Page 56 of Love, Always and Forever
Her dark eyes shone brightly as they swayed in time to the waltz the orchestra was playing. “The best, Misha. I’ve always dreamed of having a night like this.”
She didn’t often call him by that name, but he liked it when she did. “I still can’t believe this is your first dance. I said it before, but the guys in your hometown had to be complete idiots.”
He gave her a quick spin, startling a happy laugh from her. “But their loss is definitely my gain.”
When the song came to an end, Ricky was already there to take his turn dancing with his grandmother while Jay came to claim his turn with Amy. Rather than stand on the sidelines and watch, Mikhail asked his sister-in-law’s mother to dance. Natalie had mentioned that her father had two left feet, but that her mom really loved to dance.
After that, he claimed his dance with his mother just as the orchestra broke into a lively salsa number. He loved seeing his mother enjoying herself so much. Nights like this were the kind where she missed Joe the most. They all did.
By the time the song ended, both of them were a bit breathless. “I’m going to sit the next one out, Misha. Why don’t you go dance with Amy again?”
“Good idea.”
But when he finally spotted her in the crowd, she was already walking out onto the dance floor with his nephew. Rather than hunt up another partner for himself, he grabbed a glass of wine off a passing waiter’s tray. Leaning against a handy column, he savored the moment of watching Amy moving gracefully as Ricky guided her through the steps of a foxtrot. As usual, the kid was talking nonstop, but it didn’t seem to interfere with his dancing.
Tino moved up to stand next to Mikhail. “Mom is right to be proud of her latest dance students.”
“Yeah, I was just thinking Ricky is a natural.”
“True, but I was talking about Amy and Jay, even if the poor bastard wouldn’t bring a plus-one for fear of how he’d do.” He pointed toward where Jay was dancing with Tino’s wife. “Amy looks like she’s been dancing for years, but he was terrified he’d fall on his face the second he stepped out on the dance floor. Or, worse yet, that he’d fall on his dance partner and do some serious damage to them both.”
Tino bumped Mikhail’s shoulder with his. “But he was mostly worried about what you’d do to him if it was Amy he landed on.”
The image Tino had just painted made Mikhail want to growl. “You wouldn’t like it if he fell on Natalie anymore than Jack would appreciate having to scrape Caitlyn or Mom up off the floor.”
“True enough. Besides, I told him not to worry about the falling part, because you’d hate him just as much for doing a bang-up job of dancing with her.”
God, he hated it when his brothers decided to poke at the sleeping bear of Mikhail’s temper. He pretended to flick a piece of dust off Tino’s lapel. “Listen, runt, you really should shut up. I’d hate to drag your scrawny ass outside and mess up that fancy tux, not to mention your already ugly face.”
The jerk only laughed. “Just tell me I’m wrong, baby brother, and I’ll shut up. Admit it, you don’t like seeing her dancing with someone who isn’t already happily married or too young to be any competition.”
There was no use in denying the truth. “No, I don’t like it, but I want her to enjoy herself. This is her very first dance. In fact, I get the sense she’s never even dated very much.”
Tino’s eyes widened in obvious shock. “Why the hell not? Did she grow up in a convent or something? Remember, I’m a very happily married man when I say this, but she’s not only really likable, she’s a stunner. I can’t believe you’re the first man to notice that.”
“Me, either. There’s something she’s not telling me, which is one reason I’ve been moving slowly with her.”
Standing in the middle of a crowded ballroom wasn’t the best place to be having this kind of conversation, but who knew when he’d ever get the courage to say this next part again? “There’s also the fact that she deserves someone who doesn’t jump at shadows and sometimes can’t remember he left the war behind.”
He watched her out on the crowded dance floor, taking comfort in knowing she was there. “There’s such an innocence about her, something I don’t want to destroy. I’ve lived through so much damn ugliness, both before we became a family and then again in the war. What if the best way to protect her is to stay like we are, friends but no more than that? Because I’m telling you straight up, I couldn’t live with myself if I ever dulled the shine in her eyes.”
Tino’s voice was pure gravel when he spoke. “That’s total bullshit, Mikhail.”
Of the three brothers, Jack definitely had the shortest fuse, with Mikhail coming in as a close second. However, Tino also had one hellacious temper even if it took longer to ignite. Right now he was glaring up at Mikhail with eyes that glittered with the threat of imminent violence. It was time to get him away from the crowd before all hell broke loose.
“Do we need to take this outside?”
Because if they were going to come to blows, he didn’t want it to be in front of Amy, Tino’s wife, or their mother. Tino shook his head, but from the way he kept clenching and unclenching his fists it was clear he wasn’t quite in control. Mikhail stepped back to give the man a little room to breathe. Meanwhile Jack moved up on the side of them while Jay cautiously approached from the other.
“What the hell’s going on, you two? Mom’s worried.”
Well, shit. That was the last thing either of them needed.
Mikhail did his best to control the tension thrumming through his body. “Nothing. We were just talking.”
Jack wasn’t buying it. “About what?”
It was too much to hope that Tino would keep his big mouth shut. “Little brother thinks he’s not good enough for Amy.”
