Page 29 of Pour Decisions
“Are you kidding? All I want to do is dance and twirl, maybe shout from the rooftop!” I twirl in front of him, partly for effect and partly because I can’t help myself.
He smiles in return, his lips tilt up to take over his entire face, and his eyes sparkle with warmth. I want to luxuriate in the feeling that smile invokes.
“Won’t Toni mind?”
“No,” his brow furrows. “Why would she?”
He’s right. It’s just a dance. I grab his hand and lead him to the dance floor right as a slow song starts. Instead of feeling nervous, I snake my arms up his chest and around his neck as he grabs my hips and pulls me in close.
“I had a feeling you’d win this competition,” he says.
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
“Because we needed another opportunity to dance.”
I look up at him and smile, letting myself get lost in his eyes. And when he leans down to kiss me, it feels like the most natural thing in the world.
Until I remember:Toni.
“Wait a minute, we can’t do this.” I step back and pull my arms to my sides.
He doesn’t let go, instead spinning me so my back is to his front, then he wraps his arms around my waist and nuzzles my neck. “Why not?”
“Um . . .” My brain stops cooperating with my mouth and I can’t remember what I wanted to say. My eyes search the dance floor for an answer. “Robert,” I blurt.
“What about him?”
“He won’t like it. Neither will Antonia.”
“Robert wasn’t your date the other night.” Riggs breath is warm against my ear, making me shiver.
“How would you know?”
“I asked him, in the bathroom, and he said he was interviewing you.”
“You what?” I spin back to face him, but he’s yet to let go of me, holding me so close I have to wrench my neck to look him in the eye.
“I asked him in the bathroom, the other night in the restaurant, if he was your date. And he said no.” Riggs shrugs, like it's no big deal
“You had no right to do that,” I tell him.
“I wanted to know if I had any competition,” he says.
“Competition for what?”
“Put your arms back around my neck and dance with me for real, and I’ll tell you.”
I take a moment to think about it. Not my finest moment, I’ll admit. But we’ve already established that I can’t think clearly when Riggs has me in his arms.
He raises a brow at me.
I wrap my arms around his neck and let my body melt back into him.
“I was trying to ask you out, that first day on the balcony, before you got all weird and ran back to your room yelling something about a date.”
He was?
“You were?”
