“Where are you running off to?”
“Break.”
Maybe she wasn’t watching me. Maybe I imagined it.
“Dance with me?”
She shakes her head. “I’m at work.”
“Just one song.”
I hate that I’m begging, but I need to be touching her like I need air. I can see her debating, so I take a risk to try and win her over. I bend down, whispering in her ear, just close enough that I know she’ll feel the warm tingle from my breath.
“Just as friends, Mamas.”
She leans into me, and I can’t tell if it’s intentional or involuntary. Finally, she nods, interlaces her fingers with mine, and smiles.
“Waitin’ on You to Wear Off”is pouring through the speakers when we get back out on the dance floor. I take the opportunity to pull Dallas close, pressing the side of my face up to hers. Our bodies are flush together, my hand wrapped around her lower back. The other one is still interlaced with hers. She grabs the back of my belt and lets me hold her as we sway with the music.
Holding her like this makes it impossible for me not to wish we could be more, that I could convince her I was worth it. I want to be there for her as more than just a friend. I want her to know she can lean on me through all her struggles.
My heart feels like it’s swollen inside my chest when the song finally ends and she pulls back. Her eyes are red-rimmed.
“I need to get back to work,” she says.
I nod. “Okay.”
“Thanks for the dance.”
She turns and starts walking back to the bar, but I don’t let go of her hand. She sighs, turning to face me as couples around us start dancing to the next song.
“What?”
“Go for a ride with me tomorrow?”
She raises a brow. “Why?”
“Because I want you to.”
I can tell she wants to say yes. I rub my thumb in a tiny circle over her skin. I smirk at her attempt to say no.
“Come on, darlin’. You know you want to.”
She rolls her eyes, but a tiny smirk pulls at her lips. “Come get me in the morning when you’re ready to go.”
I let her go and watch her until she disappears in the crowd.
“Sheriff says they’re doing an autopsy on the body to test the teeth and get an ID.” Holden’s face is grim.
I can tell he’s worried about this, which in turn makes me worried. Holden is usually the one saying we’ll figure it out.
“There’s still time for that body to disappear out of the morgue.” Cash’s voice comes through the speakerphone between us.
He’s currently in LA with his fiancée.
“I like that idea,” I chip in.
Holden rubs his eyes. “And how exactly is that supposed to happen?”
