11. Sunny

I never would"ve imaginedthis—not in a thousand years.

Cole.

Yes, Cole "Triple Ice" Benton actually volunteered to assist me with teaching my "Saturday Glo" dance class at the Nora Benton Community Center in Charleston Lakes (which I found out during my apartment search was ranked #1 on sincityguide.com"s list of worst Las Vegas neighborhoods).

More like volun-told-me-he-was-coming-with-me whether he was invited or not. There"d been a deep sigh followed by, "I suppose I can take a rest day and swap out my usual Saturday morning with Jabbari to help you with your little thing."

I could only assume he was talking about that Jabbari, the one-named Persian celebrity gymfluencer who"d created his own form of martial arts called PahBoxing. Pru had dated him for one of the hot minutes she used to give men before she settled into a life of being her brother"s responsible guardian.And she"d told me that his private clients included several artists in residence, a couple of reality starts, and G-Latham. I guess I could add the ruthless CEO Cole Benton to that short list.

But before I could let myself act too impressed, I had to point out, "There"s nothing little about my class, except for the students" ages."

Zero surprise, Cole did not apologize for his dismissive tone.

Still, as we climbed out of his Jaguar in front of his grandmother"s community center and made our way toward the heavy steel door of the building"s side entrance, I couldn"t believe he was actually volunteering his extremely valuable time to help me teach.

Technically, I was volunteering, too. On paper, the position was paid. But since the funds for both the class and teacher came out of the Glo Johnson Charity Fund, here I was—less than four hours after I"d finished my graveyard shift at the Tourmaline—unlocking the dance classroom door with Cole right behind me.

As we walked into the dance space together, I tried and failed not to sneak a glance at him—and got snagged when I found him watching me, his pale green gaze cool and smug. Like he"d been expecting my eyes to seek him out.

Ugh, why couldn"t he be like the majority of Vegas assholes: old, creepy, and lecherous?

He"d proven himself to be the absolute worst last night, without any shame or remorse whatsoever. And believe me, I truly appreciated the heads-up about his real character before I was tempted into signing that "side agreement" of his. Unfortunately, I also couldn"t stop appreciating how his lean muscles moved underneath his joggers and Henley workout set. Or the way his eyes blazed when he looked back at me.

Clearly letting me know the Ice King was entertaining some hot thoughts. About me.

I cleared my throat and averted my eyes to the dance space. It was large and lined with mirrors on both walls. That was the only resemblance it bore to the rehearsal room at the Benton or the ones at UNLV.

The walls had peeling paint, several floorboards were warped, and don"t even get me started on the number of mirrors clouded over or cracked from accidents that happened before Nora bought the building and splashed her name across the front of it last year.

Renovations had already been completed for the rest of the center. But part of the Glo Johnson Charity Fund had been earmarked toward turning this space into a place that would make my grandmother proud, and Nora had left that particular task for me to oversee.

Instead, here I was, ogling her grandson in the still-dilapidated dance studio.

Guilt gnawed my insides as I set my dance bag down in front of one of the clouded-over mirrors.

"You should probably stretch out before class starts." I doggedly kept my eyes trained away from Cole as I unzipped the protective cloth from around the barre. "This is the advanced class, so it"s going to be intense."

"I"m sure I"ll survive your dance class for little girls," he answered, voice surly.

"Hey, I"m just trying to warn you," I answered, folding the cloth and setting it aside behind my dance bag so none of the girls would trip over it. "It"s not like I made you come here with me."

"True, but you did decide to put on that pink leotard and leg warmers after I told you I was coming."

I scrunched my brow. "What does my outfit choice have to do with your foul mood?...Oh!"

My breath caught when I turned around and found him standing much closer than I"d anticipated. Like, right there, towering over me.

Cole arched a dark-blond eyebrow. "You"re either putting on an innocent act, or you truly have no idea what the sight of you in a leotard does to a man."

His voice remained all ice. But his eyes...They burned now.

Something warm and liquid pooled below my navel. Until I reminded both myself and him, "It"s not my fault you decided not to keep your standing date with Juliet last night."

"Not your fault," he repeated. That burning green gaze dropped to my lips.

I"m right. I know I"m right, but I feel all kinds of flustered as I remind him, "I didn"t sign that other contract. If you have needs, then you should call—well, not Juliet. You need to leave that poor woman alone. Maybe a discreet sex worker or, you know, a robot without any feelings whatsoever? I hear they"re doing amazing things with AI sex dolls these days."

"Hmm." Cole glanced to the side. But then that burning green gaze switchbladed right back to me, and he took a deliberate step forward.

I didn"t realize I was stepping back until my mostly bare shoulders brushed against the cloudy mirror behind me, leaving me ensnared beneath his gaze with only a sliver of space between us.

"There will be no other sex partners, Sunny. For me or for you." His words punctured the small amount of air between our mouths. Like bullets. "Either you give me your terms and conditions for signing the contract, or we both suffer through this fake engagement until it"s time to part ways. Whatever you choose, I will not abide cheating. No flirting with other men. If you purchase a dildo, I want you to run it by me first."

I"m not sure what I was expecting when I suggested he go find somebody else to get off with, but it wasn"t this. I swallowed. "Seriously? Not even a dildo? How about if I already had one packed when I moved in?"

"Do you have a dildo?"

"Well, no," I admit. "A pocket vibrator does the job just fine. I was just saying..."

"You were just testing my boundaries." His eyes flickered with some emotion I couldn"t read. "I wouldn"t do that if I were you, Sunny. If I were you, I"d just say, "I understand, Cole. I understand every word you"ve said.'"

"So a long vibrator would be fine? Like, one of those powerful wand massagers? Just as long as it wasn"t shaped like a?—"

"Sunny..." he growled before I could finish, his tone dangerous and low.

"Fine, I understand!" I gave in with a smothered laugh and held a hand up like a Girl Scout in the sliver of air space between us. "I promise to run it by you before I bring any men or sex toys home. Can we be done with this weirdly intense conversation?"

"Sure," Cole answered, his tone returning to normal.

But, instead of taking a step back, he raised both arms and braced a hand on either side of my head. Much like his step forward, the action felt deliberate.

"Um, what…what are you doing?"My heart pounded, andmy voice came out breathless with confusion…and something else I didn"t want to name.

"We"re making our debut as a couple at the CEO of the Year dinner tonight," he pointed out. "We need to make my grandmother and everyone else believe we"re in the throes of a new romance. So madly in love, I put a ring on your finger after only seven weeks of dating."

"And that has what to do with you holding me hostage against this wall?" I asked, still breathing hard.

I could distinctly feel a bead of sweat on my forehead now.

"Are you hot, Sunny?" His icy voice took on a teasing tone. "Already? We haven"t even begun the class. Maybe we should turn on the air conditioning."

"No, I"m fine, I…" I broke off, too flustered to finish that obvious lie. "I just don"t understand what tonight"s dinner has to do with right now. Why are you doing this right now?"

"We"ve got fifteen minutes before class starts. We should practice."

"Practice what?"

Cole answered my question by dropping his gaze to my lips.

"Oh, you want to kiss me?" My heart was pounding so loud inside my head, I was afraid I might not be able to hear his answer.

"No," he replied, the word soft but succinct enough to be heard over the chaos in my brain. "I"m not in the habit of PDA. Ever."

"Oh..." I wasn"t sure how to feel. Relieved or...something else. Something else I refused to believe was disappointment.

"I want you to kiss me. Show everyone exactly how you charmed me into that proposal."

"Oh, you want me to kiss you." Was it possible to die from embarrassment? It truly felt like a possibility, the way my face had caught flame.

"Yes," he answered without a quaver in his voice. "I believe everyone would agree you"re the kind of affectionate that could be contagious. Even for a cold bastard like me."

Well, he had a point. And I could probably stand some aversion therapy, if only to make sure I didn"t turn into a puddle of goo in public whenever he got too close to me.

I rose on my tiptoes and gave him a peck on the lips. Just a peck. A press of the lips to prove I was a big girl who wasn"t scared of him—even if his closeness made me feel like a gangly high schooler again with no idea what to do with her hands outside of ballet class.

My kiss was teasing, more of a challenge than a serious gesture. At least it started out that way.

But his mouth was warm. Surprisingly warm. It wasn"t like kissing an Ice King at all.

Before I could think better of it, my tongue darted out, pressing into the seam of his lips.

Once.

But not twice.

Because Cole suddenly inhaled me, his strong hands cupping either side of my face. His long, lean body pressing me into the mirror.

Emotion surged inside of me, overwhelming my good sense with its intensity.

This wasn"t a kiss. It was something else. A greedy claim. A devouring hunger.

Cole"s kiss ate me alive. And I could do nothing at all to stop it—just bunch my fingers into the front of his knitted shirt as I completely surrendered to his all-consuming fire.

"Ooohhh!!! Teacher's got a boyfriend! Teacher's got a boyfriend!"

The singsong voice crashed me back to reality.

I shoved Cole—and the unexpectedly hot kiss—away to find Lucia Reyes, one of the show group"s principal dancers, pointing at us from the door.

She was only eleven years old. But she"d just started middle school last September. And mid-schoolers could gossip. Like, in another language that I barely understood, but with so much pointing and giggling when it was about you, you knew.

Oh, this is bad. This is so bad!

Still, I tried to play it off. "Oh, hi, Lucia. You"re early!" I slipped out from between Cole and the wall. What had I been thinking, taking his dare right before class? I"d obviously lost my entire mind.

No, I corrected myself, Cole had purposely gone out of his way to make it so I couldn"t think straight. I threw him an angry sideways look, even as I kept my voice level to introduce him to Lucia. "This is my friend Cole."

"You mean your boyfriend!" Lucia singsonged back. "You mean your boyfriend!"

I raised my hand to my temple and rubbed. "Lucia, please stop..."

"Ooohhh!" Lucia"s eyes widened when she saw my ring. "Teacher"s got a huzzz-band! Teacher"s got a huzzzz-band!"

Dear Lord. Was there any getting out of this?

I tried again with my most reasonable tone. "Lucia, I"m sorry you saw that. But I"d appreciate it if you kept it to yourself. I don"t want the rest of the class to get distract?—"

Lucia cut me off again, this time by puckering her lips and making kissing noises as she wrapped her arms around her shoulders and pantomimed our make-out session.

Cole raised an eyebrow. "You chose this form of charitable work because…?"

The thing was, I actually enjoyed teaching my students—especially Lucia, whose wicked sense of humor occasionally derailed the class but most often kept us laughing. However, the notion of Lucia telling everybody about the kiss she witnessed had me cringing too hard to answer Cole"s question.

"Please, Lucia—" I once again tried reasoning with the middle schooler, but this time it was Cole who cut me off.

"I"ll give you ten bucks to keep your mouth shut, kid," he told Lucia, pulling his wallet out of his joggers.

What is he doing?

But before I could chastise Cole for trying to bribe a child, Lucia brought the kissing sounds to an abrupt halt and shot back, "Thirty. You look like you got money. Bet you can afford it."

"I"ve got money because I don"t let myself get swindled," Cole replied coolly. "Twenty."

Lucia folded her arms. "Twenty-five!"

"Fine," Cole answered, pulling a twenty and five ones out of his wallet. "What"s your full name, kid?"

"Lucia Reyes," she answered proudly.

Cole held out the money to her, stiff as a general.

"Lucia Reyes, we"ve got a deal, but if you break your promise, I"m going to make sure this dance class gets shut down. Then, you"ll never have anybody to teach you to twirl around for free again because you couldn"t keep your mouth closed."

"Cole!" I nearly screeched.

"Do you understand that I"m serious," he asked Lucia, as if I hadn"t said anything.

"Yep! Deal!" Lucia snatched the cash out of his hand before I could scold Cole again and singsonged, "I didn"t see nuuuhhhthin"! I didn"t see nuuuhhhthin"!"

Cole smirked at me over the little girl"s head in a way that clearly said, See? I always get my way.

That was exactly what I was afraid of. The memory of his mauling kiss looped inside my head as I grabbed the gnarled piece of wood I called my "Debbie Allen stick."

Thanks to Cole"s somewhat nefarious wheeling and dealing with a child, the kiss would remain a secret.

But the feelings it had sparked inside of me?

Gritting my jaw, I turned my eyes from the man who'd made me lose every ounce of sense for those hot few seconds. And this time, I kept them averted until time for class to begin.