Hannah tried the polite route first and frowned at the man. “No, thanks, I am here with a date.”
“I don’t see a date,” he said and grabbed her arm to pull her up from her chair. “I’ll be your date.”
Hannah sighed. Some days it just didn’t pay to be polite. “You’ve got two seconds to let go of my arm or you’ll find my boot up your ass.”
He let her go, but stayed standing there smiling until he spotted Ben standing behind Hannah and looking very mad.
“Um, sorry, sheriff, didn’t know she was your girl,” he muttered and walked away in a hurry.
Ben watched him go and sit down with his friends then sat next to Hannah. “A boot up his ass?”
Hannah laughed, looking over at Ben. “I can take care of myself, Ben. I spent years away in Houston, remember? Jackson taught me some basic defense moves.”
He nodded and put his arm around her shoulder. “I know you’re a strong woman and I like that about you. But I also want to be the one to take care of you even if it’s not politically correct.”
After they ate he pulled her on to the dance floor. “I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes” by Dierks Bentley was playing. Hannah closed her eyes and leaned into his hard body. She loved this song and now it would remind her of this moment with Ben. He sang along with the song and looked into her eyes as he repeated the words, making her feel all mushy inside. He tightened his hands on her waist, putting them under her blouse so he could feel her soft skin. They danced silently, enjoying the moment of holding each other and Hannah wished they could just live in this moment forever.
Hannah looked at him with a soft smile, her blue eyes full of dreams. “I have missed your kisses and feeling your hands all over my body. I’ve had some interesting dreams about you the last few nights.” She smiled wickedly when she heard him groaning at her words so she continued. “You were so desperate to be inside me we didn’t even get to take all our clothes off—or our boots. It was so hot and explosive and I woke up wet but all alone. I didn’t know what to do.”
He bit her earlobe and called her a witch for tempting him to find a dark corner and strip her naked to see if she was wet again.
“I’m not sure if I can walk across the floor with this hard-on you just gave me.” He complained but his eyes were dancing with happiness. “Hell, let’s just leave now. At home we can dance naked. I’m liking that idea.”
Hannah shook her head, laughing. “Sounds tempting, sheriff, but I was promised a night out. I’ve onl
y been in here once and not for long, so I am dancing my butt off tonight.”
She led him to the table by the hand and sat down, sipping on her cola and looking around at the full crowd of patrons dancing and having fun. It was loud but she enjoyed feeling the beat of the music moving through her body and watching the line dances.
Dorothy chose that minute to stop by the table, ignoring Hannah completely. “Ben, why didn’t you call me back yesterday like you said you would?” she pouted, rubbing her hands on his shoulders as if she was giving him a massage. She looked out of place in her dressy outfit, better suited to a club in Austin and not a small town country bar.
Hannah was tempted to grab Dorothy’s hand and remove them from Ben forcibly but she sat quietly and let Ben handle the situation. She had promised herself not to act like a jealous bitch at every turn but it was hard to sit quietly and not react to Dorothy’s possessiveness over Ben.
“Dorothy, I didn’t say I would call you back. I told Ruth to tell you unless it was a police emergency, I was too busy to talk,” he answered patiently and removed her hands away from him himself.
“I wanted to ask you if you wanted to hit the clubs with me in Austin tomorrow night? A bunch of us are going and I know you like to dance and it would be fun,” she asked him with a flirty smile. “I love to dance, too. We have so much in common, Ben.”
“I have plans with my girlfriend,” Ben answered her politely.
Dorothy finally glanced at Hannah but not with politeness. She had a look of hatred before she successfully hid it. “Girlfriend? Since when?”
Ben shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Damn, what did it take to get rid of this woman? “I’ve told you over and over that I am only interested in Hannah.”
Dorothy shrugged carelessly and walked away without saying another word, but she looked mad. Ben looked at Hannah cautiously. “Sorry about that, Hannah.”
Hannah smiled. “It’s okay, Ben. I’m not mad. I know you didn’t plan on her being here but this is a small town and we’re bound to run into her. I trust you.”
Ben sighed in relief. “One more dance with my sexy blonde angel then we have some private dancing to do at home.”
Hannah nodded and smiled when she heard the music playing to “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” her favorite line dance. She pulled Ben by the hand and led him to the dance floor where people were already lining up.
Ben loved to see the happiness on Hannah’s face and joined in the steps to the song. Hannah was so into the song she didn’t see Dorothy dancing next to her until she felt someone kick her and trip her. Hannah fell and landed on her butt while the other dancers kept going.
“Oops. I guess I’m not as good at these steps as I thought.” Dorothy gave Ben an innocent smile as he hurriedly helped Hannah off the floor before she got trampled. “Sorry, Hannah.”
Hannah straightened her blouse and looked at Dorothy’s face. She knew Dorothy did it on purpose but she just smiled at her, refusing to give her the satisfaction of knowing it pissed her off. “No problem. I think I am done dancing, Ben.”
Ben led her to the table and looked her over with concern. “You okay?”