“She was very well behaved.” I winked at him.
“Oh my. So you were serious about the pole dancing?” Daniel walked around one of the poles, a hand on his chin. “This could be interesting.”
“Very serious. Now go change!” The doorbell rang again. “Got it.”
The guest list wasn’t very long, but I’d made sure the important people would be there. Sam’s surrogate mother, Patricia, arrived with Lady Adriane and Heather, the Duchess of Marion. It might seem weird to invite Adriane, one of my brother’s exes, but she and Samantha got along well.
Opening the door, I threw my head back and laughed. All three of them were wearing feathered boas in bright colors.
“We brought one for everybody!” Patricia held up a bag.
“You have no idea just how perfect that is.” I hugged them each before leading them back to the room. I pulled a bright pink boa out of the bag and wrapped it around my shoulders. Our instructor had turned up the music and was doing hip gyrations near one of the poles. He totally did look like Gene Simmons, minus the creepy face paint.
“Oh my.” Patricia put a hand up to her heart.
“Oh my doesn’t cover it.” Heather cocked her head to the side. “I think I’ve been married for too long. I don’t remember ever seeing a man move like that.”
“You didn’t go to the right places.” Adriane wiggled her eyebrows before heading for the center of the room and stretching. I’d told everyone to bring workout clothes so there wouldn’t be any wardrobe crisis, and it seemed that constant nagging and list making was paying off. Everyone had brought what they needed for the night.
“Let’s get ready to shake this house!” The instructor clapped his hands together, his French accent making it hard to understand him. “Loosen up! Get your blood pumping!”
“What did he say we’re going to do to my house?” Samantha leaned toward me.
“Just move!” The music filled the room, making the windows shake. I’d forgotten how much I loved to dance. It didn’t take long before I was letting go of Princess Catherine and dancing like Cathy—and it felt good. Free and fun. I bumped butts with Patricia, wrapped a boa around Chadwick, and laughed as Daniel did the YMCA.
I downed another glass of champagne while joking with Jess about the wedding and the new moves we were learning. Tonight was my one chance to relax and have a good time, so I wasn’t going to play it safe. There were no reporters or photographers to catch me in a bad light. It was liberating. I could already feel a nice buzz from the alcohol and was enjoying myself more than I had in years. Good friends and fun would do that for a person.
Samantha was watching Patricia wiggle and shake while trying not to laugh, and almost knocked over the table with the snacks and drinks. I saved the bottle of champagne while Jess grabbed the tray of cheese. Deciding it would be better to consume the alcohol than risk it being wasted on the floor, I poured the rest of the bottle into my glass before going back to the dance floor.
Once we were all loosened up, the instructor started teaching us simple swings on the pole. He made sure we put our hands in the right place and were ready to hold our weight. He adjusted my leg before rushing off to help at the pole next to mine. Giggles fought to escape my mouth as I watched Chadwick and Daniel try to push Patricia up the pole. Chadwick’s normally perfectly coifed hair was mussed as he tried to coach her into wrapping her legs around the metal shaft. Daniel was making obscene faces while he propped her up with his back.
“I can’t do it! I can’t do it!” Her voice was high as she gripped the pole tightly. “Stop trying to bend me in unnatural ways!”
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped me as I watched the three of them crash back to the ground. Hurrying to their sides, I helped untangle their limbs before helping them off the ground. Patricia was red-cheeked, and Daniel, who had borne the brunt of her weight, made a beeline for the drinks.
“Well, that was the first time I’ve been under a woman.” He took a large gulp of his drink before turning to whisper loudly to Samantha, “And I think it will be the last time too.”
Patricia decided to watch the rest of the class while shouting jokes, but the instructor didn’t let the rest of us escape. He wasn’t a difficult teacher, but he did try to teach us some of the moves instead of letting us just swing around on the pole. I gripped the cold metal firmly in my hands and lifted myself from the ground before leaning backward and letting go so that only my legs were holding my weight.
Sam whistled and I gave her a thumbs-up that was actually a thumbs-down because of the way I was hanging. The thought made me laugh and my grip on the pole loosened, letting me slide down closer to the floor.