“You didn’t have to. That shitty grin on your face said it all for you. Smug bastard. Look, just because you found some lovey-dovey happily ever after garbage doesn’t mean it’s for everyone.” It still baffled him how Keith could so easily play house with Mickie after living through a decade and a half of their parents’ disastrous relationship. Being the first born, Keith suffered the abuse and utter unhappiness in their home for more years than JP had. Yet he still envisioned a forever kind of future with Mickie.
Mind-boggling.
“Maybe not,” Keith said in that rational oldest sibling tone JP had always hated. Most of the time, he only busted it out when he was right, and the rest of them were wrong about something. Annoying as hell. “But that doesn’t mean you haven’t fallen for her.”
Hannah laughed at whatever Mickie shouted to her over the electronic beat of the music. Her head tipped back, and those red lips parted. Her curled hair swayed and bounced along with her. She looked carefree, joyful, and happy. Only an idiot could resist falling under her spell. But that didn’t mean he was ready to buy matching finger shackles.
“I admit I like her a lot,” JP said. “We have a great time together. And yes, I care about her more than I have any other woman I’ve dated.”
“You’ve never dated a woman.”
He glared at his annoying brother. “But,” he said as though talking to a child. “It doesn’t have to mean anything more than that. Some of us don’t need to attach ourselves to one person to feel complete. We can do that for ourselves.”
With a snort, Keith supped his scotch. “You read that on a relationship blog or something?”
Flipping him off, JP turned his attention back to Hannah. Why waste any more energy on Keith when he could be watching his beautiful wom—uh, friend?
Hannah spun, and their eyes locked. “Here,” he said, handing his glass to Keith. “Why the fuck am I talking to you when there’s a gorgeous woman for me to dance with?”
Whatever Keith said in response disappeared into the pulsing bass and rushing in JP’s ears. As he approached Hannah, Mickie backed away. Or maybe she went to find Keith. Either way, Hannah was his to dance with.
Her inviting grin grew with each step he took. Sure, the club was crowded with other dancers and hookup hunters, but he might as well have been Moses parting the Red Sea because he had a clear path to Hannah.
The song switched to something a little slower and sultry.
No words were spoken when he reached her. The volume on the dance floor left few options beyond screaming to be heard, so he slid an arm around her waist and pulled her in close. She smiled up at him with heated eyes.
As though they’d been dancing together for years, they fell into the rhythm of the music. Hannah was soft and pliant against him, allowing him to lead. Everything faded but the feel of Hannah against him and the magnetic draw of her gaze.
Was he in love with her? Is that what this was?
Was love the reason he didn’t have a single urge to admire the other women in the club?
Was love why he’d rather be Hannah than anyone else?
Was love why he couldn’t stop wondering what life would be like if she moved to Vermont?
Whatever it was, it had the power to make him think of his future. His and Kayla’s. He’d been thinking in terms of jobs and housing for weeks, but now sneaky thoughts of holidays, traditions, and vacations spent with Hannah and Kayla were invading his brain.
Damn Jagger and Keith for prying into his private life and using words like love and relationship. They’d planted these seeds that were now sprouting into insane fantasies.
JP could blame his wayward ideas on his brothers’ suggestions all he wanted, but deep down, he knew it wasn’t them. No, these rogue musings came from one place and one place only.
The beautiful woman moving against him like a dream.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
THE ALCOHOL HADN’T made her drunk, not by any stretch, but it relaxed her enough to act in a way she’d always wanted but been too self-conscious to allow. To let her hair down and embrace what was right in front of her without worry. She pushed away all the reasons she should hold back from JP and allowed herself to fully fall into the dance and the man.
She let her mind wander to places she hadn’t permitted herself to travel to. To dangerous fantasies where she and JP threw birthday parties for Kayla. Where the whole Benson clan celebrated the opening of the resort. To long, passionate nights spent wrapped in each other’s arms. To her own child. One with JP’s dark hair and her blue eyes.