Watch Me (2 page)

“Spending too much time at that club of yours has confused your thinking,
mijo
. Nothing but
putas
there.”

Alejandro laughed. His mother didn’t disapprove of the club…but she only knew about the bar and pool tables, the dart boards and the dance floor. She had no idea what went on upstairs…. Better to keep it that way.

He made damn good money as Sneak Peek’s co-owner. Between that, his other stash of money, and his investments, he’d been able to buy his mother a condo and a new car, set up a trust for her, and give her a bit of luxury in the last two years. She just wanted him to settle down, marry, have babies.
Mamá
had made that
very
clear. He would…in his own good time.

“Let’s not argue.” He twirled her toward the punch table, not far from where Shanna sat alone. As he looked at the gorgeous dancer again, he

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had to fight the rise of his erection. Not here, not now…but soon. His mother followed the line of his sight. “
Dios mío
, can you not look at one other woman tonight?”

No. He’d come tonight specifically to cozy up to Shanna York. What a happy coincidence that making his mother’s night would help him to make his own.

“
Mamá,
did you sign up to dance with your favorites tonight?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Alejandro, it is too much money. You paid for me to be here, and that is enough. I will watch.”

And send a disapproving stare every time he rumbaed Shanna into a dark corner? Not a chance.

“You will dance.”

He stopped her before the punch table and handed her a drink. While she sipped, he eased over to the table that held the dancers’ cards. There were still a few empty slots available to foxtrot or tango with some of her favorites. And Shanna’s card was completely empty. He smiled and wrote his mother’s name onto the empty spaces of the male dancers’ cards, wrote his own on Shanna’s in every space, and called the attendant over. After settling dances for his mother, he handed the volunteer, a perky brunette, Shanna’s card. “I would like to purchase all the dances, as well.”

The brunette looked at it and frowned. “Hers? All of them?”

“
Sí
.”

“That’s three thousand dollars.”

He smiled as he handed her his credit card. “Then I will have the pleasure of knowing more children will have full bellies and be attending school, while I dance with a beautiful woman.”

The woman sent him a look that plainly said she thought he was

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unhinged. “She isn’t known for keeping her partners long. You may not last the whole night.”

Wrong. But for what he had in mind, a night was all he needed. With a smile, he finished paying, then found hismother
.

“The charity dances start in five minutes, and you will be busy.” He handed her a schedule of her partners.

“Alejandro! You spend too much money on an old woman. I cannot dance so much.”

“
Mamá
, you are barely fifty. It’s only money, and I can afford it. Enjoy yourself.”

He certainly planned to.

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Sneak Peek: Watch Me

Chapter Two

The event’s emcee announced the beginning of the charity dances, and Shanna poised herself in a chair, plastic smile in place, at the edge of the ballroom floor.

People around her were beginning to pair up for the first of the dances, names and smiles being exchanged. She tossed her hair off her shoulders. That twisting of her stomach was not a pang of hurt. She didn’t care if no one bid on her dances. Sitting back would give her an opportunity to observe her competition, since most of the other dancers were here…just in case she and Kristoff somehow won, in spite of his indiscreet sex life.

Tomorrow, she’d find some way to destroy or discredit that shocking DVD. She wasn’t giving up on years of hard work and her dreams of being a champion without a fight.

“I believe this dance is mine.”

Shanna followed the deep voice and looked up into an incredibly handsome face. Strong features, burning hazel eyes, heavy five-o’clock shadow, perfectly tailored gray suit with a vavoom red tie. Her heart lurched; this one had sin written all over him. He also looked familiar. She stared, hesitating, but the more she thought about it, the more certain she became. Somewhere, somehow, they’d crossed paths before.

“Have we met?”

He smiled, all dazzling charm, oozing Latin charisma and hot sex.

“Yes. Three months ago. The Bartolino Foundation thing.”

That night rushed back to her with overwhelming clarity. This sexy

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man with his killer smile flirting outrageously and whispering shocking, hot suggestions as he tangoed her around the dance floor. At the end of the night, he’d asked her out…while trying to kiss her. She’d been incredibly tempted—and that was saying something for a woman who’d easily refused every man for nearly two years. But this man might as well have the word
distraction
tattooed on his forehead. Go out with him? No way, no how. She’d refused him and disappeared into the crowd. She assumed she’d seen the last of him.

Somehow, she got the feeling she’d underestimated him.

“Ah, I think you recall that night.” A smile lifted the edges of his lips.

“Alejandro, isn’t it?”

“Alejandro Diaz, yes.”

Shanna drew in a deep breath. Just like their first meeting, he caused an unwelcome dizzying effect, complete with revving heartbeat.
Warning!
When she dated, which was rarely, she chose safe men—guys who were rich, too busy with their own careers to be demanding, and far too dull to keep her interest for more than an evening. She just didn’t have time for a relationship when she had a dance career that needed all her time and attention.

This one might as well shout that he’d be both fascinating and determined. He
would
get his way—and have his way with her. Not if she could help it.

Steeling herself against the impact of his touch, Shanna put her hand in his. No matter how prepared she thought she’d been for the skin-on-skin contact, she’d been wrong. A wild gong of want beat through her the second her palm brushed his. She braced for the rush of heat as she rose to her feet.

“The music is starting. Shall we?” He gestured to the dance floor, then eased her forward with a hand at the small of her back.

“Sure.” What else could she say? This was his three minutes; he’d

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paid for them, so she owed him that. But no more. God, not a second more.

A soft Latin rhythm began to wash through the room from the overhead speakers. Sensual, hypnotic, the music spoke of a humid summer night shared by lovers. Shanna nearly groaned. Great, a rumba, the dance of love. The one that most emulated passion and sex. Why now?

On a strong beat, Alejandro grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him. Shanna tried to stop herself from crashing into him by planting a hand on his chest. But her fingers only encountered hard muscle. Oh God, he was like a rock under that shirt, and given his mile-wide shoulders, she was suddenly sure that seeing him naked would be ten times better than a slice of her favorite sinful chocolate cake. He hooked a finger under her chin. Reluctantly, she lifted her gaze to his. The heat in those hazel eyes fired molten gold.
Look away. Get away!

But she couldn’t. Once her gaze connected with his, she was locked in, fused to him in a way she didn’t understand. And didn’t like. That stare sizzled all through her…and settled right between her legs. She blinked, unable to break his gaze.

Sex had always been something she could take or leave. At the moment, she wanted to take anything he was willing to dish out. How could he do that with just a glance?

As she drew in a deep breath and tried to find her wits, he curled a thick arm around her waist, drawing her even closer. His whole body was hard…every inch of it. From the feel of him, many inches. Shanna trembled to realize his body was every bit as interested as hers was. Thank God these dances were short.

Then he held out his left hand, palm up. Slowly, she placed her hand in his.

They began to dance. He was incredibly smooth, never dancing on his

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heels, never losing the beat of the music. Wow, could he move his hips. Perfect figure eights with them. No doubt, he’d learned how to dance very well somewhere along the way.

Basic boxes quickly gave way to an open position, then a cross, which he used as an opportunity to brush his body against hers and caress her hip. An underarm turn led her right back to a basic. Oh, this guy was good for an amateur. She had an inkling that he might be good at…other things.

“So, what brings you here tonight?” she asked, grasping at conversational straws. Maybe if she was talking, she wouldn’t be thinking about how much this guy turned her on.

“Helping orphans is not a worthwhile cause?”

“It is. Most men would rather simply write a check than ballroom dance.”

“I brought my mother. She enjoys these things, and it is a very small thing to do in order to see her smile.”

Sexy, a good dancer, family-oriented, crazy handsome, Alejandro seemed like every woman’s fantasy. He had to be too good to be true, have some terrible flaw she just couldn’t see at the moment. If not…Lord, she was in a lot of trouble.

Her body temperature rose with every suggestive look, every sweep of his hand over her waist and low dive on her hip, each brush of his palm that inched toward her ass.

Damn! Why hadn’t she found some man to scratch her itch in the last two years? Or even invested in a good vibrator? Maybe if she had, she wouldn’t feel wound so tightly right now, so ready to jump on Alejandro and every protruding part of his body.

“That’s nice of you,” she managed to say.

“Not really. I knew you would be here.”

“M—me?”

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“Hmm.” He led her into another open position, then curled her against his body, hips crushed against hips. And she felt more than his pelvis. Way more.

“Certainly you can feel my…enthusiasm to meet you again.” He laughed, seemingly at himself.

Yeah. His enthusiasm was sizeable and very hard to miss. Then he leaned her back over his arm in an exaggerated dip and followed her down. Until his face was an inch from her breasts. Shanna felt him exhale, his warm breath on her cleavage. Her nipples beaded instantly.

Slowly, he lifted her back upright, then spun her around, until her back rested against his chest. And he nestled his erection in the small of her back. The flat of his palm covered her abdomen, and he took her other hand in his. The gesture probably looked proprietary. It certainly felt that way.

Straight ahead, she saw Kristoff dancing with a thin, middle-aged woman with hair a dubious shade of red. He peered at her with a questioning brow raised.

Alejandro led her to swivel her hips against his, in time with the music. Kristoff didn’t miss a second of it. In fact, as Shanna looked around, she realized they’d gathered quite a bit of attention. A blast of moisture flooded her thong.

“Everyone is watching,” he whispered.

“Yes.” Her voice shook.

He bent and lifted her leg, wrapping her calf around his thigh and urging her head to fall back to his shoulder. Their eyes met, their mouths inches apart.

Shanna felt stripped down, as if she were naked under Alejandro’s knowing gaze. God, if he didn’t stop that, she’d melt against him in seconds.

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“Men are watching you, wanting you.”

He grabbed her thigh, spun her around to face him, then placed that thigh over his hip. They rested nearly hip to hip again. As he leaned back slightly, he forced her chest against his. Still, she could not break his stare.

“You like it,” he whispered.

She opened her mouth to deny it, but Alejandro’s gaze stopped her, warning her before she could do anything foolish, like lie.

“I know you do.”

The intensity of his stare, the way in which he’d dug past her icy defenses, seemed to see the real her, and guessed her dirty secret… He was a walking wet dream.

He was her worst nightmare.

He swayed with the music in the opposite direction, bringing her body with him. With a gentle caress of her cheek, he directed her gaze back to his—all while making it look like a part of the dance.

“You know you do,” he murmured. “You love knowing that most every man in the room right now would kill to have your body against his and have a front-row seat of that smoldering sensuality you keep wrapped in ice suddenly melting in a pool at his feet.”

His words made her shake.
Oh, no. No!
“Stop.”

He performed an open step, then brought her back for a box. “Their eyes cling to you as you lure them in with the sway of your hips to the music and your femininity. Their gazes caress your breasts as your chest lifts with every move and breath. They watch the sleek movements of those gorgeous thighs and wish they were between them.”

A glance around proved he was totally right. Easily a dozen men were openly watching her and Alejandro dance, their gazes ranging from more than mildly interested to sizzling with heat. Desire vibrated deep inside her, pulsing under her clit. How wet could she get before it stained the

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front of her thin costume?

And how had Alejandro known what turned her on?

Most people had only seen the driven dancer who yearned to win and find some way to make her family proud. No one else had seen the woman inside who used dance to express the sexuality she otherwise repressed. No one.

This man had seen her hidden sensuality in the blink of an eye. He’d all but mocked her icy reserve. He looked at her as if he could see past it, all the way to the fear and emptiness that fed her ambition. Thankfully, the music ended.

“Thank you for an interesting evening, Mr. Diaz. Perhaps our paths will cross again.” Not if she could help it.