“Dance with me?” Logan smiled, extending his hand.
Lauren leapt up happily from her chair. “You bet.”
Four
For a destination wedding, there were still a good many people. With Jenna’s family being small they were almost exclusively from Logan’s side, and mostly on the younger end as well.
“I can’t believe your grandparents made it,” Lauren noted as Logan led her through the small crowd.
“Yup. All her life, Grandma has always wanted to see Europe. This was finally a good enough excuse.” He turned and slipped an arm around Lauren’s waist. “My gift to her,” he winked.
The dance floor was more of a large, informal oval before the grand fireplace. It was lit, and the roar of the flames in the enormous hearth did wonders to drive the chill out of air.
Lauren sighed cheerfully as the groom pulled her close. She felt happy and safe around Logan. Always had. He’d been the most wonderful boyfriend, and by far the best guy she’d ever seen Jenna with. She knew early on — as did her friend — that he’d make an amazing husband.
And if she was being honest? He was also incredibly hot.
“This could’ve been you, you know,” Logan smirked. He squeezed her hand gently.
“Yeah, yeah,” Lauren grinned back. “I’m not at all surprised Jenna beat me to it. She always—”
“No, not just this,” he gestured around to the wedding in general. “I mean… me. Our date.”
Lauren thought for a moment and then laughed. “Oh, right. You mean our almost date.”
“That’s the one.”
Had it been so long that she’d nearly forgotten? Or had she blocked it intentionally from her mind?
Three years now, thought Lauren. Three long years since she’d been set up on a blind date with a stranger named ‘Logan’, only to fall violently ill at the very last minute.
It could’ve been you…
The thought had crossed her mind a few times, of course. Especially in the beginning, with Jenna playfully reminding her. Lauren had been nervous and skeptical of being set up to begin with, so when she came down with a stomach bug that day it was almost a relief. Even so, she felt terrible about canceling the date.
And that’s when Jenna had jokingly offered to… what was it? ‘Take the bullet’ for her?
Yeah, that was it.
“Stomach flu, right?” Logan was saying.
“Yeah. A real nasty one.”
Logan grimaced. “Gross.”
“Throwing up all over you,” Lauren went on, “every half hour? It probably would’ve made for a very shitty date.”
The groom laughed as he took the lead. His feet moved effortlessly, with natural rhythm.
“Believe it or not, I’ve had worse.”
They danced together slowly, edging further from the band, closer to the fire. The heat felt good on her skin. She allowed herself to relax, probably with a little help from her last glass of wine.
In the meantime, Logan’s arm felt wonderful wrapped around her. It was strong and masculine. Subtly powerful. For a moment Lauren almost forgot who she was dancing with.
“Listen,” Logan said as they swayed to the music. “I wanted to tell you something.”
His voice went low, and he drew her closer. The sounds of laughter, glasses clinking, the music echoing from the harsh stone walls — it was all background noise now.