Page 14 of Fierce-Jonah

She looked out and saw some older couples on the floor doing a swing dance. “They’ve got some moves.”

“They do. I would have broken a toe or two by now.”

“You weren’t that bad,” she said.

“I mean my own toes.”

She laughed at him. For as rough around the edges as everyone said he was, he did have a good personality.

The other thing she noticed was that he’d shaved after his sister commented on his beard last night. “Something tells me you’re pretty coordinated. All those martial arts competitions you did as a kid. Bet you rarely lost anything.”

“There is more at stake than winning and losing,” he said and she wondered what he meant by that. “But you’re right, I rarely did.”

“I thought Raina was going to cry when she saw you today.”

“Because I shaved,” he said. “I know. She knew I was going to do it. Don’t let her kid you.”

“You’ve got a soft spot for the women in your life, don’t you?”

“Maybe,” he said. “There isn’t anything wrong with that, is there?”

“Nope,” she said. “I haven’t found one guy in my life that had it.”

“Not even your father?” he asked.

“Well, my father loves his daughters all the same. He’d do anything for them, so that was wrong of me to say it.”

“But?” he asked.

“But I don’t think it’s the same thing as an older brother or a significant other. At least from my experience.”

“Just like going to the wrong gym, I think you might be around the wrong men.”

“You could be right,” she said. When the music changed to a slow song she decided to put them both on the spot. “Let’s dance and see if we can save our toes.”

“You don’t have your shoes on,” he said.

Which meant he’d been watching her on the dance floor. She bent over and slipped them on. “Good to go.”

She reached for his arm and pulled him up. He could have told her no or shrugged her off but allowed her to urge him onto the floor.

“You’re a glutton for punishment if you want more than that one dance.”

“My father always told me I liked to push my luck. I’ve been the kid that didn’t always do what they were told.”

“I think it’s more you like to push buttons,” he said quietly. They were on the dance floor now, he put his large hands on her waist, and she slipped her arms around his neck. They were close together moving to the music but not as close as she’d like to get.

She wasn’t one for being this forward either and wasn’t sure why she was.

Jonah was still pretty much a stranger to her, but since it was her friend’s brother, she didn’t really feel it as much.

“I’ve been told that too. Am I pushing your buttons, Jonah?”

“I think you know you are,” he said. “Maybe I can do the same.”

“Can you?” she asked seductively. She might want to cut back on the bar. She’d had three wines already but thought for sure she was burning them off with the amount of dancing she was doing.

“You smell good,” he said.