Page 39 of Worth Every Penny
I shake my head and, keeping a firm hand on her elbow, I escort her off the dance floor, pushing through the people who paused their dancing to stare at the ruckus. Seb tries to get my attention, but I wave him off; I don’t have fucking time forwhatever reprimand he’s going to give me. If there’s a PR issue because of what I’ve done, we have people to sort that shit out.
Kate stumbles, and suddenly she’s grabbing me to stay upright, tripping over her own feet, which are bare.
I fix my hands on her elbows, securing her in place so we’re facing each other.
Even drunk, her hair damp with sweat, she’s indisputably gorgeous. Her hands grip my forearms through my coat, and I wish I wasn’t wearing it.
She’s looking at me intently… at least as intently as a drunk person can. “Why did you do that? Why did you hit him?”
She’s struggling to focus. I don’t have time to answer because she lunges towards me as if she means to kiss me.
For a split second, I’m stunned, and her lips are dangerously close to mine when I put my hand out to hold her off.
She lurches into my palm, and I prop her up by the shoulder, pushing her back.
She blinks like it might help her understand what’s happening, but she can’t fully open her eyes when she’s done. “Don’t you want to kiss me?” she whines. “I thought you wanted to.”
This is new. “You’re too drunk to be kissing anyone.”
She topples toward me again. “We don’t need to tell Jack.”
With one hand I hold her up, but her body is so close to mine, and she’s soft and yielding and extremely tempting, but I won’t take her this way. “I’m not going to kiss you.”
She pulls back, trying to give me what appears to be a haughty look, but is just her wrinkling her nose. “I won’t even remember it tomorrow. It’ll be like it never happened—”
I press a finger to her lips, and her eyes widen. The drunken swaying of her body ceases. “Exactly. Trust me, when I kiss you, you’re going to want to remember it.”
“Wait.” Her lips brush my skin as she murmurs against the side of my index finger. “Does that mean youdowant to kiss me?”
A few tense beats pass. “It’s all I think about.”
Her breath stutters, uneven gusts of warmth hitting my finger. She holds eye contact like she’s daring me to do something about it.
The heat in Kate’s drunken stare is undeniable. When she realises I’m not going to make a move, her tongue slides to the edge of her mouth, peeking between her lips. I can’t take my eyes off it as she runs the tip along my skin.
Warm wetness coats my finger, turning my blood thick, each beat of my pulse like a slow-motion hammer blow. She might as well have licked my dick because every fibre of my body pulses with need.
Shit.This can’t happen. Not now, not here.
I fist the hand she’s just licked and something like fear flashes in her eyes as my skin leaves her lips.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say.
She breathes a sigh of relief and then pushes away from me with drunken determination. I follow behind.
“I can’t leave my shoes,” she declares, wobbling about like a newborn foal as she moves from booth to booth, peering between people’s feet and bumping into everything and anything. “They’re my faves. My Erica Lefroy’s. All sparkly and silver.”
“Forget the damn shoes,” I growl, hoisting her up into my arms before she can protest. “I’ll buy you as many fucking pairs of shoes as you want.”
She squeals and attempts to hit me, a limp fist striking my chest. “Put me down. I can still walk.”
“Barely. And this floor is probably covered with alcohol and broken glass. I’m not letting you walk around in here without shoes on.”
Her body relaxes and as she stares up at me, there’s a look in her eye I haven’t seen before, as if my actions have challenged some long-held belief.
“But I smell like tequila,” she whispers into my shoulder.
“That’s true,” I mutter, although I don’t think she hears me. I don’t care either, because she’s vulnerable, and seeing Kate like this tugs awkwardly at my lungs and my breathing falters. I shrug away the feeling and hold her tighter against my chest.