Dane takes one hand in his and nestles the other in the small of my back. He pulls me into him.
I force a swallow as I look up into his handsome face, and our bodies begin to move. It’s impossible to process the innumerable pressures and sounds and scents invading my senses.
His hand on my back again. The musky, cedar-y scent of his cologne. The tender yet lively emotion in his eyes.
The fabric of his shirt is soft and the palm of his hand is rough. But his smile? It’s sweet and it’s for me.
“This song is ironic, isn’t it?” I ask.
“How do you mean?”
“I mean in general.”
He pulls me even closer to him.
“Every time I hear it, I think it was written for me.” I close my eyes and listen to the words. “I’ve prayed for so many things in my life and not gotten them. I’ve been so angry about it or disappointed or sad. And then something else happens, and I see why they weren’t answered.” Something so much better was waiting for me.
We sway to the music, our bodies growing closer and closer. I remember the tears when Derrick left—they’re still all too real—and how absolutely destroyed I felt.
But if that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t be here.
I would still be in a marriage that was a façade. We’d go to bed at night without ever touching during the day. He never told me that I was pretty or appreciated the meals I put together for our family, and he never, ever took me out on a date.
Derrick avoided me, forgot my birthday, and made me feel stupid for asking if we could take an anniversary trip. He made me insecure and self-conscious, and I second-guessed everything I thought and did.
There was more to life than the one I led with my husband. I was more than the person I’d become. I think I knew it even then. I was just too scared to consider it.
It took Derrick walking out and turning my life upside down for me to land on my own two feet.
I tilt my head to the dark sky. My gaze is snatched out of the air by Dane’s. He smiles.
“I don’t know,” he says, his voice so low that I’m sure I’m the only one who can hear it. “I think the ones that go unanswered are really an answering of others.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well,” he says, licking his lips. “Let’s say that I wanted to meet a woman who I could see myself settling down with someday.”
A shiver runs down my spine.
“And I thought it was someone specific,” he continues. “How can I immediately think that the prayer was unanswered if it ultimately comes true? It’s just with someone I hadn’t met yet.”
His hand strokes my back gently.
“That’s some pretty deep thinking, considering we haven’t even eaten yet,” I joke, not sure what to do with his revelation.
Does he mean me? Am I the one he can see himself with? Or is the vodka in the lemon drop martini just super strong?
He grins. “You’re probably right. I’m getting way too ahead of myself here.”
“I can appreciate a man with a plan, though. I like a thinker.”
He bites his bottom lip and spins me in a circle, never letting my body stray too far from his.
The band seamlessly fades into a Reba McEntire song. Dane just as casually pulls me even closer.
“That was slick,” I say, laughing.
“What?”
“Don’t what me. Like you don’t know how smooth you are.”
He chuckles, his chest vibrating against mine. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You have no idea how close we are right now? Or how you just moved us away from all the other couples dancing?”
He looks down at me. “I know precisely how close we are right now.”
The heat in his gaze filters through the air and fills me. I hope he can’t feel my sweat through my cardigan.
“Want to know what else I know?” he asks.
“Sure.”
His lips twitch. “I know that I’d like to kiss you.”
My body stops swaying. For a moment, I worry that my knees are going to buckle and that I’m going to topple to the side and hit the ground. My head is light, and I have to focus on the sharpness of his jawline to keep anchored in reality.
The sound of an errant guitar note snaps me out of my haze, and I look from his jaw to his eyes.
“Well, Mr. McDaniels, I don’t know what you’re waiting for.”
He stops moving. His fingertips press deeper into the small of my back. His palm lies flat against me just above the curve of my behind.
He licks his lips quickly before lowering his mouth toward mine.
My breathing quickens. I suck in a hasty breath before his lips touch mine.
Dane tastes like bourbon and bedrooms. Like oak and orgasms. Like spice and sex.