Hope Smolders by Jaci Burton Page A

to talk to him. Hell, I offered to pay for rehab if he’d just go.”
    She shot him a look. “You did?”
    “Hell yes, I did. He was my best friend. I’d have done anything to save him. He didn’t want it. He laughed at me and told me he’d rather have the money for another hit.”
    She shook her head, not at all surprised Vic had said that to Will. But it did surprise her that someone else had to go through what she had. “I’m so sorry.”
    “Don’t be sorry. That was a big wake-up call for me.”
    “Yeah, I had a lot of those wake-up calls. I stopped tryingto help him, too. You can’t help someone who doesn’t want the help.”
    The band started up again. Will held out his hand. “Come on. Let’s shake it off and dance.”
    “Oh, I don’t think so.”
    “I do.” He tugged her hand and she went with him onto the dance floor. It only took her a few seconds of watching Will do a very unrhythmic groove for the doldrums to disappear. She laughed and started dancing with him. Soon the dance floor was crowded and she and Will were being shoved into each other. She had to move closer to him for self-preservation.
    They stayed out there for the next song. Jane needed the stress release, and she liked that Will could care less that he couldn’t dance. He seemed to be having a great time.
    And when the band slowed things down on the following song, he pulled her into his arms and held her close. She sighed and enjoyed being held against him, the tough conversation about her ex long forgotten.
    “Now this part I can do,” he said, his lips close to her ear as they swayed side to side.
    Yeah, he had the holding her close part down really well, her hip brushing against his thigh, her breasts against his chest and his hand clasped tight to hers. When his fingers traced that bare spot on her back, she broke out in goose bumps. And when he pulled back so he could look at her, those whiskey-colored eyes were filled with a hunger that matched her own.
    “Ready to get out of here?”
    She nodded. He took her hand and led her back to his car. Once inside, he took off on the highway, and she was once again struck by the care he took when he drove.
    Vic had always been so reckless. Whenever they’d gone out, he usually drank too much. Which meant a battle over her trying to wrestle the keys from him so she could drive, or white-knuckling it the entire way home, hoping hewouldn’t kill them on the highway. It was such a relief to be out with a guy who didn’t drink too much and didn’t drive too fast.
    It took her a while to notice he wasn’t taking her home. Instead, once they got into town he took the back road to the park. The park was closed, but he pulled into one of the parking spots in front of the lake.
    “You do realize I’m not going to strip naked and go skinny-dipping,” she said.
    He released his seat belt and looked at her. “I can’t tell you how profoundly disappointed I am to hear that.”
    “However, if you intended to take a dip sans clothing, by all means, go ahead. I’ll watch.”
    “You would, huh?”
    Even in the dark, she caught the gleam in his eyes. The car suddenly seemed very warm and her nipples peaked hard, her sex awakening with throbbing need.
    Yeah, she had a very vivid imagination, and when Will got out of the car, her first thought was that he really was going to take off his clothes to take a dip. She wondered if he’d mind if she got a few photos to remember the occasion.
    But then he came around to her side and opened her door. “Come on. Let’s take a walk.”
    “The park’s closed, you know.”
    “My friend Luke is a cop and he’s on duty tonight. I promise you he won’t arrest us.”
    “Are you sure?”
    He pulled out his phone and punched a button, waiting while it rang. “Hey…Yeah, I know you’re working, that’s why I’m calling…No, nothing’s wrong. My friend Jane and I are over at Hope Park, taking a walk around the lake. So if you do a drive-by and