Page 19 of Unravel Me

“Wow…that was really profound for you being several drinks in.”

“I can’t watch you be sad anymore. You deserve all the happiness in the world, Audrey.”

I choke back the remaining tears. They will have to come back another time.

“No crying in rhinestone cowgirl boots. It’s the law.”

We both laugh at the ridiculousness of this whole night and turn our attention to the dance floor, peering around as the lights change again.

“What the hell is this place?” I ask no one in particular. Cheers erupt from different corners of the bar, followed by a chorus of hollering that drowns out the music. Penny and I inch closer to the edge of the crowd as dozens of people spill onto the enormous dance floor, everyone arranging themselves in lines. A freaking line dance, this can’t be real.

“Hey, your boy can dance, too,” Penny whispers to me, nodding towards Rhett who’s right in my line of sight. Like he did it on purpose. He’s laughing at what some guy said next to him, moving effortlessly in his fitted Wrangler jeans and cowboy boots. He steps like he is sure of himself, like he doesn’t have a care in the world, and my gaze softens as I watch.

The lines of men and women all dancing take a few steps towards the front of the dance floor where Penny and I are. She taps her feet and claps while I stand there completely still.

Though, it only takes one wink to break me from the spell...or put me in a new one.

“If you don’t take him, I will,” Penny says and I jerk, looking at her, forgetting for a moment she was even standing next to me. Suddenly, everyone stops dancing, as they all grab a partner from the audience. Penny is scooped up instantly, setting her drink down on the table behind us, but I stand there, wishing I could dissipate into thin air when a large, outstretched palm appears in front of me.

Rhett tips his head, flashing his icy eyes up at me under unfairly thick eyelashes.

“Darlin’, may I have this dance?” he asks, and without hesitation I set my drink down, and slowly place my hand in his. I move in a trance as his grin grows wide, and he wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me into him. The song continues, but we don’t move quickly like the other pairs. He laces his fingers in mine, and I feel every movement, every muscle in our hands as they touch. His grip around my waist is warm and strong, and I fear if he loosens it, I’ll fall right over. I can’t bring myself to meet his gaze as he spins me effortlessly across the floor.

Looking at him would be an acknowledgment that whatever was stirring in me was real.

“Where’d you learn to dance like this?” I muster up the words after the silence begins to feel awkward.

“Watching my parents. They danced together any chance they could get,” he replies before unexpectedly spinning me out, and this time I do look up at him, not expecting a vulnerable answer like that. Amid the swirl of blue eyes, bright lights, and tequila in my veins, I’m not fully convinced it was really me—Audrey Elson—dancing in a honky-tonk bar with an impossibly handsome man who called me “darlin’." All on the night of my engagement party.

“That’s really sweet,” I finally replied.

“You enjoying your night?” he asks, as he pulls me and spins me around, away from a rowdy group of men who were about to run into me. He puts his body between me and them without missing a beat.

“That’s a loaded question.”

“Oh yeah?” His eyebrows knit together, and we stop dancing as the song fades out.

“I wasn’t supposed to be here tonight.”

I’m unsure how much more I want to say about the matter, but Rhett's lips twitch, and he leans down closer to me.

“I disagree…I think this is exactly where you were supposed to be.” Then he dips me, pausing with his face inches from mine. My heart stops, and I tighten my grip in his hands, but I get the impression that I'm a feather in his arms.

Rhett’s eyes dilate, his lips part, and then just like that, I'm back upright on my feet, his arms at his side.

Penny’s arm loops around my shoulder, filling the space Rhett was just in.

“Thank you for the dance,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper as I tuck my now messy chocolate strands behind my ear. “You should go join your friends.” I smile and absently wave him towards the group of guys eyeing me, but Rhett hesitates, biting his bottom lip in a way that should be illegal.

“If you insist.” He reaches for my hand and pulls it to his lips, planting a gentle kiss before nodding to Penny and walking back towards his hooting and hollering friends. My hand burns hot after he drops it.

“I hope you at least got his number.”

I turn to shush her. “Stop, it’s nothing. He is just a really nice guy.”

“Whatever you say, darlin’.” She mocks him, but I ignore it, unable to think beyond what transpired during that two-minute song.

Penny and I stayed for a few more songs, and I continue to wait for my heart rate to return to a normal pace, but it never does. Penny got us pulled into a group of people and we mingled mindlessly with a few guys. I didn’t feel like making small talk as they asked us what we did and where we were from. The city. Finance. Yes, really. I was quickly bored and couldn’t keep my pesky eyes from wandering about the bar, looking for a particular face that had started to feel familiar.