Their Divine Doctor(Divine Creek Ranch 9)(43)
Emma bit her lip and smiled at his compliment. “If I could jump out of an airplane, I can do this too, right? I’m sorry I’m such a socially stunted geek, guys.”
Duke laughed at her description of herself. She hid it well. “Geeks ‘R’ Us, Emma. The dance floor is full and nobody will notice us stepping on each other’s toes. Want to wait until some friends show up?”
Emma hopped from her seat. “No! Let’s do this.”
Glad his question had the desired effect, he nodded when Gage said that he’d order a round of drinks for them. He held Emma’s hand and ignored his own self-consciousness as they walked together to the dance floor. Her hand was just as clammy as his, so they both knew how the other felt about this adventure.
Situations like this were more difficult for someone who had spent so much time in isolated settings, like behind a computer monitor. Emma had dedicated her youth and young adult years to her education and believed she was socially stunted because of it.
He smiled reassuringly at her when she bit her lip and held tight to his hand. He pulled her into the crowd, ignoring his own nerves in his determination to do this. Summer had suggested staying to the center of the dance floor because they’d be less likely to get run over by other dancers and could take the dance at their own pace.
Consolation came when he looked into Emma’s eyes, and he pulled her against him as the song changed. The Band Perry’s “All Your Life” began to play, and he cupped her neck and drew her to him for a brief kiss. Her neck muscles were stiff, and he left his hand there for a moment, rubbing gently as she settled her head against his chest. She bumped the toe of her shoe against his and briefly clutched at his shoulder.
“Would you walk to the edge of the ocean
Just to fill my jar with sand?
Just in case I get the notion
To let it run through my hand…”
“No one is going to care if we’re here in the middle stepping on each other’s toes. Relax, Em.” His cock tightened when she wrapped her arms around his waist and they began to move together to the music.
“Well, I don’t want the whole world
The sun, the moon, and all their light
And I just want to be the only girl
You love all your life…”
She gradually relaxed, and at some point during the song he realized that while they might not be moving with the same steps as everyone else, they were definitely dancing together. Their bodies were pressed against each other from knee to chest, and when he advanced, she molded herself to him in retreat and allowed him to lead.
They knocked toes on a couple of occasions, but each time she’d look up at him and smile as they regained their rhythm and continued on. The song was over too soon.
They returned to the table and sipped from the drinks Gage had procured for them. Emma looked much more settled, and he felt relieved. It was just as Summer had said. They would all three learn together.
Gage got out of his chair and held his hand out to her. Emma smiled and took it as she rose. Duke couldn’t resist a soft stroke on her ass when she winked at him as she walked past. She giggled and followed Gage to the dance floor. Duke wondered if Gage knew that the next song was a waltz.
A hand clapped down on his shoulder. He chuckled when he turned and saw that it was Ace Webster. Accompanying him were Kemp Whittier and Summer Heston, as well as Ace’s sister Lydia and her men, Chance and Clayton Carlisle.
“Hey!” Duke said as he rose from his chair to greet the ladies and shake hands with the men. Pointing at the recently vacated table next to them, he said, “Care to join us?”
They slid the square tables together, and the men seated Summer and Lydia before Chance left to place an order for drinks at the bar.
Summer leaned toward Duke and asked, “Not nearly as nerve racking as you thought it would be, was it?”
Duke shook his head. “Nope. It was worse. But then we got on the dance floor and it just…worked.”
Summer’s lovely face broke into a wide grin, and she sat up like a proud mama. “See? It wasn’t so bad! Oh, I see Emma out there with Gage right now. Aw, look. They do fine together. Everybody else is too wrapped up in each other to notice how anyone else dances. They look like all the others. I told you that you both had natural rhythm.”
Kemp snickered. “Duke, it never occurred to us in all these years that you two had never learned how to dance.”
Duke’s eyebrows shot up. “Probably because it’s kind of embarrassing. We were busy building the ‘geekdom.’”
Ace chuckled and said, “Maybe we should have let them out of the surveillance van more often, Kemp. If we’d known, we would have taught you ourselves.”