by Janice Lynn
“There’s always a first so, sure, I am the right person for you to be partying with tonight. I’m Riley, by the way.” His smile cut dimples into his cheeks again and he stared straight into her eyes. “I don’t want you to go.”
Not offering him her name, she closed her eyes. It was all she could do not to lean towards him, be seduced by the appeal in his voice. Was he like the Pied Piper of women or what, because she just wanted to follow him wherever he led.
“Stay. Dance with me,” he whispered near her ear in an enchanting tone that made her want to dance to his tune in more ways than one.
Mesmerized, she stepped towards him, her body almost pressing to his.
He inhaled. “You smell amazing. Good enough to eat.”
Um, no. She was not going to let her mind go where his words threatened to take her. Not going to happen. Only her mind went exactly where it wasn’t supposed to go. Bad mind.
Keeping her eyes squeezed shut, she parted her lips to say no, that she was leaving and couldn’t be tempted by visions of sugar plums and whatever else he dangled in front of her. Apparently, he took her movement and open mouth as an invitation. Without hesitation his lips covered hers.
Shocked at the unexpected kiss, Trinity’s eyelids flew apart, startled to find his intent blue eyes open, watching her, as his lips gently brushed over her mouth. Tasting. Tempting. Teasing. Rocking her world to the very core. Wow.
Shockwaves rippled to the tips of her toes and she questioned if time was standing still because the hotel seemed to fade away to just the two of them, just his eyes searching hers, his lips branding hers.
When he pulled away, reality immediately sank in. Hospital Christmas party. Surrounded by new coworkers. The most gorgeous man ever had just kissed her. Hello, had she lost her mind?
“Why did you do that?” She took a step back, wiping her lips as if trying to clear away his kiss. Sandpaper couldn’t have erased his kiss. Riley. Riley’s kiss. He’d permanently branded her lips, her entire body. The man started fires.
He pointed up to the doorway she’d stepped beneath.
“Had to.” He shrugged nonchalantly, as if the kiss had been no big deal. To him it probably hadn’t been. His knees weren’t the ones shaking. “Tradition.”
She glanced up, eyed the large clump of mistletoe tied with a red ribbon that hung over the doorway. Her gaze dropped back to him suspiciously. “You’re a traditional kind of guy and just couldn’t resist?”
“Absolutely, just ask my mom. She’ll tell you I’m the apple of her eye.” He grinned. “Now that we know I’m a traditional kind of guy, that you smell and taste like the sweetest candy, and the pressure of our first kiss is out of the way, let’s go party. I guarantee a good time. Plus, you can tell me all about you while I hold you in my arms on the dance floor, Trinity.” His eyes sparkled with devilment.
Feeling oddly out of sorts that he knew her name despite the fact she’d purposely not told him, that he was piling on the charm, she felt what little resistance she had to him ebbing away. “Do you always get what you want?”
One side of his mouth curved upward. “Not always, but it is Christmastime and I’ve been a very good boy.”
She doubted that. Besides which there was nothing boyish about his broad shoulders and testosterone-laden aura.
“I’m hopeful there will be something sweet under my Christmas tree this year. An angel.” He raised his brows. “You have plans? We could start a new holiday tradition.”
She should go. She knew that. Her tattered heart was no match for this man’s charisma. But the thought of going back to her lonely apartment just didn’t appeal. Not even with Casper there, waiting for her. Her cat might love her but, whether Trinity wanted to admit it or not, she craved the temptation Riley waved in front of her.
An escape, albeit temporary, from the deeply embedded loneliness that had taken hold of her soul from the moment Chase Langworthy had dumped her publicly at their hospital Christmas party two years ago and plunged her into depression and Scrooge-dom.
Darn him for doing that. Darn her for letting him.
She took the punch glass Riley still held and downed half the contents as if she were chugging a shot of whiskey. Ha, she never drank alcohol, but she needed something to give her the push to do what she suddenly wanted to. She’d pretend the punch was liquid courage. She’d pretend that she was the kind of girl used to men like him flirting and wanting to dance with her. She’d pretend she was the life of the party.
“Okay, Riley…” She drawled his name out. She would do this, would have fun. “I’ll dance with you, but I should warn you that I dance much better than I kiss so you might struggle to keep up.”
She had no clue how she managed the confident words, the brilliant smile, or where they had even come from. The only time she ever danced confidently was around her living room with only Casper around to yawn at her antics. Still, head high, she headed back into the ballroom.
Riley’s pleased laughter behind her warmed parts of her insides that hadn’t felt sunshine in a long, long time.
CHAPTER TWO
WHAT A PLEASANT enigma, Riley thought of the woman he held loosely in his arms. She really did dance like an angel. But she was crazy if she thought she danced better than she kissed.
No one danced better than this woman’s lips had felt against his. A meeting of their lips that hadn’t been an angelic kiss but one that lit hot fires all along his nerve endings. He still burned. of course, that might be because her curvy little body swayed next to his and every cell in him had an apparent surge of testosterone.
What other excuse could there be for that brief brushing of his mouth against hers to have set him on fire the way it had?
If he didn’t quit thinking about how much he’d wanted to deepen that kiss, about how he wanted to take her somewhere private and kiss her again and again and on places other than her juicy mouth, she was going to know exactly what he was thinking. He was intuitive enough to recognize she wasn’t the kind of girl who went for one-night stands.
And he wasn’t the kind of man who sweet-talked a woman into doing something she’d regret.
Exactly what he did want wasn’t entirely clear, but he sure wanted something.
Her.
He brushed his cheek across the top of her head, the light touch sending shockwaves of awareness through him. Yes, he wanted to know her in every sense. He’d always been the kind of person who’d known what he wanted and had gone after whatever that might be. He wanted Trinity with an intensity that made his head spin.
“How long have you been a nurse?”
Tilting her head back, she blinked her big brown eyes at him. Most of the women he knew would have had make-up accenting their large almond shape, would have made the most of the naturally thick lashes rimming her lids to lure some unsuspecting man into her snare. Not Trinity. As best he could tell, Trinity had nothing on Her face except the light sprinkling of freckles across her nose and a little mascara coating those already long lashes. Her hair was clipped back with loose springs, framing her heart-shaped face. She looked as if she could be sweet sixteen.
“Trinity?”
Her beautiful face had become pinched, as if she were troubled by his question. “Long enough that I know about men like you.”
Her instant defensiveness confused him. “Men like me?”
“You shouldn’t get ideas about me.” Her face flushed a pretty shade of pink, but she held his gaze. “I’m just here to dance, nothing more.”
Riley liked the spunk shining on her upward-tilted face and had to fight the urge to kiss her mouth again. “You shouldn’t get ideas about me,” he warned. “I’m simply making conversation with the beautiful woman I’m dancing with. Nothing more.”
Her gaze narrowed. He grinned. After a moment she sighed in resignation. “Fine. You win.” A sly smile slid onto her mouth. “This round.”
He looked forward to future rounds. “And?”
“I
’ve been a nurse for four years,” she admitted, as if giving away some top secret. That would likely make her around twenty-six.
“Where did you nurse prior to coming to work for Pensacola?”
She tensed in his arms and stopped moving. “You don’t have to play Twenty Questions or even make conversation at all. For the record, I’m a girl who appreciates silence in a man.”
Riley chuckled. Oh, yeah, he liked this woman. “Shut up and dance, eh?”
She nodded.
“Problem is, I want to know more about you.” Lots more. “Where did you nurse prior to coming to Pensacola?”
She sighed. “How about I save us a lot of time and send you a copy of my résumé?”
He stared at her stubborn expression.
“Oh, all right,” she relented, and pushed his chest, motioning for him to start dancing again. “I went to school at University of Tennessee in Memphis and went straight to work at one of the hospitals there. I worked in the cardiac unit until I took the job here in Pensacola.”
“Now, was that really so painful?”
“Excruciating.” But a smile played on her lips. He really liked her smile. And the sparkle of gold in her brown eyes.
“Now, be quiet and dance.”
He laughed at her order. Talking with her was like a breath of fresh air. Stimulating. Fun.
“I have a friend who went to medical school in Memphis. He says it’s a great place. What brought you to Pensacola? Family?”
With a look of what he hoped was feigned annoyance that he hadn’t taken her order of silence seriously, she shook her head.
“Friends?” he persisted, despite her glare.
“Nope,” she answered after a moment’s hesitation.
The music picked up tempo. When she went to pull back he tightened his hold. “Boyfriend?”
“Ha. Exact opposite.”
No hesitation there. He frowned. “You have someone in Memphis?”
“Not any more.”
There was enough sadness—or was it regret?—in her voice that he felt a little guilty at just how much relief flowed through him at her denial.
“I’m glad there’s not someone waiting for you in Memphis. Or anywhere else, for that matter.” Because he hadn’t liked the thought that she might belong to someone else. “Very glad.”
For the first time since they’d started dancing she mis-stepped and caught his toe. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You didn’t,” he assured her, thinking that as petite as she was she could stand on his toes and not hurt him. She was like a pixie. A curvy pixie. He couldn’t recall ever having the urges that rushed through him when he looked at Trinity. There was something about her. Something intriguing that had him hooked. Was it just that she wasn’t the type of yes-girl he was used to? “Recent break-up?”
She gave an ironic laugh and shook her head. “Forever ago. If you insist on talking, let’s talk about something else. Anything else.”
As much as he’d like to know more so he could understand what made her tick, Riley didn’t push. Instead, he loosened his hold and caught her unawares by spinning her out and back to him. “Fine, we’ll save the talking for later and dance now,” he told her as he caught her.
Looking more than a little relieved, she smiled, then caught him unawares by dipping backwards in his arms and laughed as if she’d been set free. “Deal.”
Trinity felt light-headed. Giddy almost. Despite her boisterous claim about her dancing skills, she stepped on Riley’s toes more than once. He didn’t seem to mind, just kept smiling at her and making silly little comments that made her laugh.
For once she relaxed enough to just enjoy the music, to let loose and move to the beat even if she looked ridiculous. Something about the way Riley looked at her, the way every bit of his attention was focused solely on her, boosted her confidence and let free her love of music.
Riley. He smelled so good. Spicy. Musky. Heavenly.
Her gaze dropped to his lips.
Somewhere in her brain she registered that something was wrong with her thought processes, that she wasn’t thinking clearly. Still, she licked her lips, wondering if the flavor of him lingered there from his impromptu kiss. She wanted to taste him again.
“You’re killing me, princess.”
“Princess?” Had anyone ever called her princess?
And had she really just giggled?
A kiss under the mistletoe and a few fancy steps to one of their coworker’s karaoke singing “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” and she’d morphed into someone she didn’t even recognize. Who knew that pretending to be the life of the party could be so much fun?
“Well, you have me royally torn up so, yeah, princess.” He grinned, his gaze going to her just-moistened lips. “Don’t tease me, Trinity.”
He’d said her name. She liked him saying her name. Her cloudy mind registered that she hadn’t officially introduced herself. “I’m Trinity, by the way.” Which seemed a really dumb thing to say as he’d called her by her name repeatedly. She grimaced at her lapse and wondered what was wrong with her brain.
He smiled indulgently at her. “Trinity Warren. I know.”
“How?”
“I asked about you before I came over.”
She blinked, wondering if she’d misheard. “You did? Why?”
His hand pressed against her lower back. “I wanted to know more. I’ve never dated a woman who works at the hospital. Too messy.”
“Dated a woman who works…” Was he saying he wanted to date her? Or just letting her know that he didn’t date women at the hospital so she wouldn’t take any of tonight the wrong way?
“Messy?” she prompted, then added, “Not that I’d date you.”
He grinned at her comment. “I am going to prove you wrong but, yes, messy. If things don’t work out, there’s a mess to deal with when the two people involved work at the same place.”
“Ha. Tell me something I don’t know.” She was an expert on that particular mess. Chase had worked as the IT manager for the hospital where she’d worked in Memphis. She knew all about dealing with messes. Especially when he’d made their break-up so public.
“You’ll have to explain that comment,” Riley commented close to her ear.
“Not likely.” Because she had no intention of ever telling anyone in Pensacola of her humiliation. She’d come to forget things, not to rehash them.
His hold at her waist tightened a fraction. “You’re a really private person, aren’t you?”
None of her personal business had been private in Memphis. Chase had dumped her for another woman in front of the whole Christmas party. He’d been drunk and had…She grimaced, not letting the memories take hold. “Generally, I prefer to blend in than be center stage. If that means I’m a really private person, you’re right.”
He pulled back enough to stare into her face. “Funny, because when I look at you I can’t picture you anywhere but center stage.”
His kind words sounded so sincere that her knees threatened to buckle. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck and…actually, her arms were around his neck. She leaned closer, breathed in his musky scent.
He pulled back, stared into her eyes. “You’re a leading lady, Trinity. You could never blend into the background.”
Heat infused her face and she started to point out that earlier tonight she’d blended in quite well until he’d made an entrance into her life. Now lots of people were looking at her and trying to figure out why he was dancing with her. Didn’t they know? Tonight she was the life of the party. Tomorrow she’d go back to the real world.
“You’re smooth with the lines, Casanova.”
His hand moved across her lower back, holding her close. “No Casanova and no lines. Honest. I’m just telling you the truth. You’re a beautiful woman.”
“I think you’re a player.”
“You think wrong.”
The woman’s comment about her being tonigh
t’s lucky pick ran through her mind. “You’re telling me you’re as pure as snow?” She gave him a skeptical look. “I’m not buying it.”
“Not sure how pure snow is these days but no one would label me as pure anyway other than my mother, who thinks I hung the moon, of course.” He winked.
Trinity rolled her eyes. “Okay, snowflake.”
Her nickname obviously caught him off guard and he stared at her a moment then shook his head, laughter shining in his eyes. “I enjoy spending time with the opposite sex and I’m no saint, but you can call me ‘Snowflake’ if you want to. But for the record, I don’t say things I don’t mean.”
“No red-blooded man ever does.”
“Suspicious little thing, aren’t you?” He grinned. “Fortunately, I’m an open book and you don’t have a quiz in the morning. So how about for the rest of the night you don’t analyze this and just enjoy yourself?”
“With you?”
He tightened his hold at her waist. “That was the idea. I’d be very disappointed if you left me to enjoy yourself with someone else.”
Despite her uncertainty, the giddy feeling was still inside her so she just shrugged as if she couldn’t care less one way or the other. “So long as you don’t suggest we sing karaoke.”
That naughty look twinkled as brightly as the colored lights adorning the Christmas tree in the corner of the ballroom. “Too bad, because my number is coming up two songs from now and I plan on you joining me.”
“You plan wrong.”
He reached into his dress pants pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. “Due to the time constraints, the Christmas committee had interested parties draw numbers earlier this evening.” He waggled his brows. “This interested party got a winning number.”
“I’d ask if you ever don’t win, but having to get up in front of all these people and sing doesn’t sound like a prize.” Grimacing, she glanced at the duo currently belting out a number. “Not a good one, at any rate.”
He laughed and touched his finger to her nose. “You’re funny, Trinity. I like that.”
“Not really.” She wasn’t funny. She hadn’t been since…since Chase had broken her heart and she’d withdrawn into her shell, trying to protect her tender inside.
