Page 34 of 7 Nights of Sin

Chapter 12

Kevin

When Caro came back on the second night, I was in the groove. I had water boiling on the stove, seafood simmering in a pan, and a good playlist going on the bluetooth speakers in the kitchen.

I danced around while I got wine out to use in the sauce I was making, half singing along to the parts of the song I knew. It was a good time, and when Caro came in, I grinned at her, doing a little exaggerated hip shimmy just for kicks.

She looked amused, but then I could see her shut that down, going for a more blank expression. I had to wonder when the last time was she'd really let herself cut loose and just have fun without being in her own head.

I also had to wonder if it was partly my fault she was like that. I hoped not.

"Hey," I greeted her with a grin. "Hungry?"

She sniffed the air and then came over to peer at the stove. "What are you cooking?" she asked.

"Seafood pasta. Shrimp and scallops in a white wine sauce. Just something I made up."

Caro raised her eyebrows, looking impressed. "Sounds good. I guess if you're cooking, the least I can do is eat."

"That's right," I agreed. "It would be rude not to."

She snorted and lingered for a bit, like she wanted to say something else, but wasn't sure what to say at all.

It was a tense moment, but in the awkward kind of way where neither of us knew what we were doing or how to proceed.

The song changed to another dancing song, but this one was a little slower, a little softer. A little more made for two people and not just one.

And Caro was just standing there, so taking a chance that she might try to punch me in the face, I reached for her hand and pulled her closer to me.

I didn't think we'd ever really danced together back when we were dating, and I had no idea if she even knew how to dance at all. But that wasn't the point. The point was to be close to her, to try and sweep her off of her feet a bit.

I still expected her to pull away and tell me off, but instead she just snorted. "What are you doing?" Caro asked, letting me pull her into position.

"Dancing with you," I replied, twirling her and swinging her around the kitchen to the music.

I didn't really know what I was doing, but her hand was warm in mine, and the feeling of her so close to me was intoxicating. I wanted the song to last all night.

She actually laughed when I spun her and then pulled her back, moving with the music and matching my movements well enough that we were dancing together, even if it was clumsy.

I grinned at her and then went for the dip, one hand pressed to the small of her back and the other still holding onto her hand.

She looked breathless and surprised, and I hovered over her, realizing in a split second how close I suddenly was to her mouth.

For a moment, it felt like neither of us was breathing. Her eyes were wide and then shuttered, lashes brushing her cheeks before she looked back up at me.

I couldn't look away from her for a second, struck by how gorgeous she was up close, and how I wanted to be closer.

It would be nothing to draw her up towards me, or lean down to her, to close that distance and finally give in to the fantasies I'd been having since I decided I needed her back in my life.

Time stood still for that moment, the air thick with the tension between us. I felt like I could cut it with a knife it was so thick, but I still didn't move.

And neither did she. It was like we were frozen there, neither one of us knowing how to proceed next.

And then two things happened.

The timer I'd set for the pasta went off, trilling shrilly and cutting into the music that I'd all but forgotten about. Caro used that moment of distraction to pull away from me, standing up straight and putting distance between us.

"I need to go shower," she said, and she turned so she wasn't looking at me anymore.

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