I chuckle. “The truth can be simple like that. But I have a question for you.”
“Okay,” she says, dragging out the word.
“Will you go out with me? Let me show you a good time.”
She eyes me and shakes her head. My heart drops and I want to groan in frustration, but I need to get it through my head that maybe she has good reason to tell me no, and based on what happened I can’t blame her for rejecting me either.
Footlooseby Kenny Loggins comes on and Mae grins.
“I love this song!” she yells.
I chuckle and move us into the group, moving a little faster. There is a specific dance to this song, and the rest of us fall in line, getting ready to move. I guide her to stand next to me and point to the couple in front. “Watch their feet,” I tell her.
She studies their feet, and when the beat picks up, everyone taps their heels to the beat.
When the crowd lines up, the lyrics start, we vine our legs, and then everyone breaks into couples, and Mae struggles to keep up.
“Eyes on me, okay?” she nods, grinning from ear to ear despite the struggle. And it’s captivating. Her smile, everything about her.
We pick up the pace, two-stepping and spinning and dipping. Mae squeals as I dip her again and then right her before twirling her out and back into my chest.
My heart twists at her bright eyes and excitement. We dance together seamlessly. It’s hard to consider that we wouldn’t be a good match.
Mae sings the words as we move in a circle again.
“You really like the 80s, don’t you?” I ask her.
She laughs. “My mom always tells me I was born in the wrong era.”
I chuckle and spin us again. Then whip her out and under my arm so our arms are crossed over each other, her back to my front, before I spin her back out to face me again.
“I was raised on old-school country,” I tell her.
“What do you and Naomi listen to?” she asks.
My stomach twists again. The fact that she’s asking me about my girl does something to me.
“She’s been into the Spice Girls recently after a long Dolly Parton kick.”
Mae nods. “She has good taste.”
“She does for a lot of things.”
Mae smiles and looks away. “She’s a very cute little girl.”
I smile widely. “Thank you.” I don’t tell her she’s not mine, by marriage or accident. I take the compliment as it is. “She’s adorable, and I dread the day when she’s old enough to date.”
Mae throws her head back. “You strike me as a very protective father.”
“And you said we didn’t know each other very well.”
Mae grins and we continue dancing, but I don’t hear the music. My body is moving on muscle memory alone. I’m so taken by her; everything else has faded into the background.
Chapter 15
Mae
Cooperdidn’tbotheraskingme if I needed a ride. He just … handled it for me.
