Logan nodded. “I called your aunt and asked. Did you know she gave me her number last year at your sister’s wedding? I never thought I’d need it. Now I have to go get dressed. My clothes are upstairs. I don’t want to ruin the big reveal. I’ll see you soon.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek. His lips tickled her skin and she let out a little laugh before meeting his kiss with one dizzying kiss of her own. That warmth and excitement stayed inside her as Logan went and got ready.
When Logan returned, he was wearing a tuxedo, and Callie had to stop fussing with her dress to admire him. The suit accentuated his shoulders and his thin waist. He looked like a movie star preparing to head down the red carpet. It too her a minute to realize that he had even shaved. He crossed the room and stepped behind Callie, reaching up to pull her zipper all the way up her back. He looked at her in the mirror as he helped her straighten the dress.“You look even more beautiful than I had imagined,” he said. He wrapped his arms around her and clasped a necklace around her neck, three pearls strung on a thin gold wire.#p#分页标题#e#
Callie ran her fingers over the necklace. “It’s beautiful,” she said.
Logan leaned in and pressed his lips against the back of her neck, sending a wonderful shiver up and down her spine. He ran his hand over her hip and spun her around to plant a kiss on her lips. His kiss was firm but tender, and he held her in his arms, looking into her eyes well after the kiss stopped. “It doesn’t even begin to compare to you.” He pulled back and offered his hand. “Come on,” he said, “your party is waiting.”
***
As they approached the house, Callie listened to the sounds of the band playing inside the house. The sound of brass, the trumpets and trombone, playing swing floated through the open windows over the dull roar of the crowd talking and dancing. With each step Callie took toward the house, she felt like she was stepping back in time. “How did you?” she asked as Logan led her up the steps to the veranda. “There must be two hundred people here, and where did you find a band?”
“I called in a few favors,” Logan said. “And I may or may not have closed the bar for the night and bussed everyone in while we were away at Polo.”
“Why would you do that?” Callie asked.
“For you,” Logan said. He was still quieter than normal, more reserved. Was this why he had been acting to strangely all day? “I wanted to give you a day worth remembering, the day you wanted from the beginning.” Logan stopped before the door and motioned forward. “Obviously, we had a few hiccups on the way, but we’re here now. Do you remember anything from your dance lesson?” he asked.
“I remember feeling wonderfully dizzy,” Callie said. The sensation had been partly caused by spinning around a ballroom with Logan, and partly caused by just being with him.
“Then you’ll feel right at home,” Logan said. As he led her inside, the crowd parted, leaving them a clear path to the ballroom floor. They walked through the hallway slowly, and Callie looked over the crowd, feeling a bit nervous about having so many people see her dance. Logan cleared his throat as they entered the ballroom, and the band shifted right into a waltz. “Try to keep up,” he said, swinging Callie around and leading her out to the middle of the floor.
At first, Callie kept her head down and tried to follow Logan’s feet, but she kept missing steps. “Look here,” Logan said, reaching up and raising her chin, “and just dance with me.” His blue eyes glinted in the dim light and Callie did as he said, following his lead. Soon, she forgot all about her footwork, and she danced back and forth across the room with him as other couples started to make their way onto the floor. With each step, each beat and breath, she felt the whole scene fade away from her, until she felt like only she and Logan were in the room. She watched the way he looked at her as they danced. It wasn’t so much looking at her as it was looking with her, and she felt like they were locked together, suspended in time as they danced.
“Logan, I need to tell you something,” she said.
“Not yet,” Logan said, spinning her around, “let’s savor this moment.”
“I love you,” she said.
Logan’s pupils dilated and his gaze hardened. He stopped dancing and held his hands on her hips. He looked like he was in pain. Callie could hear his strained breaths as she waited for him to say something, anything in response. She watched his lips, pictured the words forming in his mouth. She knew how he felt. She just needed to hear him say it.