Who I Am With You (Imagination #10) - Staci Stallings Page 0,78

down in a dip. It should have felt dangerous, but it really felt like flying.

That song ended, and he stood her back to the ground, clapping with the others as his gaze asked if he had over-stepped his bounds. All Taylor could do was smile at him and hope she wasn’t looking as flushed as she felt.

“That was awesome,” the instructor said. “Okay, since we have some time, what do you say we kick it up a notch or two?”

Across the way, Ryan and Clara cheered the idea, and Taylor wondered how that was even possible. Her body was starting to heat up, and she willed herself not to start fanning herself. Everyone would surely get the wrong idea if she did that.

“Once you get some of the basics down,” the instructor said, “then you can start adding things like flips and different spins and fancy dips. These take more one-on-one practice than just the normal basic dancing steps. You will want to spend some time learning to do these types of moves together so nobody gets twist-turned upside down when you do them in public.”

“The first one we will show you,” his partner said, “is a simple pass-by dip. Guys, you want to spin her first counterclockwise and then as she comes back to you, the lady will seem to pass by her partner’s side. His leg will step out behind her, and then you will dip her over the back of your thigh.”

They demonstrated it, and Taylor was a little nervous watching them. It didn’t look overly dangerous or complicated. It was just that when the two instructors danced, you could feel the heat, and it had nothing to do with the lack of air conditioning in the room.

“Okay. Let’s try that.”

Concentrating so he wouldn’t drop her on the floor, Greg led Taylor past his leg, created the base, and held her as she came across him. It wasn’t nearly as hard as he had thought it would be, but he could see how you could get tangled up if you didn’t know what you were doing.

“Good. Great,” the woman instructor said. “Now, this move can be done many ways. Because of the man’s strength, he can dip you a little.” They demonstrated, and she only came just down past her partner’s shoulders. “Or he can lift you right up off your feet.” Like it was the easiest thing in the world, he lifted her, and her one foot went above his head. They seemed suspended in time and space for the breath of a second, and then he let her down. “It’s really up to the two of you and your level of trust and creativity. So let’s do a song and try that out.”

Which of them looked more nervous, Greg didn’t know, but his heart was about to beat right out of his chest. Still, he couldn’t be all weird about this, so he put on his game face as she stepped into his arms. Not trying to go crazy with it, he did a few of the simple moves first, leading her through them though there was no order or prior organization to any of it. Without missing a beat, she followed him with a trust he had never felt come from a dance partner in his life.

Guiding her back to him and past his side, he picked her up and her feet came right off the ground. She wasn’t heavy at all. In fact, he felt like he could have twirled her around in the air if he’d have wanted to. Instead, he dropped her backward down the front of him, held her there just like the instructors had done and then stood her back to her feet and spun her once before she came back into his arms. This was a level of fun and freedom he had never before experienced, and all he wanted to do was drink more of it.

“Great. Great,” the instructor said, and she cut the music. “Okay, one more variation on that is to do the pass-by and simply let her lean into you so the man takes a step away and you lean that direction together. She can also pick up her opposite leg and bend her knee, which looks really cool.”

That one looked a lot easier than the last one, and without thinking that he shouldn’t, Greg stepped to Taylor took her hand and leaned them both to the side to practice the move. She looked