Game of Love (The Remingtons, Book One: Love in Bloom Series)

Chapter Twenty-Five, Game of Love

Chapter Twenty-Five

IN THE BAR, Regina grabbed Ellie's wrist. "Dance with me."

Ellie groaned. "I really suck at dancing." She caught Dex's eye and silently pleaded for him to save her. He rose to his feet, and she thought she'd been saved, but when he reached her side, he leaned down and whispered, "I can't wait to see your moves."

Mitch followed Dex onto the floor, and before Ellie could wrangle herself away, Dex's hips were gyrating dangerously close to hers, his jeans pressed tight against him in all the right places as all of his body parts moved in perfect sync, with some sort of seductive dirty-dancing action going on that made Ellie tingle all over. His dark eyes captured hers, and when he lowered his mouth and settled it over hers, she closed her eyes and let her body do what came naturally. She felt his hands on her hips, and the sweet rum combined with the heady swell of love in her heart moved her body in perfect rhythm with his.

"Damn, you're sexy," he whispered against her cheek. His hands roved up her back, and he pressed his hips into her.

"Hey, this is a dance floor, not a bedroom," Regina said, waggling her finger at them. "I thought you couldn't dance?" she said to Ellie.

"Dex brings out a whole side of me I never knew I had." Ellie secretly loved to dance, but she had been dancing in public only a handful of times. Dex ran his hands beneath her hair and up the back of her neck, causing a full-body shudder. When the song ended, he closed the gap between them and took her in another deep kiss. Her desire to bolt forgotten, she snuggled next to him in the booth.

"Wow, you guys are great together. Unlike left-foot Charlie here." She pushed her shoulder into Mitch's.

"Hey, at least I try."

Regina smiled at Mitch. "You are kinda cute when you're trying to be sexy." She sucked down her drink and flagged down the waitress, who brought out another round.

Ellie's phone vibrated in her jacket pocket. She dug it out and sighed.

"It buzzed while you were in the bathroom, too," Dex said.

She read the text and noticed that the previous text, also from Asshole, had already been read. "Did you read it?" She wasn't sure how she felt about that. She'd never read his texts. I answered Bruce's phone. The thought gave her pause. Why would I answer Bruce's phone but not read Dex's texts? The answer came like a breath of fresh air. Because I trust Dex. And then the realization hit her. Hard. He doesn't trust me.

He hadn't answered her question. The table fell silent. Ellie was aware of Regina and Mitch sharing a glance, though she didn't look to see how it translated.

"Dex?"

"Yeah, I did. I figured it was that guy, and I was worried."

She nodded, mulling over the implications. "And what did you find out from the text?" She'd read it. She knew exactly what he'd found out.

"What you should have told me."

Their eyes locked. Ellie's stomach twisted. She'd managed to fuck up her life again. She knew she should have told Dex about Bruce's text, but all he'd asked was if it was her he'd seen by the thrift shop, and she didn't want to worry Dex over something so innocuous. Damn it. She should have told Dex about seeing him in the first place.

"I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I knew you'd want to talk about it and it would become a big deal, and I just want it all to go away." She reached for his hand, but he pulled away. "You're mad? You were just dancing with me and you were fine. That's a terribly delayed reaction."