I could guess whose it was, based on the location and the familiar scent. Hands lightly cupped my hips, his solid chest pressed against my back, warm breath on my neck. “You okay?” he asked, his voice husky against my ear. I arched my back slightly at the sound.
“Fine.” I struggled to sit up, placing my hands on his knees and sliding back to push myself up. As I did so, my ass encountered something...hard. Oh! My body, ever the betrayer, wanted to sink into him and press his growing erection up against me where I needed it most. I wanted his warmth and his soothing scent to envelop me, his hot hands to touch me all over. Instead, I jumped up and off of his lap. Rather, I tried to, then fell back down and encountered the considerable evidence of his arousal again. Ian’s hands, still on my hips, did very little to help, and his silent laughter rumbled against my back. I had to reach behind me and push hard off of his chest in order to stand. Finally on my feet, I smoothed my dress, turned around, glared at him, and stalked back to my seat. A deep laugh followed me, and I growled at the answering clench low in my belly.
The DJ just had to make it worse: “I hope the gentleman tips her well after that lap dance.” And then everyone was cracking up. Except me.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.
I sat down and took a deep breath, willing my heartbeat to slow. It was harder than I thought it would be, for two reasons:
I still felt eyes on me after what was one of the most humiliating moments of my life so far;
Every cell in my body was prickling with a burning desire. For Ian.
The first, I could do nothing about, other than to keep a low profile for the rest of the night. I sat down in my seat, took out my phone, and pretended to stare at it. Nothing to see here, people.
The second, I tackled with cold, hard logic. My body’s reaction to him had been only natural. As I’d mentioned previously, it’d been six months since I’d last gotten laid. It was unfortunate, but...I was thirsty. And I was primed for romance, given the excessively romantic setting. Plus, I’d had a few drinks, which never failed to make me horny, and in my somewhat buzzed state of mind, I had to admit that I found him at least a tiny bit attractive. Alcohol was known to make even the most unattractive of people slightly more appealing. I glanced sidelong at his broad shoulders and long, muscular limbs, packaged all too neatly in his crisp, cobalt suit. Fine, maybe he was more than a bit attractive. But I didn’t want to deal with all of the baggage that undoubtedly came with a Guy Like Him. I was sure that there were just mountains of it. Not my type.
I tamped down on my desire and tried not to think about him or his sizable bulge.
After the bouquet toss was the garter toss. I noticed that Ian chose not to get up for it (and wasn’t heckled by his friends or the DJ about it! Stupid double standards), but merely clapped politely as his colleague Tom caught the garter. For some reason, Tom glanced my way. Uh, no thanks.
Chain letters sent and future marriage victims selected, the DJ played a classic couple’s song, and Jessa and Lisa got up to dance with their husbands. Alone at the table, I took out my phone and checked my messages for the umpteenth time.
“Care to dance?” I looked up and found Ian, eyes already dancing with amusement, holding out his hand to me.
“You mean, beyond the lap dance that I just gave you? No thanks.” I turned back to my phone and tapped and swiped at random.
“C’mon. Just this song.” He leaned closer and whispered, “Besides, if you don’t dance with me, I’m pretty sure Tom is going to come over and ask you, and he’s got two left feet. And possibly a cold.”
I glanced up and saw that Tom was indeed staring at me. He pushed his thick glasses up and rubbed his nose on his sleeve, as if preparing to come say hi. Ugh. He had a bowl cut, for goodness sake.
“Fine.” I took Ian’s hand and he led me out to the dance floor, my pulse beating rapidly in my neck. Probably from the alcohol.
Ian pulled me close, his hands on my lower back. Not sure of the best place to put my own hands, I tentatively placed them on his shoulders. We swayed like that for a bit, my eyes hovering somewhere near his Adam’s apple, not daring to look further up. But then Ian surprised me by stepping out to the beat, taking my hands and spinning me around until my back was to his chest and my arms were crossed in front of me. We swayed like that for a couple of beats, his breath caressing my neck while I desperately fought the urge to lean into him. Then he spun me out again, uncrossing my arms, and pulled me close once more, my hands landing neatly on his chest.
“Huh. You’re actually a pretty good dancer.” I was genuinely impressed with how smoothly and easily he’d handled my body. Our eyes met, and something fluttered deep in my chest at the keen look in his eyes. I dropped my
