Darren had danced with a lot of women in his time. He had never felt like this with one in his arms before. And she wasn’t really in his arms. At least not in the traditional sense.

From the moment they’d walked into Tony’s, the line dancing had fascinated Maggie. Now they were both on the floor at the fringe of the lines and he was helping her learn the steps. Fortunately, they were simple and Maggie seemed to pick them up quickly.

Damn, the woman could move! Darren was practically tripping over his own feet watching her hips shimmy and her arms move with each graceful step of the dance. She was deeply involved in those movements. It was simple to guess that much. She would step, then turn, and the way she swung her body around exhibited such an unconscious grace and agility that Darren found himself having extremely naughty thoughts about plenty of good uses for all of that flexibility.

She turned suddenly and flashed him a brilliant smile. Her strawberry-colored hair shook around her shoulders as she moved. She clapped her hands and lifted her arms to swing her body around in time with the music. Unable to resist, Darren moved just close enough to put his hands lightly on her hips.

He did not inhibit her movements. Instead, he absorbed them and let her lead as he followed. The two of them stepped together. His body seemed to follow hers automatically. It was as if every fiber and sinew in his body was hardwired to be close to her.

The scent of her skin lit a fire inside him. He inhaled deeply and found her sweetness surrounding him. The silken strands of her hair brushed his arms. His mind conjured an image of her above him. Her torso flexing as she rolled her body against his. He could picture her hair falling over her shoulders and brushing his bare torso even as he reached up to cup those beautiful breasts.

Desire did not cover what he was feeling for this woman. He moved in closer. She spun in the dance and pressed her back to his front. The round globes of her ass pressed intimately against his groin. The way she wiggled gave him decadent ideas. She put her own hands over the top of his. Their fingers laced together. She was hanging onto him and swinging her lower half as though she were teasing him deliberately.

Darren lowered his mouth to her ear and gently blew against the sensitive shell. She cocked her head to give him access to her neck. He kissed her and felt the throbbing pulse beneath her skin. The vitality of her was intoxicating. He wrapped his arms all the way around her and moved his body powerfully against hers. His erection was pressing against the front of his jeans. He ground his teeth together at the satisfaction he felt from pressing against her. This was what he needed. Maggie. Only Maggie. She was the only one that would do.

Suddenly the dance floor was too public. Darren whispered in her ear. “Let’s go sit down and get some food. I’m starved. How about you?”

She stopped dancing and squirmed against him until they were face to face. “Can we go make out in our booth?”

The sparkle in her green eyes told him that she was teasing, but the sass in her manner was absolutely irresistible. Unable to stop himself, Darren leaned down and brushed his lips over the end of her nose. Then the two of them headed for their table ensconced in that happy love bubble that meant it did not matter if anyone or everyone was staring at them.

“Did you order these fries?” Maggie sat down at the table and picked up a few out of the basket sitting in the center of their table. “They’re amazing. Thank you!”

Darren felt his happy love bubble give a little pop as it receded and left real life in its wake. “Actually, I didn’t order the fries.” He reached out and snagged one. They were still hot. “I wonder if the waiter was anticipating our need for quick energy.”

Their beers were on the table as well. Darren picked up the cool pint glass and took a long drink. He was suddenly very glad that Maggie was sitting between him and the wall. He didn’t know what was happening, but he wanted to be the one to confront it before it had a chance to mow her down.

“I didn’t realize I was so hungry!” she said, eagerly stuffing fries into her mouth.

There was something so very endearing about her face. She was flushed from the exertion of dancing. Now she sucked down beer and stuffed fries into her mouth with absolute abandon. He loved that she was this comfortable with him.

“You’re back!” The waiter appeared with a broad smile on his face. “Can I get you anything to eat?”

“You already brought the fries. It was a good choice. What do you think we should get next?” Darren didn’t necessarily like to test the young man, but there was something truly odd going on. Darren could feel it.

“Oh.” The waiter made a gesture to the other side of the club. “The fries were sent by a young woman and her gentleman friend on the other side of the bar. She said you’d know who sent them over.”

Maggie looked intrigued. “She did? Did she give a name?”

Darren felt grim. How could he have been so foolish? This wasn’t an unfamiliar place to him. It had just been years since he’d come back here. Why would he have thought this meant nobody else in his past still occupied the old stomping grounds?

“I believe her name is Carly,” the waiter told Maggie. “She’s a bit of a regular. Has been for years.”

“Carly.” Maggie seemed to taste the name on her lips. “I don’t think I know a Carly.” Then she looked at Darren. “Do you?”

Whether it was because of the awkward vibe that had just descended on their table, or the expression that had no doubt just come over Darren’s face, the waiter politely excused himself without taking their order.

“That was weird,” Maggie commented. Then she looked up at Darren and seemed to realize that weird wasn’t really the word he would have applied to this situation. “You know who Carly is.”

It wasn’t a guess. It wasn’t really a question either. The only thing that Darren felt positive about was that she hadn’t thrown the rest of her beer into his face just yet. He had not yet glanced over to the other side of the club to see if he could spot Carly and her latest boyfriend. No doubt she was over there staring and whispering to anyone who would listen.

“Do you want to go?” Maggie’s voice was low and gentle. “I totally understand when the past comes knocking at unexpected times.”

How had he managed to find a woman who would react in such a way? And how could he give her anything but the absolute truth? It might completely screw things up, but he could not go forward one more second with Maggie and not be absolutely honest.

The booth provided a sense of intimacy in that he could turn his head toward Maggie and the wall in order to speak. There was little chance of interruption, and he knew that there would be no better time.

Maggie bit her lower lip. “You don’t have to tell me, you know. Your past is your business.”

“Carly is what would be called—in pop culture—my baby mama,” Darren told Maggie. He sighed. This was more awkward than he could have imagined, but then he hadn’t really thought about having to have this conversation at all.

“Baby mama?” He saw the white column of Maggie’s throat move as she swallowed. “So, you have kids?”

“I have a kid—a son.” Darren rubbed a hand down his face. “I haven’t seen him since he was an infant. I was playing football and chasing whatever contracts came my way. Carly chose me pretty carefully. She picked a man who came from money. We were only together for a few weeks. She swore she was on the pill. She got pregnant and chose not to tell me until she was nearly ready to deliver. I came back for a while during that time and attempted to be a couple with her because that was what I thought would be right. I wanted my kid to have a real family. Unfortunately, that wasn’t Carly’s plan. She didn’t want to be with me. She wanted me to pay for Jaeger. So, she broke up with me and then sued for child support. Since then, I’ve been pretty much an ATM machine for her. I pay for her life and for Jaeger’s, but she’s managed to keep me from having even supervised visitation with my son. He’s five. He doesn’t know who I am. And honestly, I have no idea what to do about that.”

Maggie didn’t freak out. She did not demand that they leave. She did not tell him he was an asshole or some kind of deadbeat. She simply pressed her lips together and seemed to be in deep thought for several minutes. “Do you want him to know who you are?”

“Yes.” Funny, but he didn’t feel one moment’s hesitation about that anymore. “I want a relationship with him. I don’t want to be the guy who bankrolled his childhood but didn’t care. His mother isn’t a great person. I can’t stand the thought of him believing that I abandoned him to that.”

Maggie gave a hard nod. “You can change things, then, if you want.”

“Really?” Her words were rather surprising, and he didn’t know what to think. “How?”

“It won’t be easy.” The warning was there in her tone. “But she can’t keep you from your son if you truly want to be a part of his life. Not without a cause. And I just don’t see that there is one.”

“Would you”—he felt as though he were throwing himself off a cliff—“would you help me?”

She exhaled long and slow, and then she nodded. “Yeah. I’ll help you.”

“Thank you.” Darren felt as though someone had handed him the moon. “I don’t deserve you, Maggie. Do you know that? I really don’t.”

He could not suppress the urge to close the distance between them and create some kind of physical contact. This wasn’t about desire or need or arousal or anything sexual. Not right now. Instead, he rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes as he let the warmth of her presence seep into his soul. She was a beautiful person inside and out. That was what he knew.

Her fingers brushed his cheeks. “You’re a good person, Darren. And I know that there are a million people out there who would tell me to run the other way because of your past, but I just can’t believe that you haven’t learned a few things from this rocky path you seem to have traveled.”

“That’s one way to put it,” he murmured. He lifted his head just far enough to bury his nose in her hair and kiss her forehead. Wrapping an arm around her body, he drew her close. The amount of comfort he received from even this G-rated contact was unlike anything else in his life. “It’s like I make these decisions and, even in the moment, I know that they probably aren’t the best ones I could make. But I muddle my way through and then spend the next decade trying to fix what I screwed up. At some point, I’d really like it if I could start making the right choices the first time around. So, if you have suggestions, I’m open.”

She laughed. “I don’t know another man on the planet foolish enough to say those words to a woman. How can I refuse?”

Darren was trying to come up with a witty reply, but of course, that was the moment Carly decided to show up right in front of their table. Her perfume announced her arrival before her nasally voice made his stomach knot with dread.

“Darren, Darren, Darren,” Carly drawled. “Nothing changes with you. Nothing. It’s so good of you to stay the same and make things so damn easy.”

Darren wondered how many possible ways there were to get screwed without a moment’s pleasure.