She hoped.
“No, darling. Thankyou. The pub’ll be even more packed tomorrow, and I’d be stuck with me trousers down, if not for you.”
Abby blinked, resolutely ignoring his lower half. “Your trousers.”
He cocked his head and looked at her—really looked, in a still, direct kind of way. “You’re not from ’round here, are you, love?”
“Uh…” She swallowed and tried for a partial truth, which she wasn’t all that good at. “I’m originally from West Virginia.”
He nodded slow, still squinting, reading something into her words or body language or appearance that she couldn’t begin to guess.
“What’s your name?”
“Abby.”
“All right, Abby.” Rory was speaking louder now, over the music and the dancing. “Come in tomorrow, and I’ll put you to work.”
“Thank you,” said Abby.
“We ready to go?” asked George.
Jessie yelled over the music, “I wouldn’t mind a dance, actually.” She looked worked up by the exchange with Rory. Abby could only guess at whatever history had made her edgy like that.
Abby turned, and her mouth fell open. “Good Lord,” she said, her attention glued to where a jumble of bodies moved together, some frantic, some languorous, sinuous limbs wrapped around and around until she couldn’t tell where a person began or ended.
How had she not noticed how hot it had gotten? It smelled different now, too—perfumed and musky and a little bit desperate. There was sweat and alcohol in the mix, but something else… Not the smell of sex as she knew it, as she’d shared it with Luc, but bodies in motion, working hard. Not toiling in the soil or a kitchen, but toiling to a different end. Procreation? No. No, nothing as biblical as that. Working hard for the sake of pleasure.
Oh, what a novel concept. Toiling for sensation.
She took the last sip of her wine and let it heat her in new places.
I want to dance.Ignoring the little voice that whispered,With Luc, she stood up and looked at Jessie, pretending not to see the slightly worried, surprised expression on George’s face. She’d do this tonight. Just this once. And then tomorrow, she’d get Sammy. Lord only knew what came next.
“I’ll dance.”
“You coming, George?”
Jessie forged a path to the dance floor, tall and willowy and easy to follow. She immediately started moving with the music, her body sinuous and easy in its undulations. George, smaller and curvier, was different, her movements limited to shoulders and hips.
And Abby… After a few seconds of hesitation, she closed her eyes and sank into the sea of sensation. The music, the beat, came from inside her. Her heart, her blood sliding through veins, limbs heavy but full of a new sort of energy. Sin—a sea of it. A hand landed on her hip, and her eyes shot open.Isaiah.
Turning, panicked, she encountered someone she’d never seen before. A short, older man.
Not the Church. Not Isaiah.
With a quick smile and a shake of her head, she backed away from the man. She took in the other women with a smile and danced. The way she’d always wanted to dance.
My choice. Me. If I’m going to sin, I’m going to sink into it, do it for real. Live in my body this once instead of floating high above it.
On she danced, through to the end of the song. The music wrapped around her as surely as the safety net created by these two other women. Another song came on, and she opened her eyes to find them beside her. Another hand landed on her hip—one belonging to a younger, bigger man this time. It tightened, pulled her in too close, the smell of cologne cloying. She pushed away, turned to catch sight of the man. He was fine, nice-looking, smooth and shaved and perfect in a way she’d never experienced. But everything about him was wrong, and suddenly, she was too hot, too sweaty, the music too loud, the sensations overwhelming.
Jessie appeared in his face and said something Abby couldn’t hear. Immediately, the man disappeared into the sea of revelers, but Abby’d had enough.
Pushing away from the throng, she wound her way back to their table, where she picked up her glass of water.
Jessie joined her. “I’m done,” she said, out of breath.
“Shall we?” asked George, and when Abby nodded, they grabbed their coats and took off for the door.
