“Oh, hey Em,” he says, casually glancing at me.

The girl takes her arms off him. Good.

“What are you doing here?” I say.

“Having fun, unlike you,” he muses.

“Okay … I think I’ll go get a drink now,” the girl says. “See you in a minute.” She gives Chris some sort of flirty look before turning around and walking off. I’m almost tempted to go after her and start a major catfight, but that would make me a bitch. Actually, I already am for interrupting him.

I sigh, realizing what I’m doing. “Chris, sorry, but I’m worried about you. If you’re here dancing with some girl, then you could be photographed. You know how that goes. Next thing you know, there’s a story in the newspaper you really don’t want to read. Especially if they get their hands on her.”

“Oh, like you care,” he says, still dancing as if he doesn’t give a shit.

“I do,” I say, and I stand in front of him so he’ll look at me. “I mean it. I’m your PR agent. I don’t want you to get unwanted attention.”

He leans in. “Whatever attention I was getting, you scared away.”

“Well, excuse me, but I think protecting your reputation is more important right now, as it isn’t that great to begin with. Or do you want to be called a man-whore again? Because I can already see that headline in front of me again.”

He leans in to talk. “I think you’re just mad that I’m having fun with her,” he says with a smirk. “Coincidence that you’re here, don’t you think?”

“Me? What about you?” I say.

“Ah … a certain someone invited me to celebrate her birthday.”

With wide eyes, I turn to look at Alyssa who’s casually sitting at the bar, waving at me as if nothing happened. That bitch. She set me up. With my eyes, I send her a few death threats, but they only make her laugh.

“I’ll get her later …” I growl.

I only just now realize that Chris’s laugh is so husky. “You know, I don’t mind you two fighting … maybe in a bikini with a little mud.”

I smack his arm. “Chris!”

“What … you know I’m a dirty fucker.” He suddenly grabs my hand and twirls me in his arms. “C’mon … dance with me.”

“You’re here with another girl,” I say, as he grabs my waist and pulls me closer.

“So? One dance can’t hurt.”

“Still the same bastard, huh?” I scoff. “Always chasing after girls and then not giving a shit about how you hurt them.”

“That’s not true,” he says. “I care about you.”

“It doesn’t matter, Chris,” I say, averting my eyes.

He leans in and whispers into my ear, “It does matter. In fact, it matters so much that you’re upset because you think I don’t care about you.”

I can feel his hot breath on my skin, and for some reason, he has me under his spell. I can’t escape his grasp, even if I wanted to. And while we shuffle on the dance floor, his words create goosebumps all over my body.

“You’re jealous,” he whispers. “Jealous of her.”

I turn my head and frown at him. “No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. Stop denying it.” The smirk on his face is as undeniably hot as it is vexing.

“And? Even if I was, I wouldn't do anything with it.”

“You’re already doing it. You’re here, dancing with me, aren’t you?”

“That was your idea,” I say, as he wraps my arms around his neck.

“This isn’t about her, Em,” he says. “It’s about you and me.”

“Then why did you bring her here?” I look up at him, and for a second, the look in his eyes completely mesmerizes me.

“To make you jealous.”

His forehead rests on mine as we do a slow dance on the floor; his hands are all over my back, sliding down toward my ass. I can feel every slip of his finger, every vein in his arm pulsing, and every controlled movement of his muscles while he holds me and sways me across the dance floor. Sensually, he pulls me closer each time, our chests touching, sweat dripping down our backs.

He twists me in his arms, wrapping his arms around my body, slowly moving to the rhythm. My hands cover his as they rest on my belly, my ass grazing his pants, feeling him up. I’m getting lost in the music and this dance with him. I wonder what in the hell I’m doing, but the thought is whisked away by him swaying me. He spins me on my feet, pressing his body against mine. We exchange intense looks, but neither of us speaks a word.

Until the beat drops and he bends me over, his hand sliding down my neck, over my top, all the way down my belly button, and then he lifts me back up again, surprising me with a kiss.

Chapter 16

Emily

Chris King is kissing me right now, and I love every second of it. I shouldn’t, it’s so bad, but damn, he’s a great kisser. The way he smothers me, consumes me, and completely overwhelms me with just his lips. God, I can’t imagine what he’s capable of with his hands, his body … his mouth somewhere else, and his cock … Oh, fuck me. I shouldn’t be thinking about this, but I am.

As his tongue dips out to probe my mouth, my fingers scrunch up his shirt, desperate to get closer, and his hand moves to my ass to squeeze tight and pull me even closer. Nothing is close enough because all I can think about is kissing him, touching him, and feeling him the way I used to. Before everything became impossible … before we became family.

There were only us.

In these lights flashing all around, I lose myself to his touch, his wicked tongue licking my lips, his scorching hot kisses numbing me. The music blasts all around us, but my ears can’t even hear it. All I notice are the hot and salty kisses on my mouth, the quick, playful swipes around my tongue, and the sweat mixing with sizzling desire.

When he takes his lips from mine, I’m left bereft of something I didn’t know I had in the first place.

“Did it work?” he whispers against my lips.

“What?” I say, still delirious from his kiss.

He smiles against my skin. “Do you want me?”

Oh, god. Now I remember what he said. He just wanted to make me jealous. In the heat of the moment, I had completely forgotten about it.

“Wait,” I say, leaning back. “You were here with her just to make me jealous? Is that what this is all about?”

He cocks his head. The playful smile he gives me almost ignites my heart, if I didn’t feel like a backstabber.

“Basically … yeah,” he says, and then he laughs it off as if it’s no big deal.

“What? No, no, no.” I push him away. “I can’t do that. What about that girl? You can’t do that to her.” I make a face.

“Relax,” he says, keeping me close in his arms so I don’t run off. “She knew what she was getting herself into.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

But before he can answer, she’s already appeared right in front of me. Chris rummages in his pocket and takes out a five-dollar bill, handing it to her.

“Thanks,” she says.

“No, thank you,” he says with a wink.

And then she saunters off.

Amazed, I blink a couple of times. “What the hell was that?”

“Nothing …” he muses.

“Did you just pay her?”

“I might have bribed her to go out with me …” He shrugs.

“Are you fucking serious?” I thought my jaw couldn’t drop further, but I was wrong.

“Em.” Chris grabs my shoulders and redirects my attention toward him. “I had a good reason.”

“That is some fucked-up shit, Chris,” I say, frowning at him.

“I know, but I did what I had to do to get your attention.”

“Well, you got it all right.” I roll my eyes. “But not in a good way.”

“I can make it good …” He grabs my waist and pulls me in again. “Real good.”

“Chris … I …”

“Stop. I know you liked that … the way I touched you …” His hand slides down to my ass, and I can’t say that I hate it, but I don’t love it, either. It just feels so wrong. “The way I kissed you.” So, so wrong.

“You bribed a girl to dance with you so you could make me jealous.”

“I bribed a girl to make you jealous because I want you. And I’ll do pretty much anything to get what I want.” His fingers dig into my pants, and I think I can almost hear him growl.