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They all mirrored the gesture, and I felt like some big sports athlete getting pumped up to get out there and win the big championship. And that was what Ivy was ... my championship. She was the thing I didn’t know I’d been working toward all my life.
The fast dance music stopped, and a slow song came on.
“Dude. This is your moment. Get out there.” Ian gave me a gentle shove.
At first, I pushed back, my body freezing as I contemplated doing what I was about to do.
A relationship? Me?
Did I really want to put an end to the carefree life I’d built for myself? The one where I answered to no one and did as I pleased? For a moment, I doubted my decision to ask Ivy if she’d be interested in more.
And then she looked at me.
My heart palpated against my ribcage the way it did for her and only her.
Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.
My breath hitched in my chest, and I struggled to exhale.
She looked so beautiful standing on that dance floor, her smile growing as she looked at me. My feet started moving without me even thinking about taking a step like she pulled me toward her or some invisible magnet tethered us together. It felt like every moment in my life had brought me straight to her. Every decision I’d made, from refusing to get into relationships to moving to Paradise Isles to needing a beer at the bar that night we met, had all been some cosmic magical shit to put me right where I needed to be when I needed to be there. To put me with her.
“Hey, stud.” She grinned as I stepped up to her on the dance floor. “Did I tell you how hot you look in that tux yet?”
“Just a few times. Did I tell you how hot you look in that dress?”
She gave me a coy smile. “Just a few times.”
“Because you do.” I snaked an arm around her waist and yanked her up against me. She gasped with the force of my pull, then softened into my arms. I let the music take the lead as I started swaying her along the dance floor.
Ivy lay her head against my shoulder, and I closed her up tightly in my arms. It was all I could do not to whisper my true feelings into her ear right then and there. I worried my tongue may burst into flames if I didn’t spit out my truth right that second, but I wanted to enjoy this moment with her just in case my admission sent her running the other way.
Just another minute,I told myself as I clung to her tight.
Just another minute, and then I would lay my cards on the table and see where we stood.
The notes of the song started to fade, and Ivy sighed. “Damn. You didn’t tell me you could dance too. Is there anything you can’t do?”
Admit how I feel about you.
I chuckled. “There are a few things I’m still working on.”
“Well, dancing isn’t one of them.”
“Thanks.” I reluctantly released my grip on her.
She stood back and met my gaze, and I swore I saw the same passion I felt for her reflected back at me. Shehadto feel the same way about me as I did about her. It seemed impossible that I could feel something so powerful, so transcendent, if she didn’t feel it too.
As if she could read my mind, she levered up on her toes and pressed her lips to mine. I closed my eyes and sank into the softness of her kiss, letting the feelings it stirred up inspire me to jump off the one cliff I’d never imagined I’d be teetering on ... the cliff where I confessed I’d fallen head over heels for a girl.
She kissed me softly once again, then slowly lowered herself back down. I held my grip on her waist and prepared for what I wanted to say.
“I’m so glad I met you,” she said as she started rocking along with me to the next song.
“Me too.” I smiled.
“If it weren’t for you, I’d probably have gone back to Chicago, just put up with Jimmy and stayed in my old job, or quit and run to some other risk assessment job somewhere else. And I’d do that because that was what I went to college for, and it was part of this plan I had. But guess what?”
“What?”
