He sighed, but didn’t pull his hand away. “You’re impossible.”
“I’ve heard that before,” I agreed. “Probably from you.”
That made him laugh as I dragged him onto the dance floor. The lights were low, with occasional colorful spotlights flashing around. The pulse of the music made it hard to think straight.
It was perfect.
I turned to face him, swaying more than dancing and laughed when he reached out to steady me.
“See? You dance.”
“I’m saving you,” he muttered.
I laughed again, tipping my head back. The music thudded through me, the buzz in my head drowning out everything else. “You don’t have to worry,” I said. “I’m not going to fall.” I spun on the ball of my foot, and if he hadn’t reached for me, there was a good chance I would have crashed into the other dancers.
He steadied me. This time, he left his hands on my hips, and the world narrowed. The music faded away, the other dancers melting away into the background.
I was only aware of him and the heat of his hands on the sliver of exposed skin between my jeans and where my shirt crept up. His breath changed, and his gaze dropped to mymouth before snapping up again as if he’d been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to.
“This is a bad idea,” he said quietly.
“Probably,” I agreed. “But it’s just a dance.”
Something in his expression shifted then. Before I could take it back and tell him thatNo, it wasn’t a bad idea and it was certainly so much more than a dance,he took my hand in his and spun me quickly away from him before tugging me back into his grip.
And then, we were dancing.
He was moving with me, his body leading the way as he guided me around the dance floor.
Preston
“I thought you didn’t dance,” she teased as I spun her again.
“I didn’t say I couldn’t,” I said. “I just don’t.”
“Why?”
“Reasons.”
She huffed. “That’s not a real answer.”
“Don’t push it, Dots.”
She stuck her tongue out at me, laughing as I turned her once more, and then the music swallowed us again—loud and insistent, leaving no room for thinking too hard about what I was doing.
She leaned in close, close enough that I could smell lime and tequila on her breath. “It’s because you don’t believe in love, isn’t it?”
My jaw tightened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Dancing isn’t very practical either,” she said softly.
Shit.I sucked in a breath. “Jess, when I said that, I didn’t mean?—”
She shook her head, smiling up at me. “Relax, Preston. This doesn’t have to mean anything. It’s just a dance.”
My hands tightened at her waist before I could stop myself. Just a fraction. Enough that we both felt it.
The song shifted then, slower, heavier. The lights dimmed. And my hands stayed right where they were.
