Page 92 of Dance with Me on New Year's Eve

You noticed. You just chose to hate him instead.

Did I? Or did his brusque personality just overshadow everything else?

Then again, he made it clear from the start that he disliked me. He might as well have been Mr. Darcy, who famously said, “My good opinion once lost is lost forever.”

The moment he spotted me, Jeff’s eyes went wide, his pupils growing as he strolled toward me.

Why was he looking at me that way? Did I have lipstick on my teeth?

Or maybe it’s that dress. You know you can’t pull off a strapless dress. It’s even worse than the one your mom saw you wear.

I looked away, my heart sinking as I wished I’d worn the older navy blue dress purchased the last time I was forced to attend a cocktail party. Instead, I’d chosen a strapless, knee-length teal dress that glittered under the soft lighting overhead and swished around my legs as I walked.

Jeff stepped forward, and his mouth moved but produced no sound at first. Finally, he spoke slowly, “You are beautiful.”

My eyes widened as I tried to form words. He didn’t say Ilookbeautiful; he said Iam. There was a difference.

Stunned, I started to feel a bit dizzy and wobbled in my uncomfortable heels.

“I’ll be right back,” he said as he pivoted abruptly.

I scanned the area, bewildered as he got lost in the crowd. I decided to stay put; it’s not like I had anywhere else to be. Danny was planning to text me when he was almost here in town, and I hadn’t heard from him yet. I’d even checked my spam a few times, as I didn’t have his number yet. I’d merely given him my address and phone number yesterday, forgetting that I didn’t have his, since we’d always chatted in the gaming site chat rather than through SMS. We hadn’t even exchanged real names yet! I wasn’t even sure why. In any case, he’d warned me this morning that he might be late.

Within a minute, Jeff returned with a glass of ice water and handed it to me.

Conscious of his eyes locked on me, I drank quickly and then handed the empty glass back to him. “Thanks. That was thoughtful of you.”

“You’re welcome.”

OK, time for small talk. Quite possibly the worst invention ever. “So, what do you think of the venue? I know it’s not as fancy as the resort ballroom, but you know Hazelinsistedwe find a different venue so we could make it her own. And I quite like it, actually.”

“It looks nice. Elegant but also whimsical. Like Hazel.”

I nodded as my eyes swept the room, which we’d decorated with hundreds of hanging candelabra and floating lanterns above us. “I agree.”

He looked out at the crowd and then turned to me and stuck out his hand. “Dance with me, Roxy?”

With my lips parted in shock, I stared into his deep, expressive hazel eyes.Expressive?My heart skipped a beat. I’d never seen such feeling in him—a softness and even vulnerability. I swallowed and nodded, placing my hand in his. I felt a surge of electricity as the room narrowed to just him and me. Our eyes were locked as he led me onto the dance floor, and suddenly, only he and I were in the room.

“Oh, uh, it seems they’ve put on a slow dance now. We don’t have to …”

He simply spun me around and wrapped his hand around my shoulder. He left a respectable distance between us, but it still felt too close.

And not close enough.

I hadn’t even drunk any champagne yet, but my head felt like it weighed nothing as he whirled me around with ease.

“You’re a good dancer, Jeffrey,” I said, aiming for a light tone.

His hand noticeably tightened on my waist. “Thanks. So are you.”

“You are a man of few words, aren’t you?” I said when the music slowed down even more.

His eyes looked darker than usual, and he leaned in to speak softly into my ear. “Maybe talking is overrated.”

I gasped and pulled back to see his face. His lips wereparted slightly, and his eyes hooded. I breathed in his woodsy cologne lightly. “What would you prefer then?”

His eyes danced in the lower ballroom lighting as he squeezed our joined hands lightly. “Do you really want to know?”

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