Chapter Twenty #2
Celeste chuckled as she looped her arm through Jeremiah’s and he led her out to the center of the dance floor.
He spun Celeste in a circle and then they two-stepped from side to side.
Jeremiah dropped Celeste’s hands and began to move around her, quickly twisting his feet with an in-and-out motion.
Celeste barked out a loud laugh at his funny dance, and everyone else laughed too, including Noelle.
Once Jeremiah completed a full circle around Celeste, he bowed, and she shook her head as she smiled.
It almost looked like she was tearing up, which confused Noelle.
Why would Celeste be emotional at Jeremiah’s silly dance?
But then Celeste blinked, and her expression cleared.
Jeremiah swept his arms out toward Celeste, and she curtsied.
The room applauded, and Celeste turned to face everyone, encouraging others to get up too.
More guests quickly joined the dance floor.
“You promised to dance with me tonight, sir,” Robin said, nudging Percy in the arm.
Percy stood and adjusted his bow tie as he pulled back Robin’s chair and helped her stand. “I’ll definitely try my best.”
Noelle watched Percy and Robin make their way to the dance floor. She was intrigued to see what Percy looked like when he danced. For some reason, she had a hard time imagining him having any rhythm.
“My mom and grandpa always shared the first dance,” Amara explained, leaning across the table toward Noelle. “The little dance that Jeremiah did was one of our grandfather’s favorites. He called it the mashed potato.”
“Oh,” Noelle said. Now Celeste’s brief, emotional reaction made sense.
Noelle looked out onto the dance floor at Jeremiah, who was still standing with Celeste.
They were surrounded by guests, and Jeremiah turned slowly, searching the crowd.
Then his gaze landed on Noelle and he smiled.
He pointed at her and curled his finger, beckoning her over to him.
“I think I’m being summoned,” Noelle said to Amara, keeping eyes on Jeremiah as she stood. “You coming?”
Amara grinned as she glanced back and forth between Noelle and Jeremiah. “I’ll be out there soon. You go ahead.”
Jeremiah eased his way through the crowd to meet Noelle halfway on the dance floor. When he reached her, he rested a hand against her waist and began an easy two-step. She followed his rhythm. The DJ was playing “Never Too Much” by Luther Vandross.
“That was sweet of you to dance with your mom,” Noelle said, knowing now how special their moment was. “You’re a smooth dancer.”
“Thank you.” He shrugged playfully. “People tell me that I’m a smooth guy.”
Noelle laughed and stepped closer to him, moving her hips from side to side. He grinned, moving closer as well. She willingly let him invade her space as he brought his other hand to her waist.
Their dance was interrupted by an older man who hugged Jeremiah.
“You looked just like your grandfather out there,” the man said, patting Jeremiah on the shoulder. “Spitting image.”
“Ah, yeah,” Jeremiah said, smiling. “Thank you.”
The man continued walking on, and Jeremiah returned his hands to Noelle’s waist. But soon they were interrupted again. This time by two women who were Amara’s friends from college.
“You literally look just like the picture of your grandfather when he was younger that Amara posted on her page a few months ago,” one of the women said. “It’s crazy!”
“You are him and he is you,” the other friend added.
The women laughed, and Jeremiah laughed lightly too, but Noelle noticed the strain in his smile.
After Amara’s friends walked away, Jeremiah took Noelle’s hand and started to lead her toward the edge of the dance floor, but that didn’t stop more people from approaching them and repeating what had already been said—that Jeremiah reminded them so much of his grandfather tonight.
No one else but Noelle seemed to notice how uncomfortable Jeremiah looked.
Across the room, Mercy Webster waved at them and started to make her way through the crowd.
Jeremiah’s posture went rigid. There was no doubt in Noelle’s mind that Mercy was going to make a comparison to his grandfather.
Noelle gently tugged on Jeremiah’s hand. “I need some fresh air. Walk me outside?”
“Of course.” He led her through the ballroom to the exit. Once they were outside in the night breeze, he turned to Noelle, eyes searching her face in concern.
“You okay?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine,” she said. “But it looked like you needed a minute.”
He cracked a small smile. Then he closed his eyes and turned his face up toward the sky, inhaling a heavy breath.
Noelle was already in deeper than she needed to be where Jeremiah was concerned.
She should just leave it. She shouldn’t ask why the comparisons to his grandfather seemed to affect him so.
Nothing about their agreement said that she needed to get involved.
But as she looked at Jeremiah and took in his weary expression, she knew that she’d come to care about him too much to stand by and say nothing.
“Why does it bother you when people say that you look like you grandfather?” she asked.
He opened his eyes, but he was quiet for so long, she wondered if he’d heard what she said.
“It never bothered me before,” he finally answered. “People have said that to me my whole life. I’m aware of how much I look like him. I was proud to look like my grandfather and share his name. I’m still proud now, but…it’s also a lot harder to hear lately when people point it out to me.”
“Why?” she asked gently.
His gaze dropped to the ground. “Because no matter how much we look alike on the outside, it only makes me think about the other ways I’m not like him. And how he was a much better man than I’ll probably ever be.”
Noelle frowned, wondering how he’d come to this conclusion. “What makes you think that?”
He continued to stare fixedly at the ground, like he was weighing if he wanted to share what was on his mind. Then he brought his gaze back up to Noelle’s face.
“The night before my grandfather died, we got into an argument,” he said.
Noelle listened as Jeremiah told her about his last conversation with his grandfather, and how he’d stormed out instead of staying to talk. He told her how he’d planned to apologize in the morning, but his grandfather had passed away.
Noelle pressed a hand to her chest when he finished speaking. Her heart broke for him. “Jeremiah…I’m so sorry.”
“I wish I could go back to that night all the time,” he said quietly.
“I wish that I would have sat my stupid ass down and told Pop that he was right. I should have apologized when I had the chance. After he died, I wanted to make him proud and turn my life around, even if he wasn’t here to see me do it.
” He paused. “Percy thinks I left Smith’s Sweets because I don’t care about the company or my family.
But I do care about them. Caring about them is why I left.
My mom and Percy and Amara…they’re perfect as is.
There was nothing left for me to contribute to Smith’s Sweets, and I thought it would be best for everyone if I left and figured my shit out.
Then I started working with Aaron and Good Boy.
I’ve made a difference there. That’s why I’ve been pouring so much of myself into the company. ”
There was something a bit hollow in his voice when he mentioned Good Boy, like he was trying to convince himself that Good Boy was where he needed to be. But he’d already revealed so much to Noelle tonight. She’d ask about his job another day.
“Who else have you told about your last conversation with your grandfather?” she asked softly.
“No one,” he said. “I’ve been afraid of what my family will think. You’re the first.”
Noelle didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t shared this heavy memory with anyone, until her, which meant that he trusted her enough. In place of words, she hugged him. She heard his rapid heartbeat and his sharp intake of breath. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
“I can’t believe you’ve been holding this in for two years,” she said.
“Maybe you’ve done some things in your past that you’re not proud of, but you’ve been making an effort to change.
” She leaned her head back and looked up at him.
“I agree that your family is amazing. But, Jeremiah, you’re amazing too.
You talk about your family like you think they’re more worthy of good things than you are, and that’s not true. You’re just as worthy.”
He looked at her silently. His mouth formed into a consternated frown. She didn’t know if he believed what she’d said, but at least he was listening.
“I think that you need to try to forgive yourself for the decisions you made in the past and for how you left things with your grandfather before he died.” she continued.
“You both loved each other, and you couldn’t have known what would happen.
If you don’t forgive yourself, how can you ever move forward? ”
“I’m going to work on that,” he said. “I promise.”
“Okay.”
They fell quiet, still embraced, breathing in tandem.
“Part of me thinks I should leave,” he said quietly. “The night is going so well, and I don’t want to bring down the mood.”
“No, you shouldn’t leave,” Noelle said, pulling away to look at him again. “You should stay here with your family. That’s what your grandfather would have wanted.” She paused, observing him. “And I think that’s what you want too. You just have to believe that you deserve to be here.”
His hold on her tightened, and he nodded wordlessly.
“Plus, you promised to dance with me tonight,” she said. “And you haven’t danced with me nearly enough.”
He finally smiled, and it changed his whole face. “I did promise you that, didn’t I?”
“Yep.”
“I definitely don’t want to break my promise to you.” He stepped away and dragged a hand down his face again. His smile turned sardonic. “Do I look like I was someone who was outside going through it?”
“No. You look sexy, like James Bond.”
He huffed out a laugh and hugged her to him once more. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Thank you.”
Noelle’s skin buzzed. Blood rushed through her veins straight to her heart. Being so close to him this way made her dizzy with wanting.
“You’re welcome,” she whispered back.
Hand in hand, they returned inside. Most people were on the dance floor doing the wobble. Amara and Celeste were in the front. Robin was trying to help Percy catch on, but he was moving like he had two left feet.
Noelle and Jeremiah joined his family and easily fell into step alongside them.
Jeremiah didn’t know how to do the wobble either, but it didn’t really matter that he was doing the dance incorrectly.
What mattered was that he’d listened to Noelle and he’d stayed.
He wasn’t missing out on this moment with his family.
And the Smiths looked so happy, including Percy, who didn’t have a rhythmic bone in his body.
It was nice to feel part of it all. Even if this family wasn’t for Noelle to keep.
After the song changed, Jeremiah took Noelle by the hand and dipped her in a flourish before whipping her back up into his arms. Noelle laughed in surprise and everyone around them burst into applause.
But soon she wasn’t thinking about anyone else as Jeremiah pulled her close and swayed with her from side to side.
“Everybody is looking at us,” he whispered. His eyes lowered to her mouth. “What do you think? Should we kiss?”
“Yes,” she answered quickly. She was tired of pretending like she hadn’t wanted to kiss him all night.
The world fell away as Jeremiah’s eyes fixed on hers.
He lifted one hand to softly cradle her face and he rested his other hand against her lower back.
He applied slight pressure and brought her closer.
She lifted her chin and leaned in toward him.
It felt so natural, like they’d done it countless times before.
Their lips met, and her body curved instinctively into his.
She looped her arms around his neck. Fireworks erupted in her brain, and the butterflies spread in a frenzy from her stomach to each of her limbs.
Kissing Jeremiah felt so right, like all the time they’d spent not kissing had been a total waste.
Her skin burned hot as his tongue slid across hers, and she was completely lost in him.
Until someone whistled, snapping her back to reality.
Blinking, Noelle pulled away. People were cheering around them. Amara clapped and whistled again. Noelle’s face was on fire. They’d planned to kiss, not completely make out in front of everyone. Whoops.
She glanced at up Jeremiah, and his eyes were glazed over as he stared down at her, like he was still caught up in their kiss too. He smiled, just a slight lift to the corners of his lips. But Noelle felt the force of it hit her right in the solar plexus.
Jeremiah was her client. She shouldn’t want more from him. But her feelings for him had progressed far beyond a simple crush.
Her defenses were evaporating. And it was scaring the life out of her.