Royce leaned closer, the spicy male scent of him flaring and filling her nostrils, and she fought the unexpected urge to reach out and touch him. “Am I making you nervous, Lauren?”

Her chin lifted, her gaze fixing on his, shocked that he’d read her so accurately. “You really do say whatever you're thinking, don’t you?

“Is there a reason to do otherwise?”

She liked the answer. “You don’t make me nervous.” And he didn’t. She was insecure in ways she didn’t want to be, that she’d tried desperately to overcome since her broken engagement. But in the end, she was left afraid to believe anything was authentic ever again, especially this man, who felt more real than any she’d ever met.

He searched her face a moment, and then offered her his hand. “Then dance with me.”

Before she could think to object, if she even would have, he was leading her toward the center of the room, anticipation pulsing through her like a live charge. She was going to dance with Royce Walker, to feel his big body pressed close to hers, and she was pretty certain it would be politically incorrect to melt into a puddle of warm, wanting female, in the center of her father’s birthday party. She was also pretty sure it was going to happen anyway.

***

Easing through the crowd, Royce repeated Lauren Reynolds’ words in his head. You have no idea how much I crave that day. She had no idea, all right. No idea how much he craved her. How enticed he was by her gorgeous pale skin, how enticed he was by the idea of stripping her na**d and caressing it, tasting it, feeling every inch of it, and her, molded against him. Or how enticed he was by the way her eyes danced with little yellow flecks of color when she felt strongly about something she was saying. He wondered how they would look when she was aroused and wanting. Would they be greener? Darker?

They cleared the path to the dance floor, and Royce eased Lauren onto the tiled circle where random couples moved together to an orchestra number. He braced himself for the impact of touching her, then pulled her into his arms. Their eyes collided, the mutual attraction they shared, that had passed between them in passing glances over the months since he’d taken a public position, wrapped them in warmth. But he’d known it would on some level he’d always known this woman would impact him, that she would stir something inside him he wasn’t sure he remembered existing or feeling since long before he’d joined the FBI fifteen years before, when life inside the bureau had been everything, and yet somehow nothing. There was no denying though, that since he’d taken a more public role to promote Walker Security, the business he and his brothers ran, he’d been drawn to her each time their paths had crossed, no matter how casually or indirectly. Yet, he’d resisted approaching her, all too aware that he didn’t fit into her political world, that his step into the realm of politics was merely a business endeavor, while hers was a lifestyle. That was, until tonight, when she’d declared this world to be her father’s, not her own, and made it clear that everything he’d assumed about her had been wrong. And until tonight when life had pulled them together for all the wrong reasons.

She was small and soft in his arms, and nervous as hell no matter how much she denied it. And while he didn’t want to make her nervous, he liked knowing he affected her, though he shouldn’t, because she was off limits. He had no business flirting with her, no business wanting her, and he knew that. And yet, he couldn’t seem to stop himself.

She melted against him, her head settling on his chest, the soft vanilla and honey scent of her warming him inside out. He squeezed his eyes shut, despising his reason for being here tonight, but incapable of regretting that she was in his arms. Knowing she wouldn’t stay there long, that she couldn’t stay there long. Because the minute he’d said ‘yes’ to this assignment, Royce had said ‘no’ to Lauren.

Chapter Two

Dancing with Royce Walker, there was no denying the simple truth. He did it for her. And whatever it was, it had her body tingling and her blood pumping at lightning speed. She not only wanted this man, for once in her life she wanted more than the fantasy of being more like Julie. For once, for one night, she wanted to let go, she wanted to just let herself go where desire led her, where this man would take her.

His lips brushed her ear. “You smell amazing.”

Lauren’s lashes fluttered before she looked up at him. There was something so powerful, so provocative about this man. She liked to be in control, normally resisted giving control away, which was one of the reasons the courtroom appealed to her. There she was respected, in charge and without her father’s influence. Royce wouldn’t let her have control. She knew this instinctively, but somehow didn’t care. Royce’s power was all his own, not bought or jockeyed for, a lethal quality she found alluring and sexy. A power he owned naturally, like a second skin, that simply existed as he did. And she wasn’t going to let this night with him escape because of insecurity.

She swallowed against the dryness in her throat. “You asked if you scare me.”

His gaze dropped to her lips, and lifted. “Actually, I asked if I was making you nervous, not scared.”

“Right. No. You don’t make me nervous. And you don’t scare me.” She allowed herself the freedom, the luxury, to run her hand discreetly across one of his broad shoulders and then down his arm, loving the feel of his muscles. It was bold for her to do so in public, at one of her father’s events, yet all she was thinking about was how every inch of this man was hard, male perfection. “But I think I might be scaring me.”