Page 34 of The Best Man Problem
One dark, perfectly sculpted eyebrow rose. Her glasses slipped down her nose a bit.
“Seriously? I’ve been stepping on them for the past ten minutes, and now you want me to full-on crush your feet?”
Releasing the arm he had on her waist, he brought his hand up to gently push the dark frames back up her nose with a single finger. Bright green eyes blinked behind the clear glass at his action. “No. I don’t want you to crush them, but I do want you to gently place your feet on mine.”
She did as he requested, grumbling as she did so. “I feel like a kid with her father at a daddy-daughter dance.”
He returned the hand to her waist, resuming the slight sway, moving to the steps of the dance much easier now that her feet were purposely on top of his.
“Dance a lot this way with your dad as a kid?”
Her eyes focused on the wall behind his head. “No. I never knew my father. He ran out on my mom when she got pregnant with me.”
Damn, that sucked. He could never imagine abandoning a kid. He’d always wanted a family of his own. Past tense. Now he was glad he and Jessa never got to that point in their marriage. After what happened, he was grateful they didn’t bring a kid into that mess.
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but it did. He could tell in the way her body tightened at the subject.
“How are you enjoying Colorado?”
Not the subtlest of subject changes, but he understood. Difficult pasts were hard to talk about. Wasn’t like he wanted to open up and spew all the crap that had happened to him a few years ago. He was surprised she even shared as much with him as she did.
“I love it,” he answered. “The mountains are amazing. I moved from Nebraska, and the closest thing we had to a mountain was Panorama Point, which is a little over five thousand feet in elevation.”
She laughed, the sound brightening the room. “That’s not a mountain. That’s a speed bump. We have fifty-three fourteeners in Colorado.”
“What’s a fourteener?” he asked, carefully spinning them away from an elderly couple that was dancing a bit too close. A difficult move with someone on his toes, but he managed.
“Fourteen thousand feet in elevation.”
He whistled. “Now that’s a mountain.”
“Makes for great skiing.”
He shrugged. “Don’t really like the cold. I prefer the summer months, hiking, camping. Warm-weather activities.”
Her arm tightened around his neck, fingers absently playing with the short hairs at his nape. It was driving him insane, and he was fairly certain she wasn’t even aware she was doing it.
“I hate camping, and I’m not much for hiking, but give me a snowy, slick hill to fly down at unwise speeds, and I’m there.” Her voice took on a resigned tone, eyes focusing on something internal as she stared at his chest. “I suppose this is a good thing. Another mismatch to add to the list.”
“What list?” Mismatch? What was she talking about?
Her gaze snapped back up to his, eyes clear as a stilted smile curled her lips. “Huh? Oh, nothing. It’s silly.”
He let the thing about her dad go, but this, this had nothing to do with past pains, and he had a sneaking suspicion it had everything to do with him. So he pressed.
“I could use some silly right now.”
She tilted her head, considering him for a moment before shrugging and answering, “I’m compiling a list of our differences to show how unsuited we are to each other.”
Wait, what? She was making a list to prove they wouldn’t work? First time he’d ever heard that. He had to admit, it stung a bit. Okay, a lot.
He slowed their movement until they were simply swaying in place at the back edge of the dance floor. The instructor was occupied with the other couples, having given up on them a while ago. Marie was still talking to Rachel, and Kenneth hadn’t returned from his phone call to his mother. Everyone was focused on themselves, but all his focus zeroed in on the fascinating, confounding woman in his arms.
“You’re coming up with reasons we shouldn’t be together.”
“I’m not coming up with them,” she huffed. “I’m simply acknowledging them and keeping track.”
