Work In Progress (Red Lipstick Coalition #3) - Staci Hart Page 0,111
pose, back to front, hands at the partner’s waist—she couldn’t get her arm over her head. He was too tall.
She frowned, her face pinched in irritation. “Well, that does it. You’re going to have to lead.”
“Oh, thank God,” he sighed, switching their hands and laying his gigantic paw on her waist.
And then he took off, pulling her around the dance floor like he’d been doing it his whole life.
But the best part was Katherine’s face. She looked like she’d been electrocuted, and the only thing she’d regained function of were her eyelids, which blinked like hummingbird wings.
Tommy and I burst into laughter. One of my arms was hooked around his waist, and my free hand was occupied, absently fiddling with buttons on his vest.
“Dance with me, Mrs. Bane,” he said, taking my hand.
“It’d be my pleasure, Mr. Bane,” I answered. “Do you know what you’re doing as well as Theo does?”
“Let me tell you a little secret, Melia,” he said around a smirk as he pulled me into him, bringing his lovely lips to my ears. “I’m a quick learner.”
I laughed, not believing him.
Not until he spun me away and kicked us into a rock step.
I gaped, catching flies even worse than Katherine as he took me through every one of the moves he’d seen Katherine show Theo, and then he improvised. And by improvise, I meant that at one point, he actually picked me up and brought me into one hip, then the other, and thank God he told me what to do because at the last possible second, I kicked my legs open to straddle his waist.
The first thing I learned was that I much preferred dancing with Tommy than Katherine. The second—Tommy could probably throw me around like one of Gus’s tennis balls. And the third?
Tommy was good at everything.
No, really. I had yet to witness him do anything half-assed. It made me want to force him to cross-stitch or take him golfing or something. Nobody was good at golf the first time.
But I’d bet my inheritance that he’d hit a hole in one.
The band brought the music down, bringing everyone cheek to cheek. Well, except us. My cheek rested in that divot between his pecs. His heart beat like a drum against my skin.
It was the kind of moment where everything in you stilled, when for one sweet second, you became fully and wholly present. I felt the warmth of his hand around mine, the press of his body against me, the heat of his skin, the rhythm of his heart. I noted it all—the place we stood swaying, the fact that a month ago, I’d never been kissed. I’d stood right here, swaying with Katherine in an effort to not feel alone.
But I hadn’t realized then that I was very lonely. Not until I wasn’t anymore.
I shifted so I could look up at him and was struck by the sight. How do you ever get used to someone so beautiful? And how was it possible that every day, that beauty grew? Every day brought the discovery of another reason to love him. And that deepened the way I saw him, the way I wanted him, and the way I wanted to show him how I felt.
There was only one threshold left to step through, one more door to walk through. I couldn’t tell him I loved him, not yet. But I could show him.
He gazed down at me, turning us in slow circles under the golden lights that bronzed the angles of his face and cast shadows with every line.
His lips, so full and wide, rose on one side.
“Tommy,” I started, my breath shallow and heart fluttering madly, licking my ribs. But I couldn’t find the words, my tongue useless and throat tight.
That smile faltered. “What is it, Melia?” he asked so gently, so tenderly.
I swallowed, gripped by my feelings and my fears. But when I looked into the depths of his dark eyes, the sense of safety and sanctuary filled my heart, eased my mind.
“There’s…there’s something I wanted to say, but I…”
I glanced down, shaking my head. But only until his big hand cupped my jaw, lifting it so I’d meet his eyes again.
“Don’t be afraid. You can tell me.”
A smile touched my lips, thin as it was. “I know. I know I can. That’s the thing. I’d trust you with anything.”
“With your books?” he asked, his smirk back in place.