Excerpt

   “Dance with me.”
   “What?”
   “You heard me. Dance with me. It’s one of ours. Since I can’t take you to the bus, I’ll pretend I’m playing for you here, and I’ll get to put my arms around you.” When she just stared at him, he put a teasing smile on his face. “All these people mean you’re perfectly safe. Come on, honey. Don’t be a coward.”
   “I’m not afraid,” she said as she got to her feet.
   With a grin of triumph, Jordon took her hand, leading her out onto the dance floor. It felt like it had been forever since he’d touched her, so he was going to make every second count. He swept her into his arms and groaned as her soft body fit intimately against his.
   Callie’s mind went blank. He held her so tightly against him, she felt every line of his strong body. Sliding his hand down to the small of her back, he pressed her towards him. She gulped once as the hard line of his erection throbbed against her belly.
   For the first time in her life she wondered what it would be like to allow a man to touch her the way her body was screaming for. He seemed so right. If only he wasn’t who he was. If only she was a different kind of woman. Closing her eyes, she sighed. Why couldn’t she feel this way about someone who would be a part of her life tomorrow and the next day? Why did it have to be someone like… She began to tremble.
   “Jordon,” she whispered
   Jordon held his breath. She was softening against him. It took everything he had not to sweep her up and take her out to the bus. The fact they’d gotten to each other so fast made him shake his head in wonder. Damn, if she wasn’t so stubborn, they could be making love right now, not torturing each other. He wanted to be inside her, having her arms around him as he drove deep into her luscious body. It would be perfect. He knew it.
   “Girl, you are something,” he said shakily, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Closing his eyes he just held her, knowing unless she changed her mind this was as close as he would ever get to her.

   Brandon watched them from the shadows, his eyes filled with hate. The little bitch was asking for it, pressing herself against Jordon like that. Jordon probably had a hard on like a steel pipe the way she was rubbing against him. Cock-tease. They were all the same. Playing him, then playing hard to get and walking away. He narrowed his eyes. His boy didn’t deserve that.
   He was Jordon’s manager. It was his job to make sure he stayed happy. If Jordon wasn’t happy, then the music would suffer. And if that happened, the tour would suffer. The tour suffering could mean cancelled shows and lost record contracts. And that couldn’t be allowed. Because for Brandon, the money and prestige were too fucking important.
   He’d fix things. That was what he did. And if he was able to get back at the slut for the comments she’d made, well that was just gravy.
   No one noticed when Brandon slipped out the door then back in a few minutes later. No one was watching when he sidled up to the table and poured a few drops of liquid into Callie’s beer. He smiled as he sauntered back into the shadows.
   “Take that, bitch. You’re his now.”

   When the music stopped it took Jordon a few seconds to pull away from Callie. He didn’t want to let her go. The bulge in his pants testified to that, and he knew she was as aware of it as he was. Finally, he stepped back, lifting her chin with one finger so he could look at her. “You okay?”
   “I don’t know,” she answered, her eyes as otherworldly as they’d been when she talked about her dreams. Blushing, she tried to turn her head away, but Jordon wouldn’t let her.
   “Oh, no you don’t,” he exclaimed. “Truth…remember?”
   “I can’t look at you.” Her gaze skittered around the room.
   Putting his arm around her, he led her back to the table. “Here have a drink.” Jordon pressed the cold beer into her hands. She drank thirstily, but still wouldn’t look at him.
   Okay…I’ll try the matter of fact approach. He cleared his throat. “So, you give me a hard on. You know it’s not the first time.”
   Callie choked on her beer. Her gaze flew up to meet his, her eyes widening as she saw the humor on his face. “Don’t talk about it. It’s…it’s…”
   “Hard…to do?” Jordon asked innocently. He frowned in apparent concern as she choked again.
   “Embarrassing,” she wheezed out.
   “For you or for me?”
   She threw up her hands. “You’re impossible!” She took another cautious sip of beer to soothe her raw throat.
   “No, I’m just horny.” He grinned at her unrepentantly. “Look, you’re a beautiful woman who I’m damn attracted to. If I didn’t get a hard on, I’d be worried.”
   “Not so loud…” she hissed, looking around carefully. “Someone might hear.”
   “So I guess writing a song about this is out, huh?”
   Callie laughed, her head swimming a little. He was so attractive, and his slightly crooked smile was very sexy. If only… “No hard-on songs. Promise?”
   Jordon laughed. “I promise. No hard-on songs for you.” He reached over and cupped her face in one hand, his eyes darkening a little. “Your song would be different…sweeter. Definitely erotic though.”
   Face heating, she took another gulp of beer. “You do like to embarrass me, don’t you?”
   “No baby,” he murmured. “I’d like to do something else to you entirely.”
   Callie looked up at him mutely. His face seemed very far away, even though she knew he was sitting right in front of her. She shook her head to clear it. “Jordon?”
   He stared at her, his breathing quickening. Her eyes were different. Soft and dreamy now, he could see something in them he hadn’t before. Was it desire? Christ, he hoped it was because he was about ready to explode. He reached for his whiskey to cool off, but when they’d first gotten back to the table, he’d downed it like a man dying of thirst. He grabbed her beer.
   “Can I have this?”
   She nodded slowly, never taking her eyes off him. He tossed the rest of her beer down, frowning when he saw there was only an inch left in the bottle.
   Another slow song began to play. Quickly, Jordon pulled Callie into his arms where she swayed against him. He held her tightly, praying she would stay in the mood.
   “Honey,” he murmured as he nibbled gently on the soft curve of her throat. “You make me burn.” His body tightened in a glorious rush as she moaned softly in his ear. Her lips pressed against the naked skin at the vee of his shirt. “Oh, God,” was all he could say. Fighting for control, he moved in a circle holding her against him.
   Callie felt…odd. First, she saw Jordon like he was very far away. Then, the sensation changed, and her limbs had grown heavy. Now, for the life of her, she couldn’t make herself say anything. Jordon pulled her up to dance with her again. The touch of his body was just as wonderful as it had been before, but she couldn’t respond. When he spoke to her, soft sexy things, she wanted to say something back, but all she could do was moan. It was as if she was drunk, her body out of her control, but she knew better. Her mind was woozy, yet she knew she’d only sipped at the two beers. She shouldn’t be acting this way.
   What was going on? She was frightened, but nothing she felt was making itself known in her body. She wanted to ask Jordon for help but she couldn’t talk...couldn’t move...her body as unresponsive to her mind’s directive as if she was a corpse.
   He moved her around the dance floor, his hands touching her gently, but she had to struggle through thick layers of consciousness just to know what was happening. She wanted to say something…do anything, but the longer they danced, the more numb she became.
   Jordon wondered just how much more of this he could take. Callie draped around him like a vine, her lips pressing against his throat, his chest, wherever they happened to land. The change in her was making him light-headed; his own limbs sluggish as he held her. Would she come to the bus with him now? He shook his head. She wasn’t a tease. If she was responding this way, she must have changed her mind.
   Fiercely aroused, he pulled back, taking her face in his hands. “I want you,” he said baldly, watching her slumberous eyes as he spoke. He thought he saw them darken before they closed, and her head tipped back.
   “Oh, baby,” he growled before slanting his mouth over hers.
   Callie was almost senseless when he kissed her. What he had taken for permission was in fact a last flutter of consciousness. But when his lips touched hers, searing them with the heat of his passion, she struggled back through the layers of thick clouds surrounding her.
   She knew he was kissing her. In fact, a part of her, a very distant part, enjoyed it. She wished for just a moment that part of her was closer, so she would really know what being kissed by Jordon was like.
   What she was…was frightened. Something was very wrong, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Surely someone could tell she was in trouble. Jordon must be able to. But he continued to kiss her, muttering dark, sexy words that barely made sense to her.
   Jordon released her, taking in huge gulps of air. “God, almighty. That nearly got out of hand.” He took no notice of the people watching curiously or of the big man in the corner ready to jump him if Callie even squeaked in outrage. He didn’t see Brandon snickering as he nursed his own drink. All Jordon saw were Callie’s kiss-swollen lips. All he felt was the pounding of her heart and the throbbing of his own body.
   “Come out to my bus with me, Callie.” He touched her face gently as he spoke. “I’ll make it good for you, I swear.” When he released her face, her head fell forward then back in a sharp nod. Jordon was so surprised at the change, he almost dropped her, but the heat in his blood took over.
   “You won’t be sorry, baby,” he said, pressing swift kisses all over her face. “I promise you. This will be a night you’ll never forget.”
 

***end of excerpt***

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