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The champagne had me feeling no pain. I wrapped my arms around Carter’s neck. “You’re gorgeous, confident, funny, and an airline pilot. The only thing that can make that package any better is if you have rhythm.”
Carter leaned in slowly, brushing his cheek against mine and whispered in my ear while his fingers slowly trailed down the side of my body. “Oh, I have rhythm. But that you’re going to see later in private. I promise.”
When he pulled his head back, my lips were parted and my breathing was labored. I wanted him so damn much, it physically hurt. “We could skip dancing?”
“No way. I’m grinding myself against you out on that dance floor. It’s going to be your foreplay. Because I’m not sure how much you’ll get when I rip this dress off of you later.”
CARTER MOANED INTO MY mouth when I slipped my hand into the back waistband of his pants. We were in a hallway by the bathroom, both of us soaked with sweat from hours of dancing. We’d laughed and danced, swayed to slow songs and grinded to American R&B. Lord, Carter Clynes could dance. The way he moved his hips, pushed his unrelenting erection into me, I could almost come from that alone.
The last ten minutes, though, things had changed. The kissing became more urgent, the need ratcheting up to a level that felt like if we didn’t both have our clothes off in the next few heartbeats, I’d pass out from sex deprivation.
A slow song had just come on again. I didn’t know the words, but Carter sang along at parts, our bodies swaying as we stayed pressed against each other in the privacy of the dark hallway.
“You’re driving me crazy. We need to go,” I said. There was an emergency exit at the end of the corridor. It didn’t matter that we had no idea where it led. All that mattered was that outside was one step closer to us getting back to our hotel. I tugged Carter’s hand. He followed as I pushed the side door open. The fresh air felt so good on my sweaty body, sending tingles everywhere that the air met dampness. I couldn’t remember ever feeling so alive before. Even my skin felt the excitement. Just before the club door was about to close, Carter caught it. “Fuck. I left my credit card with the waiter. I need to close out the tab and grab it. We have to go back inside.”
It was the most incredible summer night. I could smell the salt water in the air, and the light breeze felt so good. The street was quiet and no one was around. “I’ll wait here.”
“No way. I’m not leaving you out here by yourself.”
I slipped my shoes off my feet. “I can’t go back in. You go. Hurry up.” He attempted to protest again, so I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned up on my tiptoes. “If you don’t hurry…I’m going to start without you.”
Carter groaned. “Don’t move. I’ll be back in two minutes.”
I could still hear the music from inside even after the door closed. Shutting my eyes, I smiled feeling freer and happier than I could ever imagine. Beyonce’s Dangerously in Love came on, and I swayed my body to the music thinking how in tune she and I were. I felt free, even though the man I was falling for was dangerous. Lifting my arms in the air as the chorus came on, I twirled around a few times singing along Dangerously, Dangerously in Love. I was so lost, so happy, so falling for this man, I wasn’t even paying attention to my surroundings. Which is probably why I didn’t notice the police car coming down the road until the sirens were blaring.
THE TRANSLATOR WASN’T making any sense.
“But it wasn’t on the rule card. How can dancing in public be illegal? No one told me? I wasn’t even really dancing. It was more like swaying.”
&
nbsp; “It’s considered an act of indecency. Don’t worry, you’ll go in front of the judge, and you’ll plead not guilty. It’s unlikely you’ll receive a sentence of more than ninety days since it’s your first offense.”
“Ninety days! I can’t do ninety days in jail. I didn’t do anything wrong. Where’s Carter? I need Carter. Or my lawyer. Can I call my lawyer in America? He’ll know what to do.”
“After you speak to the judge, you’ll be taken over to the holding facility. They’ll get you settled in and then, in a few days, you can make some calls.”
“No. I can’t. You don’t understand. I didn’t do anything wrong.” My heart was beating out of my chest, and I had a horrible itch on my arm. I kept scratching and scratching, but it just wouldn’t go away. Hives had broken out all over my body just like they did when I was a kid.
This cannot be happening. How can this be happening? It’s insane!
“Miss. You need to calm down. The judge will be very upset if you act like this in his courtroom. The expectation is that you will remain silent unless you are spoken to.” Speak when spoken to. I was not in America anymore.
A little while later, my translator disappeared leaving me alone in a room that reminded me of a bad interrogation scene from CSI. It had no windows, only two chairs and a dirty old table. I wanted to cry, but I was afraid once I started, I’d never be able to stop. The reality of where I was set in. A woman alone in an Arab nation where I’d broken their indecency law. Scared didn’t begin to describe how I felt.
They’d taken my phone, and there was no clock on the wall, so I had no idea how much time had gone by. My head was resting on the table, but it was impossible to fall asleep. Hours after my interpreter left, a uniformed officer wearing a beret and not one, but two holstered guns, came in. He was carrying a plate with a sandwich and threw it in my direction. The dish clanked loudly on the table, and I startled, jumping out of my seat. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t speak English or just pretended not to, but he ignored every question I asked and walked right back out the room.
At some point, I must have dozed off. A different officer slammed the door to wake me. Wiping the drool from my face, I jumped to my feet. “I need to make a phone call.”
“You’ll see the judge now.”
“But I haven’t spoken to my lawyer yet or made a phone call. Don’t I get to do that first?”
Again, I was ignored. Instead, I was handcuffed to a dozen other people and we were led in a straight line down a series of long hallways. Eventually, we came to a door, and we were ushered in. Once inside, I realized the bars on the other side of the room looked out to an empty courtroom. I felt like an animal in a cage about to go on trial for a crime I barely even committed.
A few minutes later, two uniformed officers unlocked the back doors of the courtroom, and people started to fill the galley. I held onto the bars, frantically searching through the people entering. Carter! Thank God.
“Carter!” I raised my hand to wave, yanking up the arm of the person next to me I was still cuffed to, without warning.
