“You’re staring,” she said sharply.
“Hey…” He turned his hands palm upward, and shrugged. “I can’t help it. I’m a man, I’m awake, and you’re beautiful.”
“Well, quit.” She closed the door behind her. “Or I’ll have to rethink the whole idea of going out with you.”
“You’re not going out with anyone else dressed like that.”
She squinted up at him. “Says who?”
“Says me.” He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “I feel responsible for you, since I talked you into this. I’m not letting you out of my sight tonight.”
“Caveman,” she said, secretly pleased as she started toward his car. “I had no idea you were so old-fashioned.”
He moved ahead of her to open the passenger door. “I’m not. Normally.”
She tutted and got into the car, letting her hair swing forward to hide her smile.
Chapter Eleven
Aaron had to park some distance from the venue due to road closures for the Fringe Festival. He took Jasmine��s hand as they wound their way through the streets that were busy with impromptu street-theater performances and circus acts. He always enjoyed the buzz in the city around this time.
She didn’t tug her hand away, to his surprise, and he led her around a small crowd that was watching a troupe of impossibly lithe acrobats.
“Reminds me of a friend of mine,” he said.
“Spare me the details.” Jasmine looked at him with disgust, and he laughed. “No, really, this is a sad story. My friend was engaged to a contortionist, but she broke it off.”
“Hmmph.”
“And then another one was married to a trapeze artist, but she caught him in the act.”
“You’re hysterical. You crack me up. And in case you couldn’t tell, that was sarcasm.”
He smiled. She always did great sarcasm. She never bored him. He didn’t think she ever could.
Ever? That was a long time. He didn’t want to think about that.
She looked fantastic too. Not that she didn’t always look great, but tonight he could hardly believe his luck, and he couldn’t deny the swell of pride that she was with him. And only him.
He’d meant what he said about not letting her out of his sight. He’d already caught male passersby shooting her loaded glances, and he wished he had a jacket that he could throw around her shoulders, but no such luck. He wasn’t sure that a crowded party was such a good idea now. A cozy dinner for two in a dimly lit restaurant might have been a better choice.
These were new feelings for him. Possessiveness had always been an abstract concept, but he was getting a taste of what it felt like to want one woman all to himself. This night was a one-off, though, not the start of a new way of life. He had to remember that.
…
The venue was dark—not so much intimate dark as power-cut dark. “Is it supposed to be like this?” Jasmine asked Aaron.
“I’m not sure.” He took a firmer grip on her hand. “Don’t go anywhere until we know what’s going on.”
Lights suddenly lit up a stage in one corner, and she realized that they’d happened to walk in right at the moment between the room lights going down and the stage lights coming up. What were the chances?
A group of musicians started to play a soft-rock type of tune, and then two girl singers added their voices to the mix. Not bad.
More lights illuminated a dance floor and a bar, and her eyes began to grow accustomed to the dimness in their corner of the room. A few people started to dance straightaway, as if they had excess energy they needed to offload and couldn’t waste time just listening to the music.
“Drink first or dance first?”
“Drink.” She surveyed the venue, glancing at the trendy crowd; she didn’t know how to behave in this setting. She needed that drink to settle her nerves. “Wine, please.”
He did a double take. “Not a beer?”
“Not this time.” She was going to act like a woman tonight if it killed her.
She watched Aaron walk to the bar. Immediately, a group gathered around him, and yet he’d only just arrived. He was one of those people who had an attractive energy; others were drawn to him the way paper clips clung to the end of a magnet.
It was educational to watch the way both men and women reacted to him. The women especially. He flashed his megawatt smile at them, and each one no doubt thought she was in with a chance of being the chosen one. They just about dissolved into pools of desperate hormones at his feet. There was a lesson in how not to behave, if she needed it, because that would just add her to the long list of women who presented no challenge to him, and she was beginning to see that Aaron needed a challenge.
No wonder he was so sure of himself. As long as there were women around who were willing to take a number and wait their turn, he had life as a single man all worked out, and it didn’t look like the numbers were in danger of diminishing. But where was the fun in never having to work for something?
He wouldn’t change until someone gave him a reason to do so.
Somehow he managed to drag himself away from his adoring fans to deliver her drink, and just in time because she was beginning to wonder whether she should head over there and claim him as hers—just like she’d done at the grocery store, only this time she wouldn’t be play-acting.
“Thanks.” She took a sip. Maybe after a drink she’d feel less like a fish up a tree. It wasn’t because of the way she looked, which, thanks to Sasha, was spot-on for the venue. It was just that she was out of her comfort zone. “So, which one is Joe’s brother?”
He pointed out a good-looking man. “I’ll introduce you to him later. He’s busy at the moment.”
Jasmine noted the tall model type at his side. Right. That sort of busy.
“You knew Joe well, did you?”
“Yes. He…” Aaron paused, took a drink. “He probably saved my life. In fact, I’m sure he did. I was getting into some risky stuff when I met him.”
“Like what?”
He hesitated, then sighed. “I was a typical young bloke in search of a thrill. I did all the things we tell kids not to do. Jumping off cliffs into the ocean, diving into abandoned quarries—”
“You idiot.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m not telling you any more—you can use your imagination for the rest. The point is, I could have gone off the rails completely if I hadn’t met Joe. He straightened me out.”
“What about your parents? Didn’t they have any control over you?”
“Ah…by that time, they weren’t around.”
“Where were they?”
He shook his head. “Just not around.”
He didn’t want to talk about them, clearly. Well, she, of all people, should understand his reticence. Being let down by a parent felt so personal; it hurt to a person’s very core, and the wound remained forever raw. Not something that could be discussed easily. She should know.
The lump of emotion in her throat was as much about herself as Aaron, and she made an effort to swallow it, to put her own feelings out of the picture. Ignoring the questions she wanted to ask about his parents, she said, “So, how did Joe sort you out?”
“I joined an amateur football club after the coach spotted that I had some raw talent.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t committed to it and I let myself down by not turning up to training, not being a team player. Joe was the captain. He was tough, and he knew what it took to bring a young bloke to his senses. He helped me see that there was another way to live. It changed who I thought I could be.”
“And you paid him back by joining the service?”
He looked startled. “No. I did that for me. Are you ready to dance now? Just one dance, and then we’ll sit down to rest your ankle.”
He gestured at her empty glass, and with some reluctance, she gave it up. At Leanne’s wedding she’d had plenty of champagne by the time she braved the dance floor with Aaron. This time, one tiny glass was going to have to be enough.
&
nbsp; The band was playing a slow ballad now, so Aaron drew her into his arms. The vocals increased in volume, making it difficult to talk, so she didn’t bother to try and focused on the music as they moved across the floor. Or tried to. But when she drew a breath she got distracted by his aftershave and the way it made her smell receptors swoon. How come she never noticed how any other man smelled, only him?
Then there was the warmth and weight of his hands on her waist. That was distracting.
And his eyes. Even in the dim light of the party she could see the blue flecks in them as he gazed down at her.
He was one big distraction.
When the song ended, the band took a break, and Aaron let her go with obvious reluctance. He guided her to an empty table, then went to fetch her another drink. When he returned, he put her wine and his beer on the table and gave her a strange look.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He glanced away as he sat down, then brought his gaze back to meet hers. “I was just thinking how incredibly beautiful you look tonight.”
Oh. Her bones felt like melting candles. She managed a small laugh, then flapped a hand at his glass. “Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.”
His answering smile was so sexy, her melting bones turned to liquid.
Then his smile changed and shifted over her shoulder. She turned and saw Joe’s brother approaching the table.
Once Aaron had introduced him, Tony smiled and shook her hand. “Wow. I didn’t know Aaron had such good taste.”
“He doesn’t.” She grinned back. “We’re not a couple.”
“Oh?” Tony glanced at Aaron. “Then it’s not a problem if I ask you to dance with me when the band comes back onstage?”
She shook her head, still smiling. Tony was older than Aaron, late thirties at a guess, and not so tall or muscular. He took a seat at the table and before long they were chatting as if they’d known each other for ages. She felt comfortable with him. Comfortable was not what she felt with Aaron. There was too much tension in the air when she was near him, too much awareness that he was the worst person she could be attracted to, and yet she most certainly was.
She had nothing to lose by dancing with Tony because she wasn’t attracted to him. It would be straightforward fun, and she’d show Aaron that she was just as ready and able to have fun as anybody else.
When the band started up again, they didn’t play the type of music that required contact between dancers, and Jasmine discovered that she did have a sense of rhythm after all. With any luck, she didn’t look like a frog in a blender. She relaxed and smiled at Tony, and when one song ended, was happy to stay out on the floor for another.
At the end of that song, a tall, blond surfer type approached them. Tony introduced him, and excused himself. Jasmine found herself dancing with Sam and enjoying herself just as much.
…
Aaron had found a quiet spot at the end of the bar and was leaning back against it with a view of half the room, the half that included the dance floor. While he pretended not to watch Jasmine dancing with Tony, he mulled over the question she’d asked earlier.
Had he joined the fire service to pay back Joe for rescuing him from the brink of disaster? He’d always believed that the job had been his reward for cleaning up his act, not some form of recompense.
It was true that if it hadn’t been for Joe, he wouldn’t be where he was today, but he did the job because he loved it, not because he thought he owed it to his friend. What about the rest of his life, though? How many of his values and standards had been borrowed from Joe, and how many were his own?
He probably should think about that and work out what guiding principles he’d take with him into the future.
Hell, this was getting deep. Time for another beer.
Jasmine was still out there on the dance floor, dancing with some blond guy now.
Tony turned up and leaned on the bar alongside him.
“Thanks, mate,” Aaron said.
“What?”
“Why did you leave her out there with him? Who is he, anyway?”
“He’s fine. He’s a friend of mine, name’s Sam. And what’s your problem? You’re just friends.”
Aaron ground his teeth. “She has a sore ankle.”
Tony blinked at him. “She wasn’t complaining. She seemed happy to keep on dancing, and I didn’t get the impression that she’d agree to anything if she didn’t want to do it.”
No, she wouldn’t. But dancing with her had reawakened all the desire he’d tried to bury since Leanne’s wedding and their disastrous kiss. He hadn’t succeeded, of course—it had been there all along. He knew that Tony was right, that he shouldn’t have a problem with her dancing with other men, but irrationally, he’d hoped she’d feel the same…need. Clearly she didn’t, or she wouldn’t be out there laughing and joking with Sam while he was propping up the bar.
Tony fixed him with a thoughtful stare. “You normally have trouble getting rid of them, mate, not making them want you. Remember that Suzy What’s-her-name who went berserk at the football club?”
Aaron winced. “That was a long time ago, and in my defense, I was young. That sort of thing doesn’t happen anymore. Girls like Suzy who want the whole marriage and babies thing are off my radar.”
“Right. It’s safer to stick to experienced women who don’t expect you to settle down.”
“Exactly.”
After a pointed hesitation, Tony said, “So, how do you explain Jasmine?”
Aaron opened his mouth to respond, but the right words eluded him. He closed it again. He knew what he should say: That they were colleagues and friends, and nothing more. It was all they could ever be, and they both knew the score. But…
“Jeez.” Tony folded his arms. “Don’t you think you’d better make up your mind about what’s going on between you, if anything?”
“There’s nothing going on. We work together.”
Tony sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Dangerous territory.”
“Tell me about it.” Aaron took a long drink of his beer.
“Especially in your line of work.”
“I know, all right?”
“Do you want to know what I think?”
“Not particularly.”
Tony sighed. “She’s a lovely girl, and if you get involved with her, one of you is going to get hurt. Badly. I wouldn’t want it to be her.”
“Cheers, mate.” Aaron raised his beer in an ironic toast, then turned to watch Jasmine, who appeared to be having a seriously good time out there on the dance floor. Without him.
All the way home in his car, Aaron had been debating whether to suggest going back to his place for coffee. But he hadn’t. Instead he’d driven her directly home, and now here they were, sitting outside her house.
“I had a great time,” she said, turning an adorably flushed face to him. “I’ve decided that I love dancing, so that’s a new interest I have and I owe it to you. Thanks for inviting me, and for convincing me that I need to get out more and…live,” she finished with a shrug.
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed it, even if I did spend half the night on my own.”
“Sorry.”
He smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I got to watch you dance.”
Her skin was so smooth and flawless. Without thinking, he stuck out his hand and cupped her cheek. The remains of her lipstick had stained her lips red, and he gently dragged his thumb over the softness of her lower lip. He leaned forward, moving toward her mouth, unable to resist the urge to taste her again.
At first it was just the light pressure of his lips on hers. But then he slid his tongue with slow deliberation across her lips, tasting them. Her mouth was warm and sweet. Emotion surged up from his belly and nearly choked him.
He pulled back, then shook his head to clear the fog. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. It wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“She stared at him, her expression bewildered, her jaw sla
ck. For a moment he thought he saw hurt in her eyes, but then her face went blank and her gaze dropped. She grabbed her tiny purse, opened the door and bolted for the house before he could apologize again, before he could make an even bigger idiot of himself.
He waited until she’d gone inside before starting the engine and heading home with a throbbing pain behind his eyes and an unfamiliar ache in his chest.
He’d kissed her again, despite his determination not to do something so stupid, not to mess up his friendship with Jasmine, not to ruin things between them at work.
Quite how he’d gotten himself into this situation, he had no idea. His life had been tracking along nicely. Work hard, play hard, had been his philosophy, and a good one it was too. Then, somehow, his life had been derailed. He knew exactly when it had happened, of course. Michael’s wedding. That was when he’d first seen Jasmine as something other than a member of his crew. If he could wind back the clock to that day…before they’d danced…he would.
Well, he couldn’t travel through time, but he could put things back on the footing they should have been on all along, and he’d start by calling…someone.
Melinda. A sexy redhead, Melinda had been angling for a night of his undivided attention for ages. She would take his mind off Jasmine if anyone could.
No, forget it. He couldn’t face an entire evening with Melinda, or any other woman in his contacts list for that matter. And what was he thinking, anyway? It wasn’t a matter of taking his mind off Jasmine for one night. He had to handle this thing properly, get himself under control, be a better man.
He’d been thinking about guiding principles earlier, hadn’t he? Well, here was one for him.
Stop seeing Jasmine in any context other than work. Because he couldn’t trust himself to do the right thing when he was with her. Jasmine deserved better than that. She deserved better than him.
Chapter Twelve
Jasmine hadn’t expected to sleep well, and she’d been right. When she had finally slept, she’d had dreams that made her doubt her sanity and left her feeling empty when she woke and found herself alone. She’d never considered herself lonely before. She still didn’t. There was a difference between lonely and alone, but there had been something so satisfying about the dreams of Aaron and herself sharing a bed. Satisfying in all respects.
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