“I’m canceling our date,” he says.

What?

Panic starts to crawl up my throat.

“Jordan, look, I’m sorry if I…”

“Don’t be sorry. And you really do say that way too much. We need to work on that.”

I clutch the beads around my neck, needing something to hold onto. “Do you want me to leave?”

His eyes widen with discontent. “What? No fuckin’ way do I want you to leave. What I want is for you to relax and enjoy yourself with me tonight, so all I’m doing by canceling our date is taking it out of the equation. If it happens to turn into a date later, then awesome. If it doesn’t, then I might be a little disappointed…” He grins to let me know he’s teasing. “There isn’t any pressure here. I like you – a lot. I think that’s pretty obvious. But I want you to want to be here with me in the same way as I do you. If you’re not quite there yet, then that’s okay. I’ll wait until you are. However long it takes.”

Is he real? I almost want to pinch him to make sure.

He likes me. A lot.

I’m washed aglow with the most amazing sensation – I’ve never felt anything like it. My heart starts to beat faster than I knew possible without causing a heart attack.

I know I’m staring at him, but I can’t stop. All I can see is him, and I forget why I was nervous in the first place. Why I built this whole date up in my mind.

The music quietens to a dull throb. The world shutting out, fading to just us…

Him.

Then all thought is lost, and I just follow what my body is telling me to do.

I press my hand to the side of Jordan’s face, absorbing the heat and strength of him. I lean in to press my lips to his cheek. He moves as I do, and my lips graze the corner of his. Heat scores through me, branding me his.

I withdraw, shocked but wanting more. I moisten my suddenly parched lips. A lick leaves me with the addictive taste of him. His aftershave, the soda he’s drinking … just everything that embodies him.

Jordan’s eyes flare with something I’m sure of. I’m sure because I’m feeling it too.

Lust. Desire. Want. And something more. Something deeper.

He slides his fingers into my hair, cupping the back of my head, he rests his forehead against mine.

“I feel the same as you do,” I say, my mouth so close to his that if I moved an inch we’d be kissing. “I want to be here with you … more than anything.”

He releases a contented breath. It soothes me.

“Should I take it our date’s back on?” His voice sounds deliciously husky and incredibly sexy, sending shivers tumbling through me.

“It was never off.” I smile.

Chapter Fifteen

Jordan

“Do you want to dance?”

Lifting her shoulders slightly, Mia gives me an unsure look, then turns to look down at the dance floor.

After kissing me, she’s been a little more relaxed. If I’d have known that would have relaxed her, I’d have told her to do it sooner.

Maybe it was the break in the ice that she needed.

Problem is, now I can’t stop staring at her mouth … her soft full lips … wanting to feel them against mine … fully…

She felt amazing.

And she smells so fucking good.

I’d be content to sit with my nose buried in her neck, inhaling her sweet scent for the rest of the night, in-between kissing that gorgeous mouth of hers, of course.

When she leaned in to kiss my cheek—believe it or not it wasn’t on purpose, just a natural reaction to her. I don’t regret it for a second because when her lips touched the corner of mine … fuck … if that’s what a brief momentary touch of her lips on mine is like, then I can only imagine how amazing it will feel to kiss her properly.

And now, of course, all I can think about is kissing her. It’s taking a real effort on my part not to make a move, but I don’t want to rush her and fuck things up. That’s why I’m suggesting dancing – something to keep my mind occupied.

Though, watching her gorgeous body move on a dance floor will probably send my thoughts back south.

I lean close to her back, looking over her shoulder. “I think the paint spraying might start soon. I’m thinking it could be fun, and we can stop by and see how Beth is getting along with Toni.”

She looks back at me, her lips curving up slightly. “Okay.”

We both stand. I move aside to let Mia out first. She passes me, and the brush of her body against mine has me holding back a groan.

We’ve just started walking when I feel Mia’s tiny hand slip into mine. I look at her surprised.

But happy.

Really fucking happy.

Her cheeks blush.

This is the first time she’s ever held my hand. It’s always been me taking hold of hers. I’ve been making up excuses to justify touching her if only for a second, and now tonight, after a no-touch policy on her part—which I understand knowing what she’s been through—she has kissed me and is holding my hand.

I know these are big things for her, which makes them big for me. They show she trusts me.

I gently touch her pink cheek with my fingertips. She smiles.

We walk back down stairs, holding hands, in a bubble of our own, and because the motherfucking world hates me … we bump straight into Shawna the instant my foot hits the bottom step.

“Jordan … hi.” Shawna slants a smile at me.

Fuck.

There’s an unmistakable gleam in her eyes. I’ve seen it before. Namely when she was naked and under me.

“Hi.” My voice is tight. I pull Mia to my side, putting my arm around her shoulders so there’s no mistaking who she is to me. “Shawna, meet Mia. Mia, Shawna.” I do the polite thing and introduce them, but honestly, it’s the last thing I want to do. Introducing the girl I’m crazy about, to the last girl I was doing? Fucking, yay.

“Hi.” Mia lifts her hand in a little wave. She’s so goddamn adorable. “It’s nice to meet you, Shawna.”

Shawna’s eyes dart to Mia. She falters a little, then makes a quick recovery. Her gaze returns to me, burning me with a laser like effect.

“Well, you certainly weren’t lying. You sure don’t waste any time moving on and finding a new fuck buddy.”

I feel Mia tense under my arm.

“Shawna…” There’s a warning in my voice.

“Looks like you’ve traded down though – majorly. But then, it’s not like you can get better than me.” Her eyes slice to Mia. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but he’s nothing more than overused trash. He’ll fuck you, then dump you before you even have a chance to get your panties back on.”

What the fuck!

Okay, so she’s not too far off the mark with the dumping part … but still, what the fuck!

Talk to me like shit, fine – I deserve it. But not Mia. I won’t have her spoken to in this way.

I open my mouth, ready to tell Shawna to piss off back to where she came from, when I hear Mia’s sweet voice say…

“Well, looks aside, going solely off your personality here, Shawna, I’d say Jordan has traded up higher than a skyscraper with me. And as it turns out, I’m just in it for the sex – so seems we’re perfectly matched. Oh, and I don’t wear panties either, so we’ve no worries on that part.”

My mouth falls open. Shawna looks like Mia has just slapped her.

“Okay. Right. Well, I’d say it was nice talking to you, but it wasn’t, so … bye.” Mia moves out from under my arm, letting it drop to my side. Head held high, she walks away and makes her way through the crowd.

And my eyes are glued to her hot, sashaying ass as she goes.

Holy fucking fuck.

Have you ever watched that scene in Grease, right at the end of the movie, when Sandy turns up looking and acting completely different, decked out in tight black pants. And Danny sees her, and he’s … shocked—disbelief of the best kind. Like, ‘holy fuck, how did I not know how hot my girl could actually be?’ Then he pretty much chases after her like a dog with his tongue hanging out.

Yeah? Good, so you know what I’m talking about because right now, that’s me.

I’m chasing after Mia as if she’s the last drop of water on earth, and I’m seriously fucking parched.

I’m ready to break out in song and serenade her with “You’re The One That I Want” just to get her attention.

Because angry Mia is fucking hot. Like, off the charts hot.

Of course, I already knew she was hot. But this … wow.

Fucking wow.

I have never been as turned on as I am now. My dick is so hard it could pound nails. Thank god it’s dark and crowded in here so no one can see my boner.

I finally catch up with her just near the dance floor. Hooking my fingers into her tank top, I reel her back to me.

She turns.

Her eyes are wide, a fire still in them. Her chest is heaving up and down, and I’m literally lost for words. I have a hundred thoughts streaming through my mind—none of them clean—and I can’t seem to find one fucking word to start a coherent sentence.

And also, I’m trying really hard not to stare at her tits.

I see the anger in her eyes dim, and the Mia I know is back. “Oh god, Jordan, I’m so sorry. What I just said back there…” She covers her face with her hands. “God, I don’t know what came over me. I just … I didn’t like the way she was talking about you. It just … it made me so angry. And I don’t get angry – ever.”

I step into her space. Peeling her hands from her face, I hold them at her sides.

Those huge blues of hers blink up at me with total innocence. “What you did back there was good. You stood up for yourself. Shawna was being a bitch, and she deserved what you said. I’m just sorry she said those things to you because of me.”

She shakes her head. “It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not.” I dip my head closer to hers. “I’m not happy about the way Shawna treated you just then, but I am glad you got angry. You should get angry more often.” God, she should. She really should. “But mostly, I’m glad that you got angry over me.” Because it tells me you care, probably more than I deserve.

“Oh no … oh god! I told her that I don’t wear panties,” she says, like she’s not even heard a word I’ve said. An expression of horror flitting across her face. “In the middle of the club, I said ‘I don’t wear panties’.” She searches out my eyes. “I do wear them. All the time. Even for bed.” She closes her eyes on a groan. “Stop talking, Mia.”

I chuckle. “I never thought for a second that you didn’t wear panties.” Just wished, hoped, prayed…

Her eyes open back up, the look in them surprisingly alert. “Jordan, I know it’s none of my business, but … did you actually … go out with that girl? I only ask because … well…” she bites her lip. “She’s just not a very nice person.”

I wasn’t expecting her to say that. I consider my answer carefully before speaking. I’m not going to lie to her, but I’m going to make damn sure I say it in the right way.