“You are helping.” Her voice was muffled by his shoulder. Her arms tightened.
“Really? ’Cuz I feel like I’m getting the better end of the deal here.”
She chuckled against him.
He trailed his fingers up her back, her neck, and then slid them into her hair. Her body was soft against his, so womanly, so precious. He shifted so he could pull her closer, and she complied. As much as he would have liked to lose himself in the moment, his head was still holding on to her earlier comment about keeping things professional.
“You know,” he ventured, making circles at the base of her head with his fingertips, “this doesn’t feel professional.”
She moaned into his shirt. “I know. It’s not. It’s really, really not.”
Outside the open door, the auditions continued. The crowd clapped and hooted loudly. They may have another contestant to move up to the semifinals.
“Should I stop?” he tested.
She shook her head. “No. I mean, yes, you probably should. But I don’t want you to.” She sighed, and he felt it all the way through him. “I should not hug you in the locker room.”
“You really shouldn’t. I mean, if you’re trying to keep things professional between us.”
Her hands slid up his back and then back down again. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
It was his turn to chuckle. “Maybe you should clarify, then.”
Her hands slid around his body, making his stomach drop out in the best of ways. She laid her palms on his chest and tipped her chin up to look at him. “I mean we should be professional at work, and then, when we’re not at work, we can be unprofessional together.”
He couldn’t stop a teasing smile from lifting the corners of his lips. “So, just to clarify, what we’re doing right now, in the locker room, would be considered unprofessional behavior.”
“Exactly.”
He began swaying from side to side. “What about dancing together? Is that unprofessional behavior for the locker room?”
She moved with him, her brown eyes sparkling. “Most definitely.”
He stopped swaying and moved his thumb to brush her chin. The noise from the stands had faded away. All he could hear was his heartbeat and her breathing as it hitched. He leaned down, closing the distance between their lips. “What about this?”
“Completely unprofessional,” she murmured, her eyes dropping shut.
This close, her minty breath tickled his lips. When the anticipation was too much for him to resist, he pressed his lips to hers. She gasped quietly before melting in his arms. He gathered her close, happy to hold her up if it meant holding her tighter.
She smiled against his lips and giggled. He laughed and they kissed again. But their lips didn’t stay together for long, because they both grinned. She shook her head, her eyes sparkling with happiness. Happiness he’d put there. He wanted to pound his chest in victory.
“I wish I could stay here and do more of this.” She leaned her forehead against his jaw. “But I have to go back to work.”
“It’s theprofessionallyresponsible thing to do.”
“Hush!” She smacked his chest. “I’m trying to save your reputation and the team, and you’re seducing me with your dance moves and …” She trailed her hands up his arms. “… muscles.”
He flexed.
She laughed. “Stop that.”
He lifted one eyebrow, silently asking if she really wanted him to stop.
She gave him a knowing smile. “Seriously, we need to be careful. I don’t want this plastered all over Julia’s social media pages.”
He nodded. “I get it. I do. But I think you’re overthinking it.”
Her bottom lip pouted out. “I’m not.”
