Page 95 of Love Unforgettable
Chapter 29
Lexie
We reach the dance floor, and I’m a little nervous. I wasn’t kidding when I said I wasn’t a good dancer. The music is already playing, and I see couples circling around the dance floor. I don’t recognize the song, but it’s slow and sultry. Cole leads me to the outer edge of the dance floor. He takes my left hand and places it on his right hip, then he puts his right hand around the back of my neck, takes my right hand in his left.
“Okay, sweetness, we’re movin’ a little off center to one another so we don’t step on each other’s toes.”
I nod and look down at our feet. “Okay, got it.”
“And you’re gonna look at me the whole time.”
I look up and meet his eyes. They are so intense, like he can see right through to my soul. His hand on the back of my neck is warm and strong. He shifts his weight back and forth to the beat of the music.
“Do you feel that? That’s our beat we’re following. It’s a quick, quick, slow, slow, I’m gonna call out the steps at first until you get the hang of it.” He starts to move me backward. “Left, right, left, right. Good. We’re partially stepping and partially shuffling. See? You’re doing great, keep looking at me, don’t think about your feet.”
I look in his eyes and get a little lost in them. It’s easy not to really think about anything else when that happens. He feels so safe, so strong. I take a deep breath and sigh, relaxing into his gaze and his touch. Until he smiles down at me, then it’s like molten hot lava coursing through my body, from my head down to my toes. I feel sexy with him, like a temptress. Because he looks at me like I’m the only thing that exists in his world. Like I’m important.
A girl could get seriously used to that feeling. Which is dangerous in my world which consists of lying cheats and people who die too soon. My eyes drift to the side as I get lost in painful memories and destructive thoughts. I misstep and stumble. Cole rights me easily.
“Eyes on me, sweetness. No trips down memory lane, we are staying in the here and now. Okay?” His voice is soft, concerned, and caring.
It’s too much. Who is this guy? Why is he being so nice to me? Why does he like me? I’m nothing special. He’s so well-adjusted and unaffected, he gets along with his family, he sticks up for women, he’s polite and charming, successful and handsome. He hasn’t even tried to get me into bed. He wants to help me get over my ex before moving forward. Nobody does that. This isn’t natural.
Who am I kidding? It’s totally too much. I can’t do this with him. He’s going to realize what a nut-job I am and then he’ll leave me and I’ll be alone again. I may as well stay alone now versus letting him abandon me at a future time.
“Get out of your head, sweetness. We’re just dancin’,” he leans down and whispers in my ear.
How does he know I’m in my head? I’m still looking at him. For the most part anyway. All indications point to me paying attention and being in the present with him. The music slows, and Cole pulls me a bit closer to him.
“Relax,” he says. “You’re a natural.”
“Am I really following you or are you just humoring me?”
“Well, you are doing damn good for someone who can’t dance.” He smiles at me. I smile back. He spins me in a circle, then pulls me back up against him. His hand that was on the back of my neck now around my waist, my hand that was on his hip, now resting on his chest. His very muscular chest. Which I already knew from seeing him shirtless. But it’s nice being able to touch it too.
His steps slow considerably and we are now dancing in a fashion that I’m more used to seeing. Or at least, that’s how it seems. I’m able to rest my head on his chest and I like that. He pulls our arms up against his other side near his chest. He’s humming the song that’s playing.
“I like this song,” I tell him.
“‘Blue’ by Keith Urban.”
I listen to the words, I feel like it’s Cole talking to me. Telling me I don’t need Trevor. That it’s so clear. Trevor stifles me.
You finally ready to listen?
Yes. Quit micro-managing.
If not me, then who?
Just shut up.
I stop talking to myself long enough to listen to the rest of the song. The eerily biographical song.
The next one that comes on has that same almost melancholy sound. But as soon as the words starts, it’s clear that the message couldn’t be more different.
“What song is this? I like it too.”
“Gonna make a country lover out of you yet, sweetness. This is one of my all-time favorites,” he says.
