Page 42 of Shiver

The moment the music starts, they all take off, grabbing their partners and pulling them in closely. I have no choice but to follow his lead as he expertly carries us across the floor in perfect sync with his family members.

Angelo and Gloria stand in the corner, dancing similarly, with her legs strapped against his and her feet on his shoes as he moves her body with his. For a snarky-ass woman, she and her husband truly have the most incredible kind of love. No wondermostof her sons seemed to turn out so well.

I wonder what the hell happened to Luca.

“Ignoring me,principessa?” he asks, dragging my attention back to his insanely gorgeous eyes.Damn him and those pretty eyes of his.

“Just looking for a better view,” I tell him, clearly lying. I’m unsure that a better view even exists when Luca’s in the room.

He smirks. “Let’s go find you a mirror because there’s no better view than the one I’m seeing.” He winks at me, throwing me off kilter.

Who is this man? Does he just enjoy riling me up?

“Focus, Luca,” I tell him. “I don’t need to lose a toe because you weren’t paying attention.” Regretfully, I have a feeling this man could do this in his sleep. I’m doing very little work because Luca is,unfortunately, a good lead. Not that I’d ever tell him that.

“If I stub your toe, I promise to suck it and make it better,” he says with a laugh, carrying me off in the opposite direction of where I was about to try and steer us.

“Yeah, somehow, I don’t think that would fix anything,” I say in defiance.

“Well, if it helps, I’ve been doing this all my life. The woman down the street from me growing up was a retired ballroom dance teacher. She gave us all lessons on the weekends until she passed when I was in high school,” he tells me in a moment of vulnerability, calling a silent truce between us.

Well, that surprises me, but at least it clears some things up. That’s for sure.

Before I can think of a response, he says, “Do you mind if I check my cell real quick? I left Gia with a friend and just want to check in.”

“Oh, of course not,” I tell him, not minding one bit, and I kind of need the breather. It’s not fair for any person to smell as good as he does. It’s intoxicating.

He smiles at me before heading over to the corner of the room and bringing his cell out. I stand here awkwardly, unsure of what to do in his absence, but a massive looming figure reaches out his hand for mine. His deep voice rakes over me. “Samara, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’m Dante,” he tells me. I recognize his name as Arielle spoke about him at book club.

“Likewise,” I tell Mr. Tall, Dark, and Mouthwatering.Do all De Laurentiis men look like this?Really, though, this guy is kind of intimidating. He’s covered head to toe in tattoos and black clothing. His eyes are as dark as his hair, with little difference between his pupils and irises.

I noticed him earlier, but it’s a tad strange to imagine someone as sweet and fairy-like as Arielle to be with a man who looks this tough.

“Care to dance? Arielle’s resting her feet,” he tells me, his eyes swinging over to his wife with her feet up on a chair and her nose buried in our book of the month.

“Oh, sure.” He grasps my hands in his, placing them where he’d like them to go, in a different spot than we were taught earlier. “We’re not doing the waltz anymore?” I ask.

“Not exactly.” He chuckles, the sound such a contrast to everything else about him. He whisks me away, whipping me around the dance floor, and I can’t help the bubble of laughter climbing up my throat.

This is undeniablysomuch fun. I let Dante swing me around, my feet sliding easily across the slick wooden floors as he twirls me, and finally, he finishes the song by dipping me so low the ends of my hair graze the ground before he deposits me safely on my own two feet.

The massive grin shining across my face tells him everything he needs to know. “Thanks for the dance, Samara.” He winks before releasing me to head back over to his wife.

I make eye contact with Luca, who’s leaning against that damn wall again, his eyes trailing over me as he wears a knowing grin. He pushes off the wall, prowling over to me, and I find my pulse kicking up as he does.

Before he reaches me, the music stops, and Christian makes his way to the center of the room. He claps several times. “Incredible job, everyone!” he says, and my eyes swing over to Kat. She’s standing limply, being held up by Alessandro. Her cheeks are bright red, and her hair is all over the place. The poor thing reallydoeshave two left feet. No wonder we’re starting this shit months in advance.

“Keep on practicing, and we’ll see you next week,” he says, waving goodbye to us all.

I head to grab my things but see that Luca is already carrying them over to me. I hadn’t even seen him step away.

I move toward him to take them from him, but he moves them to his other arm, sidestepping me. “Really, Luca?” I ask, rolling my eyes at how childish he’s being.

“Just let me walk you to your car, Samara. I don’t see why that’s such a big deal,” he says, heading toward the doors. I follow after him, too exhausted to care at this point. All I want is to go home, shower, and read until I fall asleep.

He holds the door open for me, and I wave goodbye to everyone before following him out. Luca hands me my bag and I search for my keys, unlocking the door. He opens it for me. I hoist myself inside, and he reaches across me, buckling me in, similarly to how he’d unbuckled me the other day.

I swear, this man is gonna be the death of me.

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