Page 64 of Plane Passion

Millie nodded. “We thought it would be best if it looked like I was out with her and met you by chance, in case anyone was watching.”

“Very sensible.” His lips brushed her hair. Warmth coiled within her.

They traversed the floor in perfect sync, their bodies moving together, legs brushing. Close as they were, she craved more.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet me,” Ernie said. “I had to see you.”

“It’s a terrible idea.”

“But you came.”

Millie didn’t much care that it was a terrible idea while he was touching her and moving with her like this. She longed to draw him into a dark corner and go further. Much, much further. Could they possibly sneak away to a hotel without attracting notice?

Mildred, what are you thinking?

“Yes, I came,” she said, breathless for reasons having nothing to do with the foxtrot. “I wanted to see you too.”

It cost her to admit it. Ernie was a bad habit she couldn’t seem to quit. He stirred things within her. And it wasn’t only physical attraction. If she was being honest, she had feelings for him too. She’d known it ever since that night when she thought he’d died in the fog over the Alleghenies.

No. She couldn’t afford to give in. Too much depended on her. And she still didn’t entirely trust him.

But all her worries seemed distant and unimportant while he was so close.

“Millie, you know I have feelings for you. Do you have feelings for me?”

How could he ask that? It was too direct, too difficult to deflect.

“Yes,” she admitted at last, unable to deny the obvious truth. “But it doesn’t matter because we can’t do anything about it.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” he whispered, pulling her indecently close.

His hard chest pressed against her breasts, and it was all she could do not to moan.

“We’ll find a way to be together,” he said, brushing his lips across her forehead.

He really shouldn’t have done that, but it felt so good. They were risking too much, and she couldn’t stop.

Did she believe that he cared for her, though? Could she trust him? She’d let Barney break her heart and had sworn never to allow herself to be vulnerable like that again. And yet Ernie’s sentimental declaration thrilled her. She wanted to believe. In her heart, she did believe, even as her mind blared warnings.

Her resistance was melting as she breathed in the spicy scent of his aftershave mixed with an earthy scent all his own.

“Ernie?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you mean it when you said you cared for me?”

She held her breath as she waited for his reply.

“Of course, I meant it.”

He stepped back slightly to look her in the eyes as they maneuvered around another dancing couple. “In fact, I’ll prove it to you. Come have dinner with my family tomorrow night. They will assure you that I’ve never brought a woman home to meet them before. I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about you.”

Dinner with his family? Heavens. That sounded terribly serious. Did she dare say yes?

“I’ll come,” she said at last. Curiosity got the better of her.

Ernie grinned and gave her a spin, clutching her close as she returned to him.