Page 56 of The Catch

"Yeah, I'm okay." I gulp. "Just thinking of the last time I was here, and how things have changed."

"Why would you think about last year? Why do that to yourself?"

I laugh. Several of Saint's friends came to the club tonight. Dom is to the side with a beautiful someone in his arms, while Bear and Pen sit on a side bench near us, enthralled with each other. Next to Saint and I, Logan and Evie complete the group. They all look amazing, making me glad I chose this outfit and didn't hold back.

Scattered through the VIP section, other friend groups sit around, twice as many people with faces I don't know, conversing and enjoying the evening. The music is loud up here, but not so loud the group we're in can't hear each other.

It doesn't stop Saint from leaning close and talking to my ear.

"You look beautiful," he says.

I turn to him and smile. "Thank you. We all do, right?"

"So I look good, too?" His grin is a devastating mix of sexy and cute. "Do you think that's why I won the social media likes bet yesterday?"

He's unapologetic about fishing for compliments, and I find it endearing. It makes me playful, but I don't directly engage. I lift my eyes to the ceiling and shake my head, like I can't believe I walked straight into that.

There's something vulnerable about admitting to him tonight how good he looks. It's a slippery slope. Like I'll end up confessing he always looks incredible, and that I admire his fashion sense. That it kidnaps my attention, and it makesme crave the touch of the textures of his clothes, and the softness of the skin underneath.

I don't manage to say anything at all.

"Fine," he says. "Don't tell me I look good. But will you dance with me? We should have fun."

That I can do.

We go down to the dance floor. The music is louder here. Deep, insistent bass resounds in my chest.

He grabs me by the waist and brings me close.

"This okay?" He asks close to my ear.

I nod, put my hands on his shoulders, and move to the beat of the music. One, two songs, and my body has learned to follow Saint's guidance. His lead is confident, telling me what to expect from him with subtle but clear pressure of his hands. At times, the swaying of our bodies echo waves in the ocean, then flags billowing in the air. Melodies entwine us together, until I don't know where he ends and I begin.

Through it all, we keep our steps small, maintaining our proximity. Whenever his hands invite me to create any distance— just enough that he can lead me through a turn or half a spin— he brings me back and we end up plastered against each other. Maybe that's why our legs interweave. We're dancing bachata to every song.

I'm in a trance. The heat of our movements release his pheromones into the air, and they put me under a spell. One of my arms goes over his shoulder, my hand at his nape. The other lands on his chest. The velvety fabric is soft under my fingertips, and his heartbeat follows the bass around us. It echoes the drumming inside my chest. It's been years since I danced like this.

One of his hands splays on my back. The other is anchored to my hip. His chain rests on his clavicles and, in my heated mind, I realize I could close my mouth over his skin, and clamp the metal links between my teeth.

I think it means I'm going feral.

"Saint?"

It's not me who's calling his name. The only reason I know that is because the voice isn't laced with the yearning simmering in my veins. It startles me.

I don't realize I had been dancing with my eyes closed, lost in his arms, until I open them to find a stunning blonde inspecting us.

Saint keeps me close, but gazes at her. "Hello, Victoria. It's been a while."

A smirk curls her lips, and the gesture is somehow alluring on her perfect face. She studies me, from head to toe.

I swallow back the distaste in my mouth. A green little leprechaun dances in my stomach. It's an unfamiliar, unwelcome creature.

She smiles at me. "Can I cut in?"

Oh, no. She didn't.

The damn leprechaun turns into an imposing, angry green monster. Mutant muscles and torn clothes. The kind that could flip cars and take out an army on his own.