"Hi there, boys," she greeted them with a sexy smile that encompassed them all. "Fancy running into the four of you here."

Ben grinned at her, and it was obvious to Cameron that the other man could be very interested in Mia, given the chance and Joel's approval. "We were just saying the same thing about you, Mia."

She shrugged, and Cameron hoped to God he was the only one who noticed how her firm breasts bounced oh-so-provocatively with the gesture. Unfortunately, Ben and Kevin were all male, and their gazes strayed accordingly.

"It's a fun place," she said, fingering the end of her chain belt. "And where's there's fun, I'm there."

Joel crossed his arms over his massive chest. "You shouldn't be here alone," he said gruffly.

"Don't go and get your feathers all ruffled, Joel," she said and rolled her eyes at her brother's protective statement. "Gina is here, too, so I'm not alone."

"Would you like to sit down and have a drink with us?" Kevin offered, eager to accommodate Mia. "We can pull up another chair for you, if you'd like."

"No, thanks," she said, dashing the other man's hopes, only to raise them all over again with her next comment. "Actually, I came up here looking for a dance partner. Anyone here interested?"

Cameron kept quiet, while both Kevin and Ben glanced at Joel as if to gauge his reaction Should they accept Mia's invitation. Luckily for them, Joel was once again distracted by the waitress who'd ensnared his attention earlier.

"Hell, why not," Kevin said and stood before Ben could beat him to the punch. "I came here to have a good time, so let's do it."

"That's certainly my motto." Mia laughed, a sultry, husky sound that tied Cameron's insides into a heated knot of desire.

As Mia led the way to the dance floor and Kevin followed behind, Cameron blew out a harsh breath. He knew her flirtations with Kevin and Ben were all an act, knew she was trying to pretend all was normal and Cameron didn't have carnal knowledge of her body-and they hadn't agreed to a brief affair. But it was still difficult to watch her go off with another man and move that lithe, centerfold body of hers all for Kevin's viewing pleasure.

Cameron kept both Ray and Will in his sights, while keeping an eye on Mia as well. She was having a great time with Kevin, and if that wasn't torture enough, when the two of them returned to the table after enjoying a few songs, Ben was quick to offer himself up as her next dance partner, and Mia was happy to oblige. She looked so damn sexy up on the dance floor, with her dark tousled hair, flushed face, and that seductive, body-hugging dress. And those sexy boots… Cameron had no doubts they'd star in some very erotic fantasies for a long time to come.

"You know, if you don't like anyone else dancing with her, then you ought to speak up."

This came from Kevin, and Cameron couldn't believe he'd allowed himself to be so transparent around men who were trained to be just as perceptive as he was. Still, he tried to brush it off. "I'm not interested in dancing with Mia."

From across the table, Joel gave an inelegant snort. "Sure you're not," he drawled, then explained to Kevin, "Cameron and Mia have this love-hate thing going on between them."

"I don't hate her." Far from it, Cameron thought. Mia inspired many emotions from him, but none that even came remotely close to disliking her.

"Okay, hate is a strong word," Joel conceded as he rubbed his fingers along the condensation gathering on his bottle of beer. "You want her, but you don't want her. She annoys the hell out of you, and you still want her. Bottom line is, you want her."

That pretty well summed up his feelings for Mia, not that he was going to admit it out loud and give Joel the satisfaction of knowing how badly his sister affected him. "Don't worry, it's not going to happen," he reassured Joel, the lie slipping too easily from his lips.

Joel studied him for a long moment, and Cameron tried not to squirm under the scrutiny of his stare.

Finally, Joel spoke. "That's probably for the best, considering the two of you would end up strangling one another within a few days of being together."

Cameron could think of a dozen other things he'd rather do to Mia with his hands and fingers, rather than wrapping them around her pretty neck. Still, for Joel's benefit, he played along. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Much to Cameron's relief, Kevin and Mia came back to the table, which put an end to his awkward conversation with Joel. Ben sat in his chair, and Mia sidled up to Cameron.

"Whew," she said, breathing hard from the workout she'd gotten while dancing with two different men back to back. "I sure am hot… and thirsty."

Before anyone could offer to get her a drink, she picked up his bottle of beer and lifted it to her mouth. Cameron watched in fascination as her lips closed over the tip and her tongue dipped inside the opening. Then she tilted the bottle back and moaned deep in her throat as she finished off the last little bit of cold liquid left inside.

Cameron nearly groaned right along with her as images filled his mind of her soft warm mouth sucking on him in the same erotic way-which he knew had been her intent all along. To deliberately arouse him when he couldn't do a damn thing about it, the minx.

With a soft sigh of satisfaction, she set the empty bottle down on the table and met his gaze. Her lashes fell half-mast, and she slowly licked the excess moisture from her lips. "Mmmm, that tasted good."

His blood rushed hot and molten through his veins. God, she was so brazen and bold!

She smiled at him, a heady, come-hither curve of her lips that told him she wasn't done teasing him just yet. "So how about you, sugar?" she asked as she leaned in close and skimmed the tips of her fingers along his tensed jaw. "Care to take your chances with me?"

She meant out on the dance floor, but there was a wealth of meaning and innuendo behind her words. It took every bit of strength Cameron possessed to pretend indifference to her, when all he could think about was wiping the table clear in one clean swipe of his arm and taking her right then and there, with those fuck-me lace-up boots wrapped tight against his hips.

"I'll pass," he managed, just barely, in a bland tone of voice.

A disappointed sigh escaped her parted lips. "I guess I'll just have to find someone who will."

She turned to go, and something within Cameron snapped-mainly, his normal ability to keep a tight rein on his emotions. He understood that for Mia this was all a performance for her brother and his friends, even if she was enjoying herself a tad too much at his expense. But he'd had enough of her dancing with other men, and he wasn't about to watch her with yet another guy while he sat on the sidelines and stewed about it.

Abruptly, he stood up and started after Mia, with Kevin and Ben encouraging him on. Cameron glanced back at the trio and found Joel watching him quietly with an unsettling kind of speculation that made Cameron feel uneasy.

Dismissing the feeling for the time being, he caught up to Mia before she could find herself another dance partner, grabbed her hand, and led the way. Once they were up on the stage, he merged the two of them into the middle of the crowded dance floor, away from the prying eyes of Mia's brother, and then whirled around to face the woman who tempted him beyond reason. She was only a foot away, but he wanted her closer.

Much closer.

Wrapping the end of her chain belt around his fist, he pulled her to him until their bodies were touching intimately. Awareness sparked in her smoky gaze, as did a glimmer of heat he recognized as a direct challenge. She wanted this, and she was silently daring him to be bad, to throw every bit of caution to the wind and give in to some reckless, shameless kind of fun. With her.

He let a wolfish grin emerge, and her eyes widened with a bit of surprise and excitement. Grasping her hips in his hands, he wedged his leg between hers so the hem of her dress was hiked up and she was riding his thigh. From there, their eyes met and held as they moved to the beat of the music in a way that mimicked the act of hot, grinding, down-and-dirty sex. Cameron grew thick and hard as each seductive move was countered by another, in ways that would have gotten them arrested for public obscenity if anyone could have seen what they were doing.

Fortunately, they were surrounded by a crush of people who weren't paying any attention to them or their dirty dancing. They didn't care mat his hands were on Mia's ass, and they couldn't see the slow, provocative way she arched and rubbed against his erection again and again.

It was the most erotic form of foreplay Cameron ever had the pleasure of indulging in, and he planned to get even with Mia tonight, when they were alone. He had a score to settle with her-for tempting and teasing him earlier in front of her brother and his friends, and for driving him to the brink of sexual frustration now.

The song ended, and he and Mia agreed to part ways for a while: Cameron was grateful for the cooling-off period, because after that encounter, he had no idea how he was going to survive the evening.

But somehow, he managed. Before long Gina and Ray left for the night, followed by Mia's neighbor Will and his friends. Soon after that, Joel, Kevin, and Ben decided to head off to Nick's Sports Bar, which was their normal hangout.

Once Cameron was certain that Joel and his buddies were long gone, he made his way across the room to Mia and lowered his mouth to her ear.

"Let's get the hell out of here."

"Your place or mine?" She grinned up at him, her face still flushed from their dancing.

That all depended on a key factor. "Is Gina going to be home tonight?"