Page 67 of Exposé

"Hi." He held out his hand, and Aria took his, shaking it.

"Hey. I'm Aria."

"Nice to meet you."

She held up her phone and glanced at me. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." I gave her a curt nod and turned to Nate. "Give me a minute."

His lips lifted in a lopsided smirk. "I'll be here." He shoved his hands into his pockets as I turned around to face Aria.

"What's going on?"

"Henry is what's going on. He has the man flu and wants me to bring him some soup from Panera."

"You're ditching me?" My gaze shot around the room filled with people younger than me.

"No... I mean, yes." She winced. "It's not like you’re by yourself." She raised her palm to Nate behind me. "You've got that slab of yumminess to take care of you."

I snorted. "Yeah, thanks. We'll see how that goes." I sighed and pulled her into a hug. "It's alright. Go. I've already got what I need, anyway."

"You sure? I can wait a little bit."

Tossing a quick look over my shoulder, Nate stood, his hands in his pockets, his eyes shuffling around the dance floor as if in search of something... or someone. I turned back to her with a nod. "I'm sure."

"I'll catch you at work tomorrow." She kissed my cheek and waved goodbye to Nate, who flashed her a smile.

"Looks like it's just you and me."

"Looks that way, doesn't it?" My arms hung straight by my side like stiff sticks. "Well, I'm going to—"

"Let's start over—" we said in unison.

I laughed and hung my head. "You go first."

"Do you want to dance?"

"Do you like to have your toes stepped on?"

He laughed and pulled his hands from his pockets, his fingers dipping between mine as he turned and led me onto the floor.

We settled in the center of the crowd near a pole where the possessed man had spun around, his creepy white eyes nowhere to be found.

"You're in luck."

"Is that right?" I beamed as I smiled up at him.

"I have steel-toed boots on."

"Product of the job?"

He stepped in closer and tucked our laced hands behind my back and pressed into me. "You could say that."

My heart raced, warmth pooling in my stomach and settling low.

Our lips brushed against one another, the music and dancers around us fading into the distance as our tongues swirled.

A heavy mass slammed into my back, pushing me into Nate, his back hitting the pole behind us with anoomf.

---