Jack takes a look at Miles and says, “That bad this time, huh?”
“I’ll be fine. Maybe we should dance.” The music starts again, and several people head out on the dance floor.
It’s now my turn to panic. “Um…yeah. You see, I’ve got two left feet and I would hate to ruin your shiny shoes—” Miles takes my hand and pulls me up, cutting off my words.
“Well, then we’ll walk through it together,” he says, the first genuine smile appearing since we walked into the room.
I take in a deep breath, hoping I won’t make a complete fool out of myself. “We probably should have had a dancing lesson. Or twelve,” I whisper into his ear.
“You’ll be fine. Just follow my lead.” He twists me around, holding my hand in his and then resting his other hand near my waist. “Back, sidestep, forward, sidestep.”
I have to look down and mentally count out the steps, but at least I haven’t tripped. Yet.
“Yeah, I’ve never done anything more than sway,” I say, grinning at him.
“What’s the sway?” Miles asks, flashing his straight white teeth.
“Both my hands are around your neck and both your arms are around my waist and we just sort of sway back and forth until the song is over.”
Miles chuckles. “Yeah, that’s not what we’re doing here.” He dips me, and for several seconds I wonder if he’s going to lean in for a kiss. I’m hoping for it actually.
He lifts me and we go back to the steps for a few moments, me trying to catch my breath. “See, you’ve got this.”
“Teaching your date how to dance?” I don’t recognize the voice, but Miles’s face pales, as if a ghost is standing right behind us.
I turn, seeing the familiar face from all the pictures of Miles when Kenzie web stalked him. The long brown hair, the gorgeous dress and a look in her eye that makes me suck in a breath.
This must be the ex-girlfriend.
“Tanya,” Miles says, nodding. Instead of letting go of me, he pulls me closer, allowing me to get another deep breath of his cologne.
“I seem to remember you doing the same thing for me when we started dating. How cute,” she says. Her eyes lock onto Miles and I’m tempted to raise my hand up in front of his face to break the trance.
“Hi, I’m Dani,” I say, twisting in his arms enough to stretch out my hand to her. She looks at it and then raises her gaze back to Miles.
She pinches her lips together and says, “Who’s your rent-a-girl?”
Anger bubbles up inside me and I take a step to break away from Miles’s arms. “I’m no rent—”
“She’s my fiancé,” Miles says, causing both of us to stop and look at him. He reaches over and takes my hand, squeezing it while still focused on Tanya.
The woman is stunned, her mouth open a bit and her eyes wide. “Fiancé?”
And just like that, I’m basically a bobblehead doll, my focus bouncing between the two of them. I mean, we’ve stepped up our game a whole other level with one simple title change.
“Yes,” he says. He might be back to giving one-word answers, but his gaze is laser-focused.
Tanya glances down at my hand and I realize it’s the only thing that gives us away. An empty ring finger.
“I don’t see the ring,” she says, triumphantly.
“It’s getting re-sized,” I blurt out, making this up as I go. That is a plausible explanation, right?
She sneers at me and turns back to him. “I’m surprised the papers haven’t picked this up just yet. It’s a little soon for you to propose, isn’t it?”
Wow, what did he see in her in the first place? The woman is like a viper. Then again, I’m not the model citizen of relationships.
“Are you keeping tabs on your ex?” I ask, surprising even myself.