Page 2 of Dance With Me
“Great, thanks.”
“Good.”
Joe and Clare replied at the same time, both of them reaching forward to shake his hand. A tingle shot up Joe’s arm at the other man’s touch.
“You mentioned in your email that you wanted some lessons for your wedding in mid-July. Congratulations, by the way. What sort of dance do you have in mind? Are we looking at a simple waltz or something more adventurous?” Seb asked with a glint in his eye. Seb’s smile was blinding as he faced Clare and Joe, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Well, I was thinking along the lines of a tango or, even better, an Argentine tango—I know how sexy and sensual that is. Just like foreplay,” Clare said, twirling her hair with her fingers.
Clare aimed the words at Seb, but she looked over at Joe with a heated look in her eyes. Joe really didn’t know or care what a tango or an Argentine tango was, but if it meant he could stay with Seb a little longer, he was all in. He considered getting popcorn so he could watch the show.
“Did you have any music in mind? Do you want something modern or more traditional?” Seb asked, completely ignoring Clare’s actions. “My roommate, Natalia and her boyfriend, Louis, are tango experts, so I could ask them for some suggestions, or we can just check out Spotify now. Whatever you’d like,” Seb added, looking directly at Clare this time. He turned to Joe and held his gaze, dark chocolate eyes framed by long, lush eyelashes. Joe was mesmerised and puzzled when Seb didn’t appear to be affected by Clare’s blatant flirting. Interesting.
Joe was also completely out of his depth but happy to sit back and listen as Clare and Seb sorted through some music—his fiancée bobbed her head in time to the songs, asking Seb’s opinion. Joe was simply happy to sit and study him in more detail. Dark, wavy hair and smooth olive skin, just a hint of scruff, born from a day of not shaving.
His long fingers swept over the screen, and when he laughed at something Clare had said, Joe twitched in his pants, discreetly adjusting himself to avoid embarrassment. What the hell was going on? It had been a while since he’d had this strong of an attraction to a man.But what a man!
Eventually, they decided on a more traditional piece. “What do you think, Joe?” Clare asked, looking over at him. “Do you like it?”
“Yeah, sounds great.” But he hadn’t even heard a single note. His eyes had been trained on Seb the whole time.
“OK, so now we’ve got the music sorted, we can look at doing just a quick lesson. Do you have any dance experience at all?” Seb asked as he looked between them both.
Joe snorted in response, remembering the Christmas party, and Clare just glared at him.
“No,” she said. “I did some dancing when I was in school, but Joe’s experience could be written on a postage stamp—with space to spare. He’s a bit of a novice.”
“Yeah, you might have a point there,” Joe replied, looking down at his feet.
He reluctantly stood, and for the next half an hour, Seb worked on some basic steps with them, making small corrections to their hold, a step here and there. He smiled when they did something right but frowned a little when they missed a step. His brow furrowed, and he bit his lip in concentration. Joe thought it was downright sexy.
As the session came to an end, Seb clapped enthusiastically.
“Well done, guys. That was really good for the first session. Are we OK for the same day and time next week?”
“I think that’ll be OK, don’t you?” Clare said, looking at Joe questioningly.
“Should be,” he said. “I can come here straight from work. It’s no problem for me.”
“Oh, can I have both of your mobile numbers too?” asked Seb as he got his phone out again. “Just in case I have to cancel or there are any changes to the time.”
They exchanged numbers and shook hands again as they said their goodbyes, leaving Seb alone in the studio. Joe was tempted to take one last look at Seb but stopped himself. It was a temptation he shouldn’t give in to right now.
“Wow, how hot was he?” Clare asked as they got in the car. “I know you appreciate a good-looking man too, and he was stunning, don’t you think?” She turned in her seat to look at him as he drove.
Joe shrugged. “He was OK, I suppose.” He tried to appear unaffected. Clare wouldn’t be happy with his answer if she knew what he really thought about Seb. His attraction to their dance instructor was unexpected but not unwelcome. Not so much a bi-awakening as a reawakening.
Thankfully, she didn’t mention Seb again but chatted about the lesson and how it had gone. He kissed her cheek as he dropped her at work and then drove home. He decided that some research into tangos was in order and set up his laptop. He grabbed himself a glass of wine and proceeded to watch some videos.
He had twelve weeks to prove himself, and he was going to need every damn one.
Chapter Two
Seb
As Joe and Clare left the studio, Seb returned to his phone and the text message he’d been reading before. He worried his lip as he went over the words again, willing them to disappear. This was getting beyond a joke now.
I love watching you move. I want to touch you, feel you. I want to make you mine, Seb.
