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Royce leaned closer, the spicyher nostrils, and she fought the unexpected urge to reach out and touch hiaze fixing on his, shocked that he’d read her so accurately "You really do say whatever you’re thinking, don’t you?
"Is there a reason to do otherwise?"
She liked the answer "You don’t make me nervous" And he didn’t She was insecure in ways she didn’t want to be, that she’d tried desperately to overcoe was authentic ever again, especially this man, who felt more real than any she’d ever met
He searched her face a moment, and then offered her his hand "Then dance with me"
Before she could think to object, if she even would have, he was leading her toward the center of the rooe She was going to dance with Royce Walker, to feel his big body pressed close to hers, and she was pretty certain it would be politically incorrect tofemale, in the center of her father’s birthday party She was also pretty sure it was going to happen anyway
Easing through the crowd, Royce repeated Lauren Reynolds’ words in his head You have no idea how ht No idea how eous pale skin, how enticed he was by the idea of stripping her nad and caressing it, tasting it, feeling every inch of it, and her, ainst him Or how enticed he was by the way her eyes danced with little yellow flecks of color when she felt strongly about so He wondered how they would look when she was aroused and wanting Would they be greener? Darker?
They cleared the path to the dance floor, and Royce eased Lauren onto the tiled circle where randoether to an orchestra nu her, then pulled her into his arms Their eyes collided, the mutual attraction they shared, that had passed between thelances over the months since he’d taken a public position, wrapped them in warmth But he’d known it would on some level he’d always known this wo inside hi before he’d joined the FBI fifteen years before, when life inside the bureau had been everything, and yet soh, that since he’d taken a more public role to promote Walker Security, the business he and his brothers ran, he’d been drawn to her each time their paths had crossed, no matter how casually or indirectly Yet, he’d resisted approaching her, all too aware that he didn’t fit into her political world, that his step into the realm of politics was merely a business endeavor, while hers was a lifestyle That was, until tonight, when she’d declared this world to be her father’s, not her own, andhe’d assuht when life had pulled the reasons
She was small and soft in his arms, and nervous as hell no matter how much she denied it And while he didn’t want to h he shouldn’t, because she was off li with her, no business wanting her, and he knew that And yet, he couldn’t see on his chest, the soft vanilla and honey scent of her war his reason for being here tonight, but incapable of regretting that she was in his ar, that she couldn’t stay there long Because the n with Royce Walker, there was no denying the simple truth He did it for her And whatever it was, it had her body tingling and her blood pu speed She not only wanted this man, for once in her life she wantedo, she wanted to just let herself go where desire led her, where this man would take her
His lips brushed her ear "You s"
Lauren’s lashes fluttered before she looked up at hi so powerful, so provocative about thiscontrol ahich was one of the reasons the courtrooe and without her father’s influence Royce wouldn’t let her have control She knew this instinctively, but soht or jockeyed for, a lethal quality she found alluring and sexy A power he owned naturally, like a second skin, that siht with hiainst the dryness in her throat "You asked if you scare aze dropped to her lips, and lifted "Actually, I asked if I was ht No You don’t make me nervous And you don’t scare me" She allowed herself the freedom, the luxury, to run her hand discreetly across one of his broad shoulders and then down his ar the feel of his muscles It was bold for her to do so in public, at one of her father’s events, yet all she was thinking about was how every inch of thisme"