Chapter Fifteen
EMMA
SALSA DANCING
I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face if I tried. Lance and Patty were the king and queen of salsa dancing, and Aiden groaned next to me as he watched his parents in action.
“Do they have to dance like that?” he asked while taking a drink of his beer.
Grinning, I replied, “It’s beautiful to see how much they love each other.”
When I peeked over to Aiden, the corner of his mouth rose slightly. He couldn’t deny that his mother and father were still very much in love after so many years of marriage. It was nice to see them enjoying each other’s company like they were.
“Have you ever salsa danced before, Emma?” the gentleman to my right asked. He was a friend of Aiden’s, who also worked at the national park.
“No, I haven’t.”
He moved closer to me, which made me take a step closer to Aiden.
I didn’t like the way his friend looked at me, his eyes roaming over my body slowly, and I was suddenly regretting the dress I’d chosen to wear.
It wasn’t anything over the top, a modestly flirty dress that showed just enough to leave the rest to the imagination.
My body instantly heated when I felt Aiden place his hand on my lower back. He stepped closer to me and faced his friend.
“I don’t think I made it clear enough, Manny, but Emma is with me this evening.”
The way my heart pounded in my chest, I was sure everyone in the room could hear it.
My breathing increased, but it wasn’t because of Manny being in my personal space.
It was because of the way Aiden had noticed my discomfort and took me out of the situation.
No man had ever done that for me before.
Manny held up his hands and took a few steps back. “I didn’t get that immediate impression. Duly noted. Sorry about that, boss.”
Aiden smirked, and I couldn’t help but stare at him, distracted by the way he clung to me in a possessive yet gentle way. When he guided me to the dance floor, I couldn’t even find my voice to protest.
Drawing me close, he leaned down and whispered, “We both know you’ve salsa danced before, Emma. I’ve caught you dancing with your headphones on when I’ve run home to grab something, and you were so lost in the music, you never even noticed.”
My mouth dropped open. “What?”
He laughed. “If I’d been a criminal, I’d have walked out of the house at least three times with all the goods.”
I dropped my head to his shoulder and laughed. Embarrassed heat raced up my body to the point where I swore my ears were on fire.
Aiden took my hand in his as we started to dance the basic salsa moves.
It was casual at first, both of us getting to know how the other moved.
The more the music flowed, the more our bodies did the same.
Aiden spun me a few times as I laughed and let myself enjoy the moment.
I deserved to let my guard down for once and doing it with Aiden felt right.
“Someone else knows the salsa,” I teased as Aiden laughed and winked.
“Want me to show you just how well I can salsa, Ms. Middleton?”
“Bring it on, Mr. Bishop.”
He placed his hands on my hips, pulled me closer, and we moved together in a way that had my body on fire.
I’d never felt this kind of passion or desire before, from a dance or anything else.
Not even with Ben in the beginning of our relationship.
The energy between me and Aiden was hard not to notice.
Pulling me closer still, it didn’t take long for our hips to move slower and closer as we swayed like we’d been dancing together for years.
Aiden moved his hands over my hips and sides as if he were worshiping me. It was the most erotic moment of my life—and it was with my boss.
My boss.
But Aiden had become more than an employer.
He was a friend. Someone I trusted and felt comfortable with.
Plus, it was the first time I’d truly seen him let his guard down, and if dancing with me helped him to relax, then it was a sacrifice I was more than willing to make.
Selfishly, but I didn’t care. Not tonight.
When he grabbed my hands and twirled me again, my body wasn’t the only thing spinning. My insane thoughts went round and round in my head. He pulled me flush against him, our hips swayed together, and my heart thudded in my chest erratically.
As the song came to a close, Aiden stopped, placed his hands on my back, and slowly dipped my body as his leg went between both of mine.
When he pulled me back up, our chests rose and fell as if we’d both finished a marathon.
Our eyes caught, and we stared at one another until Aiden’s gaze drifted down to my lips. On instinct, my tongue ran over them.
What would it feel like to have his mouth pressed to mine? To feel every inch of his body as we got lost in one another. To know what that worshipful touch felt like moving slowly over my body as he told me how beautiful I was.
The feel of Aiden’s hand moving up my back seemed to bring me back to reality.
I pulled away from him, and he took a step back.
The connection was broken, but there was still something there between us.
A crackle of awareness and something else.
Desire? We were both lonely, there was no question about that. But it felt like more.
Whatever this tension was between us, it was something I’d never experienced before.
I forced myself to flash him a smirk and say, “I think I can safely say you know how to salsa dance.”
He laughed and placed his hand on my lower back as he guided us off the dance floor. “You saw how my folks danced, and you wouldn’t think I’d know how?” He stopped at the refreshments table and handed me a bottle of water.
I grinned. “That’s true enough.”
A part of me wanted to ask him if he’d danced with Lisa a lot. I assumed he had. My obsession with constantly comparing every little thing to his life with his deceased wife was beginning to bother me, but I couldn’t help myself.
I glanced back to the dance floor and watched as other couples laughed and moved together, everyone looking so happy.
I ached to have a marriage where my husband adored me enough to take me out just for some fun.
To dance until we couldn’t take the sexual tension any longer, then went home to make love.
Not someone who treated me like a trophy to show off, only to get angry at me when other men took notice.
Someone who squeezed my arm so tightly on the dance floor, he left bruises.
“You okay? You seem lost in thought,” Aiden said over the music.
Shaking my head to clear the memories, I replied, “Feeling a headache coming on. I think I’m hungry.”
“Then I have the perfect place to take you. Let’s tell my mom and dad we’re leaving.”
I reached for his arm. “If you want to stay and dance, you can. I can make my way home.”
He frowned. “I don’t want to dance with anyone else. Besides, I’m hungry too.”
Smiling, I nodded my head and tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach when Aiden grabbed my hand and led us through the room toward his parents. I also tried not to read into his words.
I don’t want to dance with anyone else.
As much as I attempted to tamp down the giddiness, I couldn’t. I enjoyed spending time with Aiden too much.
* * *
“Hi! Welcome to Peppers.”
The hostess at the Mexican restaurant was beyond peppy. Of course, she couldn’t keep her eyes off Aiden. Who could blame her? I barely could. To her credit, she told us the specials while trying really hard not to look like she was drooling all over him.
Poor thing. I knew exactly how she felt.
Before she left, she turned to Aiden. “Has anyone told you before that you look exactly like Ryan Paevey? I mean, I thought for a moment when we first met you were actually him!”
Aiden’s gaze snapped to me. His brow lifted, and I slid down in my seat some, hiding my face with the menu.
“As a matter of fact, I have been called Ryan before. By you, if memory serves me correctly.”
Dropping the menu, I offered a sheepish grin, remembering that first day when he approached me in the café and I’d stupidly called him Ryan. My cheeks heated as Aiden winked at me.
“Well, let me just say you’re his doppelg?nger,” she replied with a slow shake of her head.
The way Aiden gave her a befuddled looked made me giggle.
“What does that mean?”
My eyes widened in shock. “You don’t know what a doppelg?nger is?”
“I have no idea. Is it from like Harry Potter or something?”
The hostess and I both laughed while Aiden leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. His very broad chest. I couldn’t even be bothered to check if the hostess was gawking, because I was too busy gawking myself, even as I continued to laugh.
He stared at me with amusement, and I tried to ignore how that made my lower stomach pull with desire.
“He’s a keeper. See ya, Ryan!” the girl said before turning and walking back to the front.
I laughed harder. Tears leaked from my eyes as I attempted to get myself under control when our waitress walked up to the table.
“Are you about done?” Aiden asked, trying to hide his smile.
Nodding, I wiped my tears away.
“Are you laughing because he doesn’t know what a doppelg?nger is?” the waitress asked.
I lost it, laughing all over again, and Aiden sighed. Clearly the hostess had informed our waitress of the conversation.
“Water for me. Emma, water?”
Nodding, I held up my thumb as a sign that water was perfect.
Aiden ordered chips and salsa and asked for a few minutes before we placed our order. When I finally got myself under control, I sighed.
“Man, I must have needed that laugh. I don’t think I’ve laughed like that in ten years.”
He smiled, but I couldn’t help but notice it seemed a little stiff. He probably didn’t like me laughing at him, and it was rude, but I couldn’t help it. It just felt so good to laugh.
“I’m sorry. Really, I am. I think it was more the facial expression you made when she said that. I didn’t mean to laugh at you.”