Sway

As they all tend to be. Because he’s

my everything.

Levi found the studio easily enough.

His brother hadn’t lied. It wasn’t far

from his office, which was attached

to his house on Bainbridge Island.

He’d moved to the island five years

ago, months after Kelsey had died.

The building smelled like every

community center he’d ever been

inside. He’d been in more than his

fair share as he and his older brother

had set up a mentoring program

through the local school systems and

they gave presentations at least once

a month. Each door had a sign on it,

but he didn’t see anything about

wedding basics, so he wandered into

one of the classrooms to ask

someone.

And then paused to watch as a

couple dominated the center of the

room. A ridiculously beautiful dark-

haired

woman

was

spinning,

propelled by a long, lanky man as the

rest of the people clapped along to

the swing music.

It wasn’t the male that interested

him, though Levi was sure the man

was talented. It was the nearly

effortless timing of the woman as she

went around the man, her legs and

feet in perfect time with the music.

So quick and intricate, these

moves.

Even he burst out with an

exclamation when the man flipped

her over his arm and she kicked her

legs even as she was upside down.

A flash of some thigh as she

hopped when she got to her feet and

then she went in again as her partner

actually flipped her up and over his

shoulder.

They continued on for a few

minutes more until they both took a

bow and the male, apparently an

instructor, began speaking to the

people in the room again.

Perhaps he should take this class

instead of the wedding dancing class

his brother Mal’s fiancée wanted him

to take. Levi was only doing this for

his brother. He could dance just fine.

But it was a way of mollifying Gwen

so they could keep her attention off

the dancing up the aisle idea she kept

pushing, and Levi would sooner die

before he did that. He loved his baby

brother, but that wasn’t going to

happen. Ever.

A bit more wandering and he

finally found the room he thought was

right.

“Excuse me.”

The instructor turned to him and

smiled. “Oh! An extra. Hold on one

moment.”

She rushed to the doorway before

Levi could stop her.

“Daisy! Can you help? I’ve got one

extra tonight.”

He’d been about to interrupt to tell

the instructor he wasn’t interested in

this class but was looking for another

one. Until the aforementioned Daisy

entered the room.

Long, dark hair had been captured

into a high ponytail and it swayed as

she walked. Big brown eyes. Not

overly tall. Probably five and a half

feet at most. Pretty, full lips glistened

red.

Her

body,

curvy

and

mouthwatering, was draped in a

dress he could only describe as

vintage. A full skirt and a tight

bodice. Tattoos, though he couldn’t

see all of the half sleeve due to her

dress.

It was the jitterbug woman he’d

watched a little while before. She

had a gorgeous smile as she looked

from the instructor to Levi. But he

kept going back to her eyes. After a

perusal of the impressively high and

full breasts of course; he wasn’t a

saint. She had beautiful eyes, but it

was the intelligence in them that

made him look twice and then again.

Suddenly it wasn’t so bad that he

needed a dance class. Not if she’d be

his partner for a time or two. That

way he could say he went to the

blasted class and have an excuse to

get his hands on her.

She took him in and smiled,

holding

her

hand

out.

Bangle

bracelets jingled and clicked with

her movement. “I’m Daisy Huerta.

Nice to meet you.”

“Levi Warner.”

The instructor clapped her hands

to

get

everyone’s

attention.

“Welcome everyone to introduction

to dance. We’ll cover several

different styles of dance and rhythm

over the next few weeks. Partner up

and let’s get started.”

This was definitely not the class

he’d signed up for. They’d discover

this, he assumed, when they checked

to see who’d paid.

Daisy stepped close, took his hand

and he naturally pulled her close, his

other hand at her waist.

“Leading already? All right then.”

When she quirked a smile, a dimple

showed at the right corner of that full,

lush mouth. “I love it when my

partner is tall. Fits better.”

Well now
.

There was a lot of talking and

people laughing self-consciously, but

he didn’t hear any of it. With his hand

at her waist, there was nothing to do

but slide into the dance as the music

came on.

Rosemary Clooney took a deep

breath and began to sing the opening

of “Sway.” And she bent to his will

and began to move, sensuously,

slowly, gracefully. Giving over to

him easily as he led. That simple act

of submission wasn’t sexual. Not

really. But it shattered all the reasons

he’d been lining up to leave after that

one dance. And tore at the walls he’d

built around himself a long time ago.

His hand on her waist seemed to

burn through the material of her dress

as they moved.

He led every moment. Sure of

himself. Propelling her just exactly

where he wanted her to go. She

relaxed and fell into the music. While

others in the class worked slower,

going step by step, Levi danced like

he knew what he was about.

It was increasingly clear Levi

wasn’t a beginner of any type. It

wasn’t that she didn’t like his hands

on her, but he didn’t need the class

and it was only right she tell him. But

she could wait until after the class.

Just to be fair.

Until then she’d enjoy the hypnotic

pleasure of being led by this man.

She’d danced many times with many

people, and it had never felt this

forbidden and sexually charged. A

shiver moved through her system,

hardening her nipples, heating her

skin. Totally inappropriate to get all

het up over this one silly moment, but

there it was so why not enjoy it?

“I saw you dancing. In the other

room, I mean. How long have you

been teaching dance classes?” His

murmur nearly made her jump, she

was so lost in the way he’d made her

feel.

She licked her lips and didn’t miss

the way his pupils seemed to

swallow the color in his eyes. Green,

a pale green. Unusual. Especially

with dark hair. His was nearly black,

with salt and pepper throughout. It

suited him. As did the scruff.

Really, he was a walking, talking

dream of a man, and he smelled as

good as he looked.

She managed to find her words

again. “I fill in when they need me.

My neighbor teaches Lindy Hop and

swing dancing here. I help there most

often.”

“Is that what you were doing?”

“Depends on when you came in.”

“At the end. Right before I found

this room.”

“Ah. We were jitterbugging at the

end. A little bit of this and that. We

did a fast Lindy Hop at the start of

class.”

“I’m sorry I missed it. You’re

quite good.”

Charmed, she winked. “Not to toot

my own horn or anything, but I’m

pretty fabulous at it.”

He grinned and the mischief

showed in his eyes. Boy oh boy this

man would be so much trouble for a

woman. But it would be a good kind

of trouble, she’d bet.

“You should show me.”

“You want me to teach you how to

Lindy Hop? By the way, you don’t

need this dance class.” Damn, she’d

planned to wait.

He laughed and all logical thought

seemed to burst apart. He had a great

laugh. Deep and sexy.

“Let me guess.” She paused as they

moved into a simple waltz, which he

handled just as well. “You’re getting

married and your fiancée wants you

to take classes. No, that can’t be it.”

One of his eyebrows rose. “Why

not?”

“She’d be here with you. They

always come. You know, to take the

class together.” And frankly, it’d be

foolhardy to let anyone get near this

one. And she also bet that if he had a

woman, she came a lot in the other

way as well.

And suddenly a rather vivid,

totally filthy image of him over her,

his perfect hair sex-messy, sweat

gleaming, muscles working from the

way he fucked her flashed through

her head and she got very warm.

“It’s my baby brother. He’s getting

married and she, his fiancée, wants

all the men in the wedding party to

take a class.”

“You clearly know your way

around a dance floor. At least for all

the basics you’d need at a wedding.

Shall I write you a note?”

His grin made all sorts of things

tingle. “I’m not sure she’d accept it.

But it would be amusing to present it

to her. I like the way you think. My

other brothers and cousins have all

folded. I was the last holdout.”

She bet Levi here didn’t do

anything he didn’t want to. Dominant,

this guy.
Mmmm
.

“The wedding dance class is down

the hall. I think they gave it a snazzy

name, but it’s wedding dancing for

dummies really.”

“Do you teach that one?”

“No. They have a different kind of

instructor in there.” They told her

specifically that they wanted more

elegant-looking women doing the

class. Fuck them.
Elegant
.

“Would you show me? How to

Lindy Hop, I mean.”

“Yes. But I think you’re a more

sensual dancer. Tango. Maybe rumba

or cha-cha.”

His mouth was beautiful when it

canted up into a knowing smile. A

cocky, arrogant smile and it shot

straight to all her pinkest of parts.

Just a few minutes with this man and

it was totally clear he was

exceptional. And out of her league.

And a client of the studio. And

probably too old for her, though she

didn’t care about that stuff really.

He pulled her a little closer but

kept dancing. “I don’t actually want

you to, I just wanted to know if you

would.”

He kept catching her off guard. She

liked it.

“Is that so? Why is that?”

He shrugged as they came to a halt

while the instructor began to speak

again.

“Do you like telling people what

to do? Just to see how they react?”

He

stopped,

examining

her

carefully. His attention so very

intense it was nearly physical. She