Taming the VIP Playboy (2 page)

“Good. Very good. I'm ready for some action tonight. Ready to mix it up with you.”

“Me, too,” he said, shaking hands and giving the other man a one-armed hug. “I heard you signed up for dance lessons.”

“Mariah insisted that I take them. She said the teacher is the best and that I'd be an idiot to miss out on the classes. Of course, Paul said the teacher was hot.”

“You can see for yourself tonight. The first class starts in about thirty minutes. Do you want to have a beer?”

“Yes. I'll catch you up on the team news. There's a rumor that O'Neill is going to be traded.”

Nate led his friend to the bar and they chatted about baseball and the players they both knew. It was still early and the club wasn't open to guests yet. But Nate wanted some private time with T.J.

Nate tried to concentrate on the conversation, but his mind kept drifting back to Jen. He didn't attribute much to it, though. Sure she was sexy and spunky—two things he'd always been attracted to. And talking about baseball and his glory days always made him want to go on the prowl.

“Let's go. Don't want you to be late to your class.”

“Are you coming with me?”

“Yeah, why not? I haven't been to a salsa class yet and as you mentioned, the teacher is…well-qualified.”

T.J. tipped his head back and laughed. Then they finished their beers and headed upstairs. There was no reason for Nate to be in this class except that he wanted to see Jen again. And that was all it took, he thought. That was a perk to being his own boss—he could do whatever the hell he wanted.

He walked in the door of the rehearsal room and Jen glanced up from a turn she was doing. Her hips were swaying and the pulsing sensual beat of the salsa music echoed in the background. He felt the rhythm of it down deep in his soul, and his shoulder started to throb the way it did when something big was about to happen. That old injury was like a dowsing rod for spotting trouble.

T
he music swelled around her and for once a man distracted her. Well, that wasn't true—she'd been distracted by men before but not like this. Nate Stern was making her conscious of each sway of her hips. She felt the material of her long skirt against her legs and when the side slit parted to reveal her thigh, she felt his gaze on her.

His gaze.

Not another single person in the room was registering for her.
Just him.

Why?

Why Nate Stern? This had disaster written all over it. She couldn't be attracted to her boss. The last time she had been attracted to someone with authority over her it had ended badly.

Her sister Marcia would roll her eyes and say that
Jen never learned. She had to learn, she thought. She couldn't start over again.

To add to her troubles, Nate's friend T.J. might be a rocking third-base player but he couldn't find the rhythm of the songs she'd played to save his life. It shouldn't be that hard. The strong Latin beat was easy to hear.

Alison was working with some students at the back of the classroom as Lou Bega's “Mambo No. 5” came on. She used her remote to pause the music. This was the song that the class danced to every evening to open the club. Then Alison and Jen would go into the back and come out twenty minutes later to do a flamenco routine.

“Okay. Is everyone ready to show us what you've learned?” Jen asked. “When you signed up for this lesson you probably didn't realize it but you are going to be the stars of the opening number tonight.”

There were a few good-hearted groans from the men in the room and a smattering of applause.

“The important thing to remember about the music is that it is sensual. It reflects the rhythm of the night. You should feel it pulsing through you. And don't worry about looking silly, you all look wonderful when you are dancing together.”

“I don't think I can feel anything except when someone is going to try to steal third,” T.J. said.

“I have to agree, Mr. Martinez.”

“Call me T.J.,” he said with a charming grin that revealed his perfect white teeth.

“I will. Since you are our celebrity tonight we would like to invite you to lead the conga line into the room and then, of course, have the first dance.”

It was their standard procedure to ensure that the classes got the utmost attention. According to Nate
Stern, it was a nice way to drive business to the lessons. Everyone wanted to be in a class with a celebrity.

“I don't think I'm the right guy for that.”

Jen smiled at him. “I will make sure you are.”

She hit the button to turn the music back on and walked over to T.J. Nate was watching every move she made and she felt as if she had a spotlight on her body.

She gave him a pointed stare and he just grinned back at her. That was when she decided to show the annoyingly handsome man that she was made of tougher stuff than he thought she was.

She'd been dancing since she was thirteen. Let's face it, she thought, there wasn't a time in her life when men hadn't been staring at her body. And tonight…well, tonight she wanted Nate to see her and to want her. She knew she was an okay-looking woman most of the time, but when she danced…she was beautiful.

“I'm not an athlete, T.J., so you will have to tell me, does baseball have its own cadence?”

He nodded. “It might, ma'am, but all I hear is the sound of the bat hitting the ball.”

She nodded, trying to think of another way to reach him. How was she going to make this work for him?

“Do you mind if I touch you?”

“Not at all,” he said with a grin.

She smiled back at him. Walking around behind him, she put her hands on his hips. “Just stay loose and let my hands move you.”

He nodded and she counted the beat of the music under her breath. And then she started to move his hips. He tried to move his feet but stumbled. “Just stay still and learn the beats.”

“I don't think that method is working, Ms. Miller,” Nate said. “Let me show him how it's done.”

She looked at her boss and then put her hands up and stepped back.

But instead of going to T.J., Nate came to her. He put his hands on her hips. “Move so I can feel the rhythm.”

His low tone was meant only for her ears and she responded to it. She counted the beat so he'd hear it as loudly as she did inside of her head and then she started to move.

Nate, unlike T.J., moved with an innate grace and natural ability that made dancing with him…well, not work. He put his hands in the proper position for the dance. One hand on her hips and the other holding her hand, his eyes met hers and the other people in the room faded away. In that one moment, Nate wasn't her boss or some local celebrity.

He was her partner, her man, and she let the dance take over. Their gazes met and held as they danced. Nate understood sensuality, and in his arms she realized that she was more than the dance instructor.

The salsa was about heat and sex. It was a seduction, a promise of the evening to come. She felt the barriers she'd been trying to put into place to keep him back start to shake and then fall.

This man wasn't going to let her keep him away if he wanted to be closer. And as the music faded and they stopped moving, she knew he did want to be near to her, or at least she knew that she wanted to be near to him. She wanted to feel his hands on her hips again. To feel his big hand holding hers and watch his dark obsidian eyes as they moved together to the music.

 

Nate didn't know why he felt so possessive toward Jen. She was nothing more than a pretty face and an employee but when she'd touched T.J., he'd seen red. And he didn't like that.

Once he held her in his arms, he knew what the problem was. He wanted her. And wanting her was complicating his rather simple plans for an enjoyable evening. But dancing together had also shown him that she was interested in him, too. She watched him, her gaze heated under his as they moved and when the music stopped, he started to pull her to a corner of the room.

But the applause stopped him and Jen bit her lower lip as she stepped back.

“That is what we need to see from everyone,” she said. “I'm going to observe you all dancing and then we will be ready for our big debut.”

“I don't think I'm going to look like that,” T.J. said.

“Don't worry about it,” Nate said. “I'll take your place. Unless you have an objection, Ms. Miller.”

Jen flushed and shook her head. “You are a very good partner, Mr. Stern.”

“Call me Nate,” he said.

She nodded. She turned her attention back to the class.

“Why didn't you tell me you had something going with her?” T.J. asked.

“I don't. That was just a dance.”

“That was sex on a cracker, man. That was so much more than a dance,” T.J. said. “I guess there is no chance for me.”

Nate shrugged. It was a connection, and one that he didn't feel all the time, but he knew it wasn't rare. It was just lust. Tonight he was on the prowl. Ms. Miller
was attractive and there was something about her that made him curious. Maybe it was her mouth with the full lower lip that he knew would feel right under his. Or her nipped-in waist and long lean dancer's body that he sensed would feel right in his arms.

Hell, he already knew that it felt right here. That she felt right when she moved with him. He wanted to explore it further but he was aware that he was her boss and long-term relationships weren't his thing.

Which could make working together in the future a little uncomfortable.

“What are you thinking, man?”

“That women are complicated.”

T.J. laughed. “Understatement of the year. I don't think I'm ever going to figure them out.”

“The dances?” Jen said coming over to the two of them. “You should probably stop chatting if you want to master them.”

“Sorry,” T.J. said. “I think I'm a lost cause.”

“I'm not ready to give up on you yet. Maybe Nate can help you with the footwork. He seems to know his way around the dance floor.”

“I think I'd rather practice with a beautiful woman than with this retired pitcher.”

“Ditto,” Nate said.

“Well, I have other students who need my attention as well. And I'm not getting through to you,” she said. “Nate, why do you think that is?”

He realized she was being sincere. She wanted to help T.J. and that was the first time he realized that the dance lessons were important to her. He'd been too busy looking at her body and watching her sensual moves to pay attention earlier.

“I'm not sure. T.J. is used to using his body as a blunt instrument and dancing is more subtle, isn't it?”

“Yes, I think you're right. How about a line dance?”

T.J. groaned. “No. My sisters have tried rather unsuccessfully to get me to Electric Slide with them.”

She laughed. “Does liquor help? Some people can't let go of their preconception that others are watching them dance until they have a few drinks.”

“Not even a keg of beer could relax me,” T.J. said. “But I appreciate your trying.”

“It's my job.”

“And you are very good at it,” T.J. said. “I'd put a good word in with your boss but I think he already knows how good you are.”

Jen glanced over at him. “Does he?”

Nate nodded. “You are very good.”

He realized she was flirting with him just a little and he silenced the voice in the back of his head that had said she was off-limits. Her interest was all the permission he needed to pursue her.

She went back to the front of the classroom and told everyone to take a five-minute break. Then they'd practice the dance they were going to do to open the show one more time.

Nate followed Jen out of the room. She stopped in the hallway when she realized he was behind her.

“I'm sorry that T.J. isn't getting the dance.”

“That's fine. You've gone above and beyond trying to teach him.”

She nodded. “I'm not sure that you and I should dance together.”

“Why not?” he asked, stepping closer to her.

She wrapped one arm around her waist and tipped
her head to the side. The high ponytail that held up her pretty brown hair brushed against her shoulder. He reached out to touch the end of it. Her hair was soft.

“That's why,” she said. “I'm starting to forget you are my boss, Nate. And I like this job.”

“Dancing with me isn't going to compromise your job,” he said. “Luna Azul doesn't have a fraternization policy.”

She wrinkled her brow. “I know that. But if something…”

“What?”

“It would be awkward and I really like this job,” she said, then turned and walked away. And he let her leave realizing that she was concerned and that he had no idea who she was beyond a pretty girl that he was attracted to.

 

Jen wanted to just dance into the night with Nate. To pretend that her actions would have no consequences and that she could give in to the powerful attraction and that everything would be fine.

But she wasn't the young girl she'd once been. And she'd paid the price for making a bad decision based on her desires before. She wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.

It didn't matter how nice he'd felt when he'd held her in his arms. Or how right they'd fit together as they danced. It didn't matter.

But it did. She was always looking for a man who made her feel the way that Nate had when they'd danced together. It wasn't just the dancing but how he'd kept her gaze and how they'd just instinctively found the rhythm of each other. That kind of dancing was rare and she wanted to do more than just salsa with him.

She wanted to pull him close while the soul-sex sounds of Santana played in the background.

Stop it.

She needed this job. This was the new Jen Miller. No longer a creature who was ruled by what felt good or right, she now followed the rules. Put family first and was a good girl.

She had to remember that. Marcia had given her a place to stay when she'd needed it and she had promised her sister that she'd changed. That she'd embrace…well, being someone new.

Marcia had always thought that Jen was spoiled and to be honest, she was. She'd had talent from the age of eight. She'd been a dance prodigy and everyone had expected great things from her. And for Jen, those things had come easily.

Crashing at age twenty-six hadn't been in her plans and leaving the competitive dance world behind hadn't been, either. If she wanted to dance—and let's face it, she didn't know how to do anything else—then she needed to keep this job.

And that meant staying away from Nate Stern.

“You okay?” Alison asked, joining her in the hallway.

“Yes. I'm just trying to catch my breath before we go on.”

“You and Nate…”

“I know. We have dance chemistry.”

“In spades. I think you should capitalize on it,” Alison said.

Sure, it was easy for her to say. She didn't have to go out there and dance a sensual dance with a man who was all wrong for her.

“How?”

“Have him come back every night.”

“I doubt he has time for that. He's a busy man,” Jen said. “Are you ready?”

“I am. Are you going to hang around and wait for XSU to perform?”

“Probably. You?”

“Yes. My boyfriend is meeting me here.”

“How's it going with him—Richard, right?”

She nodded. “Pretty good. It's not a forever thing, but we have fun together.”

Jen wanted that. Some guys she could have fun with and not lose her heart to. But she'd never been able to do it. Maybe it was simply the way she was wired but she didn't do casual. That's why Nate worried her.

If she could be like Alison and just have fun with him…why couldn't she?