pulled me back into him. My hand held tight to his while the other felt the muscles under his shoulder. There was no playfulness in his face and I found myself lost in the moment.
Corey’s mouth began to form the charming words being sung, causing my heart to flutter. My body felt at ease— all the tension from the past couple weeks gone. All I felt was Corey’s strong hands and my own beating heart.
The song was slowly ending—to my own disappointment. Corey twirled me once more, dipped me down and brought me up so we were standing closer than before. His head leaned in marginally. Mine turned up to meet his as his lips grazed against the length of my jaw, moving tantalizingly slow up to my desperate lips. When they finally met, he didn’t take the kiss far, but in that very intimate moment I felt every ounce of passion behind it.
“You’re a great dancer.” I cooed, when his lips left mine. Corey smiled and moved a strand of hair away from the curves of my face.
“When I was a little kid I’d hear my mom crying in the living room over my dad—I hated it. One night I gained the courage to go out to her and she was listening to Etta James—her favorite—and I was just this little boy, but I held out my hand and asked her if she’d dance with me. We danced around the living room and she seemed happy. Then it eventually became a late night lesson in dancing between the two of us. My mother used to say to me, ‘someday you’ll meet a beautiful girl and you will dance this way with her. Then she will fall in love with you.’”
Corey smiled to himself at the memory; my heart soared at his nostalgia. “That scared the crap out of me back then because that was the stage in my life when girls still had cooties.”
I giggled, resting my cheek against his. The music continued on to another love song; Corey continued to move us slowly back and forth.
“I don’t get it Corey; you’re probably the best guy I’ve ever known. You’re an amazing friend, smart, self-sufficient and of course a great dancer—why haven’t you found yourself a beautiful girl to love you?” His arms tightened around my back.
“None before were right for me and I’m not going to settle down until it’s real.” He moved his cheek away from mine to press his lips to my temple. I sighed and leaned deeper into him as we sustained our dance around the floor.
Time seemed to stand still with us together in our own blissful bubble but eventually Corey drove me home. With a kiss goodnight, I went to sleep. My dreams were filled with a small boy that called me momma and spent the night dancing with me—the way Corey danced with his mother.
* * * *
The evening was off to a great start.
Dinner was just ending and everyone seemed more than pleased with their food and service. My servers looked fantastic and were doing a wonderful job catering to the guests’ every need. Bailey typically remained in the kitchen during dinner, helping to keep to a tight schedule of getting each course out on time. As always, Bailey did such a fantastic job—I never had to worry about things when she was around. Corey and Sanders worked behind the bar and were busy from the moment the guests poured in. I waited for a break in the action to go say ‘hi’ but I also enjoyed the sight of watching him work. Everything he did was completed with skill and accuracy; drawing me in as it always did when I visited him at the bar. Of course I wasn’t the only woman impressed with him, making my insides clench with an unnecessary sting of jealousy. Corey was polite to every single person and if a woman was excessively flirty—after the woman walked away—his eyes found mine and sent me a wink.
I hadn’t been close enough to him yet, to see the full effect of his outfit but the dark red button-up looked great from where I stood. It was rolled up over his forearms, exposing his intricate tattoos and I found myself practically drooling at the sight. My attention was still focused on Corey, when a soft hand grabbed hold of my arm. I looked up to see Emily. She looked absolutely radiant tonight in her beautiful white gown but