Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 105825 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105825 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Konstantin looked at me sadly. “Miss McBride, I can see you’re concerned so let me speak plainly.” He stepped closer and I felt JD bristle…but Konstantin did nothing more than speak softly into my ear. “If Hudson Tower was a threat to my plans…I would never have allowed it to be built.”
He stepped back and the two of them swept away. “Tell Callahan I said hi,” Konstantin’s date threw over her shoulder.
I stood there shaking, gulping in air. And as my heart slowed, I realized I knew two things for certain. I was right to be scared of Konstantin Gulyev. But he was telling the truth. This man operated on a whole different level. If he hadn’t wanted us to build Hudson Tower, the project never would have gotten off the ground.
By now, everyone had arrived and people were mingling and chatting. All my shyness returned: this was exactly the kind of thing I was lousy at. But JD had seen my fear. He slipped his arm around my waist again and started to lead me around the room.
He had a way of just wandering up to a group and joining the conversation. He wasn’t like Miles, who’d say exactly the right thing at the right time and weave himself into the banter. JD just stood there calmly, radiating quiet confidence, not afraid to be silent. Within seconds people would welcome him into their group. I went from feeling like I was drowning to beginning to float. I started to join in the conversations and, after an hour, I realized I was having a good time.
I took a break to go to the bathroom and I was on my way back to JD when there was an announcement, and the music changed. The knots of people dissolved into pairs and I quickly scurried off the dance floor as some kind of waltz began. I saw Konstantin dancing with his date—they were surprisingly good—and Miles dancing with Paige. My chest tightened. I had no clue how to dance and the idea of everyone staring at me made me want to sink through the floor, but they looked so happy… Just for a second, I wished I was there with someone, so we could try it.
I glanced to the side…and there, also at the edge of the room, was JD, looking for me. He visibly relaxed when he saw I was safe. Then he cocked his head to one side and frowned, reading my expression. He looked away, brooding for a moment. Then he straightened up, his shoulders set and he marched through the crowd towards me, more determined than I’d ever seen him.
“C’mon,” he said, grabbing my hand. “It ain’t right that someone like you is on the sidelines.”
I stared and flushed red. “But…I can’t dance.”
He led me onto the dance floor. “Neither can I.”
He turned to face me and settled one big hand on the small of my back, the warmth of him throbbing through my dress. Then he pushed and the distance between us closed. My breasts brushed his body and I felt my nipples peak and harden under the dress. All I could see was the solid wall of his chest and then I looked up and those prairie-sky eyes were blazing down at me.
JD looked at a couple behind me, copying, and lifted his other hand up and out to the side, lifting my arm with it. He stared at our joined hands. And then he squeezed my fingers decisively.
We started to move. I didn’t know what I was doing and neither did he, but it didn’t matter. He was decisive and strong and he didn’t give a fuck what anyone else thought and that meant I could just relax and give myself up to it…and it was amazing. We dipped and spun, twirling around the dance floor. The skirt of my dress swirled out in slow-motion waves and the spotlights turned the golden thread into glittering magic.
I felt like I was flying. I felt like some fairy-tale princess. And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like a mom.
The music died away and another piece started, with a faster rhythm. We looked at each other and, without words, we decided we’re staying. JD swept me off around the dance floor and I giggled. I never giggled.
I felt that iron band around my chest loosen and then, gloriously, it slipped away entirely.
We danced on and on. We stepped on each other’s toes and bumped into other couples and were hysterically bad at it. But it didn’t matter. The lights of the room and the other people all faded away and all I was aware of was him: the protective press of his hand on my back, the warm solidness of his body against mine and the firm confidence with which he moved us.