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closer to the stairs. But Mia didn’t want to be held by him. Not again. She might be able to fool herself a while longer, but she’d never be able to convince Jack that she wasn’t turned on and raring to go—not if he was holding her close on a dance floor.
    Mia didn’t want to be here. She didn’t want to be anywhere near Jack Ryan. He was temptation in a suit. The devil incarnate. The serpent with the apple.
    Just call me Eve, she thought, stepping into his arms.

CHAPTER FOUR
    J ACK FOLDED HER into his arms. Her hair smelled of orange blossoms and nostalgic summer nights. The crowded dance floor worked to his advantage.
    He smiled secretly, knowing she wasn’t going anywhere. He felt the press of her slender body and the brush of her long legs against his, sanctioned by their status as a hot couple.
    She used her elbow, strategically pressed to his midriff, to put a few millimeters of space between them. Their faces were close enough for him to count individual eyelashes. Close enough for him to feel the soft caress of her breath against his throat. His eyes tracked from the small wedge of a frown between her brows to the soft curve of her bare mouth. He’d nibbled off her lipstick and, atypically, she’d forgotten to reapply it.
    Tuned into every sensuous move of her body, he tucked her much smaller hand into his and held it between them where he could feel the brush of her breasts against the back of his hand and she could feel the slow, steady beat of his heart.
    â€œGod, this feels great,” he said easily. He’d danced with her before, countless times. Both in public and in private. The memory of dancing naked with Mia in his arms forced him to bite back a groan.
    â€œMaybe you should cozy up to the notion that I’m not interested,” she said with asperity. “It should give the expression ‘talk to the hand’ new meaning for you.”
    â€œChrist, Mia, when did you become so tough?”
    She tossed her hair back and smiled up at him, keeping up the pretense of cozy lovebirds even while her tone sharpened to a sword’s edge. “Gee, let me think. Could it’ve been when you refused to make any kind of commitment?”
    â€œI told you—”
    â€œAnd I told you I didn’t care. Don’t waste any more of my time rehashing the past Jack. Those days are long gone. I’m here under false pretenses, so don’t make it harder than it has to be.”
    The live band and sensuous music beckoned everyone onto the dance floor, crowding them even closer together. Her thigh brushed his as he turned her out of the way of an exuberant couple. His hand dipped into her cleavage and she shot him a fulminating glance.
    Shafts of desire shot through him causing pleasure, causing pain. How the hell had they gone so horribly wrong?
    She’d loved who she’d believed he was. Enough said. If he’d told her the truth, he’d have been a different Jack Ryan in her eyes altogether. He hadn’t been willing to take the chance. By the time Jack had known it was time to tell her the truth, it had been too late. Each day had found him falling a little more in love with her, and each day had made the lie harder to admit.
    Hell, he’d been too scared to take the risk of losing her.
    Yet he’d lost her in the end anyway.
    While he’d been trying to figure out a way to tell her the truth, while maintaining their relationship, she’d read it as a refusal to make a commitment. While Jack had used his nonverbal skills to hold her, Mia had read those messages all wrong.
    The truth hadn’t hit him until months after she’d told him to go to hell. Mia Rossi hadn’t cared about his money, his status or his acquisitions. By the time that penny had dropped she’d refused to talk to him. Tonight was his shot at making restitution.
    And right now Mia’s verbal thrashing wasn’t making it easy to keep up