Dance Like Nobody's Watching (3 page)

“Why do you think I would be interested in Ty?” Sherrie
asked, knowing she had to say something. Staying red faced and silent only
added weight to her friend’s suspicions.

“Damn, girl. Everyone is interested in Ty.” Grace's kind
face split into a wide smile. “Where ya been the last month?”

Sherrie laughed, both at herself and at Grace’s bawdy
expression. So she wasn’t the only one who’d fallen for his charms? She felt a
little better knowing that information.

There had been no sign of him by the time the first course
arrived. Sherri found it hard to eat with her stomach fluttering and her eyes
on the door, but after a couple glasses of wine, she forgot all about him. Her
nerves disappeared and she chilled out, genuinely enjoying the atmosphere, the
food and the banter at her table. After dinner, gentle music and soft laughter
filled the air and Sherrie watched as elegantly dressed couples danced beneath
the huge chandelier dominating the center of the room.

The tinkling of a glass drew everyone’s attention to the
raised dais at the top of the room. The president of the network took the stand
and thanked everyone for their hard work over the season, joking briefly about
the staff attendance at the party being the largest the studio had ever seen.

Sherrie caught the curtain flutter and her gaze landed on
Ty, looking absolutely delicious in a black suit. His glossy hair shone under
the spotlights when he dipped his handsome head in greeting. His all too
familiar smile warmed the room in general and Sherrie in particular, then he
and the beautiful Diana gracefully took up their positions in the center of the
dance floor.

They performed a medley of styles—Latin, Jive and American
Smooth—leading up to the grand finale where all of the other dancers and
contestants joined them for a group Samba that brought the house down. The boisterous
applause from the crowd didn’t seem to want to end, and Sherrie’s heart sank
when she spotted Ty disappearing from view. The other performers dragged some
audience members to their feet, ignoring their laughing protests and forcing
them onto the dance floor.

A moment later, Sherrie’s heart threatened to jump from her
chest when she spotted Ty walking past their table. He continued on his way,
failing to notice Sherrie until Grace said, “Hello” very loudly. Ty paused and
his dark green eyes scanned the table, a slow grin spreading across his face
when his gaze settled on Sherrie. She smiled as warmly as her nerves would
allow with her stomach doing somersaults. He’d taken off his tie and several of
the buttons on his shirt were undone, and her gaze lingered for a little too
long on the dark shadow at the base of his neck where muscle curved over his
collarbones. Grabbing the much-needed drink Grace handed her, Sherrie turned to
find he was no longer looking at her face—his stare had wandered down over her
torso to her thighs. Unable to simply sit there as his gaze touched her all
over, she put her glass down with a clumsy bang.

“That dress…Wow,” he said, his hungry perusal warming her
skin everywhere he looked.

“Th…thanks.”

A slight smile lifted the corner of his mouth when he recognized
his compliment made her blush. The people packing the dance floor drew his
attention for a second and a knot lodged in her stomach. When he turned back to
the table, his hand reached for hers. She stared at it in mortified silence.

“Dance with me, Sherrie.”

Although his words reached her over the noise of the music,
her brain refused to acknowledge them so she stayed put. Ty must’ve assumed she
hadn’t heard him and leaned in closer to repeat the invitation, his warm breath
fanning her ear and neck. All at once, everything above her waist went numb
just as everything below it woke up. Her brain engaged finally.
Wake up, this delicious man wants to dance
with you!

“Dancing isn’t one of my strong points, since…you know.” Sherrie
gestured towards her feet, hating herself for using her bad leg as an excuse. Still,
if anything in this world could make her self-conscious, hobbling around the
dance floor next to a handsome and graceful Adonis would be it.

“I think we can manage,” he said. Ty pried Sherrie’s
death-grip off the edge of the table, winking at Grace when she made a poor job
of stifling a giggle.

Sherrie followed him to the dance floor on trembling knees
as an interested murmur rumbled around the room. Obviously, the other guests took
notice. Ty pulled her into his embrace, smiling as he whispered in her ear to
relax. Her hands settled on his shoulders, feeling for the first time—rather
than seeing—just how muscled he was. Ty held her with a light touch on her hips
and drew her in to a close yet respectable distance as he began to move. Sherrie
was ridiculously grateful that he seemed happy to dance in a way she was used
to, rather than attempt to lead her around the floor in some complicated waltz
she wasn’t familiar with.

“So, what do you think?” he asked, gesturing around him to
the ballroom. “They made a great job of doing this place up.”

She nodded, forcing herself to speak. “It’s amazing. It
doesn’t look anything like the plain, ugly building it really is.”

Ty smiled devilishly. “The studio isn’t the only thing done-up.
You are stunning.”

Checking his eyes for any sign of humor but finding none,
she glowed at the compliment but didn’t trust her voice to thank him. She
simply smiled. Ty seemed happy to do all the talking and the conversation did
help calm her down. He asked about her life outside of work with a few probing
questions about her family. She told him about her parents and the small
business they ran just outside LA.
 
When
he asked what Sherrie’s boyfriend did for a living, she smiled and told him she
wasn’t dating at the moment.

The music ended and she expected to be released but his grip
on her body grew tighter still and he pulled her even closer. Her breasts
brushed across his hard chest every now and then and her thighs whispered
against his as they moved as one. Sherrie was too close to look at him as they
continued to talk and his hot breath fanned her neck again, but this time, it
also seemed to increase the heat slowly building between her legs. Ty pulled
back to look down into her face after a long moment of silence between them. Realizing
he’d spoken and was awaiting her answer, she tried to cover up the fact she hadn’t
been listening, too absorbed with horny thoughts. She asked him to repeat the
question. He stared at her for what seemed like ages before he spoke again. His
sharp gaze warned her he might’ve suspected what she was trying to hide.

“I said you dance well.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled.
Why
did she suddenly sound so brainless
? “You’re not bad yourself.” Much to her
relief, he laughed at her joke, his warm gaze still branding her.

 
“What are you so
nervous about, Sherrie?” he asked a few minutes later, ratcheting her nerves up
another notch.

“I’m not,” she lied. No need to tell him she could barely
catch her breath with his body pressed against hers. Nor could she tell him her
heart was racing as heat pulsed through every part of her. And she sure wasn’t
going to admit she felt hot and wet between her thighs because of his close
proximity.

Ty glanced at her lips when she smiled and when his gaze
came back up to hers, the unspoken message that blazed back at her took the
last of the breath from her lungs. Allowing her no time to recover, he pulled
Sherrie closer, ensuring their bodies were in total contact. His cheek rested
at her temple as his hands opened wide, clasping her hips firmly, fingers
splayed out to curve her buttocks.

Sherrie closed her eyes and clung to him. The moment
couldn’t last and she wanted to sear it into her memory. Ty’s body fit against
hers so well that moving to the music with him seemed almost effortless. Her
hands began to drift across his back and she couldn’t resist the urge to grasp
a handful of the hair at the nape of his neck. The low chuckle she earned in
response made her smile against his shoulder. Ty’s fingers pressed her pelvis closer
to his and Sherrie bit back a groan when the hard ridge of his erection grazed
her abdomen.

The desire to lift her mouth to his ear and suggest they go
somewhere less public became irresistible and she’d just resolved to do it when
the music changed abruptly. The funky beat vibrating across the dance floor normally
would’ve excited her, but not this time. Their heated moment was over.

Ty straightened up and leaned back to look into her eyes,
his expression mirroring the way she felt. That DJ is an idiot, she thought. Sherrie
sighed and took a step away but his grip tightened and he leaned in to whisper
in her ear. “Don’t move yet…”

Chuckling at the wide-eyed look she gave him, he dropped a
kiss on the tip of her nose and stood back, buttoning his jacket quickly. Sherrie
couldn’t help but smile back, happy she had such an affect on him to make Ty
sport an erection.

“Ty.”

Diana appeared from nowhere, her approach unseen by either
of them. A proprietary arm slid around Ty’s neck and the look in her eyes made
it clear she wished Sherrie would get lost. “I’ve been searching for you.”

Sherrie made a hasty exit on the excuse of needing to visit
the bathroom, desperate to escape both the heat coming from Ty and the arctic
chill emanating from his dance partner. She sat in the stall, wondering what
had possessed her to tell him she needed to do something as unsexy as relieve
her bladder. She bit back the giggle forming in her throat as she heard someone
go into the next cubicle. There were already enough people in the world who
thought she was crazy.

 
Ty and his frosty
friend were nowhere to be seen when Sherrie headed for the bar. Where did they
go? She grimaced.
Why did she care?
The
last thing she needed was to torture herself with the image of Diana doing
everything to Ty, Sherrie wished she could. Maybe it was for the best. Wherever
he’d gone, she doubted very much that he was fantasizing about her in the same
way.

She jumped when a warm hand touched her shoulder. Turning to
find Ty leaning on the bar behind her chair, she smiled. He hadn’t left with
the deadly Diana. They weren’t off somewhere having elegant, effortlessly
graceful—but still mind blowing—sex.

“Hi.”

Ty grinned. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Well, here I am.” Sherrie grinned up at him when he laughed
at her silly response. She didn’t care. He could do what he wanted—as long as
he was doing it to her.

“Shall we get out of here, or do you want to play the game
some more?”

“What game?”

He leaned closer. “The game where neither of us admits what
we really want and we go through the motions of talking and drinking for hours
and hours...when there are other things we could be doing.”

Ty’s confidence excited her, but she still put up a tiny
fight. “You’re assuming a lot, don’t you think?”

His smile didn’t waiver. “Maybe I am, so let me be more
specific.
I
don’t want to spend the
rest of the evening wishing I had you somewhere alone, and feeling frustrated
because I can’t do what I want to.”

Sherrie stared into his eyes, reading the promise in them,
along with his arrogance. He knew what she wanted, just as well as she did. Ty
stood and held out his hand. She knew by taking it, she was admitting he was
right. A small triumphant smile crossed his face as his cool fingers closed
around hers and he pulled her to her feet.

* * * *

Thirty minutes later Sherrie lead him into her small
apartment.

“I wasn’t expecting company.” She rushed around tidying up,
avoiding Ty’s gaze. As she reached around him to pick up some of the clothing
she’d scattered around the house hours earlier, he grabbed her wrist.

“If I help you tidy up, will you let me kiss you soon?” There
was a slight edge of impatience in his voice. Sherrie gulped as he pulled her
closer and his fingers tightened around her arm. “Or will you at least stop
trying to avoid me?”

Unable to ignore his delicious smile, she nodded. Ty seized
the moment, swinging her around and up into his arms. He pressed a hot, but
much too brief kiss against her waiting mouth and headed for the passageway
leading to the other rooms.

T
he bed touched the back of her
knees when
he placed her on the floor in the dark bedroom. He began to remove his clothes
and Sherrie’s gaze hungrily devoured every inch of perfectly toned skin he
exposed. When he flicked the button of his pants open and slid the zipper down,
she remembered the last time Ty removed his trousers in front of her and how
much she’d wished she could do it for him. Sherrie scooted to the edge of the
bed and grabbed the waist of his pants to drag him closer. Ty chuckled at her
impatience but came willingly. His fingers pressed into her shoulders to steady
himself when she slid the fabric down his legs. Sherrie pressed a kiss against
the hard muscle of his abdomen and reached around him to caress the hard globes
of his ass she’d been taunted by that day in the dressing room mirror.

Ty made a
sound deep in his chest and stepped back to kick his trousers off. Sherrie
groaned as her gaze crawled over his entire body, taking in every inch,
committing it to memory, sure she would never have the opportunity to look at
it again after tonight. Even though he was standing completely still she could
feel the sexual energy rippling through his body, and it mirrored her own
sizzling nerves. Ty pulled her to her feet and then his lips seared a path across
her neck, while his fingers worked on the zipper of her dress.