Page 10 of It Had to be You

It was different now that he knew her name. Oddly, he hadn’t needed to know her name while they were talking. He would have been curious about it at some point but it had been more than enough just to continue talking with her.

"Oh, I like this," she met all of their gazes with her own, "early birds. Well, come on in and find a space on the floor." Tatum stepped to the side to let them in.

Ben looked down at Pearl. "Ready?"

Alexander felt Blair tug on his arm, starting them both toward the door. He tried not to notice the shock on Ben’s face as she announced brightly, "We’re first."

Ben recovered quickly; his affable expression restored in moments. "Please."

Alexander turned his head to apologize to the older man, but he saw Ben wave him on. "You got yourself a strong-willed woman there, son. Better follow her lead."

Not that he was given much of an option. Blair had a firm hold on his arm and he followed, or he was likely to trip and fall flat on his face. That wasn’t going to help anyone, so he kept pace, struggling with the odd sensation that was pressing on the back of his neck. He knew how competitive Blair was, so he was hoping that this was just a case of that rushing up to the surface.

They were soon joined by half a dozen more couples. Alexander wasn’t sure if they were expected to introduce themselves to the other couples but the instant he’d tried to move away, Blair had locked onto his arm. "I’m not giving up our place on the floor."

When the clock high up on the wall ticked over into the new hour, Tatum moved to the door and closed it, making the softer light in the room brighter by contrast.

"I just left a note on the door for any stragglers to come in when they arrive, but I want to get started." Taking off the sweater she was wearing, Tatum set it over the back of a chair and Alexander used the excuse to look around the room. Tatum’s figure was stellar and showed her years of dance training in the athletic grace of her muscles. "I’m Tatum Hansen and some of you may know me from some of the televisedcoverage of ballroom competitions, but in this room we’re all just friends getting to know each other." She took a moment to go around the room and have everyone introduce themselves by their first names and Alexander was happy that they had stopped there. He recognized a few of the people in the room on sight.

Having the kind of financial worth that they did, the circle wasn’t all that large, but in a dance class like this, no one really wanted to look bad in front of each other.

"Okay then," Tatum walked to the center of the mirror along one side of the room and gave quick instructions on how to line up and smiled when they were all in place, "I imagine most of you don’t have people telling you what to do very often."

A gentleman at the end of the row cleared his throat. "Our mothers have no problem with that."

The whole group laughed and shared knowing looks.

"Well, then I’ll have to call your mother later and tell her if you were a good boy."

The gentleman gave a good-natured laugh. "I’ll do my best, but I’m not above bribery to make sure my mother gets a good report card."

"I’m going to guarantee that everyone is going to do great today, because this is one of my favorite dance forms. All you need to do it count to three. We’re going to start with the waltz."

"But," Blair stepped away from him and fixed her curious gaze on Tatum, "you’re a Latin champion!"

Tatum smiled. "Sure, but I love all kinds of dance. And before they recommend you focus on one ballroom track, they’ll have everyone learn all the forms they can. So, we’ll start with the waltz today and tomorrow we’ll try something new."

There was some grumbling in the room, but Tatum took it all with a gentle smile and sweeping gaze. "This isn’t going to make you ready for a competition, but you’re going to have a few steps in each of the forms that I’ll teach you. You’ll know enough to get on the floor and make it through a song and keep yourself from treading on the toes of your partner." Her brow quirked up. "Well, hopefully."

A couple of the men cleared their throats and the women with them laughed quietly.

"Oh," Tatum looked through the group, "I can see we’re going to have fun. Now, let’s get this out of the way. You might think some of the things I’m asking you to do are silly, but I promise you. Give me a chance and we’ll end the class with some skills you can try out after dinner. So, let’s count to three, out loud. One. Two. Three." She gestured for everyone to join in and a few voices counted along.

"One. Two. Three."

"One. Two. Three."

By the third time, the whole group had joined in and everyone was sharing smiles with the other

couples in the room. "One. Two. Three."

When Tatum started again, she stepped to the side on "One." And on the next "One," she took a step in the other direction. Alexander realized a few moments later that he’d mimicked her movements without realizing it. And when he caught sight of Ben in the mirror, the older man nodded at him.

Taking a deep breath, Tatum rushed out a few words between the next Three. And the One.

"Now step on every count. One. Two. Three." She grinned at the group. "Don’t think just step. One. Two. Three. Keep your Eyes. On. Me. And step. One. Two. Three."

Alexander kept his focus on her and listened to the sound of her voice, taking a step with every number and changing direction with her.

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