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But today it was just a wide spot in the bar, though every now and then, a few folks would dance. Tonight was one of those nights. Guys seemed to be stepping up their game in anticipation of the Valentine’s holiday coming up. Grant didn’t dance. Ever. Well, at least not unless he thought it would lead to sex.
“Wonder why they’re looking at us like that,” Blake said. The girls got up from the table and made their way over to where they were standing.
“Dance with me?” Ivy asked.
Blake nodded and led Ivy out onto the dance floor, leaving Grant and Pepper alone by the pinball machine. They stood there awkwardly for a moment. “I would ask if you wanted to dance, but I didn’t figure you’d want me touching you.”
“Actually, I wouldn’t mind. It beats standing around.”
He’d stepped into that one. “Okay.”
They joined the ten or so other people on the dance floor and did the clumsy shuffle as they tried to figure out how to position themselves together. They settled on a classic ballroom pose, one the chaperones at school would’ve been proud of, they were so far apart.
“I don’t understand you,” Grant said after they swayed back and forth a few times to the ballad booming from the jukebox in the corner.
Pepper looked surprised by his statement. “What don’t you understand?”
“You’re like a broken traffic light. Nothing but mixed signals. I don’t know whether I should stop or go with you.”
Pepper frowned. “You should probably just go. Go far away and leave me alone.”
Even as she said the words, he could sense she didn’t mean them. She was conflicted and he didn’t know why. Grant lowered his arm to wrap it around Pepper’s waist and pull their bodies flush together. She gasped as they collided, her soft curves against his hard muscles. Her glossy lips parted and her dark brown eyes were wide as she looked up at him.
“You can feel this, can’t you?”
“I can feel something,” she said, recovering with a sly smile.
“I’m not talking about that, damn it. I mean this connection between us. You feel it. I know you do. I don’t know why you insist on ignoring it.”
“Maybe it’s because you’ve ‘connected’ with half the women in this town. Did you ever think that I’m not so keen on being added to the long roster of Grant’s conquests?”
“To be blunt, you’ve already been conquered. If that was all I wanted, I could’ve moved on by now.”
“Then what do you want from me, Grant?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I want you back in my bed. Sometimes I want you to look at me in public like I didn’t have a social disease. Other times, I just want you to be willing to acknowledge that we had an amazing night together. You act like it was nothing. It wasn’t nothing. Tell me why you don’t want anyone to know we were together. Are you ashamed of being with me?”
“No, I’m ashamed that I’m so weak that I finally gave in to you. There are four men in this town I’ve sworn to avoid. One is off in med school, one is engaged to my friend, and one is afraid of me. That just left you. All I had to do wa
s stay away from you. And I couldn’t do it.”
“You know, most people in town think the Chamberlain family is great. Dating one of us is supposed to be a big deal. But your family acts like we clawed our way out of the cesspool. Why?” he pressed.
Pepper avoided his gaze and shook her head. “I think I’ve had enough dancing for one night.” She dropped her arms at her side and backed away. “Ivy, I’m going to head home. I’ve had a long day.”
“Okay. Good night,” Ivy said, pulling away from Blake to give Pepper a hug. “Text me when you get home.”
Pepper nodded and gathered up her things from the booth before she headed for the door. Grant waited until the others were distracted and slipped outside behind her. She was standing just beyond the door, tugging her jacket back on, when he approached her.
Grant scanned the parking lot and frowned. “Where’s your car?”
Pepper looked up with a pinched expression when he spoke. “I didn’t bring my car. Since it’s only a few blocks and I wanted to have a couple of drinks, I walked.” She slung her purse onto her shoulder and stepped down into the gravel of the parking lot.
Grant stepped down after her. “You’re walking home by yourself?”
That made Pepper stop and turn to him with her arms crossed over her chest in irritation. The move pushed her breasts up higher, until the firm globes of flesh he vividly remembered were proudly on display. God bless the man who invented V-neck tops.
“What are my options, Grant? No one else lives around here. All my neighbors are retirees who went to bed four hours ago. Do you suggest I start barhopping with my deaf, seventy-year-old neighbor Phyllis? Or maybe I should catch a cab.” Pepper walked to the curb and held out her hand to summon an imaginary taxi on the deserted streets.
