She let out a breath, stared at the pristine whiteness of his shirt. Beneath her palm, squashed against his chest, she could feel hard muscle.
Wow, the guy was seriously built. He almost felt…good. And he smelled quite nice, too. Not at all like the guys she normally dated, the ones who drenched themselves in expensive aftershave. Luke smelled clean and fresh. A hint of soap. The lightest of aftershaves. Like water, or the ocean. Or rain.
She became suddenly aware of his hand sitting in the small of her back. The heat of it. The pressure of it through the silk. The sensation of his body against her front. So tall.
Muscular through the wool and cotton of his groomsman’s tux.
A flush swept over her skin.
Oh no. No way. This could not be attraction. Not to him. Not to Mr. Controlling Über-Boss. No effing way.
She glanced up, hoping a glimpse of the guy’s too-handsome face would annoy her so much she’d forget about it.
He was still frowning and he looked sort of like an angel. The really stern kind that usually sat on the top of tombs. The ones with swords in their hands that seemed like they’d cut you down without a thought.
Why is that hot?
Yeah. Seriously. Why?
Luke happened to glance down right at that moment, meeting her gaze.
His eyes were an amazing color. A pure, clear gray, darkening toward the center, becoming charcoal. There was an intentness to them, a focus that sharpened the longer he stared at her. His frown deepened.
And she realized two things. One: they’d stopped moving. And two: she was staring at him like a moron. Which she mostly never did. And she’d been with a lot of guys.
Nothing much flustered Marisa, especially men. But hell, she was all blushing and breathless now.
Luke’s expression had become ferocious. As if he’d felt this heat between them, too, and liked it as little as she did.
“Why have you stopped?” he asked.
“Because this dance is over.” She tried to push him away but it was like pushing against a wall. A brick wall.
“No it’s not. The music’s still playing.”
“So?”
“We can’t stop in the middle of a dance,” he said with finality. Then he moved again, pulling her closer.
Struggling would be undignified. As would letting physical attraction get the better of her. Weird. Just weird. Why was it this guy, out of all the dates she’d had over the course of the last couple of years, who had to be the one to make her break out in a sweat? Not only was he her boss, but according to office gossip, he was a bit of a womanizer, too. Two weeks, that’s all his girlfriends lasted, and if the uptightness of the man wasn’t red flag enough already, that certainly was. The whole thing just pissed her off.
“You don’t want to dance with me, just like I really don’t want to dance with you,” she muttered. “Why not call it quits now?”
“Because the dance isn’t over,” he said with maddening logic. “We can’t stop till it’s finished.”
“That’s stupid.”
He glared over her shoulder. “I don’t care whether it’s stupid or not, we don’t stop until the dance is over.”
“You don’t like me.”
“No, I don’t. But that’s got nothing to do with it. Joseph wanted us all to dance together so that’s what we’re doing.”
Marisa set her jaw. She didn’t care whether he liked her not, of course she didn’t. “Why not? Oh, wait a second, I know. It’s my clothes, isn’t it?”
“Your clothes?”
“Apparently they’re ‘not appropriate for a workplace environment.’ And I suppose I get another black mark for flirting with Leonard in IT, right? Since the ‘interaction’ doesn’t ‘promote collegial relationships.’”
Luke scowled. “Workplace rules haven’t got anything to do with me liking you or otherwise. Can we have this discussion at another time? I have to—”
“Count. Yeah, I get you have to count. Why don’t you let me lead and I’ll do the freaking counting.”
He glanced down at her again, his expression all intense glare and stern mouth. And she had the insane urge to pull his bow tie. Mess him up. Rumple him in some way.
“I’m leading,” he said in a tone that suggested the conversation was over. “So unless you want your foot to be stepped on again, I suggest you keep quiet and let me count. At least until this is over.” A pause. “Please.”
The please did nothing for her temper. She didn’t want to stay dancing with him, pressed up against him. His hand on her back. Hers on his chest. Touching.
This attraction was already making her breathless, and the longer she stayed like this, the more uncomfortable it was going to get. When it came to men, she preferred to be the one in control because there was only one end to chemistry like this. She’d been there before and it was bad. Very bad. Attractive, womanizing men were right at the top of her list of things to avoid like the plague. Especially attractive, womanizing men who were also her uptight boss.