Free Worth Waiting For by Delaney Diamond Page B

wasn’t careful, she would find herself hemmed up in a dark corner of the club, getting it from him— lento .
     
    ****
     
    They danced to a few more songs, and then Freddie led her back over to the bar. She could barely walk. This time she requested a bottle of water. She needed something to quench her thirst. Dancing was like exercising, but her thirst was actually the result of her deep-seated arousal.
    He sat on one of the stools and pulled her close between his muscular thighs.
    “I should come dancing more often,” Julia said. She rested a hand on one of his broad shoulders, feeling the heat emanating from him.
    The hand around her waist tightened and brought her closer.
    “You should,” he agreed. His hooded gaze caressed her face and made her feel deliciously feminine. He rubbed his hand up and down her back, and she felt the heat of every stroke as if he’d touched her bare skin. “You’re very good.”
    She blushed, leaning into him. “I had a good teacher.”
    The movement of his hand stilled in the middle of her back. His gaze traveled over her face. The pulsing sound of the music receded into the background. “You look happy. Your eyes are shining.”
    “Because of you,” Julia whispered. “I’m having fun and enjoying myself.”
    With Freddie, she discovered a new side of her personality. Perhaps it had always been there, hidden away behind a protective shield. No one would believe the seductive way she’d danced and teased him on the floor. Even now they were practically joined together, impervious to the activity around them, as if they were the only ones in the room.
    He slipped his hand up to the nape of her neck under her hair and kissed her. The soft pressure of his lips heightened her aroused state. “You’re coming home with me tonight.”
    She had no idea if it was a question or a statement. She felt a moment’s hesitation. But even if her brain wasn’t sure, her arms, legs, fingers, and toes were ready for what was to come.
    He pressed his mouth to the hollow at the base of her neck where her rapidly beating pulse was a silent signal of her concession.
     
    ****
     
    They left the club shortly thereafter, hand in hand, and were soon on their way to his house. On the way there, Freddie pulled into a gas station.
      “Do you need anything?” he asked. She didn’t have a purse with her, so he knew she didn’t have any money.
      “I would like to get a ginger ale,” she replied.
    She needed to settle her nervous stomach. It wasn’t as if she was a virgin, but she couldn’t squash the persistent anxiety she felt. It had been so long. She wanted everything to be perfect, and in truth, she was out of practice. She’d been out of practice for over two years, although she didn’t want to count the one encounter she’d had after her break up. She was still mortified she’d thrown up right afterward, embarrassing herself and the other person. She had not been ready for that type of intimacy. She had simply used the man as a bolster for her damaged ego.
    Freddie pulled open a compartment built into the dashboard and handed her some cash.
    She smiled at him. Fun, sexy, a gentleman, and sweet. What more could a woman ask for? “I’ll be right back,” she said.
    Inside the convenience store, Julia moved to the back to the refrigerator section. She browsed the contents. “Ginger ale,” she muttered to herself, scanning the shelves.
    “Julia?”
    She reacted like an electrocuted cat. The hairs on the back of her neck came to fearful attention at the sound of her name. Her heart rate accelerated to breakneck speed in her chest. In the reflection of the door of the refrigerator, she recognized the tall image reflected over her shoulder.
    She turned to face him. Her eyes traveled slowly up the Italian suit, past the buttoned white shirt and silk tie, and slowly past the prominent Adam’s apple, to the face of the man she once thought she would spend the rest of her life with. Three