.
"Did I scare you?" I say with a smile. "Sorry. I've been looking everywhere for you and finally spotted a red-haired woman in a green dress out here, looking melancholy."