Chapter 29 #2
“It’s all really lovely, Tai.” She turned a full circle and took in the draped garland, the single full-size fir tree in one corner, decorated in red and gold. “Oh, is that a dance floor?”
“It’s become a tradition at this event. We wind down with instrumental Christmas music and optional dancing.”
As the guest of the Director of Fundraising, Claire’s designated seat was at a table at the front of the room.
Tai promised to join her there before the food was served.
She watched him work the room, welcoming donors, shaking hands, even receiving a few hugs.
Christmas in July was clearly a less formal occasion than many of the events she’d attended with him before, black tie dress code notwithstanding.
To her delight, Tai’s colleague Darlene already sat at their table. She took one look at Claire, and her blue-green eyes grew wide and sparkled with aquamarine.
“Well, well, well. Congratulations.”
Claire slid into her chair with a satisfying swish of her skirt. “What do you mean?”
“Honey, do you seriously think these eyes can’t see that silver scar from across a banquet table?”
Claire almost clapped her hand over the dip of her shoulder, a reflex to guard what was still so new and sweet and, yes, private. Instead a little smile tugged her mouth in spite of herself. “Oh, that.”
“Yes, that. I am over the moon for y’all. He’s a wonderful man, and I can tell you make each other happy.”
“He is, and we do.” And they’d barely gotten started. “Thanks, Darlene.”
Darlene didn’t comment further until, mere minutes before dinner was served, Tai took his seat beside Claire. He’d hardly greeted Darlene when she said, “Congratulations, Tai,” and nodded not toward Claire in general but toward her right shoulder.
Tai’s dark eyebrows shot up. He hadn’t thought of it either, the possibility another vampire might notice her scar. But then his joy won out, and his eyes crinkled with a smile that made Claire want to kiss him in front of Darlene and everybody.
“Thank you,” he said.
“You’re such kids. To have found your eternal so young—what y’all have must be really special.”
“Never too late,” Tai said with a wink.Darlene rolled her eyes, but she was grinning too. “If I want to find someone for me, then I’ll find them. But I’m relatively young too, you know. Not babies like y’all, but there’s no rush for a vampire.”
His eyes flickered. Reminded of his mom. With her new attunement to him, Claire didn’t have to guess; she simply knew. Then the split second was over, and he smiled.
The dinner menu was standard, but the quality was standout.
While Tai fielded questions from one of the donors, Claire savored every bite of chicken piccata, creamy mashed potatoes, and roasted vegetables.
The bread basket held perfectly crusty ciabatta, which she dipped to enjoy the last of the piccata sauce.
“It’s delicious,” she said when her plate was nearly clean. “It’s all so delicious.”
“I gathered as much when you completely stopped talking,” Tai said with a smirk.
She boxed his arm. “Not that I’m surprised, with you in charge.”
“More delegation. I’m glad you’re enjoying.”
He wasn’t distant, but he was occupied, the sharpness of his gaze roving over the room, scanning the guests at their table and beyond, making sure all was well and no one missed out on face time with him, if they wanted it.
He’d slaked before they left, and of course he didn’t need to eat.
But Tai appreciated food the way she did, and she wished he could simply savor as she could.
As dessert was served, he stood up from the table, then leaned down to drop a kiss in her hair. “Be right back.”
Claire watched him stride over to the dance floor and claim a cordless mic from a lone stand. Barely six months ago, she’d first seen him in his element, discovered how natural he was with a mic in his hand and how much his work meant to him. And now here they were.
Bloodbound.
If she could talk to that recent-past self…
Better yet, if she could go back three years.
Tell that hurt, angry, guarded woman how authentic he really was.
Tell her Ryker was right about him. But would that version of herself believe a three-years-older Claire who’d fallen in love?
More likely she’d think Tai had fooled her somehow.
Tai held the mic at chin level and said, “Good evening.”
As always his baritone was even sexier when amplified by a mic, and Claire enjoyed the shiver that danced across her shoulders.
An elderly woman called out, “Good evening, Tai!” and everyone laughed.
The hall had no stage, so instead Tai slowly walked the length of the dance floor, giving everyone a chance to spot him.
“Thanks, Eleanor,” he said, and laughter rippled again.
“I was about to say, but you already proved it— I think everyone here tonight already knows me, but in case not, I’m Tai Kristiansen, Director of Fundraising for Josie Strong.
Welcome to our favorite event, a night where we get to say thanks for the donations y’all have consistently given throughout the year. ”
He spoke for about fifteen minutes, sharing the foundation’s goals: those recently met, those still being worked toward, and those newly imagined for the coming donation season.
He spoke with pride and passion for the successes they’d seen with difficult medical cases, with research and experimentation and real breakthroughs for patients.
Meanwhile Claire finished her berry-topped crème br?lée and held his aside when the server would have cleared it along with the other dishes.
“So thank you,” Tai said at last, and Claire would bet everyone in the room felt as if he’d made eye contact with them personally tonight.
However he did it, the trick had worked on her.
“Thank you for keeping us going another year. Thank you for the difference your organizations have made this year for Renee, Leah, Matthias, and dozens of others. The Josie Strong Foundation gets to continue its work because of each of you.”
Light applause broke out, then grew. Claire joined in, and Tai smiled as the room essentially applauded each other.
“Now,” he said as the applause faded out, “as we’re winding down for the night, please enjoy another Josie Strong Christmas in July tradition. The dance floor is officially open.”
Obviously on cue, a jazzy piano rendition of “Let It Snow!” began to play from a few speakers positioned around the dance floor. Tai switched off his mic and replaced it in its stand, and more applause accompanied him back to his seat.
Claire nudged his dessert plate toward him. “Saved you some.”
“Hey, thanks. I love crème br?lée.”
“I figured as much, Mr. Cheesecake.”
They made idle chat with Darlene as he ate. Immediately after his final bite, he stood from the table and held out his hand. “May I have this dance?”
“You may.” She took his hand and followed him to the floor, where a few other couples were already swaying to “Silver Bells.”
Tai’s arm curved around her waist, his hand settling against her lower back. His other hand took hers in a proper waltz position. Well, shoot. This man knew ballroom for real.
“You can actually dance,” Claire said.
He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Feels like you can too.”
Her free hand had instinctively gone to his shoulder. Busted. “When I was a kid, I took lessons for a minute.”
“Fast learner.”
Claire laughed as they swept across the floor, past couples who were, in comparison, hardly moving. Her feet remembered, but more than that… She wasn’t following Tai as the waltz required her to. She was with Tai. Their bodies had synced somehow.
“Um, are we just dancing, or are we…?”
“It sounds like a human punk band,” Tai said.
“What does?”
“‘Bloodbound Dancing.’”
She laughed so hard she nearly missed a step. But she didn’t miss. They were together, and when his heart gave a happy beat, hers did too. “Silver Bells” ended, and “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” began.
Tai grinned. “Another waltz.”
The tempo of this one was notably faster than the last. Claire relished their speed as they danced along the edges of the floor, leaving the center open for the humans to sway and step within self-contained squares.
“I don’t know how women—even vampire women—do this in heels,” he said.
“If I were in flats, I’d be walking on my skirt.”
More couples had joined them on the floor. The next song was a distinctly Latin take on “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
Tai’s eyes flashed, and one of his dark eyebrows lifted. “Any chance you learned the salsa?”
Before Claire could answer, his hand slid up her back to rest between her shoulder blades.
Her body responded to his shift in position, shoulders and hands, knees and hips, and she didn’t have to think as they moved together, as she spun to the end of his arm and back toward him.
A professional dancer would no doubt have critiques to offer, but Claire didn’t care.
What mattered wasn’t technical expertise but rather the delight of her body and Tai’s in such artful harmony.
His hand slid under her thigh to bring her leg up toward him.
She skimmed her palms down his chest. They kept the dance G-rated with only a tease of heat, and when the song ended, they stood in pose for a moment, looking into each other’s eyes.
“That was fun,” she whispered.
Several people began to applaud. Claire looked around for the first time since the song had started. The other dancers had vacated the floor in favor of watching her and Tai. A happy little shiver ran the length of her shoulders.
“Bloodbound dancing,” she said, unable to stop grinning.
“New hobby,” Tai said.
“Definitely.”