by Lucy Gage
A fast song began, wedding reception standard Footloose, the Blake Shelton version. Neil had learned a lot about country music over the years listening to Owen’s collection. Meghan made to walk off the dance floor and he kept hold of her hand to prevent her from leaving. He looked at her, disappointed. He wanted to keep dancing with her.
“You don’t fast dance?” he asked.
She laughed again, that melodic tinkle that made him smile.
“The question is do you?”
“In fact, I do.” He drew her toward him and showed her that he actually knew how to dance. He wasn’t winning Dancing with the Stars anytime soon, but he could hold his own better than most white guys he knew.
His mom always said he inherited his sense of rhythm from her side of the family, because other than his father, not a single person on the Murphy side could dance. She also told him that his musical talent came from the O’Connell side. Neil knew he had a great singing voice but he hated to sing in front of other people. He had taught himself acoustic guitar one summer, and now he could play by ear. He guessed his ear for music helped him hear the rhythm in the song. The rest was knowing how to move your hips to that rhythm. He’d never had a girl complain about his skills in bed, so apparently, he knew how to move his hips the right way.
Meghan could move hers, too, even in five-inch heels. Ignoring that fact proved fruitless. In Neil’s experience, what a woman could do on the dance floor indicated what she could do between the sheets. He pictured Meghan in his bed as he watched her move and he struggled with appropriate touching for a wedding.
In a club with her, out of uniform, he would have held her close and ground his hips into hers, to let her know his intent, to take her upstairs and do that without clothes. Instead, he used the manners he’d been taught in a military home, which were daily reinforced on post.
It was a challenge.
They danced to a few fast songs before the DJ slowed the music again. He grabbed her hand and pulled her in for a waltz. “You ready to practice?” he asked with a smile as Unchained Melody began.
She nodded and gave him a sexy smile. This could be dangerous. He planned to show her the important part of the waltz, body contact and frame. If she kept looking at him like that, body contact would be pretty revealing for Neil. There would be no guesses as to what he was thinking about when he was close to her.
“Now that you have the feet, lift your shoulders, lean your head back more and push your hips toward mine.”
She laughed again. “You just want to push my hips into yours.”
Neil blushed. Okay, yes. “Don’t you watch any of the dancing shows?” he covered.
She shook her head. “Not regularly. I watched a little with Em, when she was still hung up on Rob. Why? Do you watch them?”
“My girlfriend watched and I watched with her. Now I watch with my roommate, Owen.”
She stifled a chortle.
“What? There are half-naked hot chicks doing lots of sexy moves with their body.”
She frowned a little. “You have a girlfriend at home?”
He responded immediately. “No. Not for a while. Not even seeing anyone casually. What about you?” He knew the answer, but he didn’t want her to know that.
“I dumped my loser ex on his sorry ass two months ago. I don’t like cheaters.”
“He cheat on you?” He didn’t like cheaters, either.
“No. He cheated on his wife. With me. Stupid ass. Sorry. I sort of hate him for it. I seem to attract men who have commitment issues. He wasn’t the first guy who did that to me. I hate that I was duped again.”
“You deserve better than a guy like that.” He meant it.
“Thanks,” she said with a half smile. The song ended. “Let’s get a drink.”
She held his hand all the way to the bar and kept hold of it as they each ordered a beer. He paid this time, so he had to let go of her hand, which he was loath to do. It might be awkward to take her hand again after. She spared him the trouble and grabbed his hand, then stepped close to him and kissed his cheek. She must have gotten lipstick on it, because she released his hand again and wiped his cheek.
“Thanks,” she said, quietly, a small smile on her lips.
“For what,” he croaked. He cleared his throat. “For what?” She still stood close to him and he felt his body heat rise again. When she slipped her hand into his, Neil’s heart rate kicked it up a notch.
“For being a nice guy and thinking I deserve better than a jerk like Justin.”
“Any man who can’t see that you deserve to be treated with respect isn’t worth your time, Meghan.”
She laughed again. He furrowed his brow
Confused, Neil said, “You think that’s funny?”
She shook her head. “No, I think that’s incredibly sweet. I laughed because you called me Meghan.”
“It’s your name, isn’t it?”
She nodded. “It is, but no one calls me that. Everyone calls me Meg or Meggie or Dr. Miles. Not even my parents call me Meghan. I know you didn’t get my name from the card at the table because it says Meg. Which means you probably knew who I was before today.”
She pointed two fingers at her eyes and then at his. “I’m pretty observant, too, Neil.”
His eyebrows shot up. Busted.
Meghan laughed. God, did he love that.
“I asked Nina your name before I saw the card. You said you went to school with her and Charlie, which means you went to school with me. I wondered how Dan could have a childhood best friend as hot as you and I didn’t know about it.”
Neil blushed some more. “I didn’t look like this in high school.”
“Nina said that. I also asked her why she never dated you.”
“And what did she say?” She knew I was enamored with you?
“No chemistry. I told her I was surprised by that.”
Neil’s heart thudded in his chest. Could she hear it?
“And why would you be surprised?”
“Because I thought we had chemistry as soon as I helped you with that bag this morning.”
Oh, God. He had wanted her to say something like that to him for the better part of thirteen years. Neil swallowed.
“Really?” he asked, taking a deep breath.
Meghan nodded slowly and a grin spread across her face. She had his number. He was in big, big trouble. Now, she could probably do anything she wanted with him and he’d be putty in her hands.
“Let’s go dance some more, Captain.”
“Yes ma’am,” he agreed as he took a big swig of his beer.
Holy shit.
Chapter 10
They set their beer on the table again. She shimmied as she pulled him by the hand onto the dance floor with One Direction singing What Makes You Beautiful. The kids had started making requests. He laughed at her, shaking his head. She was too cute. He grabbed her from behind and sang in her ear along with Harry Styles during the solo. She turned around and bit her lip, giving him such a sweet smile.
When the song segued into Carly Rae Jepson’s Call Me Maybe, Meghan sang and acted out the song. Hot and adorable, he thought.
The DJ played Cher Lloyd’s Want U Back and Neil was sure the kids had taken over the playlist. It didn’t matter; Meghan decided she wanted to bump and grind with him and he wouldn’t object to it. She held onto him as Taylor Swift began to sing We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.
She smiled at him. “I think we both secretly love Top 40 radio.”
“Why do you say that?” he asked smiling back at her.
“Because we both know all these songs.”
“Busted. I won’t tell if you don’t. They’ll revoke my cool card.”
She laughed. “I promise I’ll keep your secret.”
Bruno Mars started singing Just the Way You Are and he pulled her back into a frame so he could take her around the dance floor and look at her. God, was she beautiful. The more he really knew her, the more he liked he
r. Danny’s prediction had come true. He wanted more than casual sex. He had before he even knew her. Now, he hated the idea of anything less than everything. But when she obviously hadn’t been infatuated with him for the past thirteen years, saying so crossed a line.
He dipped her as the song ended and she smiled at him as he stood her back up. Then the DJ finally slowed things down again.
Neil took her in his arms as another slow song began – Just a Kiss by Lady Antebellum. He stepped in position to waltz and Meghan pulled him nearer, leaning her cheek next to his. He wouldn’t tell her no. Instead, he wrapped his arms more tightly around her and held her closer.
After a minute, she said, “You’re a breath of fresh air, soldier.”
“Why is that?”
“It’s nice to be spoken to and treated with respect. I didn’t realize how pleasant that could be.”
Neil laughed. He’d never been allowed to be any other way. He couldn’t imagine actually treating a woman disrespectfully.
“My mother would be proud.”
“Oh? That’s not Uncle Sam’s doing?”
“He certainly doesn’t tolerate anything else, but I grew up in a military household. If I dared speak to or treat a woman with anything less than respect my father would have kicked my ass if my mother didn’t get there first. Guess which one of them is quicker?”
Meghan laughed. “Your mom sounds awesome.”
“She’s the best. You’d like her. She’s tough like you. Not quite so tall though,” he teased.
She pulled back and smiled at him. “Thanks. Tall okay with you?”
“Perfect. You have some gorgeous legs. I’d hate to see them shorter just so you’d be smaller than me in a pair of heels that made those legs even sexier.”
“You like my legs?” she asked, flirting, laying her cheek next to his again.
“Among other parts of you, yes.”
Neil tried, really hard, to control the lust surging through his body, but the evidence pushed into her pelvis. Though their feet still moved in the steps of the waltz, their bodies pressed together tightly. Her breath on his skin prickled Neil’s flesh again.
“You cold?” she whispered as the song transitioned into The Band Perry’s If I Die Young.
“No,” he said, shaking his head, eyes closed, rubbing his cheek against hers.
“Is that because of me?” she asked, her hand caressing the back of his neck where her fingers brushed the gooseflesh.
“Yeah,” he whispered. He swallowed hard. “I want to kiss you.”
“Then why don’t you kiss me?” she asked.
“Because I want to kiss you in a way that isn’t really appropriate for a public place.”
Neil heard her breathing change. “Then why are we still in a public place?” she whispered. She pulled back to look at him. Instead of answering her, he twirled her out and spun her back so that her back was to him again.
His arms wrapped around her front. She leaned into him, swaying. When he turned her back around, he encircled her waist with his arms and hers clung to his neck, their foreheads pressed together. Neil swallowed again. “I don’t want to take advantage of you, Meghan.”
She laughed that beautiful laugh again. “If I want it, Neil, you’re not taking advantage.”
“You’re drunk.”
“I’m not so drunk that I don’t remember I was attracted to you earlier in the day.”
“Were you?” Was that too much to hope, that this wasn’t just her wanting a drunken hook up, a way to cleanse her palate?
“Very. I don’t know why. You’re so not my type,” she admitted.
“I’m not?”
“Not at all. But God, are you sexy. I should thank Charlie for sitting you next to me. You might not have spoken to me otherwise.”
“Only because I was too nervous.”
Crap, had he just admitted that? Too late now.
“Were you? Why is that?”
“Because you’re the only girl who has ever intimidated me.”
She pulled back to look at him again. “Oh? My acid tongue too much for you, soldier?”
“No, ma’am. I just think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. It’s a little daunting.”
“I’m sure a man as sexy as you has no trouble getting women to melt into puddles at his feet.”
“Did you melt into a puddle at my feet?”
She laughed again. Every time. It slayed him every single time.
“Of course not.”
“Exactly. You are…way out of my league.”
She touched his cheek and rubbed her thumb across his lips. “I am not out of your league. I won’t beg you, Neil. I don’t beg. But I want to go upstairs with you. I’m going to the ladies’ room. When I come back, you’re taking me upstairs, soldier. Got that?”
He swallowed. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. I’ll be back.” She kissed his cheek and left.
He walked over to the table to take a drink of his beer and realized that she’d finished them both. Oh, boy. She’d had at least three beers, plus two glasses of wine at dinner. No doubt, she was drunk.
**********
“Charlie, come to the bathroom with me,” Meg said as she walked past the bride and groom talking to some guests.
“Just a second. It was great to see you. Thanks for coming!”
They stepped inside the bathroom and Meg pulled up her dress, dropped her panties and plopped onto the toilet.
“What’s wrong, Meggie?”
“Nothing. I don’t think. Do you think he likes me? Because I think he likes me. He said he wants to kiss me.”
“I bet he did.”
“So you think he likes me?”
“Oh, hon, I’m sure of it.”
“Good. ‘Cause I like him, Charlie. He thinks I’m too drunk, but I’m not. Or, maybe I am, but I know what I want. Him.”
“He’s lust-worthy, for sure.”
“Charlie! You just got married! But you’re right. He’s so sexy.”
“So this is a rebound hookup? Are you trying to get over Justin?”
“Fuck Justin. He’s an ass. This isn’t a rebound hookup.”
“It’s not?”
“Nope.”
“You really like him, huh?”
Meg stage whispered, “Shhh. I think I more than like him. He’s pretty fucking perfect. Don’t you think? I think so. He’s nice and smart. And he’s so sweet. Plus, did you see that ass? And man, can he move those hips.”
“He is a good dancer.”
“I bet he’ll be amazing in bed. God, I want him. But I like him. So much. Do you think I’m crazy?” Meg asked as she stood and fumbled with her panties and dress. Charlie grabbed her arm to steady her.
“Why would I think that, sweetie?”
“‘Cause I might be falling for him,” she stage whispered again.
“I don’t think you’re crazy. He’s worth it. Didn’t I tell you that you should be open to love? That the right guy might come along?”
Meg hugged Charlie. “You did. You were so right. I think he could be the one, Charlie Brown.” Washing her hands, Meg looked in the mirror and she was grinning ear to ear. “I’m happy.”
“You look happy. Drunk, but happy.”
“I’m not happy ‘cause I’m drunk. I’m happy ‘cause Neil is the most amazing guy I’ve ever met. Why didn’t you introduce us sooner?”
“Oh, timing, I guess. I’m glad it’s working out now.”
“Me too. Love you, Charlie Brown. You’re like another sister, you know. You and Nin and Em. Not Annie though. I’m pissed about what she did to Em.”
“It’s not as simple as it seems,” Charlie said.
“Doesn’t matter. ‘Twas shitty. Still, Em got Rob out of the deal. Did you see them? They went upstairs together. I bet they’re getting busy. She says he’s a god in bed.”
“She did say that.”
“I was jealous, you know. When he showed up, I was je
alous that he came to rescue her. She always gets everything. But I love her. I’m not jealous of her. Just jealous that she has it so easy. Nobody lied about her in high school like they did me.”
“Who lied?”
“Who didn’t? ‘Cept Toby Hill. I did sleep with him. Not the rest of ‘em though. Not ‘til college. Even then, I was a good girl. Just Jason. That one time, I wasn’t so good. But I don’t want to do that to Neil. I think I could love him, Charlie. He’s that good.”
“He is, Meggie. I think he could love you, too.”
“You do?”
“Oh, yes. I’d bet money on it. Let’s go find him and get you two started on a happily ever after. Em has hers. She doesn’t need us.”
“Nope. She’s all set. They’ll get married.”
“I think so, too. He looks at her like she’s the most beautiful creature he’s ever seen and he treats her like gold. Neil looks at you that way.”
“He said I intimidate him.”
“Then show him you’re not scary.”
“Am I scary?”
“Only when people don’t know you. I think maybe he knows you better than you imagine at the moment.”
“Good. I want to be with him. Can we go find him?”
“Come on. I’ll lead the way.”
**********
Danny came up behind him. “So?”
“What?” Neil asked.
“Oh come off it! What’s going on with you two?”
Neil took a deep breath and swiped his hand across his mouth. “She wants me to take her upstairs. I told her I wanted to kiss her and she told me to take her upstairs.”
“Didn’t I tell you all you had to do was talk to her?”
“Yeah, but Danny, I don’t really think all I want from her is a night in the sack, no matter how hot it might get. And trust me, it’s heating up to be a scorcher.”
“Who says that’s all it has to be?”
“I don’t know, maybe the circumstances?”
“Neil, stop overthinking it! You have no idea what will happen. You both look like you’re having a great time.”
“We are.”