Heart of Stone

Chapter Eleven: Dirty Dancing

As time ticked on, I tried to keep track of how many celebrities I recognised—more out of curiosity than anything else. However, with the dance floor crowded, and the darkness only lifting in quick bursts with the strobing lights, I ceased caring. A few people came over to say hi to Teddy, but the same challenges that prevented me from searching for celebrities also protected him from the equivalent fuss.

I loved clubs. I'd always loved clubs. In fact, my love of clubs was one of the reasons I'd stopped drinking—especially when I realised I could still enjoy myself without the influence of alcohol.

Something about the combination of near-total darkness, deafening music and flashing lights transported you to a parallel universe where you could pretend rules didn't exist and you could let off steam without being judged. It acted like a bubble, separate from reality. My body absorbed the vibrations of the thumping bass, each beat a shot of some euphoric substance that kept me high enough to forget the other worries in my life.

With every person who joined the dance floor, keeping a safe distance from Teddy proved harder and harder, and eventually it became more effort than it was worth. Instead, I allowed him into my bubble of fantasy, not playing hard to get when his hands slipped around my waist as we danced and allowing him to spin me so my back pressed up against his rock-solid front.

As his arms wound around my stomach, our hips rolling together in sync, I relaxed, riding on the high of music and arousal. Like earlier on at the sofas, perhaps I wouldn't have let the dancing become so intimate if I hadn't watched him with Lacey. But if he could dirty dance with her, despite trying to win me over, then what stopped me from dirty dancing with him if I had no intention of anything more happening?

So, instead of feeling guilty that I might lead him on, I enjoyed the sensation of his firm body unyielding against my back, his large hands strong on my hips, his warm breath tickling my ear and his soft lips grazing my neck whenever I tilted my head against his shoulder.

And when his thumbs eased beneath the floaty fabric of my top to rest on the bare skin of my stomach, pleasure churned in my gut. I ground back into that solid wall of muscle behind me, and it took masses of self-control not to turn and kiss him, not to give in to the growing tension between us.

Because that was the easy option—the one I would usually take in a club when I grew impatient with dancing. But with those other guys, the dancing had never been so hot, perhaps because I'd given in to the temptation to kiss them early on, so the chemistry hadn't reached such a compelling level.

Family-friendly Teddy Stone was giving me a seductive insight—just a peek—into how not family-friendly he could be. Unfortunately for him, I already knew that.

*

"My driver can take you home. It's late."

It was indeed late, and the club had exhausted me. Trying not to throw myself at Teddy all evening had been tiring work.