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If mine and Hazel’s deal works out, she’ll have enough money for a better apartment for the next few years, plus the reboot her career needs.
I know she’s talented. She probably won’t need any more help from me. Hell, she might not even want it, after our six months of marriage is up.
But if there was an emergency, or if those idiots who rejected her last book screw her over again...
“I promise,” I say, “I’ll always be there for her. Whatever she needs.”
Kathy gives me a big hug.
I return it as best as I can without spilling my drink on us.
When Kathy releases me, Bill claps me on the shoulder a few times, then starts to tell me a science fact about blue whales, which is his way of saying the emotional part of the conversation is over.
By the time Hazel finds me, Bill and I are happily discussing the science behind hybrid airplanes. Kathy is a few feet away giving a chemistry lecture to one of my more annoying relatives, who can’t quite figure out how to escape.
Hazel lays a hand on my arm, and I can feel the heat of her touch through my suit jacket.
“The wedding planner says it’s time for the first dance,” she says. She’s smiling, but I can hear the exasperation in her voice.
Will this wedding never end?
I usher Hazel onto the dance floor and pull her into the frame of my arms. I place one hand on the small of her back to guide her and use the other to hold her hand. The music starts, and her eyes widen as I easily move us across the floor.
“I didn’t know you could dance,” Hazel says, delighted.
“Lessons every Sunday in middle school,” I say, spinning her out and then guiding her back to me.
At first Hazel’s a difficult partner. She’s instinctively fighting me.
“Was that your mom’s idea?” Hazel presses.
I narrow my eyes. “Are you trying to interview me atour wedding?”
She bites her lip and smiles, looking like a shamefaced kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
Actually, she looks a bit like the blushing teenager she was when we first met.
Hazel had the biggest crush on you. Kathy’s words ring in my head.
“It was my grandpa,” I relent, answering her question. “The Dewinter men go to a lot of high society events. He always said the best way to land a business deal with a man who was on the fence was to show the man’s wife a good time on the dance floor.”
Hazel grins. “Ok,thatline is going in the book. I wish I could have met him.”
I’m surprised to realize I wish she could have too.
Hazel steps on my foot. “Shoot. Sorry.” She rolls her eyes at herself. “The Dawsons do not believe in dance lessons. I’m kind of clumsy.”
“Only because you’re fighting me,” I say. “Soften your body, so that your arm is resting on mine, and you can feel the muscles in my shoulder. That way you’ll feel the movement, when I start a dance step, and you’ll be able to follow.”
She does, frowning slightly.
“Good girl,” I say in her ear. “Now, turn off your brain, and stop trying to predict what I’m going to do next. Just relax and trust me. Trust your own body. Dancing like this is easier than you think.”
“Everyone’s staring at us,” she says.
She’s not wrong. But I find I don’t care about them. Not with Hazel in my arms, so close to trusting me.
19
