Page 16 of Final Chance At Love (Chance At Love Duet 2)

“Hell no,” he protested. “You look great!”

I stepped back from Rick and reached for Kristoff’s hand. He pulled me closer as if asserting to everyone that we were here together.

“Ok, shots for everyone!” Betty shouted. Kristoff ordered scotch for himself, and I asked for a side glass of water. My stomach had been feeling queasy on and off and I wasn’t going to risk getting sick by doing shots. As everyone downed their shots, I pretended to take a sip and put it down. Everyone was past the sober stage except for Kristoff and Rick, so nobody even noticed it. Second round came, and everyone finished it in a blink of an eye. After the third round, Betty grabbed my hand.

“This is our song; let’s go dance!” I glanced at Kristoff and rolled my eyes, grinning happily. Betty was ready to get wild. He nodded back at me with a smile on his lips. I wanted to make sure he’d be ok among the unknown crowd.

Betty and I ended up dancing our hearts out, laughing, taking us back to our college years. There were few times that men tried to join in our dancing, and while Betty flirted, I ignored them and quickly they turned away. When Rick joined us on the dance floor, it really was like the good old days. Jack, my late husband, hated to dance, and always refused to take me onto the dance floor. Rick, wonderful as he is, always stepped in.

After a few songs, Betty left us to get another shot. Rick and I remained dancing together. He was an extremely good dancer but I couldn’t help but wishing I was in Kristoff’s arms instead. I wondered if Kristoff was a good dancer.

“So you and Kristoff, ha?” Rick yelled in my ear over the loud music.

Not sure what to say, I just shrugged.

“Are you sure that’s smart, Gemma?” Rick’s eyes were full of concern. He and Betty were always there for me. Even when I didn’t want them to be, they ensured I was ok. He’d seen me at my worst with Jack, badly bruised and hurt.

“I don’t want to see you hurt again.”

My eyes locked with his. He knew me so well, our thoughts always in sync.

“Just promise me you’ll be careful,” Rick’s voice echoed in my ear, with his hot breath on my neck. “I’ll kick his ass if he hurts you. I don’t want to see you upset like yesterday again.”

My heart swelled with gratitude. I kissed him on the cheek and yelled into his ear. “I love you, Rick! I won’t get hurt; I promise!”

Right at that moment, Kristoff cut in. “Mind if I take my date?”

Rick glared at Kristoff and then contained himself.

“No, of course not,” he answered and he walked away from us. It was clear that Rick didn’t particularly care for Kristoff, and I felt it was probably my fault since he saw the state I was in after my argument with Kristoff yesterday. Before I could ponder on it any further, Kristoff took me into his arms, and all my thoughts fled my mind. Although the music was fast, we danced slow, our bodies touching each other, my arms around his neck.

“I hope you don’t mind that I cut in,” he mumbled, his breath hot in my ear.

“Not at all,” I answered, and I pressed my body against his.

“I want to take you home after this dance,” he alluded to what that meant, the exotic smell of his scotch reaching me.

“Okay.” My voice was almost a whimper, feeling excitement rush through my body. Kristoff was my aphrodisiac and each minute spent with him increased the intensity of it. We didn’t pay attention to anyone like we were the only ones on the dance floor. My body pressed against his hard muscles, his arms around my waist, his head bent down with his lips resting on my neck, it felt like we were the only ones in this entire universe.

After our dance was over, we walked over together to our table. Rick and Betty did not look happy, talking back and forth almost as if they were arguing. All the other couples had cleared out already.

“Hey,” I said to her and Rick. Whatever was going on, they both halted. “Kristoff and I are going to go. It’s really late and we are tired.”

“Oh, don’t go.” Betty’s words were slurred, and she went stumbling to hug me. I caught her and hugged her, ensuring she didn’t face plant on the floor. Clearly she was past too drunk at this point.

“We both had a rough night and still have a ways to drive back. But it was fun,” I acknowledged.

“You are going to his house?” Of course, Betty wouldn’t miss that detail even in her drunken state. I chose to ignore her question and turned to Rick.

“I’m sorry Rick. It’s been a long night,” I uttered to her husband.

“We are going to go too,” Rick concluded and took his wife’s hand. She shook his hand off, and I sent a questioning glance to Rick.

Leaning into Rick’s ear, I asked with concern. “Is everything ok?”

“Yes, everything is fine,” he assured me quickly. “Don’t worry, she’ll be back to her old self tomorrow.”

I stepped closer to Kristoff, and he took my hand. He had a guarded look in his eyes, and I wondered if maybe he picked up what those two were arguing about. I’d have to ask him later. He led the way out of the noisy club, keeping me close to him, shielding me with his body from everyone, Rick and Betty right behind us.

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