After a long moment of silence, they each nod their reluctant acquiescence once again.
“Fine,” Kate says, “but we’re not leaving you here alone with some random guy. At least not yet.”
“Okay.” I smile at her, grateful. I’m not sure what I did to deserve having such amazing women in my life, but I’m damned lucky that I do.
“That’s what friends do,” says Hattie. “And if this guy puts a single hair follicle out of line, I’m going to kick him in the balls.”
Now I laugh out loud, and it’s not long before the rest of my friends are snickering along with me. “Fair enough. Now go have some fun. Got it?”
Hattie gives me a mock salute. “You too. You deserve it.”
She’s right. I do deserve it. Especially after today.
I turn to Tatum, who’s been patiently waiting without craning his neck to overhear our mutterings. “Shall we?” I say, grinning.
He offers me an elbow, and I slide my arm through his, marveling at how easy it feels to be so close to this near-stranger so soon.
The band transitions into a bawdy rendition of “Country Girl,” and the dance floor starts to swirl afresh with whirling, boot-stomping couples.
I might not be a very country type of woman, but I love a good country-style partner dance — and that’s without factoring in that my dance partner is Tatum. My skin tingles just looking at him.
He opens his arms to me and, willingly, I step into them.
Tatum
As we begin to move around the edges of the dance floor, Amelia’s body beneath my hands feels warm and lithe and meant for me to touch. Our steps are tentative at first, but it’s not long until we fall into the rhythm of the music and each other.
She knows how to follow my lead, rocking back when I step close and then returning to me at just the right time. The hem of her skirt dips and flutters, and I shiver when it brushes against my legs.
Now that I’m closer to her, I breathe in her aroma that reminds me of vanilla and fresh-cut wood.
“Ready for a spin?” I ask her.
She gazes up at me, hesitating for only moment before a plucky grin flashes across her face. “Hell yes.”
Making sure I’m holding adequate tension in my leading arm, I sending her spiraling out from my side, back in, then around again the opposite direction. Amelia’s curls fan out over her shoulders as I sweep her around the floor, eyes alight, and I’m overwhelmed with a powerful urge to sweep this woman off her feet as well.
With one last tight turn, I reel her back in, rocking her close to my chest, one hand pressing firmly into her lower back so that I can feel her pelvis sway with mine.
I suppress a groan. I want to make our hips move in a different way. I want to make the most delicious love to Amelia, to watch her hips buck and lift as I nudge her pussy into climax after climax. I know she’ll taste so sweet.
“I like your moves,” she purrs, lips so near my ear that they brush my skin. Again I shiver, and hold her tighter.
“Thank you.” I gaze down at her. Sweat is already beginning to glisten like fairy dust over her forehead. “I like yours too. And, well, all of you.”
I watch a sudden storm of emotion crack through her blue eyes. My stomach twists as I glimpse fear and sorrow. But there’s a warmth mixed in with the chill, too — and a hunger.
At least, I think there is. I hope to high hell that I’m not fooling myself, falling prey to my own wishful thinking.
“Why?” she asks, lips trembling around the single syllable. She shakes her head. “I mean, how do you know that you like all of me? You hardly know me.”
I circle a wide hand over her sacrum, seeking to soothe her. “I have a feeling.”
Her lashes fly wide. “A feeling?”
I nod. “A good one.”
Amelia lids her eyes. “I do too. About you.”
Sweeping a lock of her hair behind an ear, I smile. “I’m glad.”
“I’ve never felt anything like this before.” She continues as if she’s talking more to herself than to me. I have to strain to hear her over the music.
“That’s a damned shame. You’re a beautiful woman — although I get the sense that you’re a lot more than that too. You deserve to feel good things — to have good things.”
Her eyes fly up to meet mine, and now there’s anger in them, although I don’t think it’s directed at me. Her chin sets for a moment, determined. “See? That right there — that was a lovely thing to say.” Amelia’s talking to me, but it feels like she’s having an argument with somebody else.
My jaw tightens as I wonder what dumbass had the gall to go and hurt this woman. Whoever he was and whatever he did, he was a fool. I barely know Amelia, but it’s clear as day — she’s special, and somebody treated her like shit.
I draw her closer, and she allows her curves to mold to the ridges and valleys of my body. My blood rushes hot, but I order my body — and specifically the part of me currently trying to tent my jeans — to keep cool.
“I didn’t say that to be nice,” I tell her. “I said it because from where I’m standing, it’s true.”
She cocks her head at me, taking the measure of me. “Well,” she says at last, “I still think it was nice. So thank you.”
“Fair enough.” I murmur the words into her hair, and thrill that it makes her wrap her arms tighter around my neck.
“Now,” she says, pulling back to arch an eyebrow at me, mischief brewing in her voice, “spin me again.”
Amelia
One song turns into ten more quickly than I would’ve thought possible. Somewhere around song six, I take a break to check in with my friends. I’d noticed Emmy and Hattie dancing together, and Kate sashaying around the dance floor with a few different gentlemen.
I slide into the cramped booth they’re occupying. Kate slides a glass of ice water my way and I gulp it gratefully.
“Having fun?” Hattie says. The smile playing over her lips tells me she already know the answer.
I nod, wiping a bit of sweat away from my upper lip. “He’s a really good dancer.”
“So are you,” Emmy points out.
“Yeah,” I nod, “but he’s better. And because he’s better, he makes me better.” I’ve had the privilege to dance with more skilled partners a couple of times in my life, and it always blows my mind how their expertise enhances my own.
“Kind of like Randall. Except in the opposite way.” Emmy’s words are gentle, her eyes full of apology, but the sound of his name sends frost down my spine. “He wasn’t great, and he brought you down.”
Hattie and Kate are nodding, and Kate takes my hand and squeezes it. “You deserve better,” Kate says. “You deserve someone who makes you feel good.” My eyes widen as my friend unknowingly echoes Tatum’s words.
“In more ways than one, if you know what I mean.” Hattie waggles her eyebrows at me, and a giggle bursts from me. “One of those preferably being in your pants.”
“You know,” Kate says, eyes narrow in thought, “a man who dances like that is probably skilled in other, um, areas of life.” She winks at Emmy, who blushes but nods in agreement.