by Té Russ
"Would you two like another round of margaritas?" the waitress asked.
"Yes," both women said simultaneously.
"Actually," Diana said with a mischievous look in her eyes. "Bring us a pitcher instead please."
"Oh it's that kind of party," the waitress said with a smile.
"The first of hopefully many girl's night outs," Diana said.
"The wedding is next weekend, are you excited?" Julie asked, after the waitress left to get their drinks.
"I am," Diana sighed. "You know, at first I was kind of stressed because my mother swept in like a hurricane and it seemed like she was going off the rails with the wedding planning. But she's actually been so on top of things, I've barely had to lift a finger."
"That has to be a relief."
"It is, all I've got to worry about is showing up on the wedding day. She's handled everything else."
Diana picked up a tortilla chip and dipped it in some salsa, then said, "You will be coming to the wedding right?"
"Oh...I don't know. I mean Dylan hasn't invited me–"
"So...it's my wedding. And I consider us friends now. Whether he invites you or not, and I just might kick his ass if he doesn't, I've already invited you and your grandmother. So I hope you come."
"I would love to," Julie replied.
"Great. Now that that's settled, it's time for more margaritas."
Chapter 14
He hadn't known it was possible to miss someone as much as he'd missed her. Despite the fact, that Dylan had called Julie every night that he'd been out of town, and talked to her until one or both of them had fallen asleep, it wasn't the same as being there with her seeing her face, touching her skin, feeling her kiss.
As soon as his plane landed, he made his way to a taxi and gave him the address to the studio. He looked at his watch as the driver sped down the freeway. By the time he got there, the last classes for the day should have already been done.
When they pulled up to the studio, he quickly paid the driver and hopped out of the taxi. He was slightly disappointed to see Dottie locking up the place. She turned and grinned when she saw Dylan.
"Welcome back, querido! We sure did miss you around here. One person in particular," she said, winking at him.
"I was hoping to catch her before she left for the day."
"Oh, she's still here. She's in there in one of the back rooms dancing." Dottie turned and unlocked the door for him. "Go on in and lock the door behind you. I'd love to stay, but 'Lita has plans, so I've got to run. It's bingo night!"
Dylan walked in and turned to lock the door behind him. He waved at Dottie, then followed the sound of the music.
He dropped his bag, frozen at the door when he saw her dancing. The song playing was a sexy R&B slow jam and the way she was moving had him growing hard instantly.
He watched her, in her shorts that were almost scandalously short and her sports bra, showing off her midriff. She swayed one way slowly, then swayed the other way, before winding her hips in a motion so erotic looking, his mind was taken back to the night they made love.
She continued rolling her body to the beat, then she grabbed the ballet barre, kicked one long leg up and did a back bend. She spun out of the move and slid to the ground into a split. She used the barre to pull herself back onto her feet and for the first time since he'd walked in, she opened her eyes.
They stared at each other for several heated moments before she said, "You're back."
"I'm back."
He made his way over to her in a few large strides and before she could say anything else, he pulled her against her body and crushed his mouth over hers.
Her body melted against his and he heard a little moan escape her lips.
"I hated not seeing you over the last few days," he said into her ear.
"So did I."
He continued to ravish her mouth and his hand went down her body and he slipped it into her shorts. She gasped when he pressed two fingers inside of her and began to stroke her.
"How about we finish this back at my place?" he suggested, nipping at her ear.
"I like the sound of that."
They made it back to Dylan's place in what felt like record timing.
As soon as the door slammed shut, they were in each other's arms again. Julie pushed Dylan away and reached for the buckle of his belt. She boldly yanked it open and undid his pants, as he loosened the tie around his neck. He reached in his back pocket and pulled a condom out of his wallet. After he covered himself, he went for her shorts, pulled them down and then lifted her up and pressed her against the front door as he slammed into her with a powerful thrust.
He loved the feeling of her walls clamping around his erection, milking him over and over again. He heard her as she cried out his name and knew she was on the verge of climaxing already. And he was right there with her. He held onto her tighter as they went over the edge together. He turned so his back was against the wall and eased them down to the floor, with her straddling his lap. He peppered small kisses up and down her neck as their breathing returned to normal.
Eventually they made their way to the bedroom for another round of lovemaking. Now they were lying in bed, with Dylan watching Julie as he absently stroked her back. She nearly purred beneath his touch as she stretched, then rolled to her side to face him.
"I hung out with your sister the other day."
"Oh no," he groaned. "She didn't grill you or tell embarrassing stories from our childhood did she?"
"Only a little bit," Julie teased as she reached out and began drawing little circles on his chest. "Nothing incriminating I assure you. How was your trip back to Tallahassee?"
"We got everything worked out," he said.
"That's good."
"Yeah," he said, closing his eyes to enjoy the feeling of her touch.
"Why did you decide to move back here?"
"To be honest, I always planned on moving back. But I got a great job after college, and then I started my own business. Time just kind of slipped away. I finally decided to stop putting it off."
"So you didn't leave a trail of broken hearts back there did you?"
"Fortunately no."
"How is that possible?"
He opened his eyes and looked down at her. "What do you mean?"
Julie propped herself up on her elbow to look him in the face. "It's just that, you're still young, and successful. You're also very good looking. How is it that you're not taken?"
He blew out a breath and sat up, leaning against the headboard.
"I was in a serious relationship...once."
"What happened?"
He was quiet for awhile, trying to find the right way to explain what had happened.
"I don't mean to pry, and if you don't feel comfortable sharing–"
"No, it's fine. We dated in college," he started. "We were together for a few years and we thought one day we would get married. But one day we both seemed to wake up and realize we weren't really in love. We were just going through the motions. We cared about each other yes, but there was no real passion there. No real spark."
Nothing like the passion and spark he felt with Julie.
"Neither one of us thought it was fair to keep going on in the relationship, so we ended things."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
"Too bad all relationships can't end that easily."
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.
She sighed before saying, "There's not much to talk about. We were together for a decade, first as dance partners then as lovers. After I injured myself during our last competition, he told me that he wanted to end things, said he wasn't passionate about dancing anymore and that he needed some space. I haven't seen or spoken to him since."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that."
"So am I. I was really broken after that. Dance and Camden, they were my life for so long. I didn't think I would ever be able to do one without the other
again. But I've realized that life goes on, and things seem to be much better than I ever could have imagined."
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to his body. He was glad she was finding happiness again in her life, and he hoped that he had been able to contribute to at least a portion of that happiness.
Deciding to change the subject, Dylan asked, "What are you doing next weekend?"
"Hmm, I believe I'm going to a wedding. But no one has asked me to be their date and it's going to suck being one of those desperate looking single girls."
He threw his head back and laughed at her witty remark.
"Well, we can't have that can we?"
"No we can't."
"I would love if you escort me to the wedding."
"It would be my pleasure."
"I won't be able to see you much until after the wedding though since I'm give Di away."
"As long as you save a dance for me."
"You've got nothing to worry about there. Also, I have a favor I need to ask you. Something I need your help with."
"What is it?"
He'd been meaning to ask her for awhile, but he'd been back and forth on whether he should actually do it.
"You and Miss Dottie have been teaching Di and James a waltz for their first dance."
"Yeah."
"I was wondering if you could help me come up with a first dance to do with my sister. Since our father isn't going to be there to give her away, I wanted to do something special for her to honor him. My mother is helping put together a slide show of pics of Diana and my dad, and we are going to play it during the time of what would have been the father/daughter dance at the reception as a tribute."
"That's a beautiful idea."
When he heard the catch in her voice, he looked down and noticed her eyes filled with tears.
"You are an amazing man, Dylan."
"And you are a great woman."
"I would be honored to help."
"Thank you," he whispered, before leaning down to kiss her lips again.
Chapter 15
Saturday morning, Julie rushed to answer the knocking at her door. She ran her hands through her hair and took one last look in the mirror before she pulled it open. She knew she wasn't wearing anything alluring, in the old, dingy overalls, but she could at least make sure she didn't have any breakfast in her teeth.
"Hi," she said to Dylan, who was leaning against the door jamb.
"Good morning," he said, standing up straight. "Are you ready to go?"
"Just about. Come on in and let me go and grab my purse."
She turned to take off for her bedroom, but Dylan reached out and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her to him and placed a kiss on her lips.
Julie stopped and took the time to enjoy the kiss and when Dylan finally pulled away, she opened her eyes to see him smiling at her.
"That was a proper good morning," he said, releasing her.
She took off for her room and grabbed her purse. When she returned to the living room, Dylan was looking around with his hands in his pockets.
"Nice place," he said.
"Thanks," she replied. It was the first time he'd been to her apartment. She went to open the door and felt Dylan wrap his arm around her waist and pull her body against his.
"I hate that you didn't spend the night at my place last night," he breathed against her neck.
She bit her lip to control the urge to press her bottom against the erection she could feel nudging her.
"Perhaps you can convince me to stay tonight....or maybe I can convince you to stay here."
"I think as long as I fall asleep with you in my arms, it doesn't matter where we are."
She moved away and opened the door. "We've got to get out of here. 'Lita will kick our butts if we're late."
They were heading to the hardware store to pick up some paint, to update the studio. They'd gotten quite a few people to help them out with the painting, including several of her students.
"Gram hasn't stopped talking about this," she told Dylan, as they walked through the store picking out paint. "You've managed to not only get her on board with making these changes to the studio, but now she is excited about them."
"That's good. The more enthusiastic she is about this, the better."
"Brent has been working with her to put together a grand reopening event. And I contacted that cantina about having a salsa night. I'm doing the first one next week. They're excited about it and I'm going to do one right before the grand reopening so that we can invite patrons out. I'm hoping there will be a big turn out."
"There will be, trust me. Things are going to turn around for the studio. I can feel it."
She trusted his judgement, and not just because it was his area of expertise.
When they arrived at the studio, several students and other dancers came out to help unload Dylan's car.
"Good morning, you two," Dottie said, as Dylan and Julie entered the studio.
"Good morning, Miss Dottie."
"Buenos Dias, abuelita." Julie surveyed the room, which was prepped for its makeover. "You guys have been busy already."
"Yes, I wanted to be able to get right to work when you guys got here with the paint. So I had some of the students come in a little early so we could do what we needed to do to get the rooms ready."
Soon the room was filled with laughter, along with the sound of salsa music as they all worked together to paint.
At the sound of the door opening, several people turned to see who was joining them.
Javier Fuentes worked in the neighboring building and ran an antique shop. Julie was the first one to speak.
"Hola señor Fuentes! How are you doing this morning?"
"I'm doing well, Jules. Hello everyone."
Everyone spoke or waved in return.
"Good morning, Dorothea," Javier said to Dottie.
"Javier, it's always good to see you," Dottie said, putting down her paint brush.
"I couldn't stay away, with all of the music this early in the morning, I had to see what was going on."
"Oh," Dottie said, placing her hand on her chest, "I hope we weren't too loud."
"Not at all, you know I love a good salsa every now and then. I see you are all painting the studio."
"Yes, the young ones have convinced me to do a little sprucing up of the place, in hopes of bringing in more customers."
"I hope you get more business than you can handle then," Javier said with a smile.
Dottie let out a girlish laugh as she said, "You are too kind, Javier." She reached over and pulled a flyer off the counter. "You must come to our grand reopening party. It's in a couple weeks."
"I wouldn't miss it, just make sure you save a dance for me. Maybe even two."
"You've got it."
"Let me know if you need anything."
She nodded and watched him turn and walk away.
Dottie went to get her paint brush and noticed everyone staring at her.
"Back to work!" she barked and everyone scattered.
Dylan, who'd been working by Julie's side, leaned over and whispered, "It looks like that Mr. Fuentes is sweet on your gram."
She grinned at his remark. "'Lita collects tea sets, and Mr. Fuentes always brings her any new ones that come into his shop so she can have first pick at them."
Julie looked over her shoulder at her grandmother and noticed the way she was shimmying and singing along a little more to the music on the radio now as she continued to paint.
"And I think she's sweet on him too," she whispered back.
"It's amazing how love can transform a person, don't you think?"
She glanced up into Dylan's eyes and smiled back at him.
"I couldn't agree with you more."
––––––––––––––––––––––
Dylan let out a frustrated sigh.
He yanked the knot out of his tie that, once again, had ended up looking a mess as he s
tood in front of the mirror.
"Come in," he shouted, when he heard the gentle knocking at the door.
Julie stuck her head in the room and smiled and it was like a balm to his soul.
"You're here," he said in a relieved tone.
"I don't want to get in the way," she said. "I just wanted to say hi before the ceremony started–"
He grabbed her hand, pulled her inside and wrapped his arms around her after slamming the door shut.
"Dylan, what's wrong?" she asked, pulling away.
"This stupid tie," he said, holding the fabric up. "I can't get it right."
Julie held her hand out. "Give it to me."
He handed it over and watched as she effortlessly tied his tie for him. He turned and looked in the mirror and saw that it was perfect.
"Now," she said, looking at him through the mirror. "You want to tell me what's really bothering you?"
He closed his eyes and hung his head. "I shouldn't be the one doing this today."
"Giving your sister away." She rubbed his shoulders that were filled with tension. "You miss him."
"I hate that he's not here to see this, to be a part of this."
"Dylan...he is here. You and your mother have made sure that he is not forgotten on this day."
"What if I screw up?"
"Walking her down the aisle? How could you possibly screw that up? You're just putting one foot in front of the other," she said with a smile.
"What if I trip over my own feet? Or step on the train of her dress? Or–"
"Didn't you practice last night at the rehearsal?"
"Yes."
"And did you have any problems then?"
"No, but–"
"Dylan, you will be fine. It will all be fine. This is your sister's wedding day, you aren't going to let anything ruin her day. Not even you."
Dylan pulled Julie into his arms again for another hug. "I love...that you're here."
He wanted to say it. But he wasn't sure how she'd react, so at the last minute, he'd changed his words.
"I'm glad to be here too." She took a step out of his arms and headed for the door. "I'll see you after the wedding."
Soon after she left, there was another knock on the door. This time it was the wedding planner.
