Lucky Baby (Crescent Cove 11)

“Find out for sure,” he interjected.

I lifted my finger to his lips. Getting him to be quiet was basically my life’s work these days. He never did what I expected him to and he never acquiesced easily. That was probably why I lo—

Liked having sex with him. Yes. Much better.

To give myself a second, I chewed on a cracker. My belly was granting me a momentary reprieve. “How do you feel about dancing?”

He bit into a little sandwich that wouldn’t do anything but make someone hungrier. “I’m okay with it. Not a native skill of mine and I move sort of like Frankenstein, but yeah, it’s all right.”

The man did not move like Frankenstein.

I’d known he wouldn’t. He couldn’t possibly be that sexually skilled and not know how to dance enough to get by. But he was far from some beginner. Oh, no, this dude had clearly had lessons at some point. The kind that came with learning dips and flourishes that should have made me fear my stomach’s rebellion.

But nope, my belly didn’t balk at my sudden movements as I was whirled around the dance floor that had been set up in the reception area. My stomach was probably as shocked as the rest of me.

I wasn’t sure what it said about me that my biggest surprise of the day was that Thor could cut a rug—or whatever that old term was.

I didn’t officially know about that other bouncing surprise yet. So, it didn’t count.

We danced for a long time, breaking occasionally to hydrate and fuel up. They finally served a real dinner later in the evening including toasts for the happy couple. Lucky grabbed the microphone and regaled the remaining guests with tales about Caleb’s not-so-checkered past, usually concerning his regrettable drinking adventures. Since one of them had led to his landing his wife, he seemed pretty damn smug.

When Lucky ran out of steam, Ryan shared some tidbits about how she and Luna had met and gave the couple her best wishes. Preston did similarly. His speech was far quicker than Ryan’s, though he had genuine affection on his face for Luna.

Ryan offered to do a tarot card reading for Lu and Caleb’s marriage so long as she could snag the audio for their podcast. Luna declined, so that was that and the dancing resumed among the few people left.

They were winging everything at this point since the place was clearing out due to the blizzard. Not that most of the people left wanted to chance driving home, but there was some hardy sorts with their versions of monster trucks willing to go for it.

I had a feeling some of them would be hiking back up the hill in due time. Laverne and Fred, the older couple who ran this operation, assured everyone they had plenty of beds, but that remained to be seen.

“Hey, Tabitha’s cupcakes were here, but not Tabitha.” I frowned and spoke loudly enough over the music that others could weigh in. “She was invited, right?”

“Flat tire on the way here.” Caleb shook his head from where he was dancing beside us with his jubilant bride.

Who said she needed a stripper pole? She seemed to be doing just fine on her own—and in super high heels, no less.

Mine were currently tucked in a bag with my moon boots. I was dancing barefoot and not ashamed in the least.

“That sucks.” Lucky frowned. “Is she okay? Does she need some help? I’m sure Dare and Gage have everything covered, but I have my truck.” He shot me a quick grin. “It already survived one snowbank today.”

“No, she’s good. Brady caught the call and summoned the Kramer calvary. Dare was already on his way back from here.”

Lucky angled his head, spinning me around slowly so he could talk to Caleb when his friend swiveled in the other direction. “Caught the call? Since when do cops do tows?”

“When the vehicle involved jackknifes into a tree.” Luna sighed. “A small one. She’s fine. But that old sedan of hers is toast, I think. I feel so bad for her. She was more worried we had enough cupcakes than she was about herself.”

“How did the cupcakes arrive if she didn’t?”

Caleb smirked. “The fine officer delivered them.”

Slowly, I shook my head. “How do you get that service?”

Caleb released Luna long enough to raise his hands, palms out. “Don’t ask me. I’m just the messenger.”

Soon after, they danced across the room, Lu’s musical laughter trailing after them.

“He took lessons.” Lucky inclined his chin toward his best friend. “Me, I’m all self taught.”

“No way.”