She placed her bags at the base of the tree, took off her new watch and put her coat back on. “Want to?” she asked, holding out her hand, her expression gleeful.
She was serious. They were wet and she wanted to get soaked.
Zita beckoned to him playfully.
He couldn’t refuse, not when she was that damn appealing. He put his hand in hers and let himself be pulled out into the rain.
He’d been right. He was drenched in seconds. Zita twirled around, arms outstretched, face up to the sky and laughing in delight. His heart twinged, and suddenly he didn’t care about the rain. She was incredible.
He snagged her hand and pulled her close to him. “May I have this dance?”
“Absolutely, my kind sir.”
They did a rough impression of a waltz, the rain beating down on them and water slipping down his shirt. He laughed with Zita and embraced the moment.
Finally, the rain stopped and they stopped twirling, both breathing heavily.
“It’sfeckingfreezing,” Zita said, hugging herself.
She was right. The water had seeped into his clothes, down to his underpants and socks. Ugh. “I’ve got hot coffee and dry clothes at my house.”
“Let’s go.” She dashed back to the tree to grab her purchases and then they hurried to where she’d parked her car. Zita put her bags in the trunk and grabbed two clean dry towels. She tossed him one. “This might help.”
“Why do you have towels in your car?”
“They’re for the dogs. They often get mucky on our walks.”
After drying himself the best he could, he got into the front seat. Zita started the car and turned on the heating. Now he was still, the cold was setting in fast. His hands were like ice.
“Damned traffic,” Zita said as they hit a traffic jam. She shivered. “Whose idea was it to dance in the rain?” she grumbled.
He laughed, his teeth chattering a bit. “I believe that was you.”
“Well, next time, tell me I’m an idiot.”
“Never. That’s the first time I’ve ever danced in the rain and I don’t regret a second.” It was incredibly freeing.
“Really?”
“It was fun,” he said.
“No, I meant, was that really your first time dancing in the rain?”
He nodded. “Not something we ever did when we were kids.”
“Why not?”
He shrugged. “It never occurred to me.”
She glanced at him quickly and then back at the road. He couldn’t decipher her look.
As a child, he’d always been conscious of who was around. He represented the Randall family wherever he went and he always behaved.
He’d not considered that a bad thing until now.
