Cole shrugged, then grinned, the dimples in his cheeks doing nothing to diminish his rugged good looks. No wonder the media loved him.
“Hey, not my fault I’m photogenic.”
“Yeah, your mug shot was charming. I’m sure Uncle Jack and Aunt Cara were thrilled with that.”
“That was bullshit. And I’ve got great attorneys, and that was thrown out of court.”
She shook her head. “It pays to make money, I suppose, but you’re pushing thirty now, party boy. Isn’t it time to grow up?”
He laughed. “Just call me Peter Pan. It’ll never be time to grow up.”
She waved him off with a shake of her head. Cole was trouble with a capital T. Great football player, but he did like his social life. Maybe a bit too much.
She grabbed a glass of champagne and was watching Gavin and Liz and Mick and Tara dance when she felt a warm presence behind her.
“You’re not dancing.”
Tyler. She’d successfully managed to avoid him for the past couple hours. She turned to face him.
Oh, did he ever clean up nice. Dressed in a black suit and tie that fit him as if it had been tailored for him, his dark hair spilled over the collar, making her want to sift her fingers through it to see if it was as soft as it looked.
“No, not dancing.”
“Who was the guy you were hanging out with? Your date?”
She frowned, then realized he was referring to Cole. She laughed. “No, that was Cole Riley, my cousin. You might recognize him from the Green Bay team. He plays wide receiver.”
Tyler nodded. “Thought he looked familiar. You Rileys like to breed the sports players, don’t you?”
“You have no idea.”
“So where’s your date?”
Refusing to rise to the bait, she said, “Didn’t bring one tonight.”
He cocked a brow. “Oh, you have more than one?”
She didn’t answer.
“How about a dance?” he asked.
“Where’s your date?”
“Didn’t bring one tonight.”
Her lips curved at the ditto. The music was hot and she wanted to dance. She’d had more than a little champagne tonight, and she felt good. So good, in fact, she tingled all the way down to her toes. Tonight was all about magic and romance. Not that there was any romance between her and Ty. But there was chemistry and he was the hottest guy here, so she might as well dance with the devil she knew.
“Sure. Let’s do it.”
Ty hadn’t expected Jenna to say yes.
He thought the guy she was talking to was her date. He was relieved to find out it was her cousin Cole. When he found out she hadn’t brought a date tonight, he got his game plan in order to get her on the dance floor, or get her alone. One way or another, he was determined to have her in his arms tonight, figuring he’d have to do some fancy maneuvering.
For it to be this easy? Hell yeah. He took her hand and led her onto the crowded floor, then watched her groove to the beat of some seriously hot dance music.
Jenna looked beautiful tonight in a red dress that clung to every curve of her body—a body she knew how to move. He wanted to put his hands on her, to feel her move like that without clothes on. She swayed her hips and pivoted around, and his dick twitched when she shook her ass. She got into the music, raised her hands in the air, undulating her body in time to the beat.
He inched up closer to her, fit his body against her, wrapped his arm around her waist, and rocked with her to the music, expecting her to kick him back. Instead, she put her arm around his and let her head fall against his chest. He inhaled her scent and tried to keep up with her since he wasn’t much of a dancer, but hell, he was happy to let her take the lead since she obviously knew what she was doing.
When she turned around, she slung her arm around his neck and pressed her body against his, rocking her hips against him.
She had to notice he was getting hard. But she drew closer and ground against him.
To torture him, no doubt to get back at him for showing up at the bar and hitting on her all the time. But her gaze met his, her clear blue eyes not filled with anger, only interest.
And when the music slowed to something sexy, she didn’t push off and walk away, so he took her hand in his, slid his arm around her back, and drew her in close.
He should probably say something to her, but he didn’t want to break the spell. If he spoke, she might actually remember who she was dancing with, so he stayed quiet, content to breathe in the vanilla scent that seemed to always be part of her. He stroked his hand along the top of her back. Her skin was soft.
She tilted her head back and looked up at him. “You’re quiet.”
“I was afraid if I said anything you’d leave.”
She arched a brow. “Why would I do that?”
“You don’t like me.”
Her lips curved into a smile. “I never said I didn’t like you.”
He arched a brow.
“Okay, I might have given you that impression. But the music’s nice, and you feel good.”
“You feel pretty good, too. Mind if we stay on the dance floor all night?”
She giggled and laid her head on his chest. “All right by me, but these shoes have to go. My feet are killing me.”
He stopped. “Take them off.”
She nodded. “Good idea.” She slipped her shoes off one by one, and handed them to him. He held them by their straps, deciding any woman who’d wear heels this high had to have some kind of death wish.
“How do women walk in these things?”
“It’s in our genetics. It’s why women are the master species. We give birth and we can walk in heels.”
He laughed. “No wonder your feet hurt.” She slid into his arms again and they continued to dance. The deejay was nice enough to play another slow song. He’d have to remember to tip the guy.
“The wedding was nice.”
She grinned. “It was. My brother and Tara are happy. They went through hell to get here, so they deserve it.”
He didn’t much believe in the whole happily-ever-after thing, but for some people, he supposed, it worked. He really hoped it worked forever for Mick and Tara, especially since there was a kid already involved. Tyler knew better than anyone what could happen to a teenager when what you thought was a happy family dissolved in front of you. “Yeah, I hope it lasts for them.”