I don't know why I can't keep my eyes off Derek. We're in a club. I don't mean we're as I'm his date but the majority of the cast decided to celebrate Bombshell and, being the leading lady, how could I say no?

So I'd slinked into my black skinny jeans, a pair of silver heels, and a matching silver silk top that exposes my back. Bobby and Jessica had readily approved. I grip my clutch unwittingly and find Derek's green eyes across the pulsating dance floor once more.

"Why is he even here?" Jessica asks Bobby who shrugs and says "It's very un-Derek... What do you say Kare-Bear?" I smile, I'm head over heels in love with that nickname, but I only shrug and turn back to the Appletini- Bobby and Jessica's choosing- at our table.

It's alarming. No, his eyes are alarming. I can feel them burning holes in the exposed skin of my back and I practically drain the appletini in one go. His eyes have been glued to me since his little speech before the show which I'm still reeling from.

"I have to go to the bathroom. You guys have gotten me one too many!" I giggle over the music and Bobby makes a show of ordering another round as I start my trek to the toilet. I still feel a pair of green eyes, sparkling with some private joke I'm not privy to, following me and I can't help swaying my hips. Maybe it's the alcohol making me brazen or the warm reception of my performance as Marilyn or even more the rough breakup with Dev. It's probably all, I shrug to myself.

I make my bathroom visit as short as possible and, when I get back out, a Britney Spears song is starting up. Ooh, it's one I like! I look around for Bobby and Jessica and find them dancing together on the floor. I swear they are twins separated at birth sometimes. They love being in each others company and I'm pretty content to give them a little wave and enjoy my fourth- Wait, fifth. No eighth? - appletini.

"He is a hustler, he's no good at allHe is a loser, he's a bum, bum, bum, bumHe lies, he bluffs, he's unreliableHe is a sucker with a gun, gun, gun, gunI know you told me I should stay awayI know you said he's just a dog astrayHe is a bad boy with a tainted heartAnd even I know this ain't smart,"

Britney's singing up a storm in a remixed version, sometimes I love club mixes and this one is a definite favorite. The lyrics strike me and I find myself looking for Derek. He's vanished and my brow creases with confusion, where did he go?

"Not up to dancing the night away with your friends, Cartwright?" His voice swims around me in those British- what is it with me and Brits, really?- tones I know so well and I have to repress the urge to sigh with relief. I guess I didn't want him to leave. But now he's really close. I can basically feel his breath on the back of my neck (thank god my hair is up in a messy and playful bun so I can feel that) and I have his body heat hitting my back.

"I'm a little... What's the British idiom for it? Smashed? I like smashed, let's use that. I'm a little smashed for dancing. And I'm no use outside of choreography," I turn, looking over my shoulder and managing only to see his shoulder covered in his jacket "Are you trying to ask me to dance, Mr. Director?" I ask and realize it's incredibly husky and sexier than I was aiming for.

"But mama I'm in love with a criminalAnd this type of love isn't rational, it's physicalMama please don't cry, I will be alrightAll reason aside I just can't deny, love the guy,"

Wow, way to sugar coat it Britney, I think as I turn to face Derek completely and I'm knocked breathless by his gaze. His green eyes are smoldering in a way I've never seen before and I'm melted to my seat instantaneously. He's got a lopsided smile that warms me up just as much as his eyes do. My eyes are drawn to his lips as he says, his voice low and husky as well "I'd love to dance with you."

Bad idea. Bad idea. Bad. Idea. BAD. IDEA. My mind is screaming this over and over but, once he outstretches his hand for me, I only hand a speechless Jessica my clutch and wave a dismissive hand towards Bobby's words. I'm hypnotized by this new Derek Wills.

He leads me out to the crowded floor and, under flashing green and yellow lights, his eyes seem to be on fire as they gaze down into mine "You alright, love?" he asks me and I can feel the corners of my mouth turn up into a sudden grin at the way his mouth seems to caress the word love. I nod, profoundly and newly speechless, before he lifts my arms to set them on his shoulders.

I feel my fingers intertwine and rest on the back of his neck and his hands are resting on my sides, his thumbs brushing my hips as he plus me ever closer and we start to dance together. I know we look different then the young, single, and ready to mingle alcohol indulgent kids around us and, even though I was alcohol indulgent moments ago, I like it.

I watch Derek's lips raise up in a broad grin, still from some secret joke, as the next lyrics pound out from the speakers.

"He is a villain by the devil's lawHe is a killer just for fun, fun, fun, fun. That man's a snitch and unpredictableHe's got no conscience, he's got none, none, none, none. All I know, should've let go, but noCause he's a bad boy with a tainted heartAnd even I know this ain't smart."

I forget about the joke as Derek pulls me flush against him while we dance. Somewhere in the back of my mind my conscience is doing cartwheels in attempt to get my attention and remind me I'm playing with fire but, as Derek starts singing along in my ear, I tell her promptly where to go and I purr out "I like this fire." without realizing I actually vocalized this supposed to be private thought.

He growls, it's low and primitive and my belly does flips, and then whispers in my ear "I do too." Jesus, I'm longing for more. More of what? More of him, I answer and (thankfully) manage not to say it out loud. We're still dancing and I'm straining to listen to Britney and pull myself out of the desire that's suddenly drowning me.

"But mama I'm in love with a criminalAnd this type of love isn't rational, it's physicalMama please don't cry, I will be alrightAll reason aside I just can't deny, love the guy,"

Derek is still singing in my ear and I'm astounded, he sounds really good! I didn't know he could sing so well. I feel my fingers flex against the nape of his neck and I can't help wondering what else he could do so well. Me, probably, something inside me says in a sexy lazy way and I internally gasp. Do I want to sleep with Derek? He pulls back to give me another lopsided grin, asking if I'm still with him. I nod- Yup, I want to sleep with Derek- and he takes it as a response to his question and he settles back into alternating between humming the background music and singing to me.

"And he's got my nameTattooed on his armHis lucky charmSo I guess it's OKHe's with meAnd I hear people talkTry to make remarksKeep us apartBut I don't even hearI don't care,"

Derek was rocking me in time with the music and I was losing her mind. My conscience finally bobbed her head out of the desire pool to yelp "Run!" And that's exactly what I decided to do. I abruptly untangled myself from my director and hurried to grab my clutch from my friends, both floundering at what they'd witnessed.

"No questions until Monday. Seriously." I warn and, for the first time ever, they nod compliantly. Oh no, I must really look flustered if they are obeying me. "Karen," Derek's calling out to me. Shit. I make a beeline for the door, ducking through couples and dodging a waitress.

I didn't stop running until I was in the crisp air of the night and I raised my hand for a cab. I'm panting and I know it's not just from my mad dash to leave the club. Derek was undoing me on that dance floor and I was on a steady slope to lose my mind- which is still fuzzy from the (possibly dozens) appletinis.

I stiffen as I can feel his presence before he even touches my bare shoulder with his excruciatingly searing hand and I turn on my heel, eyes narrowed, and start my quip of "Who do you think you are Wills?" I only get to "Who-" before his lips have crashed into mine, his hand leaving my shoulder to grasp my hair in its messy bun.

The kiss is so hot I'm stunned for a moment. The hold he has on my hair is intended to hurt... Or it usually would. But, for some reason, it feels... Sensual and right. I wrap my arms around his neck, fingers curling into his impossibly unruly hair, and I moan into his lips.

For some reason my pleasured noise sends him reeling away from me. He makes sure I'm stable before the cab pulls up behind me. I turned to look at it and, when I look back to ask him what the hell, I find I am alone. Derek Wills had evaporated. Had he ever really been there? I ask this of my fevered, drunken mind and find myself disbelieving but, as I look in the window of the cab, I find my lips bruised from a glorious toe-curlingly-wonderful kiss.

I smile and get in the cab. The whole ride back I'm singing Britney Spears, "Criminal" for the audience of my cab driver and wondering just what it is about British men. Specifically one with wind blown hair, a lopsided grin, sparkling green eyes, and a seductive singing voice.

Authors Note;

Hey dolls & gals! I got inspired by this new song my aunt played as we drove to get my iPad (I'm in love with it) and I was instantly brought the image of a club scene between Karen and Derek. Was she dreaming up the whole thing? Who knows! It's only a one-shot after all. (;

Love always,

Breckin x