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Lissie watched us raptly. If she had popcorn, she’d have been shoveling it into her mouth.
“A dance.” He smiled at me with a shit-eating grin.
I barely knew him, but he was always getting on my nerves. Literally on my nerves—it felt like he was stepping on them with steel-toed boots. I felt Lissie poking at me with her drink, the condensed water soaking through my sweater.
“Do it,” she hissed.
“Fine.” Fine? Did I just say fine? I guess so, because, ignoring his outstretched hand, I walked straight out to the middle of the bar and stood there with my arms folded like a pouting kindergartner. I felt like everyone’s eyes were on me, but in reality all eyes were on their drinks.
Vic peeled my arms from my side carefully and pulled me to his chest. I felt my breath disappear like wind in a cave. He was so calm and controlling, wielding me like a doll, and I was let
ting him.
“Hold me,” Vic said, and I did. I put my arms around his neck and relaxed as his arms drew around my waist.
“Why are you here?” I asked Vic, swaying with him. He was a surprisingly good dancer. Most men (see: boys) I’ve danced with had no idea what to do when the music turned on. With them, it ended up being less a dance and more akin to having our legs tied together in a three-legged picnic race.
“That’s a nice sweater,” Vic said, his eyes grazing lazily down my body. I blushed. I hadn’t worn the sweater on its own to work—it was the type of outfit that only worked with layers. Did anyone else see the episode of Scrubs where J. D. went on a date and wore his perfect “date” outfit? The more layers he took away, the more ridiculous he looked? That’s how my work outfit was today. But I figured, hey, I’m at this low-key bar with a friend, it doesn’t matter.
Ha! I forgot that it’s me we’re talking about. Of course it’s going to matter. Anyway, my sweater was too sheer. You could almost make out my bra, and you could definitely see the tattoo on my ribs. Oh, have I not told you about my tattoo? Well, that’s a story for another time.
“It was bring-your-sweater-puppies-to-work day,” I responded lazily. Vic smiled at my stupid reply, but his gaze held the same horrifyingly intense hold on me. The black depths sucked me in to them. I loathed being with him. I felt like I had no control on myself. If he said jump I would catapult myself off the bridge, all too eager to meet the rocks below.
“Why are you here?”
“The same reason you are,” Vic replied.
He was here for cheap booze and girl time? Somehow I doubted that, and I said as much. Vic smiled a broad, knee-buckling grin. It really is unfair for someone to be that attractive. He could say “I’m going to kill you now,” with that smile, and I probably wouldn’t register what he was saying until after I was dead. That’s how Ted Bundy got away with all those murders for so long. Attractive people, man, they’re the undiagnosed plague of the world.
“I guess not the exact reason,” Vic countered.
“Then what?”
“For the beautiful women,” Vic responded.
I looked around. I wasn’t kidding before when I said this place looked like a haven for swarthy sailor types. Instead of giving in to the side of me that wanted to be flattered, I glared.
“Do you ever give a straight answer? Or do you just put on your charms and all the women forget what they asked, falling straight into your come-covered bed?” I stepped back, suddenly remembering why I wasn’t so keen on dancing.
Vic stepped forward, closing the gap instantly. Placing his hands on the small of my back, Vic resumed dancing with me. I was mystified by my response, instead of going back to Lissie I wound my arms around his neck.
“What women? I only see you, Lennox,” Vic grasped my arms and pulled me closer. “And you’re right about my bed. It is cleaned nightly, if that helps . . .” Vic trailed off, grinning.
I scoffed.
“I’m not interested in being another notch on your headboard,”
Vic raised his eyebrows in mock outrage. “Why, Lennox, I’m hurt. Besides,” he added, “we landlords have a code about these types of things.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes. We even hold secret conventions.”
I rolled my eyes at his reply. Looking away, I counted down the seconds until the song ended.
Vic leaned in close enough that I could kiss him if I wanted to. My body went hot, and I swallowed at the sudden change in our proximity. My toes and fingers tingled, and the butterflies in my stomach upgraded to birds. I closed my eyes ready for something that could change everything.
Smooth, low sound filled my ears and caused my belly to tingle.
