the old days, their crowd dancing and singing together and having an absolute blast.
When a slow song came on, her friends coupled up with their husbands.
Kal held his hand out to her. It was as if time had washed away and it was prom again. Only it wasn’t. It was now, and they were two different people. Still, what harm would one dance with him be?
She grasped his hand and stepped in. When his arm wound around her and he pulled her close, she felt a zap of electricity. Her eyes met his, and he gave her a slow, easy smile.
“Just like old times, right?” he asked.
She gave a quick nod. Right. Just like old times. Except it wasn’t.
She took in a deep breath and let him lead her around the floor.
His body felt different against hers. Broader, more solid. He’d always been an athlete, but there was a lot more muscle now. And as she tilted her head back to look at him, she realized her initial assessment of him had been right—he was definitely taller.
“What is it?”
“You’re taller than you were in high school.”
“Am I? Good to know.”
She squeezed his biceps. “And . . . more muscley.”
He laughed. “Thanks. And you’re more beautiful now. Which is hard to believe, because you were always the most beautiful girl I ever knew.”
Those flutters again. “Does that come naturally to you, or is it something you have to practice at?”
He frowned. “What?”
“Those lines.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Hannah.”
“Compliments. The right words to make a woman feel good.”
“I don’t use lines. I don’t practice anything. I just say what I feel in the moment. I’m kind of insulted you’d think that I would.”
She shrugged. “Sorry. It just feels, I don’t know, kind of disingenuous.”
“Really? I’ll try not to compliment you again or say anything nice.”
She was screwing this up because he made her feel good, because she thought she could waltz in here tonight and maybe run into him and feel nothing at all, when just the opposite had happened. And now she had insulted him. But he hadn’t walked away, hadn’t tensed up. Instead, he still glided her around the dance floor as if what she’d said hadn’t affected him at all.
But she knew better, because Kal had a tell—a small tic on the side of his mouth that let her know when he was irritated. That hadn’t changed in ten years.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess I hadn’t expected to see you. Or maybe I had expected to see you and I hadn’t expected my reaction to seeing you.”
“What reaction is that?”
She inhaled, then let it out. “I’m really happy to see you, Kal.”
The song ended, but he still held on to her. “Yeah? I felt the same way. Seeing you again blew me away, Hannah. I couldn’t form coherent words.”
It made her feel so much better to hear him say that. She smiled at him. “I’d really like to catch up with you sometime soon.”
“Same. How about breakfast tomorrow morning?”
“That would be great. But could we make it lunch instead? I have some things I need to take care of in the morning.”
“Sure.”
They walked over to the buffet table to grab some food, since all that dancing had worked up an appetite. Or it had worked up her appetite, since she hadn’t had time to eat dinner.
She piled her plate with salad, pasta and veggies, and it all looked so good.
“Meatballs?” Kal asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t eat a lot of meat.”
“Are you a vegetarian now?”
“No, I’m not that strict. I can’t quite give up a good steak.”
He laughed. “Oh, got it. I’ll take your portion of the meatballs, then.”
“You do that.”
They carried their food to the table and sat.
Hannah looked over at Veronica. “I haven’t seen Mary tonight.”
“She’s due with her second baby any day now, and she’s huge and uncomfortable and said she had nothing pretty that fit her. She was sad she couldn’t make it.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. She must be so excited about the baby.”
Veronica grinned. “She is. Her first, Jacob, is four, and this one’s a girl. She’s been decorating the nursery for weeks.”
“Aww. How sweet. I need to go see her. I’ll text her tomorrow.”
Hannah dug into her food, which was fairly decent for a catered buffet. The squash salad was delicious, and the pasta was good, too. She was full by the time she’d eaten half of it.
Kal, on the other hand, devoured all the food on his plate,