Flawed Beauty by LR Potter Page A

that she saw Jace all that much. His schedule certainly did not match up with hers very well. He
slept or worked while she was at school, then she slept or worked when he was
off. They did manage to spot each other over the dance floor at Zeal’s as she
waited tables and he played and sang in the band. She was happy she’d not seen
Blondie or his friends since the night they’d accosted her.
    Because she was happy, she’d not
wanted to jinx it by returning to the psychiatrist, so she cancelled her appointment.
She was afraid Dr. Randall would tell her to stop whatever was going on with her gorgeous doctor – and that wasn’t happening.
    Tate tried to not let it bother her
that every woman in the club wanted her man, if indeed, that was what he was.
She watched night after night, as screaming women swamped the stage and sent
drink after drink to him.
    She and Jace managed to be together for a short while on Saturday and Sunday nights once the
bar closed. But he always worked the next day, so he never was able to stay
long. The more time she spent with him, the more time she wanted to spend. She
finally did understand Juliet’s sorrow in parting. His good column rose higher
than his bad column, and slowly, she let the window of her trust creep open,
little by little.
    While there’d been serious groping
and toe-tingling kisses, he’d not pressed her about sex, but she didn’t know
how much longer he would want to wait – or if indeed she wanted him to. But she
was afraid of taking that final leap. A small part of her was afraid sex with
him wouldn’t be any different than with any of the others. She’d broken that
cycle a long time ago and was scared of restarting it. And deep down, she
didn’t really trust his supposed attraction to her. Why would he want her ,
when he could have anyone?
    It was now Friday night, and running
around slinging drinks and policing her tables seemed to encompass her entire
attention. She thought there must have been something in the air as she fought
off hands on her butt and suggestive requests all night long. She felt almost
dirty from all the advances she was forced to maneuver out of graciously.
    Her world was made better, however,
when halfway through her shift, Jace drew up behind
her as she stood at the bar, cutting fruit into wedges. He wrapped his arms
around her waist and kissed the side of her neck and whispered huskily, “Dance
with me.”
    “I can’t,” she murmured, as her
heart leapt into her throat.
    “Why?” he asked as he nipped
playfully at her earlobe.
    “Two reasons. One, Zek would fire me; and the second is , I don’t know how to dance.”
    “Both good and valid points. But I’ve cleared it with Zek and I’ll show you how to dance. It’ll be a slow dance.
Come on, Tate, please,” he begged.
    She hesitated only briefly before
wiping her lime juice-covered hands on a dish towel and turned to him. “Lead
the way, Fred Astaire.”
    He grinned and pressed his lips to
her forehead before tugging her behind him to the dance floor. He was right;
the next song was a slow song. He positioned them in the middle of the crowd on
the dance floor and tugged her closer to him by placing his hands on her hips.
He wrapped her arms around his neck and slid his around her waist.
    “Now, just follow me, okay?” he
whispered next to her ear.
    He moved them in slow circles in
time to the beat of the song. Loud enough for only her to hear him, he sang
along with the soloist. Could life get any better than this? Here she was, Tate
Morgan, slow dancing with this magnificent man, who was just so damned sexy it
hurt her heart just to look at him. She curled her fingers into his silky black
hair and pressed herself tightly against him as they swayed. She listened as he
sang against her ear the words of a Bruno Mars song, It Will Rain.
    “ Cause there’ll be no sunlight if
I lose you, baby; there’ll be no clear skies if I lose you, baby. Just like the
clouds, my eyes will