The West Wind by Morgan Douglas Read Free Book Online Page B

looked, it was part of why
he wanted to say no. It bothered him when people didn’t bother to change their
paradigm at least a little to match the event they were attending. The dress
would have been fine for a night out or a different kind of club dancing, but
for swing it made no sense. She pouted at him with big eyes and an equally big
lower lip. He rolled his eyes and gave in.
     
    In the bathroom, Hero turned around immediately to open the door
again and found her way blocked by Jaimie as she slipped between her friend and
the exit. Hero sighed.
    “What? I want to go dance.”
    “You talked to Xander?” Jaimie asked as if Hero hadn’t spoken.
    “Yes, it wasn’t a big deal. He apologized, we joked a bit, he
walked me to the boat.”
    “And you flirted.”
    “What? No.”
    “I know you, Hero DiBenedetto, and you don’t spend an hour trying
to separate your head from your neck to look at the door for nothing.”
    “I just want to try again, that’s all.”
    “Try what again?” Jaimie looked at her friend suspiciously.
    “Dancing! We’re. At. A. Dance. I want to go dance.”
    “With him.” Jaimie stated.
    “Yes, jaimie, with him. With Xander. With Adonis. Now will you
move? I want to grab him before Jess attaches herself to him like a leech and
we have to burn her off him.”
    “Why don’t you just let her have him? You can do better. Dance
with Brian.”
    “Brian’s gay, Jaimie.”
    “What? No, he isn’t.”
    “Are you kidding? Haven’t you seen him staring at Jeremy?”
    While Jaimie stood flabbergasted, her mouth opening and closing
like a fish gasping for air, Hero slipped past her and out of the bathroom.
     
    Hero strode past the Coven’s table and straight to the edge of the
dance floor. Xander was twirling Jessica about ten feet away. She watched them
as they danced, annoyed. How was her dress staying on, anyway? Glue? The hem,
which Hero would have described as “barely covers her ass,” somehow defied the
laws of physics and refused the awkward climb anyone would have expected it to
make. They were dancing East Coast Swing, which meant Xander was dancing to
Jessica’s level. She smiled. It was the right thing for a good lead to do, and
gave Hero the satisfaction of know he would never be forced to do so with her.
She waited patiently, hands clasped in front of her while the song seemed to go
on and on.
     
    Xander caught Hero’s eye as soon as she stepped up to the floor.
He grinned at her and nodded. Jessica beamed up at him, thinking the look was
for her. As Xander spun her, her face changed and she glared at Hero. Xander
dipped her as the song ended, and she held onto him as he brought her back up.
    “Dance with me again,” she pleaded.
    He shook his head. “I promised the next dance to someone else.”
    “Please, don’t dance with her.”
    His eyes grew hard and his voice firm. “Jess, you’re a great girl
and a lot of fun, but don’t tell me who I should or shouldn’t dance with again.
Ever.” Before she could answer he left her standing in the middle of the floor,
alone. She watched him go, hurt.
     
    “For a minute I thought you were going to need surgery to get
free,” Hero joked as Xander walked up to her and took her hand.
    “Hero DiBenedetto, will you dance with me?” he asked formally.
    “I’d love to,” she responded, letting him lead her to the middle
of the floor.
    Metisse’s ‘Boom Boom Ba’ started to play over the loudspeakers.
Xander took her up into a close, almost intimate position. His arm snaked
around her back, the back of his right hand turned to catch her beneath the
shoulder blade. Thumb and forefinger of his left wrapped around her wrist,
which he held low, level with her hip, a hold she was only familiar with in the
Blues style of dancing. He was so close she could feel the heat between them, a
charged cushion of space that provoked more of a rush of desire than if they
had actually been touching. She swallowed and bit her