But he couldn’t deny that she looked flat-out gorgeous right now. He suddenly wished he had put on something other than faded Levi’s and a worn flannel shirt.
“Hey,” he said.
She was texting on her phone. She looked up at him in surprise. “Hey.” Setting her phone down, she stood up and walked over. “Did you get Jennifer all settled?”
“I think so. That dresser of hers weighed a ton.”
She laughed. “I bet it gained two pounds with every step, too.”
“That about covers it. I’m glad Ace and Kurt were here.”
“They were? Are they still around?”
“No. They took off.” Why was he disappointed that she looked disappointed? “They said something about getting home to their wives.”
“Ah.” She glanced at the ornate clock that now graced the wall. “I bet they’re ready to go out for supper.”
“There’s poker tonight, so I think they were probably going to make do with a quick bite.” He smiled.
She looked at him wide-eyed. “What about you?”
“Well, we have our class, right?”
“Yes. But if you want to reschedule, we could.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Well, we only have two more to go, right?”
She sounded relieved by that. Which, he supposed, gave him a good taste of his own medicine. Boy, he’d been a real jerk at their first meeting. He knew better, too. “Right.”
She walked over to the iPad. “Let’s get started then.” When an old song from the sixties came on, she faced him. “Shall we dance?”
“Absolutely.” He placed his hand on her waist and folded her palm in his left.
“Now, one-two, three, one-two, three. Yes?”
He nodded, then started leading around the room according to her counts. After they’d made a circle, she looked up at him and smiled.
“You’re doing well.”
He smiled. “I’ve got a great teacher.”
Some of the sparkle faded from her eyes. “It’s time to twirl. Do you remember what to do?”
“Nope. I’m afraid you’re going to have to go over it again.” He grinned, showing her that he was teasing her a bit.
But she only continued to count and instruct. As he listened and positioned her and stepped back and helped her turn and caught her again, Shannon held her body in such a controlled way that it felt almost like he was dancing with a mannequin.
Though he ached to stop and hash everything out, he didn’t. He had to give her the space she needed. After all, he’d done this.
But later, when the hour was over, and he was walking back to his car, Dylan realized that he’d lost something really good. And worse, he had no idea how he was going to get it back.
CHAPTER 33
“Dancing is the art of getting your feet out of the way faster than your partner can step on them.”
—Evan Esar
One Week Later
It was Friday already. What a week it had been. First, she’d been a nervous wreck, worrying if Emerson was actually going to text her . . . and then wondering if she was ready to go on a date with him.
He had indeed texted her, but it had been full of apologies. He’d gotten a temporary job up in Toledo, and it paid so well he took the company up on an offer to do additional work for them. He asked for a rain check for the following week.
She had been so relieved that she feared her return message had sounded a little too pleased by his work schedule.
In other news, Jennifer had settled in with them like she was another long-lost sister. She was sweet, easy to talk to, and cleaned up after herself in the bathroom, which turned out to be a big plus for Kimber.
But the best news was her cooking. Not only was her food amazing, but her fussing in the kitchen somehow accomplished what the three of them had not been able to do. She’d made their loft a home.
Traci had verbalized it the best, saying that Jennifer’s cooking and comfortable way of acting around the loft made her want to be at home, too.
So, all of that was a plus. Her dance classes were going well, too, and she’d had two more private clients—both women.
The only difficulty she’d been having was the confusion she was feeling about Dylan. Their last class hadn’t felt right. And watching him leave, looking so alone, hadn’t felt right either. She realized that whether or not her head had completely forgiven him, her heart had. It just wasn’t in her nature to hold a grudge. And she was starting to realize that she, too, might say and do a couple of things she wasn’t proud of if one of her sisters were in jeopardy.
All that was why, when the clock turned six, she was in a new dress, her good heels, and was sitting on the beautiful Addams Family couch waiting for him.
At 6:03, the door swung open and Dylan strode in. He was dressed in dark jeans, a button-down, and had his badge still fastened on his belt—the corner of which was visible when his navy blazer opened.
“Am I late?” he asked, looking worried.
She couldn’t help but contrast the way he was acting with their very first meeting. She pointed to the big clock on the wall. “Not at all. You’re right on time.”
He tilted his head back. “Thank goodness. My sergeant wanted to talk to me about some scheduling stuff.”
“If you would’ve been late, I would have understood.”
He grinned at her, then stilled. “Look at you.”
She got to her feet. “What?”
“You look like a picture. Is that a new dress? Or, do you simply have a huge supply of pretty dresses?”
“It’s new.” She smiled at him softly. “So, shall we dance?”
“Yeah. But wait a second.” He shrugged off his blazer, folded it in two and set it on the arm of the couch. Then unfastened his shoulder holster. He pulled out his gun. “My safety is on, but I can go lock this up in my car if you’d like.”
She was now used to Traci and her pistol. But that said, she didn’t want it sitting out in the open where anyone could pick it up. “Would you mind if we put it in my desk drawer?”
“Not at all.” He set it in the drawer she had pulled open and then shut it neatly. “Now I’m ready to dance.”
“We could waltz or rumba, or I could teach you a little bit of swing dancing.”
“I’d rather waltz or rumba. I don’t trust myself with anything new.”