“Was I supposed to call?” he asked.
“It’s fine.”
“Sorry. I thought you said it was okay, so—”
“Don’t worry about it.”
He fingered the tendril of hair that had been left down in her updo and spoke low near her ear. “I know enough to know that ‘fine’ and ‘don’t worry about it’ means I screwed up. I might not always get it right, but I’ll try.”
She nodded, hating that she was so peeved, wishing for once she could be as laid-back and cool as men always were with her.
He tipped her chin up and kissed her. “You dancing with Ben?”
“Yeah. He’s my match across the aisle.”
“Who you dancing with after him?”
“Depends who asks.”
He snaked an arm around her waist. “You’re dancing with me.”
She rested her hand on his chest, breathing in his clean woodsy scent, relaxing again. “I didn’t hear you asking.”
He leaned down to her ear. “Dance with me.”
“Didn’t hear a question mark in there.”
He smiled one of his devastatingly handsome smiles. “Can you hear question marks?”
“Sure. Do you want to dance?” She lifted her voice at the end to show him.
“I’d love to.”
“Hey! You tricked me into asking you.”
He grinned and kissed her.
“Stop moving in on my dance partner, you horndog,” Ben said, elbowing Ethan out of the way.
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
“I’ve got all the embarrassing stories on this guy.” Ben grinned at Ally, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously. He bent his arm, offering it to her. “Hailey says we’re supposed to join in now.”
She took his arm and he led her onto the dance floor, where the rest of the bridal party was slowly gathering around Alex and Lauren. The photographer was circling them, taking pictures of all the pairings. She and Ben paused to smile for the camera.
“So you and Ethan, huh?” Ben asked, leading her in a waltz with enough space between them for polite manners.
“Nothing serious,” Ally said. She was pretty sure Ethan wasn’t serious. Otherwise, wouldn’t he want to be in touch with her when they were apart? Didn’t he think about her at all?
“You sure about that?” Ben asked.
“Uh, yeah. I think I would know.”
“He’s watching us like a hawk.”
“He’s just doing his cop thing, checking out the room.”
“He’s checking you out.”
