Page 49 of Date With Danger

Okay, it’s the literal definition of stalkerish. But I can’t turn back now.

Let me rephrase that. I could turn back, but I won’t.

I open the app and pull up his location, the whole time repeating to myself that this is not against the law. For a moment I wonder if it will direct me to some secret FBI hideout, but when his location pops up it’s at a bar I’ve been to before. And if I remember right, they had cheese curds to die for.

My mouth waters thinking about the warm gooey cheese.

I shouldn’t go.

But it’s practically on my way home. After a thirty-minute detour and a quick stint on the freeway anyway. No one can stop me from going. It’s a free country after all, and now, I really want some cheese curds.

I forgot one teeny tiny tidbit about this bar. It’s one of the swankiest places I’ve ever been to, and I’m wearing my work outfit. While the leggings-and-tank combo is ridiculously cute in the salon, it looks pathetic in a place filled with girls in glittery dresses and men in suits. I also forgot another thing. This bar did not have cheese curds. It was the rundown bar next door that had the delicious food after I’d escaped this place because they had nothing but healthy, overpriced snacks.

I’ll take a quick peek around the place then head over to the other bar to fill my ravenous stomach.

But fifteen minutes later, my ‘quick peek’ has turned into a pointless hunt. My app still confirms that Caleb is here, but I can’t find him anywhere. Of course, now he can disappear in plain sight like Tom Cruise.

I make two more loops around the edges of the packed dance floor before deciding I’m too short to find anyone. Well, I’ve known this for years, but that crap is really hitting the fan now. Which is ironic because I can’t reach said fan.

There’s a second-floor balcony that wraps around the room and I climb the stairs to it, dodging around women with fancy drinks and men with smarmy smiles.

But with the dark and mysterious atmosphere, it hardly boasts a better view of the floor down below. I lean against the railing, my eyes skimming over the sea of bodies down below.

It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.

After another pointless ten minutes, I relinquish my spot at the railing to a couple looking for a better make-out spot than the one they apparently had, and head downstairs and onto the dance floor. Caleb doesn’t strike me as the dancing type but I’m about ready to abandon my mission anyway. I need to feel the music in my bones and dance like no one’s watching.

But the second I hit the dance floor the upbeat song fades into a slow one. What the heck? Who wants to slow dance these days?

I try to back off but run into a brick wall. I freeze. I’m pretty sure I’m not Harry Potter and didn’t cross through an invisible portal, which means the only other option is that I ran into a man. A large, strong one.

“Looking for someone?”

“Caleb Cupcakes?” I spin around, right into his arms. “What are you doing here?” My heart flutters like a baby bird learning to fly, erratic and hopeful.

“Cupcakes?” He grimaces.

“I’m hungry.” And he looks good enough to eat in his hunter-green dress shirt and tan pants. He’s got both a lumberjack and chiseled lawyer vibe going on.

A couple bumps into us, knocking us sideways. I take advantage of the movement to lace my arms around Caleb’s neck and continue to sway with this very solid man. Which is…significantly harder than it looks.

His eyes shine with amusement. “Would you like to dance or something?”

“If I had to wait for you to ask, I’d be waiting forever.”

Instead of responding, he spins me out and around. I land back against his chest breathless and half in love. Everyone should slow dance. All the time.

He watches me, studying me with a stiff jaw and those green eyes. The strobing lights shadow his jawline perfectly and I run the tip of my finger over his jaw, and down the dimple in his chin.

His hand presses harder into my lower back and my breathing becomes irregular.

I want him to say something. How beautiful I am, why he’s here, how much he missed me. Anything would suffice. But he doesn’t say a word as he spins me out again and we dance in silence. The noise of the bar becomes a red noise. I don’t know if there’s such a thing but there’s white noise, and if this moment had a color, it would be red.

This feeling. This connection is what I missed with Justin. Now that I’m experiencing it, I want it. With my whole heart and soul.

“So,” Caleb says. He leans down until his lips graze my ear. His hot breath tickles my neck and I physically shudder. I can’t confirm his smirk since I can’t see it, but I can feel it with my whole body.

I wait for the words I’ve been dying to hear. To hear how much he wants this too, how much he wants me.