As a little girl, she had steered clear of the fairy stories and myths. Reality was too vivid and loud in her world. But twirling around in the arms of the Duke of Mondego, she let the scars of her childhood fall away.
For just one moment, she imagined what it would have been like had her life been different. What if her prince had come? What if a knight had swooped in to rescue her and her mom out of the dragon’s claws?
She might’ve danced as a young girl instead of escaping into music. She might’ve dined on fancy dishes every night with different things to eat instead of Oodles of Noodles. She might have met a man like Zhi and been content to stay in his arms forever.
But that wasn’t her life. Not then and not now. So when the beautiful song his mother had captured with her fingers ended, Spin let Zhi’s hand go.
However, it wasn’t that easy. Their fingers had become entwined at some point in the dance. So though she yanked, she had to wait for him to loosen his grip on her. Before he could loosen his grip, he had to release her from his intense gaze. Before he could release her from his gaze, she had to stop staring at his mouth.
“Oh, that was lovely,” said the duchess. “You move so beautifully, my dear, like you were born on a ballroom dance floor.”
“I wasn’t.”
Spin jerked her gaze away. She yanked her fingers from his grasp, causing them both to wince. She took a large step back putting distance between their bodies.
“I was born in my mom’s bed because we were too poor to afford a doctor.”
Spin stared at the floor in the silence. She never told any details about her life. She rarely brought up her mother. In less than twenty-four hours, these two people knew more about her than anyone else alive.
She supposed it was fair. She knew their secrets. Which meant neither would say anything about the other. Mutually assured destruction it was called.
“And anyway,” Spin lifted her gaze, a grin replacing the lost look in her eyes, “that’s not how we dance in the clubs. We shuffle.”
“Shuffle?” asked the duchess. “Like the 70’s dance?”
“Something like that.”
Spin pulled out her phone. Her thumb flicked through her playlist. A hard, electronic beat sounded from the device’s speakers.
Nian winced and frowned at the song. Zhi lifted a brow, his frown mirroring his mother’s expression. Spin began the simple steps of the club dance. The shuffle was comprised of moves that even the rhythmically challenged could accomplish. She made a motion for Zhi to follow her. After a moment he fell in line.
The duchess sat back watching them. A slow smile spread across her face. Spin had seen that look before. It was the look of a meddling mama who liked the match she saw.
Recognizing that she’d stepped into a trap, Spin tripped. Zhi caught her. She’d tried to get away from the possibility of a pairing, but there she was in his arms again.
The music cut when her phone beeped an alert. Spin stepped away from Zhi to tend to her phone. It was a message from Instagram. She tapped it to see Parker’s face come up.
“Is everything all right dear?” asked the duchess.
“A friend of mine and Zhi’s has invited me out to dinner before the club.” Spin held up her phone so that Zhi would see Parker’s profile.
That snapped them both
out of the moment they’d shuffled into. Zhi reached into his back pocket for his phone.
Spin watched as his thumb swiped and swiped. His frown increased. Clearly, he didn’t get an invite.
It was becoming clearer and clearer that Parker wasn’t that interested in the duke. But seeing as Spin couldn’t have the duke take too much of an interest in her, she began to tap on the keys of her own phone.
Hanging with Z right now. Having a great time.
Parker typed back: Bring him.
Spin’s thumb slid down from the top of her phone which announced its half battery life and typed: Can you send him the invite. Phone about to die.
A moment later, she heard a chirp from Zhi’s phone. She cast a glance up at him. He wasn’t grinning as though he’d won the dating lottery. But he did look relieved.
Good. She’d get the two of them together in one room. She doubted it would lead anywhere, but it’s what she promised. And then she’d be taking off. Starting a new life. In someplace new.