Ballroom Blitz (15 page)

Maggie gasped softly. “Jon? Oh my God. What are you doing here?”

“I came to watch you compete.”

She blinked at him as if he were an apparition. “Why?”

“You know why,” he said softly, keeping his gaze locked on hers. “I remembered the night after you won regionals you said you liked walking around a venue after it ended to see if any crowd energy lingered.”

“I’m surprised you remembered that.”

“I remember a lot of things about you, Maggie. Everything in fact.”

She glanced down to where her fingers were twisting the straps of her duffel bag. “So you saw us dance?”

“Yes. You guys were good.”

“But not good enough.”

Typical Maggie response in that no bitterness laced her tone.

“So are you okay?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” She sighed heavily. “Honestly? It all seems pretty surreal. The hours spent rehearsing. The anticipation of getting to wear a gorgeous costume and dancing in front of thousands of people. The fear of failing in front of thousands of people. What a rush.”

“It is a serious rush. But it always wears off.”

“You would know.”

Jon drummed his fingers on the bench beside him, at a loss for what to say.

“And now that we’ve exchanged polite small talk…maybe you should tell me why you’re really here.”

“Because even though things were left at a standstill between us, I knew it was temporary and I gave you the space you needed. But I didn’t stop thinking about you. Or caring about you. This competition is a big deal in your life and I wanted to be here to support you.”

Maggie looked at him. “Wasn’t this the weekend you were supposed to play a live show with Push?”

He shrugged. “I told them I had a prior commitment.”

“And they didn’t mind you bailing on them?” she asked skeptically.

Don’t bristle
. He kept his tone light. “Hadn’t you heard all musicians are flaky like that?”

“Not you. I’d never lump you in with all musicians, Jon.”

“But you did.”

She was quiet for a moment. “I guess I did. Why is it hard for me to take a leap of faith and so damn easy to jump to conclusions?”

“Human nature. People make mistakes. I did. I should’ve told you what was going on.”

“So what is going on?”

“Push’s management got a little pissy about me changing my mind and I realized I don’t wanna work with people like that.”

“When did you back out of the gig?”

“Last month.”

“But…” Her eyes searched his and she seemed totally bewildered.

He knew the feeling. “Yes, that was before I knew whether we’d work this out. I wasn’t ready to walk away from you then and that hasn’t changed.” Jon forced himself to slow down. “I had no idea the music trade mags were snapping pictures and causing all kinds of trouble.”

Maggie lifted a brow.

“Look, I’m not blaming the paparazzi for how you found out. I could give you a bullshit answer like I’d signed a bunch of nondisclosure agreements—which is true—but the truth is I’m so used to dealing with all this business crap myself, I haven’t learned to open up to anyone. I should’ve trusted you and talked to you about it. I didn’t. I’m sorry. It’ll never happen again, I promise.”

“So are you going back on tour?”

“No. I really am taking time off indefinitely. The offers were tempting, hell they were flattering which was probably why I even considered them. But I’ve honestly never been happier, just working on my own stuff on my own time frame, and learning to have a life. I want a life with you, Maggie.” He tapped his fingers on his knees. “Sorry. Here I am babbling on—”

She put her hand over his. “You’re doing that drumming thing. Why are you nervous?”

“Because I have so many things I want to say, but I wasn’t sure if you’d tell me to shove off before I’d get to tell you a single one.”

“Ironically enough, I have a lot of things to say to you too.” Then she leaned forward to kiss him. “But I planned on sucking back a few cosmos to get up the courage before I drunk dialed you.”

He laughed softly and the fear inside him settled a little. “Do you have any idea how crazy I am about you?”

“I’ve got a pretty good idea since you’re here and since I feel the same way.”

“God, I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

Jon framed her face in his hands. “I don’t want to fuck this up again, Maggie.”

“Me either, but you don’t get to take all the blame for it, Jon. It was a mutual fuck up. But that means we get to start from scratch.” She turned her head and kissed the inside of his wrist. “You game for that, rock star?”

“Absolutely.”

They didn’t speak for several moments. Then Maggie sighed. “I have a confession to make. I took the job with the security company from Fort Collins.”

That surprised him. “When?”

“A month ago.”

“But that was before…”

“I competed in nationals? Yep. I knew going into this it would be my one shot at a championship. I’m disappointed we didn’t win, but I am excited to start my new job.”

He was excited too, if it meant what he thought it did. “This is the telecommuting one, right? You’ll be living in Spearfish?”

“Yes. I will have to travel to Fort Collins periodically, but I can deal with that. Can you?”

“Heck yeah, maybe we’ll turn it into a road trip.” Jon’s thumb stroked her cheek. “Because I never want to be away from you for very long.”

Maggie kissed him again. “Same here. I’m happy I reconnected with my love of dancing because it led me to you. But I also finally understand dancing will only ever be a hobby for me. I’m good with that. And Seth understands. In fact, he’s turned over all the upcoming dance classes at the community center to me.”

Jon’s eyes lit up. “So does that mean you’ll be looking for a new permanent dance partner?”

“Uh-huh, but it ain’t gonna be you, because sweetheart, you suck.”

He nudged her shoulder. “I’m blaming you for that.”

Her nose wrinkled. “Why’s that?”

“Because you still owe me a dance lesson.”

“You think one dance lesson will bring you up to snuff, rock star?”

“Hell no.” He kissed her softly. Thoroughly. With such a burst of happiness, he felt like doing a jig. And wouldn’t that make her laugh?

“Your seductive kisses won’t change the fact it’s gonna take me forever to teach you how to dance. You know that, right?”

“Yep. That’s what I’m hoping for. A lifetime of dance lessons.”

About the Author

To learn more about Lorelei James, read her Author Notes on this and other titles, and see a
Rough Riders
family tree, please visit
www.loreleijames.com
. Send an email to
[email protected]
or join her Yahoo! group to join in the fun with other readers as well as Lorelei:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoreleiJamesGang

Look for these titles by Lorelei James

Now Available:

Rough Riders

Long Hard Ride

Rode Hard, Put Up Wet

Cowgirl Up and Ride

Tied Up, Tied Down

Rough, Raw, and Ready

Branded As Trouble

Shoulda Been A Cowboy

All Jacked Up

Raising Kane

Slow Ride

Cowgirls Don’t Cry

Chasin’ Eight

Cowboy Casanova

Kissin’ Tell

Wild West Boys

Mistress Christmas

Miss Firecracker

Anthologies

Wild Ride: Strong, Silent Type

Three’s Company: Wicked Garden

Beginnings: Babe in the Woods

Running With the Devil

Dirty Deeds

Coming Soon:

Gone Country

He kissed the girl and he liked it. Now to convince her it could be love…

A Touch of Confidence

© 2012 Jess Dee

A
Two to Tango
Story

When a coveted retail space opens up in Rose Bay, Claire Jones and her sisters waste no time grabbing the perfect spot to relocate their expanding children’s bookshop. But when Claire arrives to sign on the dotted line, she discovers someone else got there first.

Worse, the new tenant is shaking hands with a man who is definitely
not
the elderly Jack Wilson with whom she made a verbal agreement three days ago. This Jack Wilson is a tall, hunky giant—and no amount of righteous indignation can mask her body’s bone-deep sexual response.

Jack never planned to take over the family company; he’s a teacher, not a businessman. But with his grandfather in the hospital, he’s taken up the reins—and steered straight into trouble. Now he’s faced with a serious mistake, and a beautiful, Amazon warrior of a woman who’s demanding satisfaction.

He’d love to give it to her, but his idea of
satisfaction
has nothing to do with business, and everything to do with getting the curvy goddess naked. The sooner the better…

Warning: If you’ve never made love to a man who quotes Shakespeare during sex…be warned. You’re gonna want to after reading this book.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
A Touch of Confidence:

He had no idea what it was about Claire that had his balls all tangled up in knots, but spending twenty minutes in a car with her sent his libido sky rocketing.

The second he’d closed the driver’s door, her perfume had overwhelmed him, and he’d known he was going to have to kiss her again. So kiss her he did. With her body trapped between his and her seat, he took ownership of her mouth and refused to release it.

Her laughter died on her lips, and her breath hitched. For a good few seconds she froze, her jaw slackening with surprise.

Good enough for Jack. It offered his tongue free entry into her tempting mouth. He dipped it inside and ran it along her tongue, then withdrew, driven by a consuming need to nibble on her lower lip.

Dragging his teeth over that pouty flesh, he sucked it into his mouth and nibbled to his heart’s content. Only his heart demanded a whole lot more than her lower lip. It demanded full ownership of her mouth and body, and he had to force himself to go slow, to focus only on the nubile flesh between his teeth, sucking, nibbling and releasing it in slow succession.

A throaty groan erupted from Claire, and then her hands were on his head, pulling his face closer. Her fingers tunneled through his hair, tickling his scalp, massaging it, holding him there.

She was responding, kissing him back, nipping at his lips, seeking his tongue. Their mouths melded together and the kiss turned hot so fast, the windows steamed up.

Fuck, he’d damn near come in his pants from kissing her yesterday, and he feared he might face the same dilemma today. Still, it didn’t stop him, didn’t inspire him to pull his mouth away even one inch.

Claire emitted soft, hungry moans that played havoc with his already knotted balls. She kissed him as though she fed off his mouth, gaining sustenance from him. And damned if it didn’t give him an erection from hell. Damned if her enthusiasm and her taste didn’t have his hand on her breast and his fingers gently squeezing the abundant flesh.

She more than filled his palm, making him greedy to touch all of her, greedy to have both breasts in his hands—unencumbered by shirts and bras.

All his life he’d favored small women. Short, thin and small-chested, everything Claire was not. Yet here, with her tantalizing tongue tempting his, and the nipple of her ample breast tightening beneath his touch, he had no idea how he could ever have found skinny women more appealing than this beauty.

Jack lost himself to her kiss, to her feel, to her touch. Their mouths worked in perfect accord, as if they each instinctively knew what the other sought or needed.

Or perhaps Jack just knew what he instinctively needed and sought to give her the same. One thing he did know was that kissing Claire Jones was an experience he wished to relive over and over again. Or maybe he’d just ensure this kiss never ended.

But a kiss would never suffice. His cock pointed out that fact as it swelled against his zip, demanding attention, demanding satisfaction, demanding access to Claire’s body.

He pulled away with reluctance, then almost sealed their lips together again when Claire groaned in protest.

He forced his eyes open, forced himself to look at her, and had to bite his cheek hard at the sight that greeted him. Claire’s head was tipped back, her eyes closed and her lips swollen and parted. It took every iota of willpower he possessed not to clamp his mouth back over hers.

“Unless you want me to strip you naked and fuck you in this car, right here, in the middle of Mosman,” he rasped, “I suggest you climb out very quickly.”

Her eyes popped open, their hazel rims almost invisible around huge black pupils.

“I seem to have very little control when you’re around, Miss Jones.” He grit his teeth, pain and frustration radiating from his pelvic area, making speech almost impossible. Jack pushed through it, aware that his hand was still on her breast, his thumb brushing over the distended nipple. “Go now, before I rip off your shirt and suck on your nipples.” He yanked his hand away, knowing if he moved any slower, he’d never release her.

They sat in his car on Military Road in broad daylight. Anyone could look inside. And while the idea of being watched bothered him not at all, he couldn’t bear Claire facing that indignity. She’d blushed just discussing their kiss yesterday, done her best to deny it. If strangers saw her getting naked with him, he suspected she’d never get over the humiliation.

She stared at him with dazed eyes, blinking rapidly. It took a while, but her gaze began to clear. Her pupils contracted and the hazel rims grew bigger. As her gaze sobered, so did her expression. She snapped her mouth shut and color flooded her cheeks.

“Go now,” he half whispered, half threatened and pushed back, freeing her. He used the hand that had been on her breast to unclip her seatbelt, lest he slip and replace it on her soft, round globe and tease her nipple with his thumb once more.