Ellis turned to the voice. Adam, the bartender, was leaning on the bar and watching his friends, the affection clear on his face.
“She’s really good.” She wanted to talk more to Adam, be friendly, ask him questions, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the dance floor. Yeah, this was going to be a problem. But that fun pang of anticipation hit low in her body, and her heart rate seemed to intensify, and she swallowed. Because, problem or not, she wanted this. She knew it as clearly as if there’d been a sign flashing above Cherry’s head, a big neon arrow pointing down at her, allThis one! This one right here!
The song changed again, and she watched Cherry wave off Shea, who quickly grabbed somebody else on the dance floor and never missed a beat. Cherry returned to the bar out of breath.
“Hey,” she said, then picked up her drink, which Adam had refilled.
“You’re a great dancer.”
“Oh. Well, thanks. Do you watchGrey’s? You know how theydance it out?” She made air quotes. “Turns out, that really does help. So whenever I’m stressed or worried or angry or…whatever, I dance it out.”
Ellis nodded. “I do watch.”
“You don’t like to dance?”
With a grin, she said, “I got skipped the day they handed out rhythm.”
“Oh no, I don’t believe that. Everybody’s got rhythm.”
Ellis snorted a laugh. “Ha, yeah, I’m sorry to inform you that isnottrue.”
Cherry laughed, a sound Ellis was rapidly beginning to adore. It was throaty, much deeper than you expected after talking to Cherry.
Because of the music, they didn’t have much opportunity to really talk, and that was a bummer. What was not a bummer was being able to watch Cherry. Watch her dance. Watch her laugh. Watch her just…have fun and enjoy herself. For the first time in longer than she could remember, Ellis realized that having fun and enjoying herself were things she rarely did. More accurately, she existed. Simply existed. Shewas. And that had been okay for a long time. But Cherry made her yearn. Made her long for something more, and she hadn’t been bargaining for that. Not even a little.
“Deep thoughts going on in there?” Cherry asked as she tapped a gentle fingertip on Ellis’s forehead. “You look like something’s on your mind.” Her eyes were that soft, warm brown, with a little bit of sparkle from the mirror ball and the funky lighting. Her smile was tender, and Ellis could do nothing but smile back. She had no choice, like her smile was its own thing and did what it wanted.
“Just having a really good time,” she said honestly. “Thanks for asking me to come.”
“I’m glad you did.”
Their gazes held, and Ellis had a moment of standing in a romance novel when the writer said something corny likeand the rest of the world faded away. But that’s exactly how it felt to her. Like the rest of the bar went all fuzzy, blurred out of focus, and the only thing she was interested in seeing was Cherry’s smiling face. It was weird and wonderful and only lasted for a second before everything came screaming back into clarity, but Ellis knew it was a moment that was going to stay with her for a very long time.
A glance at the time on her phone made her grimace. “I hate to say this…”
“You’ve gotta go,” Cherry filled in. “I figured. The diner opens stupidly early.”
“It really does.”
“Can I walk you out?”
“I’d love it if you did.”
The evening had gone so quickly, and they hadn’t had a ton of one-on-one time, and even when they had, it had been loud. It seemed clear that Cherry hadn’t thought the invitation through and knew it, but Ellis didn’t mind. At all. Any time spent with Cherry was time well spent. That was something she’d decided without realizing it, and as they walked out of the bar and toward the dark parking lot, she didn’t even pause to think about reaching for Cherry’s hand. She just did it.
Cherry looked down at their linked hands and smiled, then squeezed. “I’m glad you came,” she said, then, as if privy to Ellis’s thoughts, added, “Next time, let’s go somewhere where we can actually hear each other talk, yeah?”
“I’d like that a lot.”
“What about a hike?” Cherry seemed to blurt out the question, as if she didn’t have control over it and it just wanted out.
“A hike sounds awesome. Much more my speed.” Ellis pulled Cherry’s hand up to her face and softly kissed her knuckles. “I’d love to walk in the woods with you.”
“Yeah?” They’d reached Ellis’s car and stopped next to the driver’s side door.
Ellis leaned her back against the door and studied Cherry for what felt like a long time. Let her eyes wander over her face, that creamy ivory skin with the dusting of freckles across the bridge of her nose that she could see even in the dim lighting of the parking lot. Along the deep auburn hair that Cherry’d arrived with down, but magically whipped up into a messy bun once she’d started dancing. Down her body to the jeans with rips in various places. Back up along the simple black T-shirt that clung to her curves like it was designed to. Then all the way up to those dark, sexy eyes. It was amazing how she could still see them clearly, still feel like she was looking into the depths of them, even in the deep indigo of the night. She gave herself a shake, reminded herself that staring was rude, even if what she was staring at was achingly beautiful.
“A hike sounds amazing,” she said again. “This weekend?”
