Who I Am With You (Imagination #10) - Staci Stallings Page 0,77

it was perfect. After all, he’d seen Ryan and Clara dance the advanced version of this stuff, and some of their moves presented a real danger of being choked or otherwise strangled if you didn’t have full and complete mobility.

He took a breath and shrugged. Who knew, this might even be fun.

Taylor had said she could drive, but Greg insisted on coming to get her. The last thing she wanted to do was make this awkward for him after he’d been practically rope-tied into it, so she had agreed. He was there to get her at 6:45, and they were in the AC Ballroom five minutes early. Clara and Ryan showed up with only a minute to spare, and the instructors and three other couples were right on time.

They were told to find a spot on the large expanse of dance floor. Somehow Greg and Taylor ended up on the far side, and Ryan and Clara were two couples over. No one seemed at all bothered by that, so Taylor figured it was nothing to worry about. The instructors went through the basics with little fanfare.

Greg half-smiled at Taylor when they were told to get into dance position, and she grinned at him.

“Just don’t step on my toes,” she said, lifting her hand to his shoulder.

His gaze slid down between them to her shoes, which were open-toed flats, making her considerably shorter than she normally was compared to him because she so often wore heels. “What? No Jimmy Choo six-inch wedges?”

She laughed. “Nah, I thought I’d go super-cas tonight.”

“Hm. Probably a smart choice though steel-toed boots might’ve been a better one.”

“Okay,” the lady instructor said, “with the guy leading, we’re going to sway, sway, sway, and spin. Now this is a little different tonight because it’s slow. So, guys, slow it down. No need to go for a speed record or gymnastics medals. Remember, like we’ve talked about before, you are the stem. She is the flower. Show her off when she spins. Try a slow double.”

For Greg, it wasn’t hard to show her off. After all, Taylor was the most gorgeous girl in any room. Just watching her move was like sipping pure magic from a genie’s secret stash. Beautiful. Amazing. Mesmerizing. Enthralling. They all paled badly in comparison to her.

“Nice. Now,” the male instructor said, “we’re going to try an easy dip. When she comes back around, hold and support her as you…” He demonstrated the move with his partner. “Let’s try that.”

Watching Taylor carefully because he didn’t want to break her or worse, embarrass her, Greg held her close like they had been before he spun her twice. When she came back to him, he didn’t race through any of it. Instead, he held her effortlessly as she bent over his other arm and swooped backward before he pulled her back up and she was once again held gently next to him.

“Good. Good,” the instructor said. “Great. Now, let’s try a few side turns. These can add some jazz to a dance, and they are so simple anyone can do them. Start here, and…”

The only real explanation for it was the intense type of dancing and the concentration they were having to have to do it correctly. However, it was strange being this close to Greg without the need for jokes or teasing between them. He was so serious. Handsome and suave. Smooth. She remembered this Greg from The Davenport and how it had felt to be with him that night.

Like it was just the two of them in the room with the music, he turned, caught her hand, spun her, caught her, and slowly, slowly dropped her backward until she would have completely lost her balance were it not for his strong arms holding her up. Just as slowly she drifted back up to right, and she tried to smile at him, to crack the spell she could feel absurdly forming between them. This was Greg after all. Greg Everett…

However, he didn’t really give her the chance to talk herself out of anything as instead of the moves they had been doing for the night’s lesson, he went off script and took her opposite hand on his shoulder. He spun her once under his arm before spinning himself so that her hand traveled the full circumference of his waistline. When he caught her hand again, he spun her twice and picked her right up off the ground so her feet went up as her head went