“Take my hand and watch my feet,” Snarl instructed. “There’s only a certain number of steps to learn, and then they repeat. After a while, once the pattern of steps has been repeated, we all turn in the same direction.”
On cue, everyone on the dance floor turned forty-five degrees clockwise. I stayed glued to Snarl, trying my best, but mostly failing, to copy him. After a while something strange began to happen. I started thinking less about what the next step was andbegan surrendering myself to the dance. Thinking less about what my feet were doing meant I could pay more attention to the band, who were as good as Snarl said they were.
“There you go!” Snarl said, before tilting his head back and letting out a howl. “I told you that you’d be great at this.”
To this day, I’m not sure why Snarl’s encouragement hit me the way it did, but it hit me hard, right in the center of my chest. Even though we’d only just begun getting to know one another, I was hyper aware of the closeness and trust I felt for him. When Snarl looked at me, I felt seen in a way that only Granny and my sister made me feel.
“This is fun!” I yelled over the music.
“That’s the idea,” Snarl replied.
The first song ended, and our newly formed dance troop showed our appreciation to the band as Julie introduced the next song.
Before I could chicken out, I grabbed Snarl’s cut and pulled him down to me. “Kiss me.”
I didn’t have to ask twice. Snarl’s lips covered mine as he pulled me into his huge arms. Our tongues engaging in their first dance together. It was amazing. The best kiss I’d ever had in my life.
For the next hour, we danced, kissed, and then danced some more until we could barely catch our breaths, eventually making our way back to our booth, where we had one more drink and talked for almost another two hours.
Lennon
WE EXITED THE Saddle Rack and stepped out into the warm night air. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had such a good time. Ireached into my pocket for my phone only to realize it wasn’t there. “Shit.”
“What’s wrong?” Snarl asked.
“I must have left my phone inside our booth,” I said, turning to go back inside, only to be stopped by Snarl’s gentle hand.
“How about you wait right here, and I’ll go back in to find it?”
My insides turned to goo at his simple but thoughtful gesture. “Nice to see chivalry isn’t dead.”
“Not on my watch, it isn’t,” he replied with a sly smile, before delivering another kiss and disappearing back into the restaurant.
If I wasn’t careful, I was going to catch feelings for this guy, and that absolutely could not happen. Not just because Snarl was a nomad biker and I had no business inside of thatworld, but because my life was complicated enough already without adding two-hundred and fifty pounds of hair and tattoos to it. And as much as Granny trusted him, I couldn’t risk letting a man get close enough to break my heart again.
My ex-fiancé had driven me to the edge of sanity by the end of our relationship, and the break-up just about pushed me over. As nice a time as I had with Snarl tonight, I was going to have to tell him that this would be a one and done kind of deal. Not that I assumed he’d want a second date. I was probably far too boring for a guy like him.
Plus, a nomad biker must have a girl in every port, right?
Snarl had been gone for barely a minute when three guys who lookedlike they were in their late twenties approached me. Given how they were dressed, the trio were all clearly guys who worked in the nearby financial district. They were also clearly drunk.
“You waiting for a ride, sweetie?” one of them asked.
I rolled my eyes. “No. I’m fine thank you.”
“I know you’re fine, honey,” he replied. “But do you need a ride?”
His two buddies laughed, and the smell of booze wafted through the air.
“Good one, Brad,” douche number two retorted.
“I’m just waiting for my date.” I nodded toward the door of the Rack. “He’ll be out any minute. Please move on and enjoy your evening.”
“That’s what I’mtryingto do,” Brad replied. “But I think I’d enjoy it a lot more if I could spend it with a beautiful woman like you.”
I shook my head. “I’ll pass, thank you.”
“Come on, don’t be like that. I just got a big fat promotion at work, and I want to celebrate. My bros and I will take you anywhere you want to go. Anywhere at all. Believe me, honey. I have the money to cover your tab at any bar in town.”
