“Isn’t this wonderful?” Kat had to shout to be heard.
this really can’t be happening right in front of me
Building-wise, there were two floors. The bottom was where the dancing and socializing were done, and the top was for VIPs, maybe. An iron railing circled the second tier, allowing a clear view for those at the edge of a separate sectioned-off area. There I could make out black leather couches and chairs, iron tables and—
Cole.
Oh, glory, there he was. He sat on one of the couches, facing me, with Frosty beside him. He was talking to someone across from him and laughing. That amusement softened his face, making him look less scary and more Hollywood. He wasn’t wearing a hat tonight. Dressed in a black T-shirt that looked as if it had been painted on he was total smex appeal, and I wished I could see his lower half.
I nudged Kat in the stomach and pointed. She followed the line of my finger and clapped.
“Goody!” Rising on her tiptoes so that she was poised at my ear, she said, “Time to enact Operation Boys Will Cry. Stage one—make them notice us.”
“What?” Wren yelped. “I thought we were here to dance.”
“And so we will,” Kat said.
“What about spying?” I demanded. My ticket to Cole.
“We can’t really spy on them if they’re not spying on us, now can we?”
Warped logic, but okay. I wanted to talk to Cole,
.
9
A Fiendishly Mad Tea Party
Okay. So. OBWC. Stage one, part A: Kat pilfered a beer from the tray of a passing waitress, took a swig, then handed it to Reeve, who took a swig and handed it to me.
Stage one, part B: doing a bump and grind on the dance floor. We formed a train as we maneuvered our way to the center. There, Kat somehow forced everyone else to take a few steps back, leaving us in our own private circle. Anyone watching from the top floor would be unable to miss us.
Unlike Emma, I had no idea how to dance gracefully. Or attractively. But I watched the way the other girls moved their arms and hips and mimicked them. I must have succeeded, because all four offered me smiles of encouragement.
After what seemed an eternity of this I motioned Kat over, and when she reached me, I said, “I don’t actually want Cole to spy on me. I want him to talk to me.”
“Oh, he will. But listen, whatever you do,” she said, moving behind me and placing her hands on my hips, “don’t look up. I’m about to enact stage two. Stage three will commence soon after that, with no more action required on our part, so be ready.”
With a force of will I hadn’t known I possessed, I glanced at her over my shoulder rather than at the boys. “I want this to happen, but I have a bad feeling about how we’re going about it.”
“Good. I know I’m on the right track. So, here we go!” Like the sex kitten I was beginning to think she was, Kat spun around me and crooked her finger at a group of ultracute random guys.
Stage two: fanning the flames of jealousy.
The guys eagerly joined our little circle. Within minutes, masculine hands were roaming, and soft bodies were bumping into hard bodies. I was uncomfortable and embarrassed, and actually had to slap a boy’s fingers away from my butt, but I kept dancing, determined to see Kat’s plan through to the end. Not once did I look in Cole’s direction.
When I noticed that Reeve’s expression was as pinched as mine probably was, I twirled my way to her side—yes, I’m lame—allowing us to concentrate on each other.
Even though one of the boys maintained a station behind her, she offered me a relieved smile.
Finally, I begin to lose myself in the music. My arms lifted over my head, and my eyes closed. I swayed, spun—and smacked into a hard chest. Boys! I swear. I peered up, ready to tell whichever guy had decided to come after me to back off. I—
I never should have doubted Kat.
Violet eyes glared down at me, barely leashed aggression in their depths. Hard hands settled on my waist, jerking me closer…closer…until only a whisper separated us.
The words
No one protested.
Other boys from Cole’s group were attempting to dance with Poppy and Wren, but the girls ignored them, turning away.
Cole cupped my cheeks and brought my gaze back to him. “Why wouldn’t I dance?”
Uh, maybe because at first glance he looked like he ate puppies for breakfast and kittens for lunch? As for what he enjoyed having for dinner—that couldn’t be discussed in polite company.
“Because you think it’s dumb?” The words emerged as a question rather than the statement I’d meant them to be.
“Something that allows a guy to put his hands all over a girl isn’t dumb. It’s genius.”
As he tugged me ever closer, I muttered, “I don’t know about this.”
“Then I’ll convince you. Now put your arms around me.”
“Orders again.” But you know what? I obeyed him. I even walked my fingers up his spine and sifted them into his soft, silky hair. I just couldn’t help myself. Touching him was a compulsion.
His pupils expanded, black overshadowing all that beautiful purple. “Most people are so afraid of me they jump to obey the moment I speak.”
Just a guess, but most people hadn’t imagined his tongue inside their mouth. “I’m not most people.”
“I know. What I don’t know is why you’re here.”
His stinging tone told me far more than his words. I wasn’t welcome. “I wanted to try something new,” I said, lifting my chin. I wouldn’t mention my plans to chat with him. Yet. Just then, I had to convince myself there were three things I would not allow him to do. 1) Embarrass me. 2) Intimidate me. Or 3) Send me running.
His frown was less dark and more confused. “What’s new for you? Dancing?”
And so much more, but all I said was, “Yes.”
“And you let some strange college boy grind all over you for your first time? That’s stupid, Ali.”
His gaze lowered to my mouth, lingered for a moment before snapping back up. But that didn’t stop him from bending down, putting his lips to my ear and saying, “So you’ve imagined kissing me, huh.” A husky note had entered his voice. Something intimate, just for me, and a blush heated my cheeks.
That was part of what I’d wanted to talk about tonight, yet he’d been the one to bring it up. Score one for Ali. I pointed out, “The same as you’ve imagined kissing me.”
“I know. So how are you making me do that?”
“Me? You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Yes, you. I never kid.” He tightened his grip on me, as if he assumed I’d bolt. “It
“Well, nothing like that has ever happened to
“Well?” he insisted.
Only the truth would do, I decided. “Yes, I have.”
“Me, too,” he rasped.
My knees almost buckled. “Are you saying…”
“That I want to discover if reality compares with imagination? Yes.”
Here? Now? My first reaction was panic. My second was
“Or not,” he added drily. I could feel his arms loosening on me. “I’m used to terrifying people, but not about something like
Be quiet
“So, I’m shocked, that’s all. You’re…you.”
In-sul-ting. “Me?” I asked stiffly.
“Yeah. Hot,” he said.
Wait. Me?
Here? Now? I thought again, my panic returning and my brain short-circuiting. “But I might be bad at it, and we don’t know each other very well, and you don’t— And I don’t— And we can’t—” The words rushed from me, but nothing came out fully formed.
“Apparently I do. And you will. And we can.” With that, he lowered his head, meshed his lips against mine and stole my breath.
In a snap, there was only Cole, this moment, his mouth…his taste. Mint and cherries. His heat, enveloping me. His strength, surrounding me. Caging me as if we were back in that grocery store parking lot, the Jeep behind me. I gave myself up to the sensations, lost track of everything but Cole.
He must have lost track of everything but me, too, because the tone of the kiss changed from eager and curious to flat-out ravenous. He devoured me, and I did the same to him. My hands roamed over his back, my nails scraping at him. I was inexperienced, yes, but just like in the visions he knew exactly what he was doing.
This was consuming…drugging. He made me
My ears were ringing, I realized. Trembling, panting, I tried to focus on what was happening around me. First person I noticed as Frosty. He must have jerked Cole away from me, because he now stood between us, holding out his arms to widen the distance. His mouth was moving. He was speaking, but I couldn’t understand him.
A dancer bumped into me, and I stumbled to the side. A scowling girl shoved me into someone else. I tripped, hit the floor. Watching me go down enraged Cole. He tried to get to me, but Frosty stopped him. Of course, that caused his rage to transfer to Frosty. Cole pulled back his elbow, his hand fisted, ready to smash into his friend’s face.
Bronx moved behind Cole and wrapped big arms around his chest in a bear hug, holding him immobile. Cole struggled to tear free, and would have succeeded, since he was clearly the strongest of the three, but then the other boy, the one who’d been dancing with Reeve, joined the fray.
Thankfully, the fog in my mind thinned and the ringing in my ears faded. The world swooped back into focus. Like a flash flood of heat, my entire body nearly erupted into flames. I’d just kissed a boy in front of everyone in the club. And I hadn’t just kissed him, I’d
Kat appeared at my side and helped me to my feet. “What’s going on?” she asked, as stupefied as I was.
“I don’t know.” I’d only meant to kiss him back, to compare vision with reality. I’d planned to stop after a minute…maybe two. And now, Frosty was glaring daggers at me, as if I’d stabbed Cole in the heart and laughed while he bled out. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” Inch by inch I backed away from him. Our Q and A could wait. I was gonna pretend I hadn’t enacted three rules tonight and run.
“Ali.” Cole’s attention zeroed in on me. Suddenly I was a target, the gimpy gazelle to his hungry lion. “Don’t you dare take off.”
“I’m sorry,” I repeated. I
“This is becoming a very bad habit,” Cole growled, suddenly keeping pace beside me. His arm wrapped around my waist. “You run, I chase.”
I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. His expression might break me. “We can’t do that again,” I said. Ever.
“Why?”
I noticed he didn’t have to ask what I was talking about. “As you so eloquently pointed out in the forest, I don’t know you, and you don’t know me, but we almost…you know…in public!”
“
“No, I want you to be still and listen to me.”
“That’s not happening.”
He sighed, a wary sound. “Even if I promise not to
“No,” I snapped, and I wasn’t sure whether I was happy or ticked by his easy assurance.
“Come on, I’ll take you home.” He linked our fingers and stalked ahead of me, leading the way. Everyone parted as though he was Moses and they were the sharks in the Red Sea.
“I’m not going home.”
“Even better.”
Outside, warm night air relaxed me. Not the heat so much, but the fresh, clean scent. No perfumes or sweat lingered in the breeze, and I was able to breathe deeply, savor. Cole never slowed. He just plowed ahead, toward…his Jeep. He’d parked at the end of the lot, under a streetlight, angled so that he had a straight shot onto the road. The top and doors had not been replaced.
“I’ll leave with you,” I said, “but I can’t be gone long.”
“Fine.”
“So why was Frosty upset with me?”