“My lips are sealed.”
His gaze homed in on her mouth.
She swallowed. “I’ve talked to everyone I wanted to talk to, I’ve eaten all the canapés I could, and my feet are not happy with me. I’m done for the evening.”
“Great. Let’s go.” He tipped his head toward the double doors at the far end of the room.
She nodded. No hesitation.
Always, she was the one to be in charge, in just about every situation. This … this was new. She didn’t recognize herself. And Jannie, practical, decisive, in-charge Jannie, for some reason, liked that he took the lead. For once, she could let go and lean on someone, and it felt like a relief.
Leaving, however, was easier said than done. To Jannie’s frustration, people kept stopping them to chat, and Nick gave each person his full attention, answering their repeated questions about his job as if it were the first time he’d been asked. He looked completely at ease, but when the three lady doctors who had fawned over him turned to leave, she saw Nick exhale and roll his shoulders.
He rubbed the back of his neck, then gave her a smile that could have melted steel. “How are you doing?”
Wow. Instead of complaining or commenting on the stress caused by events like this one, he checked on her.
She smiled at him. “I’m good. You?”
“The truth?”
“It’s what I always give, so I expect nothing less.”
“Ah, yes. Still honest to a fault.”
“Some would say harsh and blunt.”
“I never saw it that way. You said what you thought. I always liked that about you.”
She tapped his arm. “You hardly spoke a word to me!”
He shrugged. “Back then, I didn’t dare talk to you. I planned these questions in my head, but they never seemed to come out when we were face-to-face, so I stuck to school stuff.”
“Why?”
He didn’t answer. The guitar intro of Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” began, and Nick paused, a little smile curving his lips. “I haven’t heard this song in ages. One dance before we head upstairs?”
The melody was lulling, the lighting was low, and Jannie couldn’t refuse his invitation to dance to the music that had been popular when they were teens.
He led her to the dance floor and took her in his arms. But instead of sweeping her across the room with the smooth grace she expected, he began what she could only describe as a wooden shuffle. It was such a surprise that she had to work hard not to laugh.
Despite her best efforts, he noticed. “Go ahead, laugh. You know you want to.”
Step right. Step left.
The man was stomping side to side, and when he attempted a few steps for variety, it was like dancing with a lumbering oak.
Jannie laughed. “No wonder you never went to any school dances.”
His lips twitched. “I feel like a robot.”
“You dance like one.”
He chuckled. “One of the social graces I never managed to master. In retrospect, I regret not taking lessons.”
“I’m sure your mastery in other areas makes up for this.”
His smile was slow, and something feral glinted in his eyes. “Oh, you think so?”
