“A smart guy like you? I’m sure you know how to work Pandora.”
I didn’t want to dance with her. The idea of letting her get close was dangerous. But her eyes flared with a challenge, and I wasn’t one to back down. If she thought this ploy was going to work, I’d show her how wrong she was.
So I went to my suitcoat I’d left hanging on the chair back, dug out my phone, and picked the first station I found that would work. I propped the phone against my empty glass and stood.
Ruby watched me wordlessly as I unbuttoned my cuffs and began to roll back the sleeves of my dress shirt. It was warm in the pool room, but it climbed to a thousand degrees when I looked at her. The song playing from my phone sounded like Michael Bublé, a slow, jazzy number.
Alarm was loud and incessant in my brain.
The dim lighting. The sultry music. The view. Everything about the environment was seductive and romantic. I stepped up to her, opened my arms, and invited her into my embrace. The only consolation was she seemed to hold her breath as she set her warm hand in mine, as if she was as wary of this as I felt.
I’d fucking swear my body remembered the feel of her. My arm slipped behind her back and rested comfortably there, as if happy to be home. Her hand not clasped in mine lay gently on my shoulder. But tension made me stiff, and I focused on the movement rather than the girl in my arms.
I took my first step forward, and she followed my lead. My mother had taught me a basic dance pattern once, and I fumbled through the sequence, rusty, but good enough. Ruby’s face was tipped up toward mine, but I refused to look at her. Instead, I stared out over her head, eyeing the buildings beyond the glass.
Bublé serenaded us as the snow outside continued to fall. We’d turned two rotations before I felt myself start to slip. My posture softened and I drew my arm in, pulling her closer. No, dammit. I couldn’t slip further. The ache for her, which had dissipated over the years, was back and stronger than ever.
She slid her hand up my shoulder, moving it up until it cupped the back of my neck and demanded my attention. Her soft, delicate fingers were more powerful than anything else, and I had no choice but to obey.
My heart stopped. Even shining with unshed tears, her eyes were breathtaking. I was right back in that bookstore, staring at her as we argued over the last used copy of an intellectual property textbook. She’d been so pretty with her bangs falling over her eyebrows and annoyance skewing her face. There was no way I was letting her leave the store with that book and without getting her number.
The steam in the room seemed to thicken, slowing everything down, especially my thoughts. Ruby pressed further into me, and I allowed it. I could feel every inch of her against me as we swayed to the music, and I was greedy for more contact. Our hands let go at the same moment, so I could move mine to join my other in the small of her back, wrapping my arms around her. She encased my jaw in both hands, and I didn’t want to think about why she was trembling.
She didn’t blink as I leaned closer. She didn’t even take a breath.
Color burst off in the distance, lighting the night sky, and we turned together to look at it. A series of fireworks exploded in reds and brilliant golds, and rained down over Lake Michigan. It had to be the New Year’s Eve fireworks display over Navy Pier. Which meant—
“Happy New Year, Kyle.” It was barely a whisper.
I turned my head to look at her, and her mouth sealed over mine.