Chapter 7 #2
“Sure.” Grace smiled. “Anyway, you said your sister became a doctor, right?”
“Right,” Alex said. “And because I started MatchupNow, I had enough money to help her with medical school, so she didn’t graduate with debt. Now she’s a pediatric surgeon at a big hospital in LA.”
“You must have been proud.”
“I was. But I can’t take credit for her—I’m sure she would have found a way anyway.”
“Modest, too,” Grace said. “That’s a good quality. And one I wasn’t sure you had.”
“I agree. I think this is the first time anyone has ever called me modest.” Alex chuckled. “Thanks. I think.”
“What do people usually call you?”
“Arrogant. Nerdy. Distant. Intimidating.”
Grace winced. “I may have thought you were intimidating when we first met.”
“And now?” Alex asked.
“And now…” Grace leaned a little closer. “Let’s say you aren’t as scary as you try to make yourself out to be.”
“I don’t try to seem scary,” Alex protested.
“You do, a little. Admit it. For some reason, you like people to think that you’re a little bit above it all and a little bit intimidating.”
“Well…” Alex smiled. “Maybe a little. It keeps people from trying to mess with me.”
“Sure.” Grace grinned. “And it keeps people from getting close to you.”
“Now you’ve pushed it too far,” Alex said in mock offense. He tilted his head to the side. “My distance didn’t seem to stop you, though.”
“No. Well, you were always pretty nice to me.” Grace ate another French fry. “What did you think of me when we first met?” She grinned and framed her face with one hand, as if inviting Alex to take a picture.
“I thought…” Alex hesitated. But why not be honest?
He’d already told Grace a lot of things that he didn’t tell people.
This was the first time in a long time that he’d let his hair down, so to speak, and had a conversation like this.
He felt connected to Grace in a way he hadn’t felt connected to anyone in years—maybe ever.
It was as though she saw him, not the version he wanted to present to the world, but the person he really was.
And he saw her, too, as more than just an employee or a fleeting crush.
“I thought you were fascinating,” he finished.
“Fascinating.” Grace smiled. “I like that.” She ate the last bite of her burger and drained the last drop of her drink. “Are you finished?”
Alex looked down at his empty basket, filled with just a white-and-red checkered paper liner, and nodded.
“Well, we agreed on one drink, and that’s over,” Grace said. “Now, you have a choice. We can both go home, like we said we would. Or we can dance.”
She nodded to the space at the center of the bar, where a few people had started dancing to the pop music playing over the speakers. Most of them were younger than both Alex and Grace and appeared to be fairly drunk.
“I don’t dance,” Alex said.
“Okay.” Grace shrugged, a teasing smile playing across her pink lips. “Fine. Then you can go home.”
“I…” Alex let out a puff of air. “Fine. You know what? Let’s dance.”
“Yes.” Grace made a triumphant fist-pumping gesture, then got to her feet. “Come on.”
She grabbed his hand and pulled the still somewhat reluctant Alex to his feet.
They joined the group of dancers, where Grace turned to face him.
Then she broke into the most ridiculous, over-the-top, hilarious dance moves Alex had ever seen.
It looked like she was doing something halfway between the robot and the chicken dance.
Alex burst into laughter, and she laughed too.
Her hair swayed around her face as she did a little shimmy.
“Do you know the key to great dancing?” she asked, her voice raised to be heard over the music.
“Confidence?” Alex guessed.
“Nope.” Grace shook her head. “Ankles!”
“What?”
“Ankles!” Grace repeated, doing another ridiculous dance move that, sure enough, involved an unusual amount of ankle movement.
“Come on.” Alex laughed. “Now you’re just messing with me.”
“Oh, so you can dance better?” Grace asked, a challenge in her voice.
“I definitely can.”
“Then show me.” Grace spread her arms, still shimmying. “Let’s see your moves, Alex.”
It was the first time she’d called him by his name, Alex realized. Somehow, his name on her lips sounded very good.
“All right.” Alex closed the distance between them. “The real key to dancing to music like this is jumping.”
And he began to jump up and down in time to the music, in rhythm with the people around them. After a moment, Grace followed suit. Against his better judgment, Alex wrapped his arms around her waist. She leaned into him, and they began to dance together.
It turned out that Grace was a fantastic dancer, despite her silly moves earlier. She moved exactly in time with him, her arms resting on Alex’s shoulders, her eyes on his. Everyone else fell away as they bounced to the music, swayed against each other, and looked into each other’s eyes.
Then a slow song came on.
“Can you dance to this, too?” Grace asked. There was still a challenge in her voice, but she sounded breathless, too. It might have been from the exertion of dancing, but Alex knew his own breathlessness came from her proximity.
“Watch me,” Alex said, and he rested his hands on her hips again, pulling her closer.
Grace’s ocean scent washed over him as they swayed and turned, their eyes never leaving each other’s.
Alex’s heart was racing. He couldn’t quite believe this was happening.
He should have considered the consequences and what it would be like at work tomorrow, but all he could think about was that he wanted to stay with Grace, dancing just like this, for as long as he could.
“Okay,” Grace breathed when the song ended. She stepped back, out of his arms, and tucked her hair behind her ears. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. “You can dance.”
“I’m just worried I didn’t feature enough ankle,” Alex said, and they both laughed, breaking the breathless spell of the moment.
“That would be your one flaw,” Grace agreed. “But we can work on it.”
“Sure,” Alex said. “But for now, may I buy you another drink?”
“You may.” Grace bobbed a curtsey. “So formal.”
“That’s me. Formal and distant.”
“Not so much now,” Grace pointed out as he led her back to their booth.
“True. Not so much now.”
Be careful, a small voice whispered. Grace is one of your best employees. Don’t let this get out of hand, or you might lose her.
But another voice replied that he and Grace were having a wonderful evening. It was the first time in years he’d felt this alive, and he didn’t want it to end yet. From the way Grace was looking at him, and the way she’d asked him to stay, he knew she didn’t, either.
Alex had spent years helping people find love, but he’d never found it himself. Now, with Grace, he wondered if falling in love might feel just a little like this.
Slow down. She’s your employee.
“Grace,” Alex said as they sat. “I just want to say… I know you work for me, and if anything about this evening makes you even the slightest bit uncomfortable, please tell me.”
Grace met his eyes. “Thank you for saying that, but if anything, I’ve been the one pushing for us to spend time together tonight.”
“Perhaps I should tell you, then, that if you weren’t my employee, I would have wanted to ask you out for a drink from the moment I met you,” Alex said.
“Is that so?” The corner of Grace’s mouth lifted. “In that case, this round is on you.”
“Fair enough,” Alex said.
He knew already that there would be consequences somewhere in the future. But for now, in this moment, the only thing he wanted was to be here with Grace, and she wanted that, too. That was enough.
It was more than enough.
It was heady, and breathless, and perfect. Just like Grace.