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“Do you want to dance, Emily?” he asked, knowing it would make the couple both happy and uphold Hot Cakes’ request.
What he wasn’t expecting was Emily’s reaction.
“Me?” she whispered softly, gazing at him in disbelief before looking around. “Are you actually asking me to dance with you, X-Ray? Were you looking for a different Emily, because maybe I…”
He frowned again.
Something wasn’t right.
“I was asking you, Miss Emily Marks, if you would like to dance with me, John Masden…” he said very clearly in a quiet voice.
“Your name is John? Oh, I like that, and I’m over here making a fool of myself because you are being nice to me… and I can shut up anytime now,” she whispered aloud, blushing with embarrassment. “Sorry, when I get nervous, I talk and…”
John took her hand and didn’t reply.
His brain was working overtime as he tried to put the puzzle pieces together. She was incredibly beautiful, and he could see why someone would be interested in her, but this self-conscious girl before him didn’t fit the picture of a careless woman with loose morals.
No, he’d seen enough of those on a Friday night around the Gatreaux’s moonshine still where the townsfolk had their parties. Boys went there to become men… and men went there, catching stuff that soap wouldn’t wash off. Those loose women were flamboyant, touching everyone, and wore clothing that barely covered them.
Emily didn’t meet any of those descriptions – and he just couldn’t see it.
Pulling her onto the dancefloor, he wrapped an arm around her waist and heard her intake of breath, staunchly refusing to look at her.
He didn’t like questions because they set him on edge, making him feel wary. He’d always had to watch his back, and this was a part of his personality that was hard to shake.
They slowly began to dance… and he felt very uncomfortable, yet he couldn’t let her go.
No, she fit perfectly in his arms and made him feel like he was the king of the world. Her hands were so soft, and her perfume was doing a number on him… but then again, wasn’t that how all sirens worked?
“John?” she said in a hushed voice. “This is very sweet of you, but if you’d rather be dancing with Jana… I understand.”
He looked at her in that moment… and hesitated.
Wide hazel eyes were glistening as she gazed up at him, looking distinctly uncomfortable, and he saw a flicker of embarrassment, pain, and pride in those brilliant depths.
“What do you mean?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t want your pity,” she replied softly, looking even more hurt at saying the words aloud.
“I don’t like games,” he replied, his voice hushed and practically cutting her off… only to see her blush again.
“So, you saw us in the janitor’s closet?”
“Yeah.”
“I told Jana this would backfire and…”
“Jana?” John asked, hesitating. “What does she have to do with it? What is going on?”
Emily hesitated, drawing to a halt there in the middle of the dance floor as the song ended and another started to play.
“We’re not done,” John said candidly, pulling her to him again and seeing her eyes widen in surprise. It was a slow song, and he couldn’t help but close his eyes at the sensations swamping him.
Her perfume smelled faintly like cinnamon and sandalwood – not that nauseatingly sweet stuff some women liked to bathe in, but rather it was a teaser beckoning him closer. He felt her arms creep slowly around his shoulders as she put her head against one of them.
“No games, Emily. Tell me what is going on…” he urged softly. “From the beginning.”
“Jana wanted to talk to Vapor,” she whispered in a hushed voice, so quiet that he barely heard it over the music playing from the speaker overhead. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, because he sure didn’t want to get Vapor in any more trouble than he was already in.
