Free Exquisite by Ella Frank Page A

it to stay away.
He knew she’d come straight from work and tonight she was in one of those
classy little skirts he was coming to like a whole lot. It was snug and curved
over her hip and finished just above her knee, which meant that right now
perched up on this stool it had ridden up to mid thigh. Oh yeah, he liked
those skirts, a lot . Her baby blue blouse was tucked neatly in at the waist
and her hair was pulled half up on her head and the rest spilled down to her
waist. He wanted to wrap his hand around all that hair and pull her in close to
him. He also wouldn’t mind wrapping her hair around other parts of his body,
but since she was still actually seated beside him, he figured he should keep
that enlightening piece of information to himself. “So how was work?”
    She tilted her head to him and
smirked. “Really? You’re going to ask me about work?”
    He shrugged then tried a different question,
“Okay, how do you like the weather tonight?”
    The last thing he expected was for
her to bust out with a huge peal of laughter. He felt his mouth twitch at her
hilarity and took a sip of his beer. “Are you done laughing at me?”
    “Oh come on. That was the worst
opening line ever.”
    “Well it isn’t like this is our
first date and I need to impress you.”
    She ran her tongue across her top
teeth and nodded, “No that’s right. You threw me out of our first date
Langley.”
    He nodded with a serious look and
replied, “Well you were being mean to me.”
    She was still smiling at him, which
he now knew was a huge accomplishment on his part, so he continued playing with
her, “You hurt my feelings.”
    “Did I?”
    He nodded, “I think you should make
it up to me.”
    Her left eyebrow arched up in a way
that was now becoming familiar. “I’m almost afraid to ask how, but ok you win,
how?”
    He looked over toward the band then
back at her. She followed his gaze then turned to him shaking her head. “No.”
    “Yes.” he replied standing and signaling
the bartender. When a young blond girl stopped in front of him he gestured to
his coat. “Do you stow the coats for us so we can dance?”
    As the bartender nodded and took
his he heard Lena protesting through gritted teeth.
    “No! Mason.”
    He reached over past her and
grabbed her coat giving it to the bartender as well just as Liam walked by. “Oh
stop giving the boy a hard time Maggie and go dance with him.”
    Mason stopped and pivoted slowly
towards her, “Maggie?” he asked slowly.
    Narrowing her eyes at him she
stood, “Don’t even think about it Langley.” and with that she stormed off
toward the band leaving him to follow.
     
    Great! She thought as she
marched toward the dance floor as though it was her execution. Just what she
needed, him closer to her . Wasn’t it bad enough he knew she thought he
was attractive? Now she had to press up against him for, how long was a song
anyway , around three minutes? Fantastic. As she reached the edge of the
dance floor she noticed other couples swaying to the slow beat that was now
pulsing through the pub. The women with their arms wrapped around the men,
their legs tangling as they moved about the floor. It all looked so intimate
and it made Lena want to run. She was just about to turn and bolt for the
nearest exit when she felt two big hands gently rest on her upper arms. She
could feel the warmth of him seep through her blouse and skirt to stroke her
skin and all she wanted to do was lean back into him. Instead she stiffened and
felt him tighten his grip as he leaned down to her. “Not this time. This time
you don’t get to leave until we’re done.”
    The threat shivered down her spine
and he moved in front of her released one hand while grasping the other and
tugging her into the crowd. She moved in close and let him guide her palm to
his shoulder. When it was there he looked down at her other hand.
    “What do you plan to do with that
hand?”
    Lena grinned. “Smack you with it?”
she