Weird.
The group had split up, leaving him and Miz Maybelle alone. He didn’t want to know what the ladies were up to anyway. So he watched Tanna discreetly.
“I’m pretty sure that your hot stare alone isn’t enough to burn her clothes off,” Miz Maybelle said.
Or maybe his staring hadn’t been so discreet. Fletch blushed and ripped his gaze away from Tanna shaking her groove thang as she exited the dance floor. “That obvious, huh?”
“Yes. But don’t think for a second that she’s oblivious to how close you’re paying attention to her. My question is why are you over here, instead of over there?”
“The path across the bar leads both ways. Why isn’t she over here?”
Miz Maybelle shook her finger at him. “What is it with you young people today and your need to play games?”
Oh boy. Lecture mode. Best if he kept his mouth shut.
“Tanna wants to be dancing with you, but instead of asking you to dance, she’s cutting a rug with everyone but you. Showing you what you’re missing.”
Little did she know—Fletch was perfectly aware of how well Tanna moved that lean muscular body in tight quarters.
“Are you even listening to me?” Miz Maybelle demanded.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Why haven’t you asked her to dance yet?” She paused, giving him ample time to answer. When he didn’t, she tossed off, “As I live and breathe, I think the big, tough doctor . . . is just plain chicken.”
His mouth dropped open. “I am not.”
She clucked.
The woman actually clucked at him.
“Real nice, Miz Maybelle.”
She shrugged. “So, you want a side of coleslaw with your chicken?”
Fletch took another sip of beer, refusing to be goaded.
“I don’t mind telling you, Dr. Fletcher, that I’ve been drinking a wee bit, as our Tilda would say.”
“No. Really?”
She whapped him on the shoulder. “Such a smart mouth. I know you didn’t get that from your charming father.”
“You’d be surprised.” Hey. Wait. How did Miz Maybelle know his dad?
“But I share my best advice after I’ve tipped back a few.”
“What makes you think I need advice?”
“Because you’re moping with an old fart like me instead of playing slap and tickle with Miss Tex-ass, as Devin calls her. That name suits her. She’s got those womanly curves and that wild streak men go gaga over. I bet Devin wouldn’t put up with her being passed from guy to guy on the dance floor while he sat back here with his di—”
“Don’t say it.” There was an image he didn’t need from this sweet-tongued woman. “Fine. I get it. I’m going.”
Miz Maybelle shouted, “You’re welcome,” as he passed a table of giggling coeds.
Fletch kept his eye on Tanna as he wove through people heading toward the bar. One of the advantages of his height and his size: people tried to avoid him. The group Tanna was chatting with gave him a wide berth.
Tanna allowed a tight smile. “Fletch. I’m surprised to see you here—”
“No, you’re not. Been here half an hour, as you’re fully aware.” He grabbed her hand and said, “Excuse us,” with a smile before he towed her to the farthest edge of the dance floor.
“What are you doin’?”
“Taking my turn to dance with you.” Fletch brought her against his body and began rocking them to the beat.
“You could’ve asked.”
He put his lips on her ear. “Sugar twang, will you dance with me? Pretty, pretty please? With a chocolate-covered cherry on top?”
Tanna shivered. “No fair. You know what it does to me when you whisper in my ear.”
“Really? I forgot that. Maybe I need a refresher course in what makes you putty in my hands.” He let his hand drift from the small of her back down to her butt. “And you fit very well in my hands, don’t you?”
“You’re in rare form tonight.”
“Oh, it doesn’t have to be that way. I can be this way with you every night.”
“You trying to seduce me?”
“I’m trying to charm the pants off of you. Then I’m hoping the rest of your clothing follows suit and hits the floor in my bedroom. Or my truck. Or hell, even the bathroom.”
She laughed softly. “Then what?”
Fletch traced the shell of her ear with his tongue. “Then I give you a refresher course on just what I can do with my mouth and hands. I recall you liked the way I use my tongue.”
“Mmm-hmm.” She turned her head and nipped the side of his jaw. “I really liked the way you used your c**k too.”
There she was. The sassy-mouthed sexpot he’d first met. Thank God. “Funny thing. My c**k was just thinking about how much it liked you.” He pressed his groin into hers. “How much it missed you.”
“I had a sneaking suspicion it was happy to see me.”
He leaned back and looked into her face. “How long you gonna hold me off? And why do you want to? We were good together, Tanna. Damn good.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you fighting this?”
She held his gaze for ten seconds and then it dropped to his chin. “Because it wouldn’t be a one-nighter. We both know if I went home with you tonight it wouldn’t be the last time—it’d be the start, since we couldn’t stop ourselves because the sex is so spectacular.”