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Danny swung her around, and then brought her close--spun her out, tugged her back in He was a great dancer, a Channing Tatum who knehere his body was in space, rather than a Duff who--yup, was right now hard-angling it with one of the bridesmaids

The poor man was like an arthritic before a visit to the chiropractor

As she and Danny danced, she thought of when they’d been , powerful and strong behind her, that heat kindling Then she re saviors to that prostitute and her boyfriend and the pimp

Then that kiss

Anne looked up, into his eyes He stared back at her They an And still they danced

It was easy to forget there were other firefighters around, other colleagues they worked with, other people who knew the across like shooting stars, and the beat of theto do, Anne, she asked herself Because everything about this was an invitation

Four songs in, sheinto him, she said, "Let’s finish e almost started"

Danny’s eyes flared and he stilled, his body throwing off heat

"No one can see us leave" She stepped back "And no one can ever know"

"I don’t care if you forget ht afterward I justI need you, Anne"

She wasn’t a fool She knew this was just a hookup But she didn’t want to do the good and sensible thing tonight

Toht now? She just wanted to be naked With him

"I have a rooo up now and leave the door open Meet"Okay"

Danny took off, shuffling past the tables, beating feet for the door A couple of people tried to stop him to talk, and when Duff tried to stand in his way, it was pretty clear Danny was prepared to pick the guy up and throw him across the entire ballroom

Anne put her hand on her sternu to do this?

Up on the eleventh floor, Danny stepped out of the elevator and ripped off his bow tie, shoving the clip-on into his jacket pocket Desperate to get naked, he started unbuttoning his shirt before he’d evenpants on as he ditched the pleated ive Anne a chance to tell hi she came up

Fuck, what if she didn’t co-sized bed, a kitchenette, and a flat-screen TV you could pivot in any direction It also had athe cupboard of little bottles, mini mixers, and crackers, he took out an itty-bitty Jack Daniel’s, cracked the top, and downed the shot and a half on a oner

Thing was probably going to cost hih he’d been with an ee frat house--Anne in, all nerves and thu around, he went over to theand looked out over the city: Twinkling towers of the four skyscrapers New Brunie had Streahts as they came toward the hotel and red brakes as they went away fro pockets of suburbia on the outer rim

Shit, he hadn’t turned any of the lamps or overheads on He was just here in the dark--

The slice of light that penetrated the room spun him around And there Anne was, in her tuxedo, the woht before

"Anne"

His voice was needy and hoarse, and as she stepped inside, his erection got even stiffer behind the zipper of his pants