“Want to tell me what happened?” I ask, trailing my fingers up and dow

n his forearm. He cocks his head in my direction, then turns to face me with his upper body too.

“Just so you know, my usual behavior when something doesn’t go the way it should is to—”

“Be all serious and broody?” I finish for him.

“You can put it that way.”

Seizing my window of opportunity, I climb into his lap. “Well, I won’t deny that broody Nate is sexy, but I’d much rather see you smile.”

Cuffing my wrist with his hand, he kisses my palm, smiling against my skin. “You make everything better just by being here.”

I can’t help swooning a little, over the moon that I’m already making him smile. The lines on his forehead are still visible though.

“So, how much trouble is there?”

“Nothing I can’t handle, just not something I like to hear on a Saturday morning.”

“What can I do to put you in a good mood?” I run my hand through his hair, ruffling it the way I do when he makes love to me. Tilting his head slightly back, I place a quick kiss on his chin.

“Well, since you mention it.” He slips a hand under my robe, touching my inner thigh. He wiggles his eyebrows, but I vehemently shake my head.

“No, I’m still punishing you for teasing me this morning.”

“Ah, so this is the game we’re playing?”

“Yeah. You were so mean, you’ve earned yourself at least two more hours of punishment.”

“I’ll wear you down.” Bringing me closer to him, he whispers in my ear, “You never can resist me for long, Alice. Remember your five-date rule?”

Ah, this cocky bastard. I’d contradict him if what he said wasn’t actually true. Being so close to him is actually problematic because he can unleash his full seductive power on me.

While I climb out of his lap, I notice the TV remote wedged between the cushions and an idea strikes me. I once read that an effective way to take someone’s mind off their problems is to do or say something ridiculous. Now, I usually avoid any situations in which there is even the slightest possibility that I might make a fool of myself, but right now I decide to do something I’ve only ever done in front of my family.

Grabbing the remote, I turn on the TV, searching for a music channel. Finally I settle on one playing a track I’m familiar with.

As the song blares in the living room, I start singing along, gesturing to Nate to join me. The poor man seems too stricken for words. I can’t blame him; my voice is atrocious.

“How come I never knew you were an awful singer?”

I shrug, continuing to sing. When an instrumental part comes on, I explain, “I keep my dirty secrets well hidden. Come on, sing along. You can’t be worse than me. And by the way, I never do this except around my family.”

“Should I be offended or honored?”

“Definitely honored. It means I’m comfortable enough around you to show you my dopey side.”

This has the unexpected effect of making Nate chuckle. He springs to his feet when the chorus comes on, singing along, and holy heavens. He’s not worse than me, but he’s not any better either.

We might be terrible singers, but we’ve got crazy dance skills. As the next song begins, Nate guides me through the moves in his own rhythm. Neither of us knows the lyrics, so we just dance our asses off.

“Bet you can’t do a Dirty Dancing lift,” I challenge. I always wanted to try that with a guy, but I never trusted anyone enough to ask. Plus, a man would require strong arms for such a move, and Nate is the perfect candidate.

“Why does everyone concentrate on that part of the movie? It’s the most—”

“Stop right there before your soul mate potential drops even more.”

“Tell me what to do. I blocked the scene from my memory.”

Tags: Layla Hagen The Bennett Family Romance
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