And he couldn’t get the taste of her out of his mind. The feel of her body pressed to his. The sigh of her breath against his cheek. Her eager response to his kiss. His body tightened, and Jesse silently wished they’d never left her tiny apartment.
He gave Jillian’s hand a squeeze and held on. “I promised Jillian a dance, so if you ladies will excuse us…”
“Absolutely,” Megan said, lifting her glass in a toast. “Enjoy yourselves.”
The woman’s smile was wistful, and Jesse understood why. He felt bad for Megan. She’d been sucked into the world’s weirdest soap opera. But she was a standup, he’d give her that. She was sticking with Will and doing everything she could to help them find the bastard who had screwed with all of their lives.
But he wasn’t going to think about any of that tonight, either. Jesse led Jillian through the crowd and idly noticed Rand Gibson standing in the shadows where he was close enough to have been listening in on the conversation he and Jillian had been having with Megan and Allison. Jesse frowned to himself. Why the hell would Rand be eavesdropping?
Shaking his head, Jesse took Jillian’s champagne flute and together with his, left them on an empty table. Then keeping a firm grip on her hand, he threaded their way toward the dance floor. Several times he paused briefly along the way to introduce Jillian to different people. Everyone was excited by the idea of a pie shop opening on Main Street and that boded well for business. And, he told himself, once people tasted Jillian’s pies, they’d be customers for life.
“Who’s that?” Jillian poked his shoulder then discreetly pointed at a couple who were being toasted by a small crowd.
Jesse smiled briefly. “That’s Knox McCoy and Selena Jacobs. They’re just recently engaged, so that’s a celebration.”
“Aw, that’s so nice.” Jillian sighed a little, and he wondered what it was about talk of weddings that turned women into marshmallows. On the dance floor, he swung her into his arms and began moving to the music, steering her smoothly into the steps.
“You’re a good dancer,” she said.
“Don’t sound so surprised.” Jesse slid his open palm up and down her bare back. “Cora Lee made sure both of her sons wouldn’t stomp a girl’s feet flat on the dance floor.”
She laughed, tipping her head back to gaze up at him. “I knew I liked your mother.”
He looked down into her eyes and fresh heat erupted between them. She took a breath and licked her lips, and Jesse nearly groaned. He was in a bad way here and fighting like hell to hold on to the few slippery threads of his control.
He trailed his fingers along her spine, and she shivered, her eyes going a little glassy. “I really like this dress,” he said.
“Right now,” she said softly, “I really like it, too.”
“I don’t think I even told you how beautiful you look tonight.”
“You did. And just did again.”
“It deserves repeating.” He moved into a turn, holding her tightly, watching her long, silky hair fly out around her shoulders. “You puzzle me.”
She grinned. “Isn’t that a nice thing to say?”
“There it is again. Puzzlement.”
“I’m an open book, Jesse.”
He laughed. “Women always say that, but doesn’t matter if the book’s open if it’s written in a language you can’t read.”
“You seem to do all right.”
He shook his head and looked into eyes that haunted him day and night. “No. There isn’t a man alive who can translate that book.”
She smiled, laid her head on his shoulder and followed his lead. The music flowed on from one song to the next without breaking stride, and so Jesse continued to glide across the floor, holding her pressed to him.
“Thank you for bringing me here tonight,” she said quietly, lifting her head to look up at him. “I know you didn’t want to come, but you did anyway.”
“It was worth it to see you in that dress.” His gaze locked on hers.
“You look very handsome in that tux.”
One corner of his mouth lifted briefly. “The tux is a small price to pay for dancing with the most beautiful woman here.”
“You’re pretty smooth when you want to be, aren’t you?”
“You bring it out in me.”
“Not until tonight,” she said, laughing.
“Well, a lot of things changed tonight.”
She sighed a little and again chewed at that bottom lip. He’d noticed she did that a lot when she was nervous, or unsteady about something, and he was glad to know she was as on edge as he was.