“Not really.”
Charlotte sucked in a breath, and Dr. Lucas frowned.
“What she means is that—”
Elsie cut Dr. Lucas off. “What I mean is that I don’t want to dance. With you.” A ghost of a smile crossed her face, and then she excused herself and walked away.
Dr. Lucas apologized over and over, but Will waved him off. “It’s okay. Trust me, I’m fine. Charlotte? Do you want to dance?”
Charlotte glanced from Will to her friend’s retreating back. She shrugged. “Okay.”
He took her hand and led her onto the dance floor, glad a slow song was playing for once. Charlotte placed her hand on his shoulder and looked up at him with appraising eyes. “She’s not normally that rude. Why does she dislike you so much?”
“Maybe she’s only nice to her friends. I’ve found her to be incredibly rude the few times we’ve run into each other.”
“If you’ve run into her before, why did you ask my dad to introduce you?”
Will smiled. “I’ll plead the fifth on that one.”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him but didn’t question him further.
He looked over and saw Elsie standing next to a man sitting in a wheelchair, her hand in his. He immediately thought of his sister, Gianna.
Charlotte saw him watching them. “That’s her dad. He has rheumatoid arthritis and can’t stay on his feet too long without it hurting.”
“Oh.”
They didn’t speak again until the end of the song. Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “Take care, neighbor.”
“Same to you.”
A hand slapped down on his shoulder, and he turned to see Charlie’s grinning face. “Hey, Jane and I were going to head back to my place to watch a movie. Have you met anyone you might want to…” he dropped his voice, “bring along?”
Will looked over at Charlotte, but she was well out of hearing range and wasn’t looking in his direction anymore.
“Nope.”
“Don’t worry. Caroline will be thrilled to be your date.”
Will gave him a shove and followed him over to meet the famous Jane Bennet. The one who’d been glued to his side for most of the night. She was as fair as Elsie was dark, but their eyes and noses were the same shape.
“Did your sister want to come?” Charlie asked, quickly glancing back at Will.
Jane shook her head. “She’s staying to help clean up.”
“Oh.” Charlie winced. “I feel bad leaving her to do that.”
“Me too.” Jane glanced at an overflowing garbage can. “She told me to go on ahead, but…”
Will rolled his eyes. A goody-two-shoes match made in heaven. If they were staying, he wasn’t heading back on his own to fend off Caroline’s advances. After the housewarming party, she’daccidentallyknocked against him in the hall, hanging onto his shoulders to keep from falling. He was pretty sure the knowing smile and the hands slowly running down his biceps had nothing to do with maintaining her balance.
“Why don’t we go home and relax until the party’s over and then come back to help clean up?” Will suggested.
“Great idea. Now I remember why I keep you around, Will.”
“More like I keepyouaround.”
“Save the bromancing for later, guys.” Jane grinned at them and patted Charlie on the chest. “Although you two are adorable.”
