Page 78 of Open Net

Voices floated up from downstairs. Olli was here. I fluffed my hair one more time before walking out of the room and down to the living room.

He looked up as my heels clicked down the stairs. His eyes drifted from my eyes down the length of my body and back up again. I could feel a blush warm my cheeks. “Wow.”

He was watching me the same way he did the night of the gala. I’d put in much less effort though. Maybe I looked that bad on a normal day. I hadn’t spent much time on my appearance lately, but maybe this was a sign I should. I almost laughed but smiled instead.

“Thank you.”

He met me at the bottom of the stairs and offered me his hand. I studied it for a moment before placing mine in his palm. He squeezed it and led me toward the foyer. Mom was standing holding Jackson, watching us with a growing smile. “You kids have fun tonight. We’ll be just fine here.”

I mouthed a thanks and stepped out the front door Olli had opened for us. He seemed in a rush to get out of the house. When we got in the car, I watched him. “Are we late for something?”

He clenched the steering wheel. “Kind of.”

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

He shook his head and shot me a smile. Maybe he felt as nervous as I did. I decided not to push him and settled in for the drive.

We ended up downtown parked in front of a three-story building I’d never been to. Olli turned off the car and hurried around to open my door. I scanned the windows for a sign or business name, but there were no hints of where we were headed.

“Come on.” He took my hand once I got out of the car and led us to the door on the far south side of the building. It was a staircase. I was so thrown off that I followed him, too confused to question.

Once we were on the third floor, he paused and smiled at me. “Ready?”

“For what?”

He winked and opened the door.

It was an empty room. Windows overlooking the street below on one wall while the other three were mirrored from floor to ceiling. The hardwood floors were bare, no carpet or tables or smell of food. What were we doing here?

A door on the other side of the room opened and an older couple walked in holding hands. They were both dressed nicely, her in a dress and him in slacks. I looked at Olli, but his eyes were fixed on them.

“Mr. and Mrs. Letang, so nice to finally meet you.” The woman had a faint accent I couldn't quite pinpoint.

We met in the middle of the room and Olli shook their hands. “Marsha, thank you for this.”

Marsha nodded and stepped to the side. “This is my partner, Victor.”

I shook both of their hands while smiling politely. I had no idea what was happening or who these people were.

“Are you guys ready?” Marsha looked between me and Olli. He nodded so I followed his example.

“Great, we’ll start with a simple waltz.”

I froze.

“Olli?” I peered up at him feeling utter shock.

He smiled and kissed my cheek. “I know I’m about five years overdue, but it’s not too late.”

The air in my lungs whooshed out. I’d begged Olli to take dance lessons with me before our wedding. I wanted us to have a beautifully choreographed dance prepared for the reception, but practice and games and life kept getting in the way. We’d ended up swaying side to side and although I’d been disappointed at the time, I’d long forgotten about it. Knowing he remembered and wanted to make it up to me meant the world.

“Oh, Olli.” I stood up on my toes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

Marsha and Victor stood next to us, showing us the proper posture and where to place our hands. They started slow, showing us the footwork, and how to not step on each other’s toes.

It took us about twenty minutes to get comfortable enough for them to add music.

“One, two, three. One, two, three.” Marsha clapped out the beat, nodding at us as we moved around the room.