“I was afraid if I said anything you’d leave.”

She arched a brow. “Why would I do that?”

“You don’t like me.”

Her lips curved into a smile. “I never said I didn’t like you.”

He arched a brow.

“Okay, I might have given you that impression. But the music’s nice, and you feel good.”

“You feel pretty good, too. Mind if we stay on the dance floor all night?”

She giggled and laid her head on his chest. “All right by me, but these shoes have to go. My feet are killing me.”

He stopped. “Take them off.”

She nodded. “Good idea.” She slipped her shoes off one by one, and handed them to him. He held them by their straps, deciding any woman who’d wear heels this high had to have some kind of death wish.

“How do women walk in these things?”

“It’s in our genetics. It’s why women are the master species. We give birth and we can walk in heels.”

He laughed. “No wonder your feet hurt.” She slid into his arms again and they continued to dance. The deejay was nice enough to play another slow song. He’d have to remember to tip the guy.

“The wedding was nice.”

She grinned. “It was. My brother and Tara are happy. They went through hell to get here, so they deserve it.”

He didn’t much believe in the whole happily-ever-after thing, but for some people, he supposed, it worked. He really hoped it worked forever for Mick and Tara, especially since there was a kid already involved. Tyler knew better than anyone what could happen to a teenager when what you thought was a happy family dissolved in front of you. “Yeah, I hope it lasts for them.”

“It will. They’ve already been through all the rough stuff. The rest of forever will be easy.”

He kept his thoughts to himself. No sense in bursting her bubble. She probably believed in knights in shining armor, rescued princesses, and fairy tale endings.

And love being enough to solve any problem.

All a bunch of bullshit. He didn’t buy into any of it. Right now was what counted, and grabbing whatever you could while you had it. Because nothing lasted.

Including the song, and holding Jenna in his arms. The deejay cranked it up to something fast after that.

“Thanks for the dance,” Jenna said. “I’m ready for a drink.”

“Me, too.”

Instead of walking away, she took his hand. “I know a shortcut to the bar.”

She didn’t ask for her shoes, so he held on to them and let her lead him to the bar. He found them two seats and ordered two drinks. He wanted soda, while Jenna ordered another glass of champagne.

She crossed her legs and the slit along the side of her dress parted, revealing an amazing length of slender thigh. Used to seeing her in blue jeans and T-shirts, Tyler looked his fill, then leaned against the bar to take a drink.

“No champagne for you?” she asked.

“Not my kind of drink.”

She smirked.

“What?”

“Nothing. I just remembered something I said to the girls one night about guys and their choices of drinks.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

She shook her head. “Can’t tell you. Bartender trade secret.”

He could imagine. “I’ll bet you can tell all about a guy from what he drinks.”

She frowned and laid her glass on the bar. “You think so?”

“Bartenders have keen insight. So what would you say about me?”

“You like whiskey, neat. Though sometimes you’ll drink beer. That means you’re independent, not easy to pin down. You like your freedom, but you’re not pretentious. No expensive champagne for you. You don’t like to show off, but you are choosy—no, wait. That’s not the right word. Particular. That’s better. You’re particular. You aren’t going to pick up just any girl. She has to be the right girl.”

“You know all that just from the drinks I order?”

She took a sip of champagne. “Yes. And you also don’t pick up women in my bar.”

“Maybe because I’m waiting for you.”

She tilted her head back and laughed, that sound he loved hearing. “You’re so full of shit, Ty. I like that about you.”

He liked listening to her talk. She had a sharp mind, and seeing the gears of it working got him as hard as seeing her move on the dance floor. “You think you know me, huh?”

“Actually, I don’t think I know you at all. Most men are easy to peg. You I haven’t figured out yet.”

He took a couple swallows of soda. “I’m glad. I’d hate to be predictable.”

“You’re anything but predictable. You annoy me. You like me, and you obviously want me, and you make no secret of that. I like that, because I don’t much care for games. On the other hand, I don’t want you to like me. I want you to go away and leave me alone so I can stop thinking about you.”

He grinned. She was just a little drunk, which meant she was relaxed enough to spill more of her inner thoughts than she was aware of. Which meant this was his opportunity to take things a step further with her, if he played the game right.

“I can’t stop thinking about you, either, Jenna.”

She leaned her elbows against the bar. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you think about when you think about me?”

This was a test. She was putting him on the spot to see if he was just bullshitting her.

Actually, he wasn’t.

“I think about your mouth.” He traced her bottom lip with his thumb. “I like what comes out of it when you talk to me. It’s sassy and smart. And I sure as hell liked kissing it. It’s soft and wet and you yield under me like you want what I’ve got.”

Her chest rose and fell.

“I like the way you talk. Confident, but you’re a bit of a smart-ass. I like that about you, too. It means you’re not a pushover. I don’t want a woman I can walk all over. I want a woman who can stand up for herself.”

She licked her bottom lip. Damn distracting and he needed to focus on what he wanted to say to her.

“You have the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. And you see a lot with them. You call people on their bullshit, and obviously you know men.”

“Yeah? In what way?”

“You know who’s true and who’s full of shit. You aren’t going to fall for a line.”

She let out a soft laugh.

“I like these.” He swept his knuckles over the many earrings in her left ear, then leaned in close. “Are you pierced anywhere else, Jenna? I spend nights thinking about it.”

Her eyes went dark. Interest or desire? He wasn’t sure.

“And your tattoos. Those turn me on.” He cupped her wrist and caressed the tattoo of the earth, moon, and stars. “It makes me want to get you na**d and explore your body. So, yeah, I think about you a lot, Jenna.”

“I don’t want to date you, Ty. I’ve told you before, you’re the wrong type of guy for me.”

“So you’ve said.”

She inhaled, let it out. “The problem is, there’s this thing.”

“A thing.”

“Yeah. A chemistry thing, between you and me. And it’s interfering when I go out with other guys.”

Oh, this was getting good. “A chemistry thing.”

“Sex.”

“Sex.” He shook his head. “Yeah, that’s a problem.” He brushed his shoulder against hers. He understood the chemistry thing. Just being near her made his dick spring to life.

She turned in the chair to face him. “It is. What should we do about that?”

“I don’t think sex is a problem for me, Jenna. You already know how I feel. The question is, what do you want to do about it?”

She slid her fingertip down the lapel of his jacket, the look she gave him burning him from the inside out.

Yeah, definite chemistry. He was surprised flames weren’t sparking between them. His breathing quickened and if she didn’t make a decision soon he was going to have to make a quick exit, because this woman was driving him crazy.

“I think you should come home with me tonight and we can talk about it,” she said.

“Ready when you are.”

EIGHT

JENNA HAD CONSUMED ENOUGH CHAMPAGNE TO KNOW she was inebriated, but not so much that she was dead drunk and unaware of what she was doing.

In other words, when this was all over, she wouldn’t be able to blame this on the alcohol.

There had been something in the air tonight. Maybe it was all the love she felt between Mick and Tara, and it reminded her of her way too solitary existence lately.

She was tired of coming home alone, and why should she? She was an adult, and if she wanted to bring a guy home and bang his brains out, she was entitled.

Ty didn’t seem like the fall-head-over-heels-in-love-after-one-night type of guy. She didn’t think he wanted to marry her or be her boyfriend, which made him perfect. He wanted to get into her panties, and she really needed a guy to get into her panties. The two of them had abundant chemistry, so she had no idea why she kept pushing him away. She was just foggy enough that all the valid reasons why she didn’t want to go out with him had fizzled away like a glass of flat champagne.

Besides, they weren’t going out. They were going to have sex.

Since her parents had picked her up this afternoon and taken her to the wedding, she didn’t have her car. Ty drove them to her place after she had said her good-byes. The wedding was winding down and only the die-hard partiers were left.

“Keys?”

She lifted her gaze. She and Tyler stood on the front step of her condo. “What?”

“Your keys.”

“Oh. Right.” She dug into her bag and produced her keys. Tyler took them and unlocked her door, pushed it open, and waited for her to walk in.

She flicked on the light switch. He closed the door behind them.

“This is nice.”

“You lie. It’s a wreck.”

“You’re right. I’m shocked. You keep the bar in tip-top shape.”

She turned to face him, only to find him grinning at her. And okay, she was embarrassed. She dropped her purse on the coffee table. “Yeah, well, I had to get out of here in a hurry today because my dad was laying on the horn, and I was running late.” She dashed through the living room to pick up her yoga pants and socks and tennis shoes.

He grasped her wrist.

“I was kidding. Drop that stuff.”

She lifted her gaze to his. “I’m not a good housekeeper.”

“I don’t give a shit. If you came to my place right now you’d find last night’s pizza box on the table, empty beer and soda cans, and about a week’s worth of laundry thrown around.”

“Really?”

“Really. I don’t care what your place looks like. That’s not why I’m here.”

She exhaled.

“Would you like something to drink? We could sit and talk.”

He rubbed her wrist with his thumb. Her pulse sped up.

“Is that why you invited me here? You want to have some drinks and talk?”

She swallowed, knowing that’s not at all what she wanted. Not from him. “No. I don’t want to talk.”

“Okay, then.” He looked down at her. “You’re dressed way too nice for what I have in mind to do to you.”

Her heart pounded, her br**sts swelling against the top of her dress. She couldn’t breathe. She was primed and ready—had been for months. She felt like she’d been dancing around this with him for a long time, and she didn’t want to wait just because she was in a fancy dress.

“I don’t care.” She wound her arm around his neck and pulled his head down.

When his lips touched hers, a lightning bolt of sensation exploded inside her. This was what had been missing from her date with Joe. This blast of heat, this chemical reaction her body had to being touched and kissed. When Ty put his mouth on her, she felt it all the way to her toes—a tingle of awareness, a promise of what he was going to give her.

Ty wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her hard against his body, and she went up in flames.

She swept her hands over his arms, feeling the steel-like strength of him. She slid her palms over his shoulders and tangled her fingers in his hair, something she’d thought about doing for a long time.

It was just as she imagined—thick and soft, a sensual delight for her fingers. And when he deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding inside to sweep alongside hers, she grabbed a handful of his hair and held on, her entire body trembling in response.

Never had she been kissed like this. Oh, she’d been kissed before. Hard, soft, and somewhere in between, but this was a full-on assault. Ty used more than his lips in the kiss. His hands roamed all over her, pressing in gently at the small of her back with one hand and cupping the nape of her neck with the other, while the front of him—the hard, oh-thank-God-he-was-a-man front of him—pushed her against the wall.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for as long as I’ve known you,” he whispered, his voice harsh with strain as his fingers flexed against her hip.

He leaned over and kissed her jaw, then her neck, moving to her left ear. She shuddered when his tongue swept across her earlobe, flicking at her earrings.

“I like these earrings, Jenna. They’re sexy.”

“Thank you.”

He swept his tongue across her throat, then turned her around and kissed the back of her neck.