“Am I?” Surprised, Evie glanced down at the space between them. “But this is the distance I danced at school.”
“Real life,” he told her, his fingers pressing into her shoulder blade, “is different.”
As he drew her closer, the scents of bay rum and sandalwood invaded her senses, an earthy, masculine scent.Crikey, she thought, instinctively leaning into his neck, breathing deep,he smells good.
“That’s a bit too close,” he said, his laughter soft against her ear. Evie jerked back, cursing whatever luscious soap, aftershave, or pomade was making him smell like that.
“Now, that’s a bit of all right,” he told her, and before she could reply, he was swaying on his feet, rocking her with him as he counted. “One and two and three.”
And then, off he went, pulling her along, but she was only able to move with him for about a dozen steps before her body lost the rhythm and she stumbled, stepping squarely on his toe and bringing them both to a halt.
“Sorry.” She pulled, but he wasn’t about to let her get away so easily, and his fingers tightened, keeping her body in the proper pose. Trapped, she gave a little shrug of her tense shoulder muscles and tried to make light of it. “But I did warn you.”
“So you did, and there’s nothing to be sorry about, so don’t apologize. As for your waltzing, I think I perceive the problem.”
“You do? Already?”
For some reason, that made him smile. “Well, it’s fairly obvious. You weren’t letting me lead.”
“Yes, I was.” Even as she made that protest, she knew it was a lie. “At least I thought I was,” she amended, cursing herself for ever agreeing to this.
“What you were doing was fighting me for control. Not that I usually object to that sort of thing from women,” he added, still smiling faintly. “But in this case, it’s best if my body gives the orders.”
With his body so close to hers and the scent of him filling her nostrils, Evie wasn’t at all sure she liked the idea of him being in charge.
As if he sensed what she was thinking, his smile faded to a serious expression. “Don’t worry, Evie. I won’t take you anywhere you don’t want to go. I promise.”
“I’m not sure I find that very reassuring,” she muttered.
“I can tell.” He wriggled their wrists experimentally back and forth. “You’re stiff as a board. You need to relax.”
“That,” she choked, “is easier said than done.”
“Just remember, there’s no one watching. No one here but us.”
Strangely, that did not make her feel any better, but she nodded, took another deep breath, and worked to shove aside her apprehensions as he counted off. Once again, however, her uneasiness proved justified, and this time, they were only able to take half as many steps before she stumbled over his feet again and they were forced to stop.
“We are making progress,” he told her before she could speak.
“We are?” Exasperated, she pulled out of his hold and rubbed her hands across her face. “I hadn’t noticed.”
“I am serious, Evie. We’re making progress because I’ve discovered something else that is hindering you.”
“Aside from my natural grace and noble tendency to take charge?” she joked.
He grinned. “You keep looking down.”
“Well, of course I do! How else can I avoid stepping on you?”
“And how is this method of dancing working out for you?”
That earned him her fiercest scowl.
It made no difference, of course. “Think what happens when you carry a cup of water up or down a flight of stairs,” he told her. “If you stare at the cup, trying not to spill the water, you invariably do spill it. But if you don’t look at it, you’re less likely to spill.”
Evie didn’t argue with him. Why bother? “Come on,” she said instead, holding up her right hand and beckoning with her left. “Let’s go again.”
They did, and she tried not to look down, and she tried not to lead, but doing both of those while also trying to relax seemed impossible, and after less than one turn around the ballroom, she stumbled again.
