Still, why didn’t he say all this before? Why had it taken him a week? She’d been miserable these past seven days. “What changed your mind? Was it when you heard I’d come downtown to meet with Mulligan?”

“That was when I decided to see you, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since the night you left. You’re everywhere I turn. Each flip of the card, every roll of the dice. I haven’t even allowed them to change my sheets. They still smell of you.”

Warmth suffused her body, from her toes to the roots of her hair. She slumped against the door and peeked at him through her lashes. “And here I thought you’d be angry that I danced.”

“Quite the contrary. I want to keep you safe but I’m not your father. If you want to show off those spectacular gams to a roomful of strange men, then that’s your choice.”

“Spectacular?”

His nostrils flared and he put a hand on the wood right next to her head, his big body leaning in. “Fucking spectacular, Florence.”

“Did you like my dancing?” Her voice was raspy, needy. Strange to her own ears.

“I loved it.” With his free hand, he fingered an orange ringlet by her temple. “I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”

“I noticed.”

“It’s not as if I could help it. You are the most beautiful, most radiant woman in any room. Your smile could electrify every street in the city.”

Goodness, this man. Her tongue was thick and awkward in her mouth. She licked her lips. “And compliments, too? I hardly know what to say.”

“I merely tell the truth.” His gaze flickered to her mouth. “May I kiss you?”

Instead of answering, she wrapped her hand around his necktie and pulled him toward her. His head dipped and his lips brushed hers gently once, then again, before he slipped a hand behind her neck to hold her in place. He deepened the kiss, his mouth sealing with hers, their lips drawing and sucking, and she rose up on her toes to get closer, her fingers sinking into his shoulders. Each breath, each sigh, came back at her, returned with equal fervor.

Many minutes later he rested his forehead to hers, both of them panting for breath. “So you’ll think about what I said?”

She couldn’t remember anything but that kiss, her brain muddled with wanting. His chest was so strong, his shoulders so wide. Her hands slid over his upper half, her fingers trailing over the slopes and ridges. She couldn’t stop touching him. “About my dancing?”

“No,” he said with a chuckle. “About sleeping together. You’ll think it over and let me know if you are interested.”