Fall to Pieces (9 page)

The butterflies kicked into overdrive as
Dylan did the same to her. "You sure you want to do this? Last time
we danced I nearly crippled you," she said, her tone light even as
she inwardly cringed at the memory of how that night her suddenly
awkward legs tangled with his and sent them crashing to the
floor.

"I just need to remember to keep a firmer
lead," he said, and she thought her heart was going to explode out
of her ribs when he pulled her even closer. Close enough that her
breasts pressed against the front of his shirt, that she could feel
the muscles of his thighs bunching against hers with every
step.

She kept her gaze squarely on the pearl snap
button as she concentrated on the rhythm of the two step, praying
he didn't feel the way her nipples had gone tight inside her bra.
Jesus, she'd already admitted how hard up she was. He didn't need
it spelled out that she was hard up for
him.

###

This was why he'd stayed away, Dylan thought
as the feel of Sadie's body pressed against him sent heat sizzling
through him. It hadn't taken more than a friendly hug and that one
disastrous dance for him to know that he enjoyed touching Sadie
entirely too much.

Then there was that night in the barn, when
he'd been nearly overcome by the urge to kiss her, along with that
weird feeling in his gut that he could tell her anything, and he'd
known he needed to stay away, for his own good as well as hers.

He should get away from her now, he knew. But
he couldn't seem to tear himself away. It's just a dance, he told
himself. Why not enjoy the feel of her moving against him, the
fresh, flowery smell of her blocking out the aromas of spilled beer
and crushed peanuts that permeated the bar.

His hand slid down her slender back, pressing
her closer. His lids drifted lower at soft weight of her tits
pressing against his chest.

Oh, Christ, her nipples were hard. He felt an
answering hardness strain against his fly.

Talk about being hard up, he thought with a
little smile. If Sadie was hard up, it couldn't be for lack of
opportunity.

On the next step, her thigh brushed the
inside of his and he felt himself grow another inch. He had to get
his mind off of sex.

Even as he had the thought, he couldn't stop
the question from popping from his mouth. "So how long has it
been?"

She stumbled in surprise. He caught her
around the waist and steadied her, wishing he had a time machine to
go back two minutes and stuff a sock in his mouth.

He wanted to blame the beer, but really he
knew it was temporary stupidity caused by all the blood in his body
heading south.

"That's kind of a personal question," she
said with a choked little laugh.

"You're the one who brought it up."

She tilted her head back and gave him a wry
smile. "Touché."

"So?" he didn't know it was so damn
important, but his curiosity had him like a dog with a bone.

"Let's see, it's the middle of July," she
said, and looked up at the ceiling like she was doing the math in
her head. "That makes it about two and a half years, give or take a
week."

His brain struggled to compute. A little time
off between relationships he understood, but how in the hell could
a woman who looked like Sadie end up in a two plus year dry
spell?

"Don't look so horrified," she laughed at
what must have been his stunned expression. "People live without
sex. Though I'm sure someone like you wouldn't know," she said and
gave him a knowing look from under her lashes.

"Someone like me?" he repeated.

"Well it's no secret you were getting your
share of action in high school I can't imagine that's changed."

"Oh really?" he said, his feet stepping in
time as he maneuvered her through the crowd.

"Girls talk."

"Yeah? What do they say?"

"Lots of things." she said with a cocked
eyebrow and speculative grin. His blood warmed even further at the
idea of Sadie whispering about him and the things he did with other
girls, maybe fantasizing about having him do them to her.

"Give me an example," he squeezed her hip in
encouragement.

"Well, for example, Debbie Fleming reported
that while your equipment was impressive, the whole thing was over
in less than a minute."

Dylan felt his cheeks flame and his steps
faltered, nearly sending them to the floor as he remembered his
first time. It had been his sophomore year and he'd managed to
convince Debbie Fleming, a senior to go parking with him. It had
been urgent and awkward, and as Debbie had reported, embarrassingly
short.

Sadie's laughter echoed above the music as he
righted them and pulled her even more firmly to him. Heat surged
between his legs, making his cock swell against the fly of his
jeans.

Embarrassing as the memory was, he couldn't
contain his own laugher. "Poor Debbie. At least she said I had nice
equipment."

"I believe the word she used was impressive,"
Sadie said, her own cheeks flushing a delicious shade of pink.

He knew it was all kinds of stupid, but he
couldn't stop himself from closing the last few millimeters between
them. From pulling her hips into his so she could get an idea of
just how impressive. "I'd like to think I've improved a bit over
the years."

"I'm sure you have." Her teeth closed over
her plump bottom lip as her cheeks flamed hotter.

His mouth watered at the idea of sucking it
gently between his own lips. His muscles tensed as lust surged, hot
and urgent through his veins. Every nerve in his body urged him to
drag her out of there and take her back to his bed where he could
show her every one of the skills he'd developed in the years since
that bumbling encounter in with Debbie Fleming in the back seat of
her mom's Subaru.

His lips tingled, on their way to covering
hers as his head swirled with how much fun it would be to break
Sadie's two year dry spell.

The thought was like a bucket of cold water
pouring all over his bad intentions.

A stark reminder of why he could not cross
that line. A woman who went that long without sex didn't take it
lightly. She didn't do casual sex, and that was all he head to
offer.

As the song wound down he started to pull
away. But he couldn't resist pressing his lips to her smooth cheek.
"Thanks for the dance."

###

Brady could feel every muscle in Molly's body
tense as he pulled her close. Heat pooled in his stomach at the
feel of her lush curves pressing into him. Her blond curls tickled
at his stubbled chin, and he stifled a groan as her warm, floral
scent washed over him.

From the first moment he'd laid eyes on her
nearly a year ago, every cell in his body had gone on high alert.
Blonde hair, big blue eyes. An angel's face on a body built for
sin.

Every caveman instinct had gone haywire,
urging him to grab her by the arm and drag her back to his
proverbial cave.

Two things stood in his way. One, the big,
sparkly rock she sported on her left hand. And two, the fact that
for some reason he could never quite put his finger on, she had
seemed to hate him on sight.

Oh, she was sweet as pie and nice as all get
out to anyone else she interacted with. That snotty, tight-assed,
too good for you thing seemed to be reserved especially for
him.

Which told him she felt the heat crackling
between them as much as he did, though she'd sooner eat a pile of
dog shit than ever admit it.

Normally he would have given her a wide
berth, ignored her bad attitude. After all, it wasn't like there
weren't plenty of other women out there who liked him just
fine.

But he couldn't resist busting her chops,
pushing her buttons. Like an eight-year-old boy pulling his cute
classmate's braids, if he couldn't get her to like him, he could
damn sure make her pay attention to him.

"So Joshy boy is falling down in the bedroom
department?" he said, tightening his arm across her back,
anticipating her move to pull away.

"Like I said, he's been really busy," she
said through clenched teeth. "Not that it's any of your
business."

He didn't know what made him angrier. The
idea of Molly giving it up for a tool like Josh, or that Josh
wasn't availing himself to her gorgeous body every chance he could
get.

Or worse, leaving Molly high and dry while he
got it somewhere else.

"Yeah, you said that," Brady murmured, moving
her across the dance floor, keeping perfect time to the music. "I
can see being too busy to plan a wedding." He slid his hand down
her back, until it hovered just above the lush curve of her ass.
"But if I were with you, no way in hell I'd ever be too busy for
sex."

She made a little disdainful sound and tipped
her head back. She somehow managed to look down her nose at him
even though he was nearly a foot taller. Her blue eyes were
narrowed in a glare, sparkling with irritation. "Please. You are
the last guy in the world I'd ever get involved with."

Stupid for that to sting him. Not like she
hadn't made it crystal clear from the get go.

He danced her over to the edge of the floor,
past the jukebox until he had her in a corner next to the bar. He
bent his head. "I wouldn't get involved with me either. I know I'm
not the guy you want a relationship with."

"Nice that you're so self aware," she said
and tried to push past him.

Blocking her with his body, he bent his head
until his lips nearly brushed her ear. "But if you're looking for
someone to fuck you long and hard all night long, I'm your
man."

He caught her hand just before it connected
with his cheek, brought it to his mouth and planted a hot kiss in
the center of her palm. "Let me know when you're ready to take a
walk on the wild side."

He turned, just in time to see Josh the tool
walk through the door, scanning the crowd, no doubt looking for
Molly.

The satisfaction he felt at seeing the flash
of heat in her gaze, her soft lips parting instinctively with
arousal, turned into a sour pit in his gut.

He shook his head, ambled up to the bar,
ordered a Wild Turkey with a Coors chaser.

Molly was a smart girl. But like a lot of
smart girls, she was wasting her time on a self-centered idiot who
would never appreciate her.

Not that he cared, he though as he tossed
back the shot.

Yeah, maybe a dozen or so more shots, maybe
you'll actually believe that.

It was a stupid cliché, but Sadie really did
feel like she was walking on air as she and Dylan made their way
back to the table.

Even the sight of Josh, slumped back in his
chair, sipping a beer while Molly talked to him wasn't enough to
stifle the warm glow emanating from her belly.

For the first time in her life, Dylan had
finally seen her. Not as the awkward girl, the friendly
acquaintance eager to help with Geometry because that was the only
way get close to him. Not even as the surprisingly attractive woman
she'd become.

For the first time tonight, he'd seen her
like he'd seen other women. As someone desirable, someone he
wanted.

She hadn't missed the flare of awareness in
his eyes, the way his skin had seemed to heat while she taunted him
with past gossip . And there was no missing the swell of his
arousal brushing against her as he held her pressed against
him..

Impressive indeed.

Yeah, Debbie had thrown him under the bus,
but Sadie was sure that was in part because just two weeks after he
was with Debbie, he disappeared at a party with Andrea Goodman. And
Andrea and all the girls after that had nothing but complimentary
things to say about Dylan, size and performance wise.

He was so big I didn't even think it would
fit, but it felt so good....

How many times had Sadie heard those stories,
imagined Dylan touching her like that? Need hummed through her
blood as she imagined him touching her, licking her, fucking
her.

And she knew, she just knew, that he'd been
thinking it too.

Her body hummed with energy despite her
recent sleepless nights as she imagined what might happen when they
got back to the ranch. Would he make a move tonight? Should she say
something to make it clear she would be receptive? She tried to
catch his eye, but Dylan had pulled out his phone and was fixated
on the screen.

"Hey you!"

Dylan finally looked up from his phone, but
his wide smile was aimed not at Sadie but at a point over her
shoulder.

A cloud of perfume flooded her nostrils as
she saw Molly quickly hide a grimace behind her own smile.

Sadie turned, her stomach turning over as she
saw the woman standing behind her.

At twenty eight, Colleen Murphy was still as
depressingly perfect as she'd been in high school, Back then she'd
pranced up and down the halls of Sweetgrass County High in a
cheerleading sweater that showed off her firm, high breasts and a
skirt that showed every line of her lean, muscular legs. Sadie
still remembered how she'd pulled her perfectly smooth brown hair
into a ponytail that bounced perkily with every step she took.

And she still remembered the way Dylan's eyes
had followed that ponytail—not to mention all of her other bouncing
parts—the spring of their senior year.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and
watched as Dylan stood and pulled her into his big, strong arms,
his delighted smile mirroring Colleen's toothy grin.

Colleen pulled back and smiled in greeting at
everyone else. "Sadie," she said when her eyes lit on her, "you
look amazing! Talk about growing into your looks!"

For all that Sadie wanted to read a dig into
the other woman's words, she didn't see anything but sincerity in
her eyes. That was always the problem with Colleen. As much as
Sadie had always envied her, with her perfect hair, perfect body,
and ability to make guys like Dylan pant after her, she'd always
been nice to everybody, including a studious nerd like Sadie. "You
look great too," trying not to choke on the words.