Yes, she was. In wholly inappropriate ways considering they’d barely met. Desire pulsed through her veins. Oh my God, what was it about this man that caused reactions in her body another man would have to work overtime to achieve?
He pressed the thin paper napkin against her chest and neck. He didn’t linger, didn’t stroke her anywhere he shouldn’t, but she could swear she felt the heat of his fingertips against her skin. Between his heady scent and his deliberate touch, her nerves felt raw and exposed. Her breasts swelled, her nipples peaked, and she shivered, her body tightening in places she’d long thought dormant. If he noticed, he was too much of a gentleman to say.
No man had ever awakened her senses this way before. Sometimes she wondered if that was a deliberate choice on her part. Obviously not, she thought and forced herself to step back, away from his potent aura.
He crinkled the napkin and placed the paper onto the bar.
“Thank you,” she said.
“My pleasure.” The word, laced with sexual innuendo, rolled off his tongue, and his eyes darkened, an indication that this crazy attraction she experienced wasn’t one-sided.
“Maybe now we can move on to introductions. I’m Ian Dare,” he said.
She swallowed hard, disappointment rushing through her as she realized, for all her awareness of him, he was the one man at this party she ought to stay away from. “Alex’s brother.”
“Half brother,” he bit out.
“Yes.” She understood his pointed correction. Alex wouldn’t want any more of a connection to Ian than Ian did to Alex.
“You have your father’s eyes,” she couldn’t help but note.
His expression changed, going from warm to cold in an instant. “I hope that’s the only thing you think that bastard and I have in common.”
Riley raised her eyebrows at the bitter tone. Okay, she understood he had his reasons, but she was a stranger.
Ian shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling beneath his tailored, dark suit. “What can I say? Only a bastard would live two separate lives with two separate families at the same time.”
“You do lay it out there,” she murmured.
His eyes glittered like silver ice. “It’s not like everyone here doesn’t know it.”
Though she ought to change the subject, he’d been open, so she decided to ask what was on her mind. “If you’re still so angry with him, why come for his birthday?”
“Because my sisters asked me to,” he said, his tone turning warm and indulgent.
A hint of an easier expression changed his face from hard and unyielding to devastatingly sexy once more.
“Avery and Olivia are much more forgiving than me,” he explained.
She smiled at his obvious affection for his siblings. As an only child, she envied them a caring, older brother. At least she’d had Alex, she thought and glanced around looking for the man who’d brought her here. She found him on the dance floor, still with his mother, and relaxed.
“Back to introductions,” Ian said. “You know my name; now it’s your turn.”
“Riley Taylor.”
“Alex’s girlfriend,” he said with disappointment. “I saw you two walk in.”
That’s what he thought? “No, we’re friends. More like brother and sister than anything else.”
His eyes lit up, and she caught a glimpse of yet another expression—pleasantly surprised. “That’s the best news I’ve heard all night,” he said in a deep, compelling tone, his hot gaze never leaving hers.
At a loss for words, Riley remained silent.
“So, Ms. Riley Taylor, where were you off to in such a hurry?” he asked.
“I wanted to rest my feet,” she admitted.
He glanced down at her legs, taking in her red pumps. “Ahh. Well, I have just the place.”