Time After Time (Sweetbriar Cove #14) - Melody Grace Page 0,27

she began to ask what on earth he was doing there, but Aidan gave her a meaningful look.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, darling,” he said, moving in and kissing her on the cheek. “Who’s your new friend?”

Stella’s brain managed to catch up. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Right. This is…”

But Ronald had zero interest in making any more introductions. “They said there would be women here,” he said mournfully. “Single women.”

“Sorry about that!” Stella exclaimed brightly. She linked her arm through Aidan’s, and hustled him a short distance away, trying not to laugh. “What are you doing here?” she asked, the minute they were out of earshot.

Aidan gave an easy smile, like showing up at a ballroom dancing class was just a regular Monday night. “I thought I’d see if you actually followed through,” he said. “Besides, it sounded like fun.”

Fun. Stella blinked. Aidan didn’t seem like the kind of guy to go out of his way, just because something seemed like a good time. Still, he was there now, and Stella had to admit, he’d saved her from Ronald and his quest for a single lady. “Just promise you won’t laugh at me,” she warned him, as Madame Polkoff clapped her hands together, and called them onto the floor.

“I promise,” Aidan said. “I’m a beginner, too.”

But as the class got underway, and the rest of them fumbled their way through a basic series of steps, Stella realized that he was anything but. “You’ve done this before!” she said accusingly, as Aidan smoothly executed a tap-change-slide as gracefully as Fred Astaire himself.

He looked sheepish. “I may have been dragged to some classes when I was younger,” he admitted. “Cassie went through a dance phase, and I was the one stuck driving her every week.”

“So you just learned to tap?” Stella asked, trying to picture it.

“It’s easy enough,” Aidan shrugged. “It’s actually kind of relaxing.”

Before Stella could reply, Madame instructed them to pair up. “I don’t mind who leads,” she said brightly. “Just as long as you agree on it.”

Aidan raised an eyebrow, and Stella couldn’t find a reason to refuse. He held out his hand, and she took it cautiously. She hadn’t thought about this part: the part where she would be dancing in somebody’s arms. It had seemed harmless in theory, but now that somebody was Aidan…

Well, she was fighting that quicksilver jolt all over again, trying to avoid his gaze as Aidan rested one hand on the small of her back, and held the other in hers.

His hand was warm, large; curling softly around hers. Stella stared at them entwined together, flushing from her head to her toes.

“You need to be closer than that!” Madame said, tapping Stella’s back as she passed.

Stella took an awkward half-step closer.

“Now, now, you can’t dance with someone if you’re holding them at arm’s length.” Madame moved them even closer, and adjusted Aidan’s hand on Stella’s waist. “Just imagine that your partner is George Clooney. Or Cate Blanchett. Whoever floats your boat.”

There were nervous giggles in the room, and Stella flushed even deeper. Pull yourself together, she told herself sternly. This was just a dance, nothing risqué about it. Clearly, it had been too long since she’d been with a man, if just standing in a well-lit room, barely touching Aidan, reduced her to a blushing heap of sensation like this.

She took a deep breath. “I bet you’re wishing you stayed home with pizza,” she joked, as the music started, and they began to dance.

“Depends,” Aidan quipped, smiling. “What toppings are we talking about?”

“Hawaiian,” Stella answered, and he chuckled.

“Well, in that case, this is better.”

Small victories. Stella stumbled over the first steps, feeling awkward, but when she took a glance around the room, she realized that nobody was paying any attention. They were all fumbling their way through the routine, too. The older women were dancing together, surprisingly nimble; the pair of young lovers were still glaring, arguing over the steps; and poor, eager Ronald was partnered with Madame herself, being prodded and nudged into shape.

Maybe she could do this.

Stella began to relax, trying not to overthink it. They were easy steps, as long as she didn’t trip over herself. Aidan spun her out, and Stella managed an almost-adequate twirl. “Look at us,” he cheered. “We could have stepped off Broadway.”

“Off-, off-, off-Broadway,” Stella corrected him, and he laughed.

Damn, he had a great laugh.

“What do you think their story is?” he asked, nodding to the lovers across the room.

“Their marriage counselor recommended it,” Stella quipped,