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The tall, lanky man managed to steel himself as she did just what he expected: she took advantage of the seat to get closer to him, in a way he couldn't get away from. It meant he couldn't escape thinking above her body, or her legs, or the hand on his thigh..

As her glass clinked empty against the table top, he tossed his own back, tasting the lingering grit of sugar on his tongue as the last of it drained down his throat. His glass was deposited next to hers while his eyes swung out from his companion long enough to make eye contact with one of the lounge maids drifting between the sitting area and the bar behind them. There was a small exchange of nods before his attention drifted back to Jade, catching her words and returning them with momentary silence. His answer needed to be weighed before he spoke it, he knew.

The expression was considering, if closed, until finally he sprawled an arm along the lounge back so it was braced hind her head and shoulders- letting her lean into his chest at last instead of simply butting shoulders.

"First, I want it made clear that I'm in charge of this. If you accept my invitation to join this team, you have to listen to me when it's important. You have to behave when it's important. This isn't just a job I'm offering you, Jade, it's going to be your life. That's the kind of commitment I need from you."

There was an echo in his words that reminded him of the no-nonsense threats that Chase had given him only weeks before about complying to his command. It was enough to make him shift in his seat, which he covered by letting his arm drop around her shoulders directly, pulling her tighter into him. He knew the ultimate difference, though - Chase was threatening him into something he didn't believe in, not yet, while Levi was asking her to believe in something that could be great.

Then his expression shifted to something sly, his only warning as he leaned in to speak a fraction softer to her.

"If you keep flirting with me, I can't say that I'm a big enough man to politely turn you down, but whatever you want from me right now can't interfere with my goals, or our goals, later. Is that understood?" The word was punctuated with a soft squeeze of her shoulder, the fingertips of his long, pale hand pressing into the soft skin lightly. Levi wasn't fool enough to think she wasn't used to getting her way, nor was he fool enough to think he was a man that knew a lot about restraint.

Fortunately, he did know the power behind a good promise.

Well, she'd gotten him on one point: he thought he would've been harder to break too.

It earned a small laugh from him as he looked away from her eyes, forcing himself to stop measuring the space between their lips. Luckily, the cocktail waitress wandered into view and he met her gaze appreciatively as she swapped out their empty glasses with fresh ones. Still, his ears drew in her words and he digested them, picking apart what she was saying.

"To be honest, I'm having more trouble resisting you than I want, which is why this conversation is important right now." He let out a long sigh that was half terrible amusement and reached out to grab the first glass before passing it to her, reluctant to let his arm slip from around her shoulders. Once she'd taken it from his hand, he grabbed his own glass and leaned back into the lounge again, so that she was forced to tuck herself into his side again. The feel of her weight, the warmth of her, was enticing and he felt no shame in stealing a bit of comfort while he made his worries known. "I know you understand what I'm saying, I don't doubt that you're a smart girl, Jade. Just don't be surprised when I make you sign something for my peace of mind."

As he spoke there was a smirk on his lips - because signing something certainly meant disclosing that something had happened. He buried the smarmy look into his glass and drew a long sip, savoring the burn and the sweet, lingering aftertaste. The first drink had already begun to numb some of the anxiety he had felt at the start of this, thankfully, though he knew it also made him weaker to his temptations.

"Maybe it's because I've spent hours upon hours studying your videos, but it's hard to ignore your charm." The hand on her shoulder slid down her arm until his fingertips brushed her ribs, a teasing touch against her side. "I like you, so all I needed to hear is that you're as serious about this as I am. That's all the business talk I really care about."

Not only because their business relationship made this an awkward, forced conversation - but also because, business or not, tonight was supposed to be him showing her a good time.

The pale man rolled his eyes to mock her for the tease, but the corner of his lips gave him away at the smirk. Of course he'd watched hours and hours of her videos - it was part of his job, and part of why he loved his job. This whole career move was riding on the idea that he could bring an old media company into the limelight of the new era and to do that, he needed to know the business he was buying into. Jade happened to be a very solid bet.

"I'm not sure charming is the word for you, in person."

Levi followed the line of her lips as she pressed it to her glass, though he couldn't help the small raise of his brow as she knocked the second one back so quickly. She really hadn't been kidding about trying to drink him under the table, it seemed. Not one to be outdone, he knocked his back and set it down on the table - though this time he didn't bother signaling the waitress. He was content to let those two settle, there was more comfort in the buzz than the trash for him.

"I'd go with something more like temptress or siren perhaps." His back reclined into the lounge and he slumped, just a little, so that he had to kick out one of his long legs in front of him. The hand that had been holding his drink, now free, settled on the edge of the couch arm and he tilted inward just a little, so he could see her face a little easier.

The bright, acid green eyes searched her deeper blue ones for a moment, then dropped to her lips when she so obviously broke eye contact for the same impulse. A moment of warring with himself over the propriety of the situation passed and he leaned down, catching her lips with his at the same moment that his hand left the couch arm and snaked into the hair at the back of her head. He wanted to blame it partly on alcohol, but knew that he couldn't just chalk it up to that. There was something about her that he wanted to drink in and he poured that want into the kiss, even as he tasted his favorite drink on her lips.

A small sound of protest escaped his lips as she pulled back from him, breaking the contact, though the taste of her lingered heavy with whiskey. One eye opened skeptically to look up at her as she said the word dance - mostly because he had hoped she'd get drunk enough to forget that it was an option.

The small tug didn't move him, but the second, after shock of a kiss had him sighing and leaning into her begging tugs at his shirt. She was right, of course, in a way. It wouldn't do for them to sit still on the couch all night - he had promised her that she would enjoy herself and if that meant dancing, he guessed he had no choice but to commit to his decision. He wasn't foolish enough to think one whiskey kiss was enough to convince her to sign with him, and it shouldn't have been.

His wants were completely separate from his company.

"Alriiiight, alright," his hands raised to the ones she had buried in his shirt and closed over them, pulling them away from the fabric she was straining. His head dipped just enough to press a kiss against her fingertips. "I'm warning you that I'm not very good at it. There's usually not enough room for me to move, even if I was."

Regardless, he pushed himself up to his full height - towering above her yet again, despite the heels of her boots - and offered her a tired, disbelieving smile.

"Lead the way, Ms. Argent.."

Levi followed her down the stairs with only a disbelieving shake of his head as they went, letting his eyes wander between the enticing length of her legs in front of him and the twined hands that swayed between them. At some point this night had taken an interesting turn - not entirely unexpected, but he had at least wanted to put up more resistance to the idea of dancing. Just to little how long he had to spend doing it, in the end. He had never doubted she'd get her way.

It was warmer on the dance floor - and louder. While his drinks had seemed to be affecting him very little in the quiet, secluded upper story where he could lounge in the cool air, here they were making him a bit heady. He wasn't completely a stranger to dancing, or being in the center of crowds, though he only enjoyed it when his senses were dulled enough to block out the dozens of faces around him. The bass beat of the music overhead thrummed through his bones and mixed with the energy of those who were already beginning to lose themselves in the ritual of the night scene. The atmosphere was engulfing him easily and he found himself at ease, and glad for it. Sometimes he liked to be just a face in a crowd, a nameless person with no responsibilities - no negaverse, no job..

The sound of her voice drew his attention back to her and he smirked, listening to the encouragement in her voice.

'Just follow my rhythm'.

"I can only promise to try," he offered, though his words trailed off to a mumble as he felt her hips begin to roll beneath the light grip of his hand. His eyes only caught her wink because of the slight tease in her voice and he laughed, a sound that was light hearted now that he was letting himself ease into simply being Levi. Not Mr. Drummond.

He couldn't do much other than sway uncertainly as she began to move, finding the beat only because it chattered through his teeth when he clenched his mouth too tightly. It didn't matter, as he seemed to have devoted most of his willpower into watching the way her body snaked in front of him, enticing in a pleasing way that reminded him why he enjoyed watching her so much. Maybe a part of him was a little starstruck, deep down beneath his cool, businessman exterior.

"Was this your plan all along?" His eyes flickered back up to hers as his grip tightened on her hip just a little. "You're going to drown me out here."

A chill started at her lips so close to his ear, crawling down the nape of his neck and then trickling down his spine like a breath of ice. Before he could recover and answer, maybe blow off his very real awkwardness with a quip, she was twisting in his arms and guiding him with such little effort that it was admirable. One moment she was pulling him down to whisper in his ear and the next she had fit her body against his as easily as if it she belonged there and he was too happy to sink both hands against her hips.

But then hers was on his, forcing him to move more than he had been willing on his own, but the small gesture was enough to convince him of what she wanted.

"Alright," his voice was breathier, but his attention was all hers, "at least five minutes."

One foot planted steadily against the floor as he echoed the soft rocking motion of her waist, bending his knees to accommodate - he was clumsier than her grace, but gaining fluidity with each attempt at the motion. The enthralled man cared much less about his own performance than he did about hers, or more specifically, the way it felt when that performance brought her against him. His upper body leaned over into her just enough that she could keep her hand in place behind his neck, letting his cheek lean against the top of her head. As he let her steer them into sync, he was slowly encompassing her, drawing all of his height and mass inward toward her gravity.

His hands did pull her against him then, with a smirk. When he spoke, his words were low, meant only for her.

"I'm not afraid of anything," that she would ever understand, at least, "I just want you to enjoy yourself."

The bright eyes lulled as the dance became easier, as his body began to know the way she would dip and roll into him like a sailor predicting the sway of a boat beneath him. His legs planted sturdily against the dance floor as she became more comfortable with his body, making himself the support she could put her weight into, encouraging her just that much closer. The one small thing that he had always loved about dancing was the way bodies learned each other. Each one had its own beat, its own rhythm fingerprint, and even if it could never be replicated by anyone else exactly, it could at least be learned. Felt. Enjoyed.

When she spoke, his eyes opened and glanced down at her face, realizing that he had let himself get swept into it - just the way she had wanted, he was sure. But her own had closed and she looked.. at peace, content in his arms, perhaps lost to the same thing he was.

Maybe. Whatever it was, it was incredibly beautiful to see.

"I'm not miserable," he said with a weak smile, failing to be as snarky as he really wanted.

Then she was turning in his arms and he could only loosen them to let her, until she was leaned firmly up into his body. Both arms curled around the dip in her back and pulled her into him, offering her the support of his strength at the same time that he crushed the distance between them. He would have laughed that she stole a kiss before he got another chance, but laughter was the last thing on his mind.

There were more important things - like the taste of her lips on his, or the warmth of her spreading through his chest. There was nothing but selfishness left in him as he parted his lips against hers, ignoring the crowd around them in favor of drinking her in.

When he pulled away and let some of her weight drop back onto her feet, his breath was ragged but his smile, if shaky, was only a bit smug.

"See? Not miserable."

Jade had his attention, he wouldn't argue that. When her fingers traced whorls against his skin he lowered his eyes to stare at hers, contented. Then they were falling backwards as she settled back on the floor and he could only smile at the look on her face.

The flush in her cheeks, especially, made him want to kiss her again.

"Me?" His laugh was low and the smirk on his lips said everything that he didn't. Levi wanted a lot of things - most of which she conjured into his brain when asked. Both of his hands slid down until they could grip her by the hips, pressing long fingers into the small of her back. "I want -"

In the back pocket of his jeans, he felt his phone vibrate. It was such an odd sensation, totally unexpected, that it was enough to have him reaching for it. He was pleased, too, when he did.

"There's a private party on Church St."

The hand still holding her by the hip slid back into the curve of her spine and pulled her into him again. He held the phone up for her to look at the text - whoever sent it had written it in all caps with extra emphasis on the exclamation points.

"We want to go to this."