The dimple on his cheek matched the one on the tip of his narrow chin.
He hadn’t shaved for a couple of days and it gave him a rough but manly appearance.
He didn’t need it.
His chest was broad and tapered into a narrow waist, his shirt was navy blue but appeared black when the lights shifted.
The cuffs were unbuttoned and rolled up to his elbows.
What caught my attention most was his eyes.
Dark.
Hooded.
Seductive.
The overhead lights cast shadows across his face that danced but didn’t disclose their emotion.
Instead, they teased me with how little they revealed, enough to stir my curiosity but not to satisfy it.
“I’ll, uh, leave you to it,” Olivia said.
“No…” I said, suddenly losing my nerve and reaching for her.
She slid smoothly out from behind our table and disappeared into the throng of writhing bodies.
What sort of friend left a girlfriend behind when a man—an unknown man—approached her in a club like this?
A good friend, a voice in the back of my head said. A damn good friend.
The stranger came to a stop before my table.
I looked up at him and my throat turned dry.
He peered at me with those invisible eyes cloaked in shadow.
My words—what words?—lodged in my throat.
“Would you like to dance?” he said.
That hint of amusement remained in his eyes.
I wondered if Olivia hadn’t put him up to this.
I wouldn’t put it past her.
No guy had ever approached me like this before.
Least of all one that looked like him.
“I’m not much of a dancer,” I warned.
“That’s okay. Neither am I.”
He extended a hand.
It was big, muscular, the kind used to physical work.
Was he a soldier?
A laborer?
Did he work on a nearby farm?
I didn’t know.
But I did know there was something unusual about him, something that drew me in.
Had I met him before? I wondered idly.
I was certain I would have remembered if I had.
I placed my hand in his and it swallowed mine.
He helped me onto my feet and led me to the dance floor.
What the hell am I doing? I thought frantically. I don’t know how to dance!
And now there I was, pretending like I could!
I couldn’t.
I’d fall flat on my face and that would be the end of it.
Everyone would laugh at me.
The end of my life, my career, my very existence.
It wasn’t like I could escape it either.
The whole event would follow me wherever I went.
I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down.
I was panicking and losing control of myself again.
The doctor warned this would happen if I put myself under stress.
And that was exactly what I’d done.
Why did I think I could pull someone like this tall, handsome stranger?
I couldn’t.
I wasn’t anywhere near his league.
I should just turn around and leave right now before the worst of the damage was done.
The stranger—and I still didn’t even know his name—placed one hand on my hips and, looking deep into my eyes, took my hand and placed it on his waist.
A shiver shook me to my core.
My mouth felt dry.
I might as well be chewing sand.
It was the first time I’d seen his eyes directly.
They were big and beautiful—the lightest shade of brown I had ever seen.
Gold, I gasped. His eyes are gold.
My breath caught in my throat and I swallowed my protestations.
We began to dance.
He led—thank God—and turned me in a circle, his arm wrapped tightly around me.
He didn’t move like the other dancers.
Where they jumped and shouted and hollered, we were quiet, calm, and graceful.
In total control.
My attention shifted to the other dancers around us.
I felt so self-conscious I couldn’t enjoy the moment.
I glanced over at the twin tables of horrible ladies who’d taken an obvious fancy to the stranger.
Their eyes glinted with cold malice.
I was right, I thought. I shouldn’t be here.
I was a bookworm at heart, preferring to curl up beside a roaring fire with a heavy tome in my lap.
My face burned with embarrassment and I turned to leave the dance floor.
“Excuse me,” I said, sadness dripping from every word.
The stranger caught my arm and spun me around.
He held me so close I could smell his aftershave.
It was a heady mix of something foreign.
It made my head spin.
The stranger placed a finger under my chin and raised it so he could peer into my eyes.
“Look at me,” he said. “I want to watch you.”
Yes, sir.
I was vaguely aware of the ladies sitting at their tables, only now, they weren’t laughing.
There was nothing funny about the way he looked at me.
A smile curled one corner of his lips and his hand wrapped around my neck.
My pulse quickened and I wondered if he could feel it too.
He was so close, his lips within inches of mine.
And yes, I ached to feel them on mine.
He angled forward and I shut my eyes, raising my face to meet his lips.
Then I felt them.
An explosion of color and light lit up inside me like a firework.
Something prodded deep in my chest, something that’d lay dormant my entire life.
The stranger caressed my lips and probed with his tongue.
I allowed him entry and met his passion with my own.
I squeezed his hand and gave myself to the kiss.
I felt the hard bulge in the front of his pants, pressing against me.
I rubbed my legs together and felt myself grow slick.
When we finally parted, I panted for breath and placed a hand to my chest.
My heart pounded faster than a racehorse.
The stranger placed a hand to his own chest and must have felt that same racing rhythm.
We shared a smile.
I covered my mouth with a hand and giggled.
I couldn’t help but glance over at the other tables and noted with satisfaction the jealous ladies wore irritated grimaces.
I turned back to the handsome devil that’d ensnared me in his net and knew without a shadow of a doubt our meeting wasn’t a random thing.
It was preordained.
We were meant to meet.
We were meant to kiss.
Another flush spread across my cheeks.
And with the way
