Instead, he took hold of her right hand. "Follow my lead. Quick. Q1uick. Slow. Slow. "

"What? " Her voice was airy, but the sound around them hushed her tone.

"Follow my lead. I 'm teaching you to dance. "

Simone mimicked his moves. She 'd been trained to dance with a partner, so following him shouldn 't have been a problem. Her only problem was she 'd been taught to dance on the balls of her feet. The boots she 'd worn inhibited her drastically.

Laugher swelled in her chest as she quickly moved against him with her right foot and stepped on him. "I am sorry. "

"Happens all the time. Quick. Quick. Slow. Slow. " He continued to repeat the steps until she had mastered them. Once she had, he began to move her in circles with the same footwork.

They 'd successfully moved around the dance floor without falling. He 'd moved her in circles and now he spun her as the song ended and pulled her in tight and close to him. She could feel his heart beat against her chest and she knew it was more than the dancing.

The music changed, the rhythm slowed, and Curtis 's arm wrapped around her tighter.

He let go of her right hand and cupped the back of her neck. Instinctively she placed her hands on his chest as they rocked back and forth to the music.

They 'd danced this way at Carlos 's wedding. It was then he 'd kissed her the first time. It was her own fault, before the night was over they were naked behind the barn. It wouldn 't end that way tonight, but as she took a breath to speak and explain that they should leave, he moved in, tipping his head and brushing her lips with his.

Any logical thought she 'd had slipped away as his warm and pliant mouth worked against hers.

She wasn 't sure if they were still moving or if it was her head swimming in the moment. Could she possibly hold him in that place forever? If only he 'd want her like this forever, everything she 'd ever done and the secrets she held wouldn 't be a problem.

His fingers massaged the back of her neck as his tongue sought hers, the music still surrounding them.

Simone 's fingers gripped the front of his shirt as he took the kiss even deeper on the dance floor.

The world moved around them and she lost herself in the memory of what they 'd had, alone, in his apartment and on the y1acht. Why had she been so foolish to walk away from all of that?

Curtis pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. "I 'm sorry. I got carried away having you this close. " He moved until they were dancing with the other couples on the floor.

"I did not mind. "

He swallowed hard. "I 'd like to continue that. "

"Curtis "

"Simone, don 't turn me away again. "

He spun her around the floor until they were off to the side and he turned her until her back pushed up against the wall. His mouth was quick and hot on hers again, and everything thing, everyone, disappeared.

Her heart pounded in her ears as loud as the music. Her breath was hard to recover.

When he pulled his lips from hers it was all she could do not to grab him and pull him back into her secluded world in her head.

His breath was quick too and there was a fog over his eyes telling her he was in as deep as she was. Things were stirring in both of them.

"Tell me why, " he whispered heavily in her ear.

"Why? Why what? " She was breathless from his cologne on the air, the spinning dance, the kiss that made her mindless.

He placed a kiss on her neck and she could feel her own pulse jut up under his lips. "Why did you leave me? "

Her eyes closed and her breath caught in her chest. "Oh, Curtis, please "

"If I meant nothing you wouldn 't be here now, right? " He kissed the other side of her neck just below her ear lobe.

She was pinned there, there was no escape, and she was sure that had been the plan.

Curtis nuzzled his face next to hers and her mind was cluttering with everything she wanted to say. "You meant everything to me, " she said breathless and on the brink of spilling her secret.

He rested his forehead against hers again. "I1s that why you 're here? Is that why you came to Nashville? "

This wasn 't where she wanted to have this conversation, but there didn 't seem to be much choice. "I know you will never forgive me for what I did. But yes. I came here because I knew Zach would help me and I knew that you would be here no matter what. "

"We can start over, Simone. " His hands moved up and into her hair. His body pressed even harder to hers. "Pretend like the yacht never happened. " He brushed her lips with his. "Let me take you home. " He nipped her lips with a kiss. "Let me stay. " He pushed closer to her and she could feel the heat from his body penetrate through her clothing.

"Curtis. " She said it without the airy, sexy appeal and he stepped back. "I want this. And you are right, I want to start over again. "

"Good. " He moved in and kissed her neck again.

She pushed him back. "When you take me home you have to leave. Let 's do this right, okay? I don 't want to mess it up again. "

Chapter Nine

Simone had pulled Curtis in for one more kiss, right there on that dance floor. What her words said and what her body had said were two different things. But as he drove her home, her head rested on his shoulder, her fingers intertwined with his, he knew he could do this.

For heaven 's sake, he was a man well into his thirties. He 'd spent the night with enough women he knew how it worked. Likewise, he 'd been turned down enough too. This was nothing new -but this was Simone.

Oh, Simone. Her French accent filled his ears even when she wasn 't near him. Her fragrance tantalized his senses even when it didn 't carry on the breeze. Her hair, nearly black, curtained him as she lay atop him, staring down at him with those deep blue eyes; the memory of it kept him awake at nights. She 'd crept into his subconscious and that had been very dangerous.

It affected his work, his friendships, and his relationship with his family. There had been a few weeks when he hadn 't even spoken to his sister or her husband because of Simone. That wasn 't right. No woman should come between family. But it had.

Simone quickly sat up from her position next to him. "Curtis, pull over. "

"What? "

"Pull over. " She was frantic.

"You 're not leaving me from a moving vehicle. " He 'd be damned if she was going to do this to him again. What had he been thinking? Why had he bothered? Why