The Reluctant Mate

2 Amanda

I should have convinced Carrie to come out sooner, because her new boyfriend and his friends were absolutely hot. She obviously should have ditched Greg a long time ago, since he clearly had been dead weight dragging her down. She'd been moody and reclusive back in the Greg days. I hadn't met her before she'd been with him, but I had my suspicions about him, especially now that I saw what she was like now that they had broken up. Obviously happier, willing to socialize. He probably had been a controlling jerk, all the signs of a bad relationship were there. If I had known sooner, I would have tried harder to intervene.

Well, at least she had broken free, because she seemed genuinely happy with this Jason, who was of course off limits no matter how ridiculously hot he was. Moreover, even if I didn't have a code about not hitting on other people's partners, he would have been a lost cause anyway. He could barely take his eyes off of her. He also seemed teasing and easygoing at first glance, and I liked that for her. I also liked his friends. Max was dark-haired, with oddly light eyes for his complexion and had a sort of deep melancholy thing going on, but he wore it well. Lots of women would be lining up hoping to be the one to heal his wounds.

Not me, though. I wasn't looking for anything long term, at least nothing longer than this night, and for that, the blond one fit my purposes nicely. He was so good looking that normally I might assume he was out of my league and probably would not even bother trying—while I wasn't hideous by any means I was pretty sure he was in his own category, high above everyone else on the planet—but he had been hardcore checking me out since I'd walked over to greet Carrie. And, in my opinion, he was definitely the best looking of the three, maybe even the best looking man I'd ever seen. Definitely the best looking man I could bring to mind, at least.

My friends and I had been pre-drinking before we arrived so that cautious voice in my head was already numb and I wasn't in the mood to question my good fortune. I'd sat down across from him, because even though he'd been staring at me, he wasn't willing to admit it, so I had to strike up conversation, which flowed easily between us. While we talked, Carrie and her man got up to dance, and Helen got us all shots.

We tossed them back, I smiled at Porter. "Want to dance, too?"

"Yes," he said as if shocked it was even a question. His enthusiasm was flattering. I took his big calloused hand again—my dirty mind instantly giving me previews of what he might do with those hands later on—and pulled him along to the dance floor where the music pounded so hard I could feel it reverberating inside my chest.

Gloria, Lisa, and Helen pulled Max along with us, and we ended up in a rough group, although Porter was right next to me. It had been silent, but I had clearly called dibs on him, so my friends would leave him to me tonight. Good thing, because the idea of them hitting on him kind of irritated me. Max hadn't shown any of them much interest in particular, so I could already see Gloria's attention start to wander while they danced. She wasn't big on wasting time on lost causes.

I didn't really have much time to think about that, though. Porter was dancing with me, and he was close enough that I was starting to feel hot, and not just in temperature. He was keeping his hands to himself like a gentleman, which was kind of sweet, but it wasn't what I was here for tonight. I moved even closer teasingly, my pace rhythmic, and turned myself around so he'd get a good look at my ass moving.

I met his eyes mischievously over my shoulder, and I was rewarded when his hands landed on my hips and he pulled me against him. This was finally moving in the direction where I wanted it to be going, I thought with satisfaction, and he seemed just as happy to be flush against me as I was to have him there.

We kept going for several songs, and I was starting to feel a bit overheated. I turned in his arms and couldn't help but appreciate how muscular they were. I leaned close to his ear, and said, "Do you want to get another drink?"