Page 27 of Yours, For Good

I sighed and pulled from my waistcoat. "Almost."

The song changed at the perfect time. A feminine voice sang in English over a latin-like rhythm. I didn't know the song, but I learned the pattern easily— it echoed in my chest.

I unlocked my knees and hitched my pants up an inch or two, so I would have room where it counted. The beat took on a deep, sexy pattern.

"Now," I said, and I moved my hips to the pulse of the song.

The music took over. My shoulders and arms joined the rest of me, eagerly adding to the flow state dancing could pull me into. I camouflaged the joy of it behind a defiant smile; now that I had decided to join Nora, my pride got the best of me and I showed her what I had.

Her mouth hung open for an instant, before her glorious laughter overpowered the music around us.

"You were not lying!" she exclaimed.

"I don't lie, Nora." I rotated in place, my hips leading the gesture.

She admired me shamelessly. I liked it way too much.

In a corner of my mind, I knew Julia could be watching me and wondering what had taken over her introverted, serious, distant uncle and had him dancing like this. Judging me for my too-free spirit. I didn't care. If she was shocked, fine by me. I was too busy moving to the beat of the music, and keeping my focus on the right slice of awareness.

Yes to dancing to the music and letting it distract me from the rest of the party. No to the way Nora came closer as we danced and her hips almost touched mine. Yes to the fact I had rules I couldn't break. No to how prettily Nora's eyes shone as she gazed at me.

Or how my body responded to her when her eyes dropped to my mouth for the first time.

Fuck.

Chapter 12

Nora

JAVIER COULD DANCE.

Three words that could win the prize for the understatement of the year. I was impressed by his dancing. He moved like he could teach classes in it. Like he was in touch with every single muscle in his body, and knew how to command it all to his will.

The kind of dancing that drew me in, and made me want to meld my body to his.

I bit my lip and let music wrap my awareness. Having fun dancing with Javier, enjoying the chance to sway rhythmically next to him, pretending his cadence and shifts and assertive steps didn't affect me— that was safest.

Questioning his skills helped.

"Explain yourself," I said over the music. "How come you dance this well? Classes? Genes? What?"

He shrugged and continued to show off. Our movements echoed each other, with his long lines and the soft waves of my body, as we moved instinctively to the music. Tearing my eyes away from his mouth was physically painful.

To balance the scales, I let my body ignore my common sense and seek his warmth. I gave him my back and gazed at him over my shoulder— a seduction move hidden in the easy excuse of our dancing. Still innocent, because all we did was enjoy the music, and the way his swaying and mine blended together.

His voice tickled the shell of my ear, a caress down my neck. "I like to think this is what I inherited from my mom's side of the family."

My back rubbed against his chest and his hands landed on my hips — only to leave me in the next instant. Like I had burned him in the microsecond we touched.

I hid a gulp in a grin, and continued to watch him over my shoulder. "You need to tell me more."

"My mom is Colombian. She didn't share much of her culture with me, but this is something she didn't get to take away from me."

"That explains the Javier name."

A drop of sweat collected under the fabric covering my hair, at the top of my neck. All the dancing could be to blame, but I'd sought his warmth, too.

We still danced close enough that when his fingers traced a path down my arm, I didn't know if it was accidental— it stopped within the span of a breath. The shiver that took over my spine could have been a response to that, or to the cool path from that one single drop of sweat as it ran down my skin.