Chapter 23
Alexis
It’s Karaoke Thursday again, and I’m stocking the bar with Stephen when Dex walks in. He’s wearing a black shirt today. My pulse stumbles when his eyes lock on mine.
Ever since that dance, it’s like the room is charged with raw energy whenever he walks in.
“Cigarette break?” Stephen asks.
Dex glances up and shakes his head. “Nope. Quit smoking a few weeks ago.”
I pause, looking at him. “You quit?”
He smiles. “You told me it was bad for me, so I quit.”
He shrugs like it’s obvious.
“You really quit?” I ask again as he steps closer behind the bar. I catch his scent, my attention snagging on the way his green eyes settle on me, that damned dimpled smirk pulling at his mouth.
“You still don’t get it, do you?” he asks.
My mouth goes dry. After everything that’s been building between us, I had to take a cold shower yesterday just to clear my head.
After the way his hand on my foot set my body on fire, I couldn’t think straight.
Standing this close to him now, I can feel it all over again, that pull I don’t know how to fight.
“What’s that?” I ask quietly.
Stephen disappears down to the basement, leaving us alone.
“That I’d do anything for you.”
His hand comes up, his thumb brushing over my bottom lip, and my breath catches as his gaze holds mine.
My pulse spikes, heat rushing through me so fast it leaves me unsteady, like my body forgot how to function all at once.
“Oh,” is all I manage.
He smiles fully now, then leans in close, his lips near my ear, his voice dropping low.
“You’re blushing, Tinker… and that’s dangerous.”
Goosebumps ripple down my arms.
“Why?” I whisper.
He pulls back just enough to look at me.
“Because it makes me want to find out all the ways I can make your body react like that.”
He smirks as my face heats, turns, and walks into his office, leaving me standing there, completely wrecked.
I’m in trouble, the kind I know I should run from, but instead I’m already too far gone, drawn to it in a way that makes no sense, especially when I know the truth could destroy everything.
I need to tell him.
Now.
I push away from the bar and head toward his office, determination settling in my chest.
I knock and push the door open slightly, but Dex is on the phone. I pause in the doorway until he glances up.
I mouth, “Can we talk later tonight?”
He nods once, then turns back to his call.
I close the door quietly and head back to the bar.
? ? ?
As soon as the dinner rush hits, everything blurs into motion, orders mixing with drinks, food, and voices until the whole place hums with energy.
Dex moves behind the bar with me, and every time he steps close, something tightens inside me.
The bar fills fast, the energy rising with it as karaoke kicks off.
Penny, Cas, Summer, Ethan, Grace, Jace, and Cassie take over their usual table, loud and impossible to miss.
Every time I pass, they try to pull me in, calling out for me to take a break, sit down, have a drink, but I just laugh and keep moving.
“I’m gonna sing for you, Lexy!” Jace calls out.
A slice of lemon smacks him straight in the head.
He freezes, then slowly looks around while the table erupts in laughter.
I glance toward Dex, and of course he’s already watching me.
Yeah… I’m screwed.
The whole bar joins in when Grace and Cassie sing Where Is My Husband by Raye, voices blending together as people clap along. Summer and Penny cheer them on as Jace yells, “Marry me, Cassandra!” making Cassie blush red.
The song ends, the crowd goes wild with applause, and the MC grabs the mic.
“All right, let’s switch it up a little and get some line dancing going!”
The crowd cheers instantly, people already moving toward the dance floor.
“And since I haven’t seen the Midnight Rodeo staff stop all night… how about we get them out here?”
I freeze.
Absolutely not.
I shake my head, already backing toward the bar. “Nope. Not happening.”
The crowd ignores me.
“Lexy! Lexy! Lexy!”
“Traitors,” I mutter, grabbing a towel like I suddenly have something urgent to do.
“Come on, Lexy,” Stephen says, already moving out from behind the bar. “You’ll survive one dance.”
“I have work…”
The words die in my throat when Dex steps in front of me.
“Work can wait,” he says.
“I don’t line dance,” I shoot back.
His mouth twitches. “Yeah, you do.”
My heart stumbles.
“No, I don’t.”
He doesn’t argue. He just takes my hand.
His fingers wrap around mine, warm and steady, and before I can think, he’s pulling me out from behind the bar.
“Dex…”
“Trust me,” he says quietly.
And I go.
The dance floor is already packed, boots hitting the wood in rhythm as laughter spills through the room and the music kicks in.
The lights glow warm overhead, catching on movement, on spinning bodies.
The second I step onto the floor with him, everything else fades.
Dex turns to face me, still holding my hand.
“Just follow me,” he says.
Easy for him to say.
The music starts fast and familiar, and suddenly everyone moves in sync.
I stumble on the first beat, nearly crashing into him, but Dex steadies me instantly, his hand firm at my side, fingers pressing just enough to keep me grounded.
“Relax,” he murmurs.
“I am relaxed,” I lie.
He huffs a quiet laugh, but his hand lingers a second longer before he steps back.
We move again, and this time I catch it.
The rhythm pulls me in, the crowd moving together, boots striking the floor in sync.
We turn again, shifting lines, and for a second he’s right next to me instead of behind me, close enough that our shoulders brush.
I glance at him before I can stop myself.
Big mistake.
He’s smiling, not the teasing smirk he throws around the bar, but something looser, real, like he’s actually enjoying this. His head tips back slightly as he laughs at something behind us, and the movement pulls at his shirt just enough to make my eyes drop for a second before snapping back up.
And then he looks at me.
Still smiling.
Like he caught me.
My stomach tightens, heat rushing through me so fast it leaves me breathless, because that look shifts just slightly, turning sharper, more focused, like the rest of the room just disappeared again.
He looks like he knows exactly what he’s doing to me.
My pulse jumps.
We turn again, closer this time, my back nearly brushing his chest as we switch lines, his hand sliding to my waist to guide me and staying there just a second longer than necessary.
“Dex…” I breathe.
“Yeah?” His voice is right behind me.
I turn.
He’s there, watching me.
That look.
“You’re doing just fine,” he says, but it’s not about the dancing.
I swallow, trying to focus, but it doesn’t work.
Every time we move, he’s there.
The room is loud, full of movement and voices and music, but all I feel is him, close without quite touching, and somehow that makes every nerve in my body tense up.
There’s something in the air, an electric pull that feels like a magnet drawing my body to his.
Is this what they mean when they say they have ‘chemistry’?
If so… ours could light this room on fire, and I wouldn’t put it out.
By the time the song ends, the crowd erupts.
Penny collapses against Cas, still laughing.
“My wife’s got some moves!” Ethan pulls Summer in for a kiss.
I’m still standing there, my heart racing, my breath uneven.
Dex steps closer again. His mouth brushes my ear, making me shiver. “See?” he says quietly. “You can line dance.” He looks back at me, smirk in place.
“That doesn’t count.”
“It counts.”
His eyes drop to my lips for a second.
Then back up.
“All right, let’s get back to singing!” the MC calls out.
“A little birdie told me we have one talented songwriter among us.”
I snap my head toward Dex.
“You did not,” I mouth.
He smirks.
Like he’s enjoying this way too much.
“And that she can sing!”
I shake my head and turn to leave.
“Give it up for Lexyyyy!”
The crowd starts chanting again.
“Remember payback for the nail polish pic you sent to my family?” he calls out.
I flip him off as I make my way to the stage.
I used to hate singing in front of people.
But not anymore.
“All right, Lexy, what song are you picking?” the MC asks.
“Beautiful Disaster by Kelly Clarkson,” I say. “I’ll play it myself. Just need the lyrics on the screen.”
He nods.
I move to the piano.
My fingers hover over the keys.
I may not be able to form the words… but maybe I can sing them to him.
“I… uh…” I clear my throat. “I guess I want to dedicate this to someone I misjudged when I first met him.”
I glance up.
Dex is exactly where I left him, his arms crossed, his eyes locked on me.
“But he taught me I should never judge a book by its cover… and this song, I hope it says what I haven’t been able to say with words, so…”
My throat tightens. “Pan, this one’s for you.”
Then I start to play.
? ? ?
Dexter
I’m captivated by the piano, the lyrics to a song I don’t know well but already know I’ll be listening to on repeat… sung by her.
The crowd is silent as she lets her magic loose like pixie dust.
And I’m her biggest target.
I don’t even try to resist.
Every second that passes only sharpens the need in me, something low and insistent that makes it impossible to look away, impossible to think about anything but holding her close.
And the song dedicated to me…
Yeah.
I’m not wasting any more time.
“Damn, I guess you’re not the only one who’s got it bad.”
Ethan nudges me, but I don’t look at him. I can’t take my eyes off her.
“I guess so,” I say, barely hearing anything beyond her voice, aware of Cas, Penny, Summer, and the rest turning toward me.
“You admit it? You finally admit it?” Penny says from beside me.
“How can I not?” I mutter. “Look at her.”
I exhale slowly.
“Pure fucking addictive.”
I keep my eyes on Tinker as she finishes the song, saying the last line while looking straight at me.
“I’m marrying this woman,” I say.
No hesitation, no second thought, no doubt in my mind.