Recipe for Satisfacton(47)
With a smile, he said, “Are you ready to salsa?”
“You salsa?”
“Don’t look so surprised.”
She was very surprised. He just didn’t look like a dancer. Although she knew firsthand he had great moves in the bedroom.
“My last name may be Vaughn, but my mother’s maiden name was Ramirez.” He punched out the word mother with a bitterness she’d never heard in his voice before.
“You’re half Latino?”
“Puerto Rican, to be exact.” He poured two shots. Was one of those for her?
“I had no idea.” It would explain his darker complexion. “You really are full of surprises.”
She glanced around the room. Men and women twisted and twirled in a sensuous rhythm all over the dance floor. Their feet moved in time to the music, their bodies swayed to the beat. They moved as one entity, even though they each had their own part to play.
She focused her attention back to the bar. Jack handed her the shot. The smell flooded her nostrils, singeing her airway.
“Sterling Andrews, do you swear to dance, drink, and surrender yourself to the music?”
She was definitely in for surrendering—but it wasn’t to the music.
She glanced over to the dance floor. Excitement sparked in her stomach. Dancing looked like fun. Being wrapped in Jack’s arms, writhing and grinding in public, looked like even more fun. “You can teach me to do that?”
He nodded. A wicked gleam deepened in his brown eyes.
Jack licked his hand and sprinkled salt on his skin. He grabbed the shot with one hand and the lime wedge with the other. Hopefully he’d have enough alcohol to cloud his brain when he tried to remember how much of an embarrassment she was on the dance floor.
She followed his direction, readying her own shot. What the hell did she have to lose? She held up her glass and said, “I surrender.”
They clinked glasses.
Lick. Shoot. Suck.
Before she knew it, she held his hand as he guided her out onto the dance floor.
They started out with simple side-to-side movements. The heat made her light-headed—which could very well have been from the man holding her close. He impressed her in so many ways in the short time they’d known each other, but the way he moved on the dance floor sent every one of her erogenous zones into overdrive. The man was all sex, pure sin. And he was hers for the night.
They visited the bar between lessons, although after two shots, she was done drinking. She was actually having fun. She never would have thought she’d be the type of person who could loosen up without the alcohol. But she was loose and ready to surrender.
“When am I going to be able to dance like that?” she yelled over the music, and pointed to the couple beside them—so wrapped up in each other they probably wouldn’t have noticed a bomb go off.
“Have another shot or two and you’ll feel like you’re dancing like that.”
She laughed. “You’re probably right.”
He gripped her hips and steadied her. “Can we add another move now? Do you think you’ve got this one down?”
She nodded. She could add another move. When she was with him, she could do anything.
…
Their hotel was on the other side of the strip, but Jack didn’t want the night to end. Instead, they strolled through the crowded streets. Even at 2:00 a.m. the party hadn’t stopped. Eclectic sounds of music filtered into the streets from the different clubs they passed. The rush of the ocean was a distant murmur in the background.
“So how do you feel about salsa dancing?” he asked.
Sterling hugged his arm. “I feel good. I didn’t think I had it in me.”
“I’ve seen the way your body moves. You’re a natural.”
She’d been surprisingly pliant. Yes, that was the alcohol at first, but after about twenty minutes something else took over. Determination shone in her eyes.
“I still don’t think it was necessary to come to Miami.”
He pulled her to a stop. “Did you try something new?”
She nodded.
“Was it exciting?”
She nodded again. This time with a smile.
“Then my work here is done.” He would have taken her to the ends of the earth if need be. All he wanted was to see that smile on her face.
“Look!” She pointed down the street. “There must be a celebrity over there. Look at all those cameras flashing.”
His happiness balled into a heavy knot in his stomach at the sight of paparazzi lurking outside the entrance to a club.
“Come on.” He tugged her across the street.
“Jack?” she squeaked. “Where’s the fire?”
He wasn’t in the mood for harassment. He was never in the mood for harassment, but especially not when he was with Sterling. It was one thing to print lies about him, but he would never be able to live with himself if Sterling were dragged through the mud. It had happened once before, the night his mother passed. That poor holistic practitioner was raked over the coals for weeks simply for setting up a meeting.