Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 102903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Shane chuckles. “Well, good. Don’t get too comfortable with this man, though,” he says and gives Dom’s shoulder a shake. “He’s bound to get you in trouble.”
“Dom? Are we talking about the same person?” I tease with a laugh.
“Oh, didn’t he tell you? He’s not Dom here.” Shane’s smile is megawatt and mischievous at the same time. “Here, Hannah, he’s known as the Karaoke Cowboy.”
“The Karaoke what?” I ask, my nose scrunching up in amusement and confusion.
“The Karaoke Cowboy,” Shane answers, slowly pronouncing each word with a knowing grin.
I look over at Dom, but he just shrugs and manages to pull a white cowboy hat out of who knows where and place it on his head. “I can’t be held responsible for anything you’re about to see. This is the off-the-clock, non–Detective Dunn me, so you’ll just have to deal with whatever comes.”
A laugh jumps from my lips. “You’re not serious.”
“Oh, Hannah, but I am,” Dom continues, jerking his head toward the stage and handing me his beer to hold. “In fact . . .” He winks. At me. “The stage is calling me right now.”
My eyes widen as he takes off at a run for the stage, easing through the crowd like he’s Moses and it’s the Red Sea. People cheer and holler for him like he’s some kind of famous person, and he takes the mic from the band’s lead singer like it’s his God-given right.
What is happening right now?
Shane shakes his head and pushes in to stand beside me, leaning back into the bar with an elbow. “Just wait. Things are about to get really good.”
The band fires up and so does Dom, an entirely different persona coming to life. The band plays “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” and he commands the entire stage, dancing and spinning and even doing some kind of line dance I can only dream of being able to do. Every movement is effortless, confidence pouring off him in waves. I can’t stop staring, and for a second, I wonder if I’ve ever been this attracted to someone before.
His white T-shirt flexes over his muscled abdomen, and his jeans stretch across his thighs and ass as he shakes his hips from side to side. The women in the crowd whoop and holler, and when I look back to Shane, he’s smirking, his gaze meeting mine. “I told you.”
Just when I’m starting to relax on my little perch, enjoying the show from a distance, Dom jumps off the stage, parting the crowd once again and heading right for me.
“Oh no.” I shake my head as he approaches, but there’s nothing I can do but go as he grabs my hand and drags me off the stool, through the crowd, and onto the stage with him. My cheeks are on fire and my whole body is locked as the crowd in front screams for us to do some kind of group number.
“What in the hell are you doing?” I whisper-yell to him, and he just flashes this handsome, adorable, sexy-as-hell smile in my direction.
“Having fun with you.”
“That’s nice.” I snort and cower toward his strong chest, my emotions ranging from embarrassed to amused all at the same time. “But I think I’d rather have fun back over there.”
Dom grabs my hand and spins me around in a circle, dancing the two of us from one end of the stage to the other. And the whole time, he somehow manages to keep singing in beat with the band.
“Dom, I can’t really dance,” I whisper to him when the big bearded guy on guitar dives into a little solo moment.
Dom pulls me closer to his chest and leans toward my ear to whisper, “But Hannah, you’re already dancing.” The low rumble of his voice, combined with the way his strong hands grip my hips, sends a shiver through me that I try my hardest to suppress.
I lean back to check his expression, shaking my head and laughing.
“And look at you go,” he teases. A shocked gasp escapes my lips when he pushes me away from his body and then pulls me back tight to his chest again. His legs and hips guide me in tune with the music.
“You’re insane,” I say through several giggles.
“No, not insane,” he retorts. “Just a man in a cowboy hat who wants to dance with a beautiful woman while a roomful of strangers watch us have some fucking fun.”
Beautiful woman. I honestly don’t know if anyone has ever said those words to me.
“C’mon, Hannah.” He winks and tips his cowboy hat at me. “Have a little fun with me.”
He starts to sing into the mic again, still holding my hand but facing the crowd, and I do my best to remember the things I saw in that movie, Coyote Ugly, where the women dance on the bar. I try to give in to his playful demands and let loose for once in my freaking life, but it’s not easy. Eventually, though, the lyrics start to find their way into my groove, and I sing along, dancing from side to side, stomping my foot to the unbelievably fast tempo of the song.