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He turns to me with a confused expression, holding a black Amex in his right hand. “Where’s the contactless tap thingy?”
My brows knit as I replay his question, and I laugh out loud when realization dawns.
“Oh, Alex! You can’t tap your card here.” I nudge him to the side with my hip as my laugh dims to low chuckles while I scan the list of songs. “This thing is probably older than the building.”
I catch him face-palming in my peripheral vision, and fresh laughter bubbles from my lips when my eyes land on theperfectwaltz song choice. Slipping some change into the machine, I hit my selection and turn to face my newly acquired protégé, holding my right hand out for him to take.
The opening of“Thinking Out Loud”by my absolute favorite, Ed Sheeran, hits our ears at the exact same time, and his mouth twitches with a grin he can’t restrain.
“I’m friends with Ed, you know.”
“You arenot!” My voice is high-pitched in my incredulity.
With my mouth dropped open, he clasps my outstretched hand with his left, leaning closer. “You’re right. I’m not, but it would make for a great story, right?”
“Careful, pretty boy, or the deal’s off.”
Alex smirks as he lifts a brow. “Ah, so you think I’m pretty.”
“Darcy called you that earlier. I was just—”
He interrupts my huff with a snort of laughter, and I narrow my eyes as best I can.
“You areincorrigible. Do you know that?”
“So I’ve been told a time or two.”
He slides his right hand around my waist, completely distracting me when the simple movement sends a shiver of awareness through me. His masculine and thoroughly intoxicating scent invades my senses, and my head feels lighter at our proximity.
“Okay, time to get down to business.”
I glance up at his words, my forehead creasing in confusion. “Huh?”
He tightens his hold on my waist. “We do it like this, right?”
I can feel my cheeks heat as I nod. “Mm-hmm. Yup. That’s right.” Gently laying my palm on his shoulder, I push the insinuating thoughts in my head aside and let the beat take the lead.
“Wait for the beat…and forward, side, together, repeat. Forward, side, together,good.”
He smiles proudly at my praise, and I answer him with one of my own.
Once he’s gotten the hang of it, I widen our steps to cover more of the floor space.
When Ed hits the bridge of the song, Alex surprises the crap out of me by urging me into an underarm turn. Laughter bubbles up my throat, spilling from my mouth.
“What are you doing?”
He spins me out and back in against his body as our box step is thrown clean out the window before he sobers slightly, and our eyes hold. “Dancing in the rain with you.”
Tears prick my eyes at the kindness of this complete stranger who feels likesomuch more, and we continue to sway slightly for long minutes, eventually realizing the music has stopped.
My chest feels tight, my throat is clogged with emotion, and I’m filled with such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude that I could burst.
Alex’s hand on my waist tightens as his jaw ticks almost imperceptibly. His eyes are stormy, raging in the silence hanging between us.
My mouth moves to ask him what’s happening here, and his eyes are drawn to the movement, the pupils dilating when I tug my bottom lip between my teeth.
“I thought you might need some clothes…”
