Chapter 10

~Don't Want to Miss a Thing~

Emmett saunters over to a nearby jukebox and puts in some coins, making a few selections. He comes to stand beside Rose, offering his hand. "Dance with me." His voice is confident.

Without hesitation, Rose accepts his offered hand and allows him to lead her to the area in front of the jukebox. Emmett looks back and receives a wink from Jimmy. Obviously, Jimmy's been coaching Emmett on what moves to make.

Jimmy takes Bella's hand and places a kiss on the back. "Milady?"

A blush rises to her cheeks, and she ducks her head. I can't hear her soft response, but she rises and allows him to lead her over to the floor.

My phone vibrates, and I check my notifications.

Wish I was there! When my shift is over, I'm going straight to bed. Not for the fun stuff either. My feet are killing me! ~A

You need to stop working so hard! Jazz isn't himself tonight. I think he's lonely. ~E

I have a few days off coming up. We'll hang out. Love you! ~A

ILY2 ~E

Jasper and Leah are chatting about her designs. She shows him some, and he looks impressed. It's the most animated he's been all evening.

The song "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith comes on, and Leah grabs my hand.

"I love this song! Will you dance with me?" She looks up at me with lovely, dark eyes. Who am I to deny her? It's just a dance, right? I look over at Jasper because he'll be left alone at the table.

He waves a hand. "Go ahead! Don't worry about me. I'm good."

I allow Leah to lead me to the semi-crowded floor. Several other couples have taken advantage of Emmett's generosity and are dancing.

She winds her arms around my neck, her body pressed against me. The top of her head comes just to my shoulder. I rest my hands on her curvy hips, and we sway to the music. Leah lays her cheek against my chest, and I tip my head down, inhaling the scent of her hair. I don't recognize it, but it smells great.

When Rose comes into view, I half expect her to give us a dirty look, but her attention is focused on Emmett, her head tilted to look up at him. He bends to murmur something in her ear, and they share a knowing smile.

I close my eyes and try to enjoy holding someone in my arms. The women that have passed through my life have been of the friends-with-benefits variety. It's almost as though women see a guy who inks tattoos for a living and decide he's only up for casual and isn't into romance. That doesn't hold water. Look around. You're the common denominator.

I want someone to love, a woman who will be there for me, someone who is all mine. You sound like such a girl.

Ignoring my annoying inner monologue, I force myself back to the present. When I open my eyes, Bella is watching me, a small pucker between her brows. My face burns, and I wonder what she might have seen on my face. Immediately on the heels of this comes another thought-nugget from my brain: Why do you give a shit what Jimmy's girl sees on your face?

When the song is over, Leah and I return to the table. She scoots her chair close to mine and gazes at me with undisguised interest.

Jasper stands, grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair. "Ali's on her way home. I'm out of here." He waves to the rest of our friends who are still dancing, then pauses by Leah's chair. "You are one talented lady. I can't wait to work with you . . . maybe get some of your ink."

"I'm honored, Jasper!" Leah has a beautiful smile. She's so unassuming; there's not an ounce of ego about her incredible talent.

We order more drinks, and she leans into me.

"Where do you get the inspiration for your designs? They're very unique." I'm not asking to be polite; I'm blown away by her art.

She laughs. "Dreams. Real life. I can get inspiration from almost anything. Sometimes I have to jump out of bed at night and make a quick sketch so I don't forget a design."

"I've never done that, but I can relate to designs coming from dreams and everyday experiences. What do you do in your spare time?"

Leah freezes and blushes. "Oh, uh . . ."

I grin. "Do you have some weird kink or hobby?"

She mumbles something, looking away. When I ask her to repeat it, she rolls her eyes and looks up at me. "I make art in my spare time. I work on designs all the time. Right now? I'm working on a new piece in the back of my mind." Her eyes widen. "I'm not bored though! I'm really enjoying myself with you. I just . . . don't do this very often."

She's about to continue the word vomit, so I press my fingers against her mouth. "No more explanation necessary. I do the same thing—just not to the same degree." Leah smiles under my fingers, and I realize how soft her lips are.

Jimmy and Bella return to the table at this moment, of course.

"Are we interrupting?" Jimmy gives me a look that says "go for it."

I snatch my hand back. "We're good. Just comparing notes."

Emmett and Rose are still on the dance floor, wrapped up in each other. I point at Jimmy, then to the new couple. "You are a good man."

Jimmy winks at me. "I just gave him a few pointers. It's vital to know what motivates people—after that, it's easy."

Bella is silent, just watching what's happening around her. Her eyes are glassy, and her skin has a certain pallor to it. Jimmy notices and puts his arm around Bella, pulling her closer and murmuring something in her ear. She nods.

"It's been great, guys, but I need to get my sweetheart home." Jimmy stands and offers his hand to Bella. She takes it gratefully, her eyes focused on him.

"We have to do this again. Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Count on it." With his arm around Bella, Jimmy leads her to our side of the table and stops to lift Leah's hand to his lips. "Little Wolf, it was my great pleasure. I look forward to your contributions to my investment."

"Thank you! So nice to meet you."

"Bye, Bella." I wait for her response.

Bella nods vaguely, her gaze returning to Jimmy. The way she looks at him reminds me of a dog working with its trainer—the dog looks for direction and tries to follow it carefully because they want to please their master, and they know there's a treat at the end.

The strange moment dissolves when Leah grabs my hand and pulls me up to dance again. We dance. We drink. We laugh. We're too drunk to drive, so we stumble over to Inkspiration and head upstairs.

Leah looks around curiously. "Do you live here?"

"No. Extra place for someone to crash or take a shower." I sit on the edge of the bed and fall back against the mattress with my legs splayed out. "Top drawer of that dresser has some of my shit if you need a T-shirt to sleep in."

"Thanks."

I drift in and out for a while, but I become fully awake to Leah straddling me. My eyes snap open to her hands resting against my pecs, and she's looking down at me with hunger.

"What . . ."

"Shh. I've been waiting for you to wake up."

"You have?"

"I want you wide awake for this." Leah leans down, pressing her soft lips against mine. Her hands grip mine and pull them under the borrowed T-shirt.

That's all she's wearing other than a pair of silky underwear.

My fingers land on soft, supple, hot flesh.

"Leah . . ."

She sits up, guiding my hands over her curves and up to her round breasts, which are soft and perky. My dick roars to life.

I groan. "Can't do this."

Leah laughs softly. "Why not?"

"Seth. It's not professional. Did I mention your brother?"

"Seth has nothing to do with this, and if you're worried about being involved with an employee, how about I work as an independent contractor? No guilt."

"Leah, you're beautiful."

She presses a hand to my mouth. "Sounds like there's a 'but' coming up. No pressure. Let's make out."

She removes her hand, replacing it with her lips. I'm only human. There's no girlfriend waiting at home. I kiss her back, our tongues mingling. I sink my hands into her hair, and it's as silky as it looks, sliding through my fingers like black water.

We kiss and touch, but no clothes come off, and we eventually fall asleep under the covers, wrapped in each other's arms.

~oOo~

*Dons armor*-I know some of you aren't going to be happy about Edward messing around with Leah. Keep in mind, he's not with Bella yet, and she's with Jimmy! Would love to hear your thoughts. See you next week!

*IMPORTANT*-Fanfic has made a ridiculous update that will turn email notifications OFF. This is the default setting. You will need to go to "settings" in your FF account and opt in to receive email notifications. Even if you do this, this setting will automatically default back to NO every six months, at which time you will need to change the setting again. Just one more way FF is making our lives difficult.

I post teasers and links to updates on my blog and on Facebook in the No Rules Twilight Fan Fiction and It All Started With Twilight groups.

Thanks and gratefulness as always to my awesome betas, SassySue (chayasara) and Wendy wmr1601. These ladies make my stuff much more presentable!

Follow me: atSaritaDreaming, Facebook SarahAislingAuthor, blog saritadreamingdotwordressdotcom.