“Then what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“Amen to that.” Trevor lifts his glass in a toast, tapping it to mine.
Overhead, the music gets a little louder as people are finishing their meals and venturing to an empty part of the patio to dance. In the middle of the dancers are the happy couple, Julie and Max, who both look like they’re absolutely glowing. I guess being in love brightens your spirit better than any lighting or makeup ever could.
I watch as Max spins Julie around the makeshift dancefloor, his adoring gaze never leaving his soon-to-be-wife. My heart warms and floods over with happiness for my best friend and her fiancé. Julie deserves this so much, especially after what her ex put her through. She’s an amazing person inside and out, and seeing her so happy in love gives me so much joy.
“Would you like to dance?” Trevor asks. A few more couples have joined Julie and Max out on the patio, but the idea hadn’t even crossed my mind.
“What? No way. I don’t dance.”
Trevor quirks an eyebrow.
“What?” I say, glancing away from his eyes which seem to pierce into my soul.
“You do too dance.”
“No, I don’t.”
He leans toward me, his mouth just inches from my ear. “Then who was I dancing with in the ballroom of Sterling’s banquet hall?”
The memories of that day—that kiss—flood back into me like a tidal wave of warmth. I swallow.
“Okay, well I guess that was dancing, but it was for the movie. It was acting.”
He reaches over and brushes a strand of hair from my face, his fingers leaving a searing hot trail across my skin. “Annie, will you follow me to the patio dancefloor andactwith me?”
I roll my eyes in an effort to hold back my smile. My heart thunders beneath my chest. “Fine,” I say, taking the cloth napkin from my lap and laying it on the table.
He stands and holds out his hand to me. I take it, because it would be awkward not to, and I follow him out to the empty patio space, surrounded by a few other couples, while a slow Garth Brooks song plays.
My hands know right where to go. Trevor and I have danced before, and it was somehow less nerve-wracking that first day when we were surrounded by extras and actors and the film crew, those big warm lights overhead shining down on us. It was different. I was a nervous body-double with no idea what I was doing.
Now, I’m still nervous, I still have no idea what I’m doing, and I’m desperately trying to falloutof love with this man, not into it.
I take a deep breath and focus on my footwork. Trevor leads us in a slow dance, his feet steady and confident while mine are still trying to figure out what to do. I can feel his eyes on me, but I look anywhere but into his gaze. I look at his shoulder, at the buttons on his shirt, the little row of stitching that goes across his collar.
We dance through three songs, and while I’d hoped to get this over with quickly, now that we’re together, moving in sync to the music, I don’t really want to go back to my chair. Right now I feel like that meme of the cartoon guy sitting at a table surrounded by flames and saying, “this is fine.”
This is fine, I tell myself.
Dancing with Trevor is totally fine. Nothing to see here.
But when we pass by Julie and Max on the dance floor, I look over and my eyes meet hers, and instead of doing something to extinguish these metaphorical flames all around me, she winks.Some best friend she is, I think with a sarcastic grin as I wink back at her.
Before I know it, the evening is over, and I’m saying goodbye to all the guests and thanking them for helping me throw this last-minute surprise engagement party. When I finish talking with Clare, I look around to find Trevor helping the staff clean up plates. I watch him for a moment, totally mesmerized that a man of his wealth and fame would hang around and help the staff do a boring, dirty job.
Once everyone is gone, and the party is cleaned up, Trevor drives me back home. Our conversation is light and fun, but not very flirty. I get nervous as he pulls into Julie’s driveway. The butterflies in my stomach dance around as I wonder if he’s going to kiss me goodbye.
“Thanks for inviting me,” he says, giving me a genuine smile. “I had a lot of fun. And everyone was really cool. No one treated me like a celebrity, which was nice.”
“I’m glad,” I say.
“It felt good just being a regular guy.” His smile softens. “Thanks again.”
“You are quite welcome,” I say. Then I get out of his car.
He doesn’t try to kiss me, which is exactly how he should act. I mean, I told him this wasn’t a date. I told him I didn’t like him. He’s not supposed to kiss me.
