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
