Page 56 of Buck Wild Orc Cowboy
“We’ll try that until you get the hang of it and then you can lift me up and you’ll lead.”
His lips curled up on one side as he lowered me gently to the floor again. “That sounds fair.”
He bent forward, reminding me again of how much bigger he was than me. I placed a hand on his shoulder and linked our fingers of his other hand. “We need to hold hands.”
He stared at our clasped hands a moment before nodding. His arm around my waist tightened.
I squeezed his hand gently, guiding him to straighten up a little so I wasn’t talking into his chest. “It’s simple, really. Step forward with your left foot, back with your right, then to the left. It's like a box.”
Sel's brow tightened as if I’d recited a complex battle strategy. “A box?”
“Yes, a box. Follow me. Left, back, left.” I moved slowly, exaggerating each step, trying not to laugh at the way he stared at our feet like they were foreign objects.
He mimicked me, a half-second late and far too heavy on his steps, but he was trying so hard it squeezed my heart.
“Good,” I said brightly, wanting to encourage him. “Now we just keep repeating it.”
“That’s it?” He blinked down at me slowly. “We make a box over and over while the music plays?”
“Well, it’s supposed to be a bit smoother than jerky box steps, but that doesn’t come until it feels more natural. Practice that a bit and then we can let go.”
“Let what go?”
“It means we can relax and let the music take us wherever we please.”
“Then why not say that?”
My grin stretched my face. “I did.”
He blinked again. “I see.”
It was all I could do not to laugh.
He grunted, which I took as my cue to get to it.
We started shuffling in a lopsided circle around the kitchen island, the air smelling of yeast and warm sugar. Our shoes scuffed on the tile floor, and my apron fluttered as he turned us a little too fast, and I stumbled into his chest.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, pulling me closer to keep me from falling.
“You're doing great.” My voice came out breathless, partly from the humor bubbling up inside me, partly from being pressed against all his solid warmth.
Staring down, he concentrated fiercely as we made another awkward revolution. I caught our reflection in the darkened window, me small and flushed, him hunched like an overgrown bear trying to be careful with a sparrow.
And somehow, it was perfect.
“You’re very light,” he murmured, glancing down at me.
I grinned up at him. “You're very strong.”
His answering smile was so proud, so delighted, that a flutter broke out low in my belly.
Sel let out a happy sound, almost a chuckle, and swept me up off my feet. I gasped, my arms automatically wrapping around his thick shoulders as he straightened to his full towering height.
“Now I lead,” he declared, his voice rich with mischief and excitement.
Laughing, I clung to him as he spun us around the kitchen, careful and exuberant all at once. Flour drifted up from the counter as he twirled, the world tilting around me in dizzy, giddy circles.
“Sel,” I cried between giggles. “You're supposed to step, not spin.”
