“No, somebody just figured out dancing’s a solid way to pick up women.” He spun her out again, then in so their bodies meshed. “And jobs. Fight scenes are choreography. I did a lot of stunt work in fight scenes.”

“Jobs and women.”

“Yeah. Life’s better with both.”

Nearby, Laurel snapped her fingers in front of Del’s face. “Stop. You’re staring at them.”

“I was just ... checking.”

“Look at me.” She forked her fingers in front of her eyes, then pointed them at his.

He took her by the hips to tug her closer. “You were too far away.”

“Okay.” She linked her hands behind his neck, and used her hips. “How’s that?”

“A lot better.” His mouth found hers. “Better yet, even though it’s killing me.”

“You can take it.” She ran her teeth over his bottom lip. “Or me.”

“Definitely killing me. Come on, let’s sit down.”

She thought about the last time she and her three friends had gone to a club. Just the four of them, she recalled, to a trendy place in the city. All of them unattached, and just out for an evening of dancing. A lot could change in a few months, she mused.

Now there were eight of them squeezed together, yelling at one another over the music. Every now and again, Del would brush a hand over her hair, or down her back. He couldn’t know, couldn’t possibly know what that absent touch did inside her body.

It made her want to curl up and purr—or drag him out to the van where they could be alone. It was pitiful how much she yearned, how much he could do to her with so little.

If he had any idea how desperately in love with him she was ... He’d be kind, she thought. And that would destroy her.

Better, much better they take it slow and easy, just as he’d said at the beginning. Maybe some of these feelings would settle. Maybe they’d be able to meet somewhere in the middle so she wouldn’t feel so outweighed by her own heart.

He glanced her way and smiled, and that heart stuttered.

So much could change, she thought. And yet, if she counted the longing, so much could stay the same.

Just after midnight they piled back into the van with Carter behind the wheel. She listened to the muted voices around her, the winding down of the day. But there was still a moon, still stars, still a long night ahead.

“I’ve got a client dinner tomorrow,” Del told her, “then poker night. Why don’t you think about what you’d like to do, where you’d like to go when we go out next time.”

“Sure.”

“You could miss me in the meantime.”

“I might.”