Her body found the rhythm easily. The familiar graceful glide of arms and legs, arching and bending her spine in the mirror’s reflection, didn’t feel like practice anymore. Every movement hummed with the raw, electric awareness of the man watching her bare herself in a way she’d never done before.
Her pulse fluttered wildly. Rush wasn’t a student or a safe audience. This was the man who’d stripped her down past skin and bones, to the part of her she was still learning to claim. And yet she continued to dance, the music pulling her into a place where she felt most comfortable. Brave.
Even for Tucker, she’d never exposed so much of herself.
Her chest was heaving now, not from the exertion but from the sharp, aching awareness of him. The music throbbed low and steady, pulling her toward him on a current she didn’t bother to fight.
On the last notes, she spun slowly and stopped a foot away, facing him fully. Rush hadn’t moved, but the energy crackled across the space between them, alive and dangerous.
“I’ve never done that before either,” she admitted, her voice slightly unsteady.
His eyes flickered over her, lingering on her breasts and hips, before finally meeting hers.
Storm-gray. She had her answer.
For a long moment, he said nothing. Then his hand rose, the rough pads of his fingers skimming up along her jaw, featherlight, to tuck a wayward curl behind her ear. Just two fingers. That was all it took for her body to go loose and warm and wet with need. She leaned into him, letting herself sink into the pleasure of being touched.
“You do this every day,” he murmured, his thumb brushing her cheekbone.
“Not like that,” she whispered. “Not for anyone else.”
The words felt daring and foreign coming from her, and she wondered if she’d said too much, revealed too much for what they were. The truth was, she’d been collectingfirstswith him since the moment she’d hopped into his truck, and she wanted as many as she could get before he left.
Emotions were messy and real, and she was done hiding hers.
“Good,” he said. His hand slid lower, paused at the column of her throat, and stopped just above the rapid beat of her pulse.
She swallowed hard, pushing back against his hold slightly. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
His mouth curved wryly. “I didn’t either.”
“So why are you here?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he tugged her against him, one broad hand skimming the bare skin of her back, the other still holding the to-go cup. His grip shifted lower, cupping her bottom in that proprietary way that drove her wild, fitting her into the hard lines of his body. Her own much softer form gave no resistance as she rested against him.
“What is it about you, Lily Hart,” he murmured, studying her face, “that I can’t get enough of?”
Elation soared through her, which she quickly tamped down. For all her inexperience, she wasn’t naïve. Rush had made it clear he wanted her, yes, but just as clear that was where he drew the line. She didn’t let the thought sully the night ahead. He needed her physically, and she needed him too. It was more than enough.
She rose on tiptoe to press a soft kiss to the side of his mouth, smiling when his mustache tickled her. “I have some ideas,” she said. Her eyes dropped to the cup with a Maple and Main stamp on the side. “What’s this?”
“For you.” He held it out to her. “Maple cinnamon latte.”
Steam curled up, sweet and spiced, and she inhaled appreciatively, letting it steady her racing pulse. “Mmm. You remembered. Thank you.”
Of course, he had. She shouldn’t be surprised—Rush noticed everything. He was the kind of man who paid attention to the details no one else did. It was what made him excel as the sheriff… and devastate her in bed, reading the tiny sighs and gasps she made when he found the most sensitive places on her body.
Lucky, lucky her.
The radio at his shoulder crackled with Ben’s voice. Rush’shand disappeared under his coat to turn it down without looking away from her.
“Do you have plans tonight?”
She let a slow grin spread across her face. “Actually, yes. I have a hot date.”
The effect was instant. Rush stiffened, pulling away. “You do?”
“Oh yes,” she breathed, raising herself on tiptoe to brush her lips against the corners of his firm mouth. It still shocked her that she could do that. “Big plans. Huge.”
