Ah, hell. What was I doing here?

Clubs. Dancing. He may have pushed through his introvert and nerd ways in a lot of areas for the sake of the company. But watching January dancing in the center of the dance floor had him reverting right back to the skinny kid with big glasses who couldn’t string together enough words to form a sentence when there was a girl around.

He should walk right back out the door and let her enjoy a night out with friends, but God help him, he couldn’t bear to end the day without seeing her. He watched the men around her as they waited for an opening, all observing her with the same greedy and wanting stare he was sure was on his own face.

All waiting for the same opening he’d been waiting for.

All too damn stupid to realize they had to make their own opening with a girl like her.

Well, almost all of them were.

Before his brain could talk him out of it, he moved forward in the crowd. There wasn’t a plan, and he sure as hell didn’t have any intention to dance, but he didn’t have any intention to let her dance with anyone else, either.

Her eyes were closed when he approached, the friends she’d been dancing with eyed him curiously as he grabbed her hand and pulled her to his chest. Her eyes snapped open, and she snatched her hand back with a small yelp. He smiled as she stared at him for a beat before throwing her arms over her head and pushing her warm body flush against his.

She yelled something that sounded like, “What are you doing here?” and he pulled her off the dance floor and to the VIP area he’d reserved for the party. Minor details she needn’t be privy to.

She clutched on to him so tightly her curves were flush against him. His teenage self would be so damn cocky and jealous, too.

“You’re really here,” she exclaimed once they were seated at a table overlooking the dance floor. Maybe it was the alcohol or the atmosphere, or a combination of them both, but she looked happy to see him. Ecstatic even.

“I couldn’t miss celebrating your birthday again. The first one was pretty memorable.”

She kept smiling. A smile so big he added it to the list as the absolute favorite. Brecken grabbed two flutes of champagne and handed her a glass, keeping one for himself. “This one has better drinks.” He raised his glass, and she followed suit. “Happy birthday.”

Her friends joined around them, and she made the appropriate introductions, though, she did refer to him as her boss. He squeezed her closer every time she said it until she was sitting practically on his lap. He’d show her how bossy he could be.

Her face was pink and her body warm as she huddled up to next to him. “I’m so glad you came. I wanted to invite you, but I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate.”

“You’re very hung up on this whole boss thing. I paid you out of my personal account, so there are no ramifications for my company.” He shrugged. “You can deal exclusively with Tina on work stuff if it makes you feel better.”

She scrunched her face for a moment and then nodded slightly. “Okay.”

“Okay?” he asked, surprised but pleased by her answer.

He bent down to kiss her, but Michael extended two shot glasses in their direction, effectively stopping him. “All right, you two, time to join the rest of the group.”

“Jägermeister?” he asked as the smell of black licorice assaulted his nose.

“It’s a tradition,” January said and lifted her drink in Michael’s direction. She mouthed along as Michael said the toast. "May all your ups and downs be between the sheets."

Brecken lifted his own glass before tossing back the shot. “We need to have a serious talk about your drink selections,” he said after he chased the shot with the champagne in his other hand.

Michael had settled into an armchair across from them, situated between the two girls January had been dancing with earlier. “It was the first real alcohol I convinced her to drink.”

“He told me it tasted like candy… liar,” she said with a surly tone but smiled.

Michael laughed. “God, you were so mad at me that night and then blamed me for that douchebag, Clark or Clint– ”

“Cliff,” January finished for him.

“Yeah, whatever, you blamed me for him drinking so much that he passed out in the bathroom at the bar.”

Michael got pulled into a conversation with the girl next to him and Brecken turned to January. “Have you dated a lot?” he asked quietly, a sting of jealousy making his muscles tense.

“No, not really,” she said with a shake of her head.

“Define not really.”

“Two serious relationships. The last one ended a year ago, amicably. He wasn’t ready to settle down.”

“And you were?”

“Not really, not with him anyway. After a certain point in a relationship, I think you either need to move forward or call it off. What about you?”

“I haven’t had a lot of time for dating or relationships. I threw myself into building my company right out of college, and I’ve already admitted I wasn’t exactly the big man on campus.”

A flash of pity showed on her face, but she recovered quickly and leaned in closer. Her breasts brushed against his chest. “Their loss.”

“I want to kiss you,” he said, leaning in until their faces were so close he could see the rise and fall of her chest with every breath. Her lips parted, and her eyes fell to his mouth, waiting. Hell yes. He didn’t need any more of an invitation.

He placed a hand lightly against her face and around, threading his fingers through the hair at the nape of her fragile neck. A soft hum escaped from her lips, and he crushed his mouth to hers to catch it. A tumble of lips and teeth and hands. He let himself get lost in her and the taste of black licorice, which didn’t taste nearly as bad when combined with her sweet mouth, only reluctantly pulling away when the group around them started whistling and cheering them on.

January’s face turned pink as she faced her friends, but she surprised him by pulling herself fully into his lap. He groaned as his already hard dick twitched under her weight.

He sipped his second champagne as January finished her third glass and eyed another tray of shots being passed around.

“Easy, tiger. Are you feeling all right?”

She leaned into him. Her body was relaxed, and he had a feeling she was minutes from not being able to walk herself out of the club.

“I feel great. Tonight has been magical,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Magical, huh?”

“Don’t ruin it,” she chided.

He nodded to Michael, and in an unspoken exchange of hand motions and lip reading, he explained that he was taking her home. He texted Edward to let him know they were headed outside before sliding from the booth and pulling January to her feet.

“Ready to head out, beautiful?”

“Mmm. Bed.” She listed toward him, both her palms landing on his chest. “Are we gonna have sex now?”

He chuckled under his breath. She was a mess, but it was hard not to laugh at her. Drunk January was irresistible and far less concerned with rules and conventions. He did his best to wrap her arm over his shoulders, and they slowly navigated down the stairs with her on her feet.

She stopped dead in her tracks only a few steps from the front door. For a moment, she looked stone-cold sober. Standing a little taller, her eyes focused in on him with an intense narrowing. “You didn’t answer me. Are you taking me to bed?”

Pushing a loose tendril of hair back behind her ear, he smiled at her, wishing that was exactly what he was going to do. “Not tonight.”