Make It Count

by Megan Erickson

Max elbowed him. “She can dance, right?” like Kat was some piece of meat.

  The beat pounded into Alec’s head and the beer fuzzed his brain. Kat’s moves had him in a trance, but he was ever aware of her boyfriend’s presence beside him, like a big bucket of cold water down his pants.

  Alec jumped five inches off of his seat when Max stood up. “I need to run to the john. Can you watch Kat and make sure no jackass puts his hands on her?”

  So now he was a babysitter? This night was getting better and better. He nodded and didn’t take his eyes off of the dance floor. The guilt of watching her eased slightly. Max told him to, so it was okay, right?

  Of course a minute after Max left, some guy walked up behind Kat, his eyes glued to her wiggling ass. Kat’s back was turned so she didn’t see him. The dude was huge, too, like six-five easy, and he was looking back at his friends, giving them a thumbs-up.

  This was not Alec’s night.

  He stood, knowing his own height of six feet was going to look puny. He motioned to Cam, hoping he knew some sort of black ops trick to bring Big Dude to his knees with a strategic finger poke. “We gotta get the girls. Some guy is trying to get all over them.”

  Cam’s eyes swept the dance floor, and his face hardened. “I got Tara and Shanna, you get Kat.”

  Course.

  Alec pushed his way through the writhing bodies on the dance floor, eyes on Kat. By now, the big dude had started grinding his crotch against her ass, his hands clamped on her hips.

  When Alec was five feet away, Kat dislodged the guy’s hands and whirled around to face him, all of five-three with her heels, her face only coming up to his pecs. She put a hand up, right in the guy’s face, and Alec saw her lips say, “No.”

  His heart started beating five times harder, and if he were a sap, he would have said he fell in love with her right then. Babysit Kat? She could take care of herself.

  Big Dude didn’t want to take no for an answer. He grabbed her hips again and leaned in, pressing his face against her neck. Kat recoiled, yelled “Ew!” which Alec heard clearly over the blasting music, and then she shoved Big Dude’s shoulders.

  Big Dude wasn’t amused.

  Alec took three more strides and was by her side. Kat whirled on him, the fight still in her eyes, as if she expected him to be Big Dude’s backup. When she saw it was him, her face lit up.

  “Alec!” she yelled, flinging her arms around his neck. She nuzzled her face into his chest, then leaned back. “Pretend to be my boyfriend,” she whispered.

  Did Kat realize that was like a death sentence when Big Dude was rolling his cannonball shoulders and fisting his fingered hammers? But he couldn’t say no, not with Kat’s scent in his nostrils, the warmth of her still-dancing body pressing against his.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Cam led Tara and Shanna off the dance floor and that spurred his brain into working again.

  “Uh . . .” Yeah, that was all he had. He never claimed to be an actor. So he gripped her waist and turned around, walking side-by-side, ignoring Big Dude.

  Big Dude didn’t like to be ignored.

  “Yo!” He grabbed Alec’s shoulder and wrenched it around. Alec didn’t have time to unwrap from Kat, so she came with him.

  Alec didn’t like to fight. When they were younger, Max fought all the rich assholes for both of them. Alec liked to sit down and talk it out. Like adults. Or as Max called it, a “pussy pacifist.”

  “You need to keep a better leash on your girl,” Big Dude said. Kat stiffened beside him, about to launch into a tirade. Was she afraid of anyone? Guys weren’t supposed to hit girls, but that didn’t mean none did.

  Alec grimaced at the guy’s mention of a leash. “Sorry, her collar is getting dry-cleaned.”

  Big Dude looked like he was contemplating stomping the life out of Alec. Kat snorted a laugh beside him, seemingly unconcerned about Alec’s imminent pounding.

  Before he could determine the best way to diffuse the situation, a body stepped in front of him. Max had finally stopped pissing and graced them with his presence. How generous. “Fuck off, Brant.”

  That was Max. No mincing words.

  Alec didn’t stay to hear the rest. He pulled Kat along with him off of the dance floor while she craned her neck around, shooting death glares at Big Dude the whole time.

  When they got to their table, she sat down in her chair and shivered. “What a jerk.” She smoothed her shirt over her hips. “Ugh, he had big, gross sweaty hands.”

  Alec didn’t say anything, watching Kat put herself together and glad it hadn’t escalated into him getting his nose broken.

  “Thanks for that,” she said, all traces of sexy Kat gone, her blue eyes earnest.

  Anytime, anywhere, just say the word, Alec wanted to say. Instead he shrugged. “Max asked me to watch out for you.”

  Then he wanted to break his own nose as Kat’s face fell. She recovered quickly, though. “Right. Max asked you. Well, thanks.”

  Max returned a couple of minutes later and sat down beside Kat.

  “Everything okay?” Alec asked.

  “Yeah, Brant’s drunk. He’s an asshole sober, so he’s just brimming with it when plastered.” He took a sip of beer and looked around, bobbing his head to the music. Kat fidgeted beside him, twisting her shirt in her fingers. The adrenaline of the near fight seemed to have left her, and now she looked drained.

  Ask Kat if she’s okay, ask Kat if she’s okay, Alec tried to tell Max through telepathy. It didn’t work.

  Alec leaned across the table to Kat. “You okay?”

  She looked up, startled. Then she took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  Her eyes shifted away. Liar.

  KAT SIPPED HER drink. The same drink she’d had for the past hour. Max kept offering to buy her another one, not even bothering to notice she barely drank the one she had.

  She didn’t really like alcohol. She had enough trouble staying focused. Being intoxicated only made that worse. Plus, she felt all worked up from that big muscle head pawing her.

  When she’d seen Alec walk through the crowd, she’d been relieved, knowing he’d have her back. It wasn’t until Max actually showed up that she realized she hadn’t even thought of him. Her boyfriend.

  Things were complicated.

  Max was everything safe. The devil she knew.

  And now Alec sat across from her, quiet and studious, his eyes on her like he was trying to figure her out. She wished she could figure herself out. Alec was a six-foot, pompadoured temptation. She loved how he made a joke rather than threw his weight around at the big guy, not that his weight would have mattered, since her unwanted dancing companion could have tossed Alec into the second-floor DJ booth. But when she thought about it, she liked that he didn’t try to flex his muscles and get all arrogant. She could take care of herself, provided she had someone at her back.

  And having Alec at her back had made her feel as big as the meathead.

  “You want to dance?” Max said, taking her out of her super-strength contemplation.

  “Um, sure.” She rose and reached for his hand.

  “Nah, not with me. I hate dancing.” Max screwed up his lips. “Go dance with Stone.”

  Seriously? Was this really happening? Alec made a strangled noise from across the table. When she didn’t answer, Max looked at his friend. “Go dance with Kat. You’re good at it.”

  Alec’s jaw was tight when he stood up. He reached down and took a shot that was on the table, then washed it down with beer. His steps seemed a little unsteady when he grabbed Kat’s arm and snarled at his friend. “Fine.”

  As they walked onto the dance floor, Kat said, “If you don’t want to, we don’t have to dance—“

  “It’s not a matter of not wanting to,” Alec muttered, cutting her off.

  They dissolved into the crowd on the dance floor, Alec taking her to the far corner, as far away from Max as they could get. Kat didn’t protest.

  Once they reached an empty
spot among the writhing bodies, Alec grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him. Thigh to thigh. Hip to hip. Chest to chest. They’d never been this close before.

  His eyes, normally such a pale green, sparked in the club lighting, and there was a sexy smirk to his mouth. His fingers on her lower back were insistent, pressing, and conveying a message that her foggy brain didn’t want to analyze.

  He leaned down so his lips were at her ear and whispered, “Show me what you got.”

  Now that, she could do. The deep bass of the song was a thudding pulse down her spine and each horn blast was like a shot of adrenaline right into her veins. She’d loved dancing ever since her mom had given Kat her first tutu before ballet class.

  She closed her eyes and let the beat of the song tap into her bones. She bent her knees and rolled her hips and shoulders, her fingers tangling into Alec’s hair, like she’d imagined many times, while he kept his face pressed into her neck. He let her lead at first, and then his hips began to churn. He followed her movement, anticipating every shift of her body.

  And she was lost. She was lost to the music, lost to the lust roaring through her veins and most of all lost to Alec—to the feel of the muscles in his arms and shoulders rippling under her hands, a strong thigh pressed between her legs and his hips grinding into hers.

  He lifted his head and when they locked gazes, she couldn’t look away. Something shifted behind his eyes, and his pupils dilated. Kat saw the desire in them—the red-blooded male look that said he wanted to rip her clothes off. His hands, which had migrated to her ass, squeezed, and she wondered if her look echoed his.

  He blinked and jerked his gaze away before gripping her waist and spinning her around roughly so her back was to his front. She took a step back in her heels until they were locked in an embrace and she continued to follow the beat, grinding her butt back into him.

  Alec held her tightly with a strong grip on her hips. She’d thought she’d felt his arousal before, but now she was definitely sure, the thick ridge pressing against her. His breath rushed hot along her temple, and she reached back with one hand, curling a finger into a belt-loop on his jeans, pressing him closer. Her entire body felt slick from sweat, from the press of bodies on the dance floor and most of all, because of the roaring attraction between her and Alec.

  A hand brushed her hair over one shoulder and a gust of cool breath wafted over the damp skin at the back of her neck. Closing her eyes, she groaned low in her throat, and Alec rumbled a groan in response before he pressed his hot lips to the spot he had cooled. The contact sent a jolt straight down her spine, and she stiffened in surprise, shock and lust.

  Alec’s movements stopped behind her and then his lips returned to her ear, and he whispered in a low, raspy voice, “Kat, we need to stop.”

  His words were like an ice pick to her skull. This whole thing had been out of line. If Max saw them . . .

  She slowed her hips and took a step forward, glancing over her shoulder. Alec stood motionless, hands fisted at his sides, hair damp with sweat and hooded eyes on her. She reached back and held her hand out. He waited a beat before slipping his hand in hers and she led him off the dance floor.

  Kat pushed her way through the crowd back toward their table, constantly aware of Alec’s damp hand in hers, the heat of his body at her back. When they reached the table, she let go of his hand and hauled herself into a seat. Alec did the same across from her, his face flushed. Gathering her hair off of her neck, she fanned herself and looked across the table. “Where’s Max?”

  Cam stared at them, his face hard. “At the bar.” He whipped his head to Alec. “What the fuck was that?”

  Alec flipped a beer cap between his fingers. “What?”

  “What?” Cam said incredulously. “You do that little performance on the dance floor and you say what?”

  Kat’s stomach churned.

  Cam laughed bitterly. “Geez, after that grinding, you might be pregnant, Kat. In fact, every girl within five feet might be pregnant.”

  Alec raised his head and fixed Cam with a glare. “Shut the fuck up.”

  Cam shrugged and Kat debated on what to say. Don’t tell Max. Tell Max so he’ll break up with me because I don’t have the guts to do it. Tell Alec I’ll be his if he’ll love me and not discard me after a month like every other guy.

  But when Max returned to the table, he was all smiles, and Cam accepted his beer from him.

  “How was dancing, babe? Alec keep his hands to himself?” Max winked at her.

  She swallowed. “Yeah, we had fun.” Understatement of the year.

  “Stone can dance, huh?”

  Alec hadn’t looked up from his beer cap flipping. “Yeah,” she murmured.

  Max slung an arm around her shoulder, leaned back in his chair and Kat steeled herself to get through the rest of the night.

  Chapter Six

  KAT WALKED SLOWLY down the hall toward the bathroom, yawning. Her ponytail had slipped to the side of her head overnight so she whipped out the elastic band and began arranging it again. Max was still in bed, snoring. When they’d stumbled home from the bar last night, she had feigned drunkenness and Max had promptly passed out beside her in bed. One class she could pass—Sex Evasion 501.

  And mostly, she couldn’t think about Max touching her when Alec’s scent clung to her hair and her neck burned where he pressed his lips to her skin.

  It was not lost on her how wrong that whole thought process sounded.

  She bent her head, her hands fixing her ponytail. A bedroom door creaked open ahead of her and she slowed her pace, remembering belatedly she was only wearing a tank top and pair of panties.

  She raised her eyes and froze.

  Alec stood before her wearing only a pair of black boxer briefs. Only black boxer briefs. And for the love of all that was holy, she couldn’t stop staring. He wasn’t bulky like Max, but he had a runner’s body, with sinewy arms and a thin waist trimmed with that delicious V muscle leading down into his waistband. His legs were muscular and she had to bite her tongue when all she wanted to do was bite his thigh. Yes, she wanted to bite his thigh. And then that muscle at his hip. And then maybe peek down those boxers to see if his big hands meant other things were big. She could still feel the imprint of those muscles against her own, shifting to the beat on the dance floor.

  And oh mylanta, his abs. Those delicious ridges were perfect, bulging under thin skin, highlighting a nice little trail of hair that started below his belly button and disappeared into his waistband. She licked her lips, wishing she could trace those ridges with her tongue.

  Yep, she’d officially gone off the deep end. Just right over it. Plop! Into the water. She wasn’t even flailing. She sank like a happy little ball of lead. Horny lead.

  Alec cleared his throat and she snapped her eyes from his general crotch area back to his face. His eyes were on her general stomach area, where a strip of skin showed below her tank top.

  She lowered her hands, letting her hair spill down her back and tugged her shirt down. “Um . . . hey.”

  Clearly, eloquent was her middle name.

  “Hey,” he rasped out. His hair was adorably ruffled, the part usually smoothed back in a bump now hung in a dark floppy bang on his forehead. It was odd to see him without his glasses. Odd and definitely . . . nice.

  She wondered if he thought of biting or licking any parts of her. Instead of dwelling on that, she gestured toward the bathroom. “I was heading there.”

  “Me too. But ladies first.”

  She wanted to laugh. In an inappropriately hysterical way. Because who said that other than her father when he went to the country club?

  “Thanks,” she mumbled. She stepped gingerly toward the bathroom, which was directly in front of him. As she brushed past him to enter, he grabbed her arm gently.

  His touch startled her, and she looked up. His eyes were heavy lidded, and the pale green of his irises was darker in the early morning light. She imagined this would be a
n amazing scene in a movie, where he whispered in a tortured voice, Kat, I want you. I’ve always wanted you. Let’s retreat to my boudoir and consummate our mutual attraction . . .

  His lips were moving, and she snapped back to attention.

  “. . . It was acting up, so flush twice.”

  Yep, while she dreamed of writhing naked and sweaty in his sheets, he was telling her to flush the toilet twice. Awesome. Amazing. Not embarrassing at all.

  She mumbled something in the affirmative and slipped from his grasp, then shut the bathroom door quickly behind her.

  She gripped the sink and bent her head. This was crazy. She should break up with Max, but she hated breakups. And Max was safe. Sure it wasn’t anything deep, but she didn’t especially feel as if she wanted something deep—or that she deserved it.

  Max had been irritated with her lately, but really, he’d lasted longer than most guys. And every time she thought about breaking up with him, she remembered the safety of their easy, light relationship and backed off.

  When she finished using the bathroom, she opened the door to the sight of Alec standing outside, his arms crossed over his still bare chest, a shoulder propped against the wall. And he still hadn’t put on pants. He also looked impatient.

  He uncrossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “Any trouble in there?”

  She clutched her hand to her throat in mock helplessness. “It was so scary in there without you, Alec. I didn’t know which knob on the sink was for hot water, and I couldn’t remember if I was supposed to pee sitting down or standing up.”

  He stared at her for a minute, and then his entire face cracked. His lips split into a huge grin which deepened the creases alongside his mouth and accentuated his cheekbones. A couple of his bottom teeth were slightly crooked and for some reason she found that incredibly endearing.

  And then he began to chuckle. Like the male version of a giggle. His shoulders shook and his eyes twinkled. He was like Santa, but Alec most certainly didn’t have a belly like a bowl full of jelly. It was a belly full of hard things that came in sixes. Or maybe eights. She wouldn’t mind unlimited access to his body for further examination.