The Devil She Knew(4)

"Try it and you'll wish you hadn't," she hissed.

He raised his eyebrows. "Is that a threat or a dare?"

A hesitant cough came from behind him, and Nate jerked his head around. "Yes?" It came out as a snarl.

The waiter flinched and took a deep breath, visibly bracing himself.  "Um. Sorry to disturb. Have you, ah, finished?" He motioned to the table  in front of Nate.

Startled, Nate looked down. Both he and Suzie had plates of untouched  food in front of them. He'd forgotten it was there, and from her  expression, so had she.

For the first time since he'd sat down, he tore his eyes away from Suzie  to scan the table. They were seated with four other couples who'd all  finished their meals. All were pointedly looking elsewhere.

Nate swallowed. He and Suzie must have been putting on quite a show.  He'd been totally focused on her, but hadn't it always been that way?  The fact she could make his blood boil didn't stop him from feeling as  though when he was with her, nobody else in the world existed.         

     



 

"We've finished. Thank you. Sorry." Suzie looked away, one hand going  under her hair to rub the back of her neck. Even her ears were flushing  pink. She leaned back to let the waiter take their plates, and when she  pulled away from Nate, it felt as though the temperature dropped several  degrees. Over the years since he'd last seen her, he'd managed to  forget how charismatic she was. It seemed like the energy of the  universe was contained inside her. How could anyone blame him for being  pulled in?

Nate gulped his beer, though it had gone warm and flat. At least it was a  distraction. The band was striking up their first song, and Laura and  Luke were walking barefoot onto the sandy dancefloor for their first  dance as husband and wife. Laura was holding up her white dress and Luke  had rolled up the bottom of his trousers as though they were expecting  to dance in the incoming tide rather than on dry sand.

Everyone clapped, staying in their seats to watch the dance. It would be  rude for Nate to leave yet, but soon he'd be able to escape back to his  room and start the modifications to his software.

He drained his beer and motioned to the waiter for a fresh one. Suzie  was on what had to be her fourth or fifth drink too, but showed no sign  of slowing down. Her eyes were glittering, her attention fixed on Laura  and her new husband. When would this song finish? As much as Nate liked  Laura, she and Luke were terrible dancers, their movements jerky and  awkward. They looked like two chickens trying to catch the same bug.

He'd gulped down a few good swallows of his next beer by the time the  song ground to a merciful end. Politely clapping with everyone else, he  felt Suzie lean towards him. Her lips moved so close to his ear that her  warm breath tickled across his lobe. The sensation was exquisite. His  whole body tingled with it, like she'd zapped him with a thousand volts  of electricity.

"I hate you, Milhouse," she whispered. Her voice was so low, it felt  incredibly intimate and his body reacted as though she'd murmured an  indecent suggestion instead of an insult. He was suddenly hard, shifting  in his seat again, fighting the aching lust she could so easily summon  in him.

Screw it.

He grabbed her arm, pulling her up to standing.

"What are you doing?" she yelped.

"Time to dance." He hadn't planned on dancing, and still had his shoes  on while all the other guests moving onto the dance floor had kicked  theirs off. But if Suzie's dancing was anything like her sister's, it  might cure him of his attraction to her. At this stage, he was willing  to try anything.

He'd managed to pull her halfway to the dance floor before Suzie  wrenched herself free of his grip. "You think I'd dance with you? Not if  we were the last two people left alive." She darted to the nearest  table where a man was sitting with a group of other guests. "Excuse me,  would you like to dance?" She grabbed the man's shoulder, practically  hauling him to his feet.

The man looked startled for a moment. Then he flicked his gaze over  Suzie's delectable body and a sleazy grin crept over his face. "Sure."

As the man led her to the dance floor, Nate's fists clenched. If he had a  scrap of sense, he'd either leave now, or head to the bar and finish  the job of getting drunk. There was no reason for him to stay rooted to  the spot, watching the man's lecherous hands circle Suzie's waist. No  reason for his blood to heat as a slow song started and the man pulled  Suzie close.





4





Just Suzie's luck to pick a man whose breath stunk like something had  crawled inside his mouth to die. And if Nate hadn't been watching, Suzie  would have told corpse-breath that asking him to dance hadn't been an  invitation for him to slide his sweaty hands down until they almost  cradled her ass.

Was Nate still watching? She snuck a glance to the side. Yes, there he  was, right where she'd left him. He'd found yet another beer and was  gulping it while he glared at her.

Suzie leaned in a little to murmur in corpse-breath's ear, on the side  Nate would be able to see. She let a little smile play over her mouth as  though she were enjoying herself.

"Do I know you?" she asked. He looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place him.

"Suzie, darlin', don't you remember me?" When he leaned back to give her  a hurt look, another gust of his hot breath almost made her gag. "I'm  your cousin Ronny."

"Oh. Ronny. Of course." He was the kid who'd tried to convince her to play doctor when she was ten.

"Well, we haven't seen each other since we were young." His hurt look  turned into a smirk. "I didn't recognize you either, at first. But the  red hair suits you. I like redheads. Even when the drapes don't match  the carpet, if you get my meaning."         

     



 

Okay, so she'd clearly picked the wrong man to dance with. Even teaching  Nate a lesson wasn't worth being subjected to Cousin Ronny.

"I'm sorry. I've just remembered I need to, um … " She tugged free of his  grip, stumbled and almost turned her ankle. "I think I've drunk a little  too much."

"That's okay, sugar. I'll look after you."

Suzie looked around for an excuse to get away. Nate had disappeared.  Laura and Luke had stopped dancing, and Laura was frowning at her.  Usually that look would make Suzie's stomach sink, but right now she  welcomed it. "Laura's trying to get my attention. She's probably going  to complain that I've done something wrong, but I'd better go and see."

"You're coming back?"

She shook her head, leaving Cousin Ronny pouting. Then she went to Laura  and forced a smile back on. "Everything okay, sis? Great speeches, and I  loved your dance. You two are so sweet together."

Laura drew her to one side, waving Luke away. With a shrug, her new husband wandered off toward the bar.

"What are you doing?" her sister hissed.

"What do you mean?"

"Ron's engaged. His fiancé is right over there." She nodded to a woman sitting at the table Suzie had collected Ronny from.

"Oh. Well, it was just a dance. Besides, I don't think she minds." The  woman wasn't even looking in their direction, but talking to the person  next to her.

Her sister sighed. "I sat you next to Nate for a reason, Sue. He's  single, successful, and smart. Just this once, why can't you go for  someone who'll be good for you?"

"Thanks, but I don't need you to set me up with anyone, especially-"

"I'm trying to look out for you. Those bad boys you like so much aren't good for you."

Suzie blew out her breath. The effort of pretending she wasn't drunk and  defending herself was almost too much. "I'm fine on my own. Better than  fine. Did I tell you about the wedding I'm catering on Friday?"

"Yes, but wouldn't it be nice to have someone to share these things with? I want you to be as happy as I am."

Her sister meant well, but she'd been dating Luke since she was in high school. She'd never really been on her own.

"I don't need a guy to make me happy." Suzie declared, probably a little  too violently. "If one comes along, then fine. But I'm not-"

Laura grabbed her arm, looking over her shoulder. "Look, there's Nate.  He's coming along. In fact, I think he's coming after you."

Suzie turned. Sure enough, Nate was making his way through the crowd of  dancers. Was it her imagination, or did the fire torches pushed into the  sand around the dancing area burn brighter as he walked past them?

"I wouldn't date him for a million dollars," Suzie started to say.

But it was her sister Nate stopped in front of, not Suzie. He leaned in  to kiss Laura's cheek. "Congratulations, Laura. I'm afraid I need to  excuse myself early."

Laura frowned. "You're going back to your room already? But I'm about to toss my bouquet, then we'll cut the cake."

"I have work to do, and a deadline to meet."

"Don't you at least want to dance with Suzie before you go?" Her sister  put one hand on Suzie's back and pushed her toward Nate, sending her  stumbling into him. As Nate steadied her with his hands on her upper  arms, she breathed in his delicious cologne. He was taller than her, and  it was only because his chest wasn't far below eye level that she was  forced to admire the way his shirt stretched over his muscles.