Free Tap (Lovibond #1) by Georgia Cates Page A

I thought. “How do you know of my friends?”
    His eyes widen. “Oliver has talked about them.”
    “I bet. Did he also tell you how hard he crushes on both?”
    “He might have mentioned something about them being hot.” I thought he might.
    “They aren’t like me. Ivy is a nurse so she has a completely different mindset when it comes to healing. Kelsey is a loan officer at a bank. Both of them are very analytical.”
    “And you’re abstract. I bet that causes some debates.”
    “Not really. They respect my opinion as I do theirs.” We’ve been friends for a long time and it’s never been an issue.
    “You agree to disagree.”
    “Mostly.”
    My attention is stolen when my ears perk up for a rendition of Twin Forks’ “Kiss Me Darling.” I love that song so much, and perhaps it speaks more about me than I thought. It’s been a long time indeed.
    “What is it?” Lucas asks.
    “That song. I can’t believe the band is playing it. It’s one of my favorites.”
    Lucas stands and offers his hand. “Then we have no choice but to dance if it’s one of your favorites.”
    He holds my hand as he leads me to the crowd around the folk rock band on the small stage. “No one else is dancing.”
    Lucas gestures toward a drunken man doing something I don’t classify as dancing. “Not true. Look at him. He’s gettin’ down.”
    The guy stumbles and nearly face-plants. “He’s going to get down all right.” And possibly not get up.
    “He’s having a good time.” Lucas spins me outward and twirls me back so I’m pressed against his chest. “And so are we.”
    He guides me backward, holding my hands while swaying to the beat of the music. He’s leading me to move with him. Not a bad dancer. “Come on, Wren. You don’t strike me as one who cares what people think of you on the dance floor. Let go. I dare you.”
    He wants me to let go? I can do that. There’s very little I do better.
    I grab his hands and use them to propel myself away. I release one and spin back into his arms so my back is pressed to his front. Let’s see what he thinks of that.
    He laces his fingers through mine and his arms wrap around me, holding my body close as we sway with the upbeat tempo of the folk song. And I let him. This shouldn’t feel this good with a man I hardly know. But it does.
    I close my eyes and surrender to the music. And to the way this man’s arms feel around me. Everything I told him about not needing a man to feel complete was true. But that doesn’t mean I don’t miss the feel of one. It’s been so long since I’ve been touched like this. I miss it. I didn’t realize how much until this moment.
    There’s been no one since Xavier. Not since the night he pulled my hair and held me down. “ You are mine and no one else’s.”
    He was rough. Painful. Nothing hot or sexy about it. I saw a Jimmy-like possessiveness in his eyes that night. Fucking scary as hell.
    I don’t want to think about that. I prefer to enjoy being in the arms of Lucas.
    Dancing is an acceptable disguise for touching. Rubbing. It’s like making out with your clothes on. When the song ends, no one has to explain anything. It’s perfectly acceptable to pretend the only thing you did was move to the music.
    I press my body against Lucas and use my hands to encourage a tighter hold around me. Our embrace grows firmer. The tickle of his beard and warmth of his breath against my neck send a tingle down my body, a message signaling goosebumps to erupt over my skin. No man has done that, or had this kind of effect on me, in ages.
    Lucas rubs his hands up and down my pimpled skin. Oh, God. He’s taken notice. He feels and sees the proof of what he’s doing to me. It’s a physical reaction I can’t control. There’s no denying or hiding it. Shit.
    I hear the chorus of “Kiss Me Darling” coming from his lips, the ones so close to my ear. More goosebumps. As if I didn’t have enough already. “You know this song?”
    “Listen to