Something to Someone (Someone, Somewhere #2)

Chapter 5

FIVE

DANCE WITH ME

Caroline

The grounds and every other room in the mansion were as beautiful as I expected it to be. Each of the guest rooms were decorated in the same elegant style but with their own unique twists.

And the exterior was breathtaking. The front had an expansive manicured lawn, and the back had a garden with pristine hedges and extensive gravel paths. There was even a fountain in the courtyard just off the ballroom. I loved the dark ivy climbing the walls and told Chuck as much as we walked back inside.

“It’s one of my wife’s favorite features as well. Something she was sure we had to replicate when we bought the place,” he said, opening the door for me and waving me inside. The air conditioning felt nice against my warm, flushed skin. It wasn’t too hot yet, but the weather was changing quickly. Spring was disappearing, and summer was fast approaching.

“And you said you have fans and misters for the courtyard if they decide that’s a space they want to utilize?”

Chuck nodded emphatically. “Yes, and an air-conditioned tent w e can put up if necessary. We want to make everyone as comfortable as possible.”

“I think Stephen and Miles are really going to like this place,” Ryder said. He stood in front of the doors we’d entered through and snapped a picture of the ballroom from that angle.

Chuck cleared his throat and glanced between us. “Excuse me, but…is it two men who will be getting married?”

Ryder and I looked at each other, and my heart dropped. “Yes,” I said matter-of-factly. No point in hiding it, they would have figured it out eventually. I just hated bigots.

“Oh, no, no,” Chuck said quickly, waving his hands in surrender. “Not like that. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply I had an issue with it. They will just be our first gay couple. We’ve only been open a few months, but I think that’s exciting. I…umm…I also have a grandson, he’s only sixteen, but he helps with weddings occasionally, and he just came out to me. I think it would be nice for him to see and experience.”

I smiled in relief, and I noticed Ryder relax from a few feet away. “That’s amazing. Stephen and Miles are great, and I do agree with Ryder—they would love this place. I’m going to snap a few more photos, then we’ll get out of your hair.”

“Take your time,” Chuck said. He waved and headed back up front.

I tossed my papers onto the closest table and considered the size of the room. They had almost three hundred guests, which was larger than the average wedding I planned but not uncommon.

With the size of their guest list in mind, I observed the tables available and the arrangement possibilities. “I’m worried that the dance floor may be too small,” I muttered, thinking out loud. “That was on their list of things they absolutely want. There’s only tables enough for two hundred people right now, so if we double the amount, then we’ll?—”

I squeaked in surprise as a strong hand landed on my hip and spun me around. Then Ryder was there, in front of me, reachi ng for my right hand and guiding my left hand to rest on his shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, he started moving us around the open space between the tables. With one hand pressed against my lower back, he kept us close as he guided me toward the middle of the dance floor. I heard the music faintly from a nearby table and realized he must have started playing it from his phone.

“What are you doing?” I repeated through clenched teeth.

“Dancing,” he said like it wasn’t odd at all that he’d randomly decided to sweep me up.

With a soft growl, I tried to plant my feet and push away, but Ryder was having none of it. He just held on tighter and pressed us together. My breasts flattened against his taut chest, and all the air was swept from my lungs.

“Why?” I tried again, breathlessly.

“I don’t think the dance floor is too small.”

“This may be one of the weirdest things you’ve ever done, and I can’t even hear the damn music.”

He chuckled and looked down at me. My eyes traced the line of his sharp jaw and up over his smooth cheek until I met his blue eyes. It was an unsettling sort of blue, one that someone with less willpower than me might easily get lost in. Especially when said person’s heart was thudding against their chest, and they couldn’t help but inhale and be overwhelmed by his deep, clean scent.

“You’re right,” he said. “The music is a little soft.” Then he started singing the lyrics loudly, drowning out the soft background noise. When the room wasn’t filled with linens and flowers and people, sound carried, and Ryder’s voice bounced off the walls around us.

“Ryder, you’ve got to be kidding me!” I angrily whispered, tugging my hand free and slapping it over his mouth.

We stopped moving, but he didn’t let me go. His hand I’d dropped appeared on my other hip, and his hold on me tightened. My eye s bounced between his, and I swore I saw excitement sparking behind his irises.

“What is your problem?” A shrug was his response. Not that he could speak with my palm covering his mouth, but that was beside the point. “Are you going to stop singing if I remove my hand?”

Another shrug, then a slow smile tilted his lips. I felt his grin against my palm, and the excitement I thought I saw before was truly blazing in his blue eyes.

Ryder made everything exciting and fun, and, fucking hell, it was contagious. I had no control over the twin smile that tugged at my mouth. With his eyes glued to my face, Ryder didn’t miss a second of it. He saw me struggle with my grin by rolling my lips.

It only made his smile widen, and the brush of his hips against mine was too much. I dropped my hand, and when I stepped away again, he let me go.