by Melissa Jane
“You are utterly shameless.”
She laughed loud and proud, apparently agreeing with my assessment. “You should try to be a little shameless yourself.”
Rolling my eyes, knowing I was fighting a losing battle, my sips of wine turned into more of a gulp. I needed it. My body demanded relaxation.
“Anyway,” she continued, “I can see I’m not swaying you on this. So let’s move on.”
“Yes, let's,” I agreed heartily.
“Happy Birthday,” Nicole said again, placing an envelope on the bench.
“Thank you.” Smiling warmly at my best friend, I peeled the envelope open and pulled the card free.
Before I could look at it, Nicole burst out laughing. “I’m sorry,” she said, her face burning a bright red, “had I have known the story, I may have chosen differently.”
Biting my lip to defy the smile from forming, I stared at the incriminating card. Looking back at me was a gorgeous naked man wearing a hard hat and nothing else. It was the kind of card only found at a novelty store.
“Well,” my voice threatened to give, “that is fitting.”
“Open it,” she encouraged. Doing so, a sliver of paper fell to the counter. “Don’t bother reading my message, it’s—Happy Birthday. Love ya long time. That kinda crap.”
“So sentimental.” Retrieving the loose paper, my eyes scanned it quickly, face paling with every word I read. Looking to my friend in horror, her expression clearly didn’t mirror my own.
“Nicole, what have you done?”
CHAPTER 3
“Whoever convinced you this was a good idea needs to be throat punched.”
Nicole pulled her attention from the movement in front of us, her expression coy as she met my own. “I convinced myself it was a good idea.” Holding her hands up in defense she continued, “Before you carry out your threat of violence, maybe you should see through the night first and then pass your verdict.”
“It’s like you don’t even know me,” I teased, but I was fully serious.
The room was crowded. Nicole’s bombshell had been a term long pass to salsa lessons. I could only rationalize that she’d been drunk when coming up with this absurd idea. Never once in our fifteen-year friendship had I ever disclosed a love for dancing. Not even a hint of it. And now here we were in a fancy restaurant, before opening hours, awaiting our first lesson.
It was a beautiful place and I reasoned the only way lessons would be held in such a location was if the owner was somehow involved. It was the type of restaurant I’d never frequented, with its posh décor, dark walls with light leather seating and glimmering silverware. A chandelier in the middle of the room cast a soft, intimate glow over the space. Ahead, at the back of the room, was a dance floor where I could picture loving couples ending their night after finishing an exquisite meal.
But right now that wasn’t the case. The sounds of rhythmic salsa music filtered through the restaurant and the dance floor heaved with bodies either intimately embraced or being twirled around. Despite my reservations, I was transfixed by what I saw. The beat was strong and hips rocked against hips in time, cheeks pressed together with a sensual familiarity that left me curious.
“Come on,” Nicole’s excited voice broke through my thoughts. Taking my hand, she led me toward the dance floor as the music faded out. The dancers slowed their moves before kissing each other on the cheek and going their separate ways, back to friends and respective partners.
A beautiful lady with a slender waist and curves in all the right places took to the floor again. I’d seen her dancing and picked her as the ‘experienced’ type.
“If you’re here for the class, please come onto the floor. We’ll start in a short moment.”
“Ready?” Nicole asked, excitement radiating off her in waves.
“No!”
“Good, let’s go.” Pulling me into the center, our heels clicked on the wooden floor. Moments later we were engulfed by at least twenty other students.
“This is bad, bad idea,” I muttered into her ear. If I didn’t break an ankle by the end of the night, I would inevitably cause injury to others. Yet, Nicole seemed not for caring.
“Holy shit!” my friend announced, her attention trained on a figure walking toward us.
“Holy shit! My reaction was the opposite of hers when I saw the face that had pleasantly tormented me in last night’s dreams. Spinning on my heel, I made an about turn only to collide with a rotund belly of a man positioned behind me. The force of the collision and the size of his hefty girth caused me to rebound before his thick arms could reach out to steady me. Both feet left the ground and only microseconds later, I landed painfully on my ass.
Groaning and wincing in pain, it didn’t take long before I realised the room had fallen into a deadly silence. It also didn’t take me long to realise that it was Leo standing next to me offering his hand.
“This cannot be for real!” Muttering to myself, I looked up to find those gorgeous dark irises staring back at me, his smile pleasantly assaulting my senses.
“We meet again.”
***
Leo raised me to my feet, a shot of pure electricity shooting through our connection. Now only inches away from his face, I lavished the chance to soak him in.
Stunning didn’t even begin to describe it. The word was completely inadequate for the man I was openly assessing.
His face was clean shaven, jaw chiseled like a Greek sex God. Refraining from tracing my hand over it was a real feat. His eyes were as dark as the night sky, so dark they were endless like I could drown in them. They lowered to my hand which he was still holding, his gorgeous lips twitching.
Why did he have to do that?
Why did he make me feel like I desperately needed to be touched in certain places?
“An artist and a dancer! You must be very talented.” Leo’s voice was like silk through my veins.
“I’m not a dancer!” I was quick to put that assumption to bed.
He cocked an eyebrow in question. “No? You have the legs of a dancer and you’re in my class.”
“A gift,” the words fumbled out, “they are a gift.”
This time, his twitch turned into a full-blown smile. “They’re a beautiful gift.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Your legs. They’re beautiful.”
“Oh no, I meant the classes.” I was breathy, my stomach somersaulting at the endearment toward my lower limbs.
He studied me curiously, his smile wide and gorgeous with a hint of tease.
“I know what you meant, Bella.” He gently dropped my hand, his eyes trained on me as he walked away.
Holy hell.
I was turning to liquid. My bits were screaming at me and for the second time in forty-eight hours I found myself turned on in a room full of people.
A room full of people.
Shit!
My cheeks heated feeling the stares of fifteen others who witnessed the entire interaction. Yet, despite already becoming the leper of the group, Leo’s words whirled in my brain and while artfully keeping a straight face to save face, I was beaming on the inside.
He likes my legs. He thinks they’re beautiful. His sexy voice called me Bella.
I am so lame.
“What. The. Fuck. Was. That?” Nicole’s dismayed voice woke me from my reverie.
“That’s him,” I replied, my eyes still trained on Leo as he spoke with the curvy lady at the music box.
“Him?”
“The model.”
“From last night? The one whose dick touched you?”
“Shhh!” I hissed, aware the other students were still honed into the unfolding soap opera. “Don’t say it like that.”
“How else can I say it? His dick touched your leg.”
“You make it sound so vulgar.” My mind flicked back to the moment. “It was rather beautiful.”
Nicole snorted at my assessment. “So beautiful you snuck out of class to avoid him a
nd his cock? How do I enroll in your class? In fact, let’s just swap lives since you’re so unappreciative.”
Nicole was the transparent type. She believed herself to be the master manipulator, but in reality it was only because I got so sick of her interference that I went along with the warped ideas that sprouted in her pretty head.
“Well, he is surrounded by gorgeous women so if I were you,” she rounded on me placing both hands on my shoulders, “I’d start thinking about doing something with his ding-a-ling before it finds someone who gives it the attention it deserves.”
CHAPTER 4
“Partner up,” Leo’s voice stole Nicole’s attention and before I could respond to her, I was pulled into the arms of the man I rebounded off. His hefty girth had me bending forward at the waist, a hopeful look glistening in his eyes. We were standing in position, his large, sweaty hands holding mine between us.
“I’m Jimmy,” he said with a voice totally incongruous to his appearance. It was high-pitched like he’d just sucked on helium balloons.
“Hi, Jimmy. I’m Josie.” My smile quickly faded when both his thumbs began stroking my fingers with an unwanted affection. Swallowing hard and hating Nicole for what she was putting me through, Jimmy’s attention soon turned to the music that filled the room.
There was something about it that was hypnotic. Almost as if it took control of the body possessing it from the inside out. A line of couples had formed with Nicole next to me. She seemed completely taken with her partner and he appeared to be giving her an appreciative eye. Typical.
Leo stood down from the music box and walked the length of the line. Flashbacks from the night before assaulted my mind and I bit my bottom lip to quell the need that was building. Even fully dressed the man was causing a reaction.
“Okay, first we will start with the basics.” His slightly accented voice had me hanging on every syllable. All eyes moved to the front of the class where Leo and the curvy lady mirrored our stance. “The count is three with a pause on the fourth. Ladies, you take a step back first. The male leads and he will indicate by gently pushing or pulling your hands.”
Leo and Curvy quickly demonstrated the move before gesturing for us to follow. We waited for the count and soon Jimmy was leading me back into my first step. He was surprisingly graceful on his feet and we mastered the move with ease.
“Change,” came Leo’s voice, indicating to swap partners. Jimmy guided me to the next male who’d already taken my hand. The new guy smiled shyly and I picked him as someone who worked in IT. He had a cute edge to him, his hands were well manicured and smooth like he had never worked a physical day in his life. We repeated the move twice before once again being passed to the next. This occurred another four times before I got to the end of the line and took a sideward step to make my way down to the beginning. From behind, a strong hand grabbed mine and gently pulled me back. Turning, I was immediately floored by the force of Leo’s stare. He wasn’t smiling, his eyes no longer carried the humor I was becoming accustomed to seeing. Instead, he was searching my face, looking for what, I didn’t know. He held my hands in the beginner’s position and I allowed him to move me through two lots of steps, the whole time his gaze remained glued to mine. When the count finished, he released me and I took a step back. Nicole moved into position but still his stare didn’t waver. With a pounding heart beating painfully in my chest, I broke the hold between us and returned to the front of the line. My hands were shaking and I couldn’t bring myself to look at my new partner. Instead, my mind was waging a war between staying in the present and being entertained by the montage of images that went from intense stares to a naked Leo.
I was literally a hot mess.
The class ended after we learned two new moves that we were able to put it into a short choreographed piece. My fellow partners and I remained unscathed and injury free and I was feeling confident with my efforts. Leo remained partnered with Curvy for the rest of the class, but even when dancing next to him I could feel his gaze lingering.
It was messing with my insides. A million butterflies were released in my stomach with every glance and I found myself enjoying every second of it.
Curvy thanked us all for attending and the group gave an appreciative clap. The volume was raised on the music and the lights dimmed. Nicole and I looked at each other with curiosity as the fever in the room picked up.
“Are you ladies sticking around?” IT man appeared by our sides wearing a nervous smile.
“Sure, but what’s happening?” Nicole asked, her voice a laced with a flirtatious edge.
What the hell was happening?
He was cute but hardly seemed like her ‘usual’ type.
IT picked up on her tone and doubled by the fact the Nicole played the role of a stunning red-headed vixen to perfection, his words stumbled from his mouth. “There’s ah…um…Leo keeps the music on for a few hours so people…so people can practice.”
I looked around the dance floor to see couples had already formed and were in full swing. To say they were amazing was an understatement. There were people who hadn’t been in the lesson who were obviously experienced and surprisingly a few of the men I’d partnered with were breaking out the moves. They appeared far better than the basic steps we had run through earlier.
As if reading my mind, IT solved the puzzle. “Oh, they join the classes sometimes when there’s not enough men to partner the ladies.” He looked between us both. “Ladies are more inclined to dance over men.”
“So…” Nicole began. Even over the music I could hear the sultriness of her voice. She looked at IT like she wanted to devour him and was making no secret of it. “Do you know any more moves?”
IT blushed, his weight changing from foot to foot. “Well I, ah, I do kno –”
Before the poor man could finish, Nicole grabbed the scruff of his shirt dragging him further on the floor.
“Okaayy!” I mouthed feeling the need to find a dark corner. Looking around at all the occupied booths framing the dance floor I finally saw my saving grace. The bar.
“Thank God for wine,” I announced knowing no one could hear me above the music. Cutting a straight line, I was greeted by the handsome bartender who was putting the finishing touches on two mojitos.
“What can I get for you?” he flashed me a dazzling smile and I felt my muscles relax.
“We’ll have two tequilas please, Ben.” Immediately I was flanked by Leo, his voice tingling my ears and other bits, his deliciously muscled arms circling me. He had effectively trapped me between him and the marble bar top, hands placed on either side.
With my breath caught, I stared ahead, our reflections staring back at us through the mirrored splashback. In a weird way, our appearances complemented each other. We both had dark hair and olive skin, his a little more tanned than mine. Leo was also the perfect height. I wasn’t short by any means, standing five-foot-six and with Leo over six foot it was ideal for kissing.
Ben, the bartender, placed two shot glasses in front of us brimming with the amber liquid.
“Ready?” Leo asked, his expression softening.
“Um.”
Really? Is that all you could manage?
His beautiful dark eyes lit up with the humor I was growing to adore from him. Picking up the glasses we paused, our gazes still holding tight in the mirror. “Salud to you, Bella.”
Did I just die then?
A little.
If he kept calling me that he was placing himself at risk of being jumped by a horny beginner dancer.
Leo cocked his head in question knowing my mind had wandered briefly. I couldn’t tell him I just had a momentary fantasy of eating him. I wasn’t stupid enough to make this our last salud.
“Cheers to live nude modeling and salsa dancing,” I said before I even had time to think. He rewarded me by pursing his lips together and preventing the smile that begged for release. I heard a low throaty chuckle and my heart melted.
“Cheers to a clumsy art
student with sexy dancing legs.”
I couldn’t hide my own giggle. He was pleasantly destroying me on the inside and I didn’t want it to stop.
We clinked our glasses and downed the tequila. My face twisted from the burn, but I enjoyed the flavor. Leo, entirely unfazed by the jet fuel, looked like he had swallowed a glass of water. Yet only moments after, I closed my eyes as the heat traveled through my veins and relaxed my limbs. My long hair was gently brushed off my shoulder and I opened my eyes to meet his.
“That was stunning.”
“The tequila?”
“No, what you just did, with your eyes closed enjoying the moment. I’d like to give you more of those.”
“Excuse me, I’m sorry to interrupt,” Curvy’s voice broke through the tension between Leo and me. She genuinely did look apologetic. “Leo, would you mind? I’m having issues with the sound system.”
Accepting a nod, she turned on her elegant heel before leaving me alone with my personal kryptonite.
“Bella, I need you to stay.” His intensity rattled my soul.
“Okay,” I barely managed.
His tongue darted out, moistening his lower lip before he took a step back and followed Curvy back to the floor.
Turning back to the bar to gather my breath, the bartender eyed me with amusement. “Another drink?”
“Are you ready?” Nicole’s voice broke through into my illicit thoughts.
“Ready?”
Her lovely green eyes widened in confusion. “To go home. Are you ready?”
Glancing over to the sound booth where Leo was engrossed in conversation with an affectionate blonde, I nodded. “Yes.” Although every part of me wanted to stay and discover more of this nude model come salsa teacher who made me feel like the sexiest woman on earth.
***
Each night for the week that passed, I lay in bed staring at the roof. When my eyes finally did close, I saw only one face.