the loudspeaker sometime later, and I searched around for a brown paper bag to heave into.
It was almost my cue. I was going to have to dance with Aiden and look like it was a totally normal thing.
“You okay?” Darren asked, having clued in to my impending freak-out. He leaned over to try to grab my hand to reassure me, but I pulled it away before he could.
“I’m fine,” I squeaked out, wiping my clammy hands on my couture bridesmaid dress.
I was absolutely consumed with trying to think of topics to talk about with Aiden on the dance floor.
What did you have for dinner? The children or the fish? Children?! Oh my god. No, I don’t eat children, I swear. I meant chicken. Did you have the chicken or the fish?
Even in my head, I couldn’t be cool.
I didn’t realize Aiden had come around to collect me until his hand touched my shoulder.
“Maddie? You ready?”
I bolted up out of my seat so fast my elbow collided with Darren’s nose. It started bleeding and he had to rush off to the bathroom to avoid staining his suit.
“Shoot!” I cursed under my breath.
“Is he going to be okay?” someone asked.
“Oh, he’ll be fine!” I insisted, not wanting to jeopardize my dance with Aiden.
I chanced a glance over at him to find him smiling at me just like he had the night before, like I was the most amusing person in the room. “Between the champagne glass and your date’s nose, you’re quite a liability, you know that?”
I blanched. “If you don’t want to dance with me, you don’t have to.”
“It’s okay. C’mon, I can handle myself.”
I scooted around my chair and let him lead me toward the dance floor. “I swear I’m usually more poised than I’ve been this weekend.”
“Of course you are. I’d expect nothing less,” he said, glancing down at my dress.
I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, just a girl like you, from Highland Park…I’m sure you took etiquette lessons from the age of seven onward. I’d bet you learned how to walk gracefully with a stack of books on top of your head.”
“I’ll have you know my mother started formal dining lessons at age five, not seven, thank you very much. If you’re ever in doubt about which fork to use at a state dinner, I’m your girl.”
He laughed and shook his head.
“But I’m more than that, you know,” I continued, feeling like it was imperative that he know that.
He peered over at me in silence, like he was going to take my word for it.
As we neared the edge of the dance floor, the DJ caught sight of us and made his announcement about couples joining the bride and groom. Aiden didn’t even wait for me to give him a final approval, just stepped out and swept me up into his arms.
We were a good fit. At 5’6”, I didn’t feel totally eclipsed by him, just partially.
He wrapped one hand around my waist and held my hand in the other. He led me around the floor with confident grace, asking me if I wanted to spin before unfurling me out so only our fingers touched and then looping me back into him. I laughed with glee and asked him to do it again. He did, and then we settled back into a rhythm. My chest brushed his and I flicked my eyes up to find him looking down at me.
Did he recognize how easily we moved together? How fun this was?
Then I thought of Darren stuffing toilet paper up his nose in the bathroom and got ahold of myself.
After clearing my throat, I asked, “So what do you do?”
He told me he was a journalist.
“Really? That’s awesome!”
He smiled wryly. “Could you mention that to my parents? They keep pleading with me to go back to grad school for a second time and get a ‘normal’ job.”
“Pfft. What’s a normal job, anyway?”
“Probably something like what James does.”
He tilted his head to where he and my sister were dancing, moving slowly, gazing into each other’s eyes. Unlike them, we’d covered the dance floor twice over thanks to Aiden leading me.
“Doesn’t he work in corporate law? What a snooze,” I teased.
Aiden smiled, assessing me.
“You know I really had you pegged wrong yesterday.”
“Oh yeah?”
He nodded, studying me. “I guess it was the way you looked. It reminded me a lot of your sister.” His smile dropped as if he realized he might have offended me. “That came out wrong. There’s nothing