Free One Reckless Night by Stephanie Morris

head in his direction. “Deidre suggested it.”

    Bayleigh laughed when his eyebrows rose. “It’s a long story.”

    He gave her an inquisitive look. “Maybe you can tell me about it after we dance.”

    The offer was compelling but she hesitated. Bayleigh hadn’t expected to see him here. Unlike
    at work, she wasn’t prepared to deal with him. Dane extended his hand to her. She knew she
    shouldn’t take it. Just say no. Then again, what would one dance hurt? Friends danced together all
    the time didn’t they?

    Bayleigh looked at her friends who were nodding frantically. It was just one dance. Reaching
    out, she took Dane’s hand. He pulled her closer but left a respectable amount of space between
    them. She moved to the music studying Dane as she did. His eyes never left hers and they revealed
    blatant interest. Bayleigh should be shocked, but she wasn’t. Dane made his attraction to her clear.
    Even with her avoiding him like she had for the last two weeks, his desire for her didn’t seem to

    have lessened any. Why had she expected it to? Dane never wavered when he had his focus set.

    She closed her eyes to hide from his intense gaze. Tried to clear her mind. A few moves later
    her body bumped his and her eyes flew open. She gasped and a shiver traveled through her at the
    heat in his gaze. His eyes held the same intensity they did the night they slept together. When his
    arms encircled her, Bayleigh’s body relaxed. His touch didn’t feel foreign, not like the other guys
    who touched her tonight.

    Bayleigh continued to move with him, bringing her hands up to rest on his shoulders. Their
    bodies fit well together and moved in perfect unison. The song changed but Dane’s hold on her
    didn’t. They danced to the end of the new song. Dane leaned down to whisper in her ear.

    “We need to talk.”

    Bayleigh groaned. This was what she wanted to avoid, had managed to avoid until tonight.
    She didn’t have an excuse to give Dane, at least not a good one. When he pulled back to look at her,
    she gave him a small nod. “Just let me tell the girls.”

    He nodded and she turned to look at her friends. They stared at her in amusement while
    they danced. “I need to talk to Dane.”

    Giselle and Deidre nodded. Maylea gave her a look of warning. “Hear him out, Bayleigh.”

    Bayleigh rolled her eyes before turning back to Dane. He offered his hand again. She took it
    and he lead her off the dance floor. She huddled close to him as he maneuvered them through the
    crowd of people.

    There was no denying that she enjoyed his touch entirely too much. He stopped when they
    were to the edge of the dance floor. Bayleigh watched him look around before leading her toward a
    door. It wasn’t an outside exit like she expected. Instead it was a room with plenty of couches. There
    were a few other people in the room, but it was much quieter than the club.

    Dane led her to a back corner that offered them privacy. She sat down were he indicated and
    he took a seat next to her. Being near him distracted her but Bayleigh forced herself to focus. She
    cleared her throat before glancing over at Dane. She shouldn’t have. His expression spoke of
    trouble.

    “What did you want to talk about?”

    “The night we shared about two weeks ago.”

    Bayleigh felt her heartbeat go into overdrive at the images of them as they came to mind and
    she bit her lip to hold in her whimper. “What about it?”

    “I wanted to apologize to you.”

    Her eyes widened. Did he regret their night together now? The hurt bubbled to the surface
    before she could stop it. This was what she had wanted to avoid. “What do you want to apologize
    for?”

    His smile was gentle. “For putting you in an awkward position.”

    “You can’t take all of the blame. I could have said no.”

    “I don’t like the distance that has come between us.”

    “I don’t like the distance between us either.”

    “I also know we can never go back to the way