"Because I want to dance with you."
We moved across the dance floor together. I was trying to be as graceful as possible despite my nerves. "I don't usually dance with pirates," I said.
He glanced at me with a relieved smile that made me weak in the knees. "Well, this one wasn't really prepared to give you a choice."
His statement brought me back to the guys in high school who tried to force me into things I didn't want to do. Two things were different about Dr. Crawford, however. One was that I knew he was kidding, and two was that I actually wanted him. I felt no pressure whatsoever. Excitement would be a better way to describe what I felt. I thought about our kiss upstairs, and wanted nothing more than to have it happen again.
"What did you tell your date?" I asked, unable to suppress my curiosity.
"What did I tell her about what?"
"About wanting to dance with me?" I asked even though I also wanted to know what he told her we were doing upstairs.
"I told her the truth—that you had been seeing Dr. Ross, and that I wanted to ask you a few things about your hand."
"You haven't even mentioned my hand," I said.
He smiled. "How's your hand, Bailey?"
For some reason, the sound of my name coming out of his mouth made me feel giddy. I giggled. "My hand's fine. We sort of already talked about it. Remember, I said I was seeing Jamie for physical therapy?"
"Oh, yeah," he said, acting as though he'd forgotten we had that conversation.
We talked and laughed during the remainder of the song. He was a good dancer, and he led me around the floor effortlessly. He asked me how my parents were doing and whether or not I still had Alan the teddy bear. We spoke about my parents and my hometown for a minute before I told him Alan was a permanent fixture in my apartment. I also told him that his paperfolding had inspired an idea for a really successful ad campaign I'd done recently, which included graphics of paper cranes. Hearing that made him happy, which in turn made me happy. I felt connected to him to my very core, and I wondered if he felt it too. It seemed like he did.
The song was over as quickly as it had begun—or at least it felt that way to me. Vanessa was standing near the dance floor, patiently waiting for her date to finish. I sincerely hoped that I would get another dance with him, but the way she was smiling at him made it obvious that she was sincerely hoping I wouldn't.
Ben was standing nearby talking to a couple of gentlemen, but he started walking toward me once he saw us leaving the dance floor. I was glad to have him there to intercept me when Dr. Crawford had to go back to his date. I know he told me to call him Jordan, but it was hard for me to get used to calling him by his first name, even in my own thoughts.
"Did you two get to catch up?" Vanessa asked with a super sweet smile that felt like a knife to my heart. I hated handing him off to her. It put me in a catty mood, and my next statement reflected that.
"You're very fortunate to have a man like Dr. Crawford," I said in a too-sweet tone that went right over her head. "He's a true professional. Dr. Ross would be proud of him for taking time out of his evening to check up on me like that."
Vanessa smiled at him proudly as she cozied up next to him.
"Dr. Crawford," I said with a slight bow in his direction before siding up to Ben the same as Vanessa was doing to him.
"Please call me Jordan," he said, without taking his eyes off me.
I smiled and nodded my consent, but didn't say anything.
I shifted my attention to Ben who said, "A few more dances before we get out of here?"
I smiled at him. "Sounds perfect."
I glanced at Jordan and Vanessa again, and it pleased me greatly to find that Jordan was working hard to hide his frustration.
"Thanks again," I said in a way that obviously meant 'goodbye'.
Ben whisked me onto the dance floor. "I told you," he said with a delighted grin.
"What'd you tell me?"
"That I'd be the envy of every guy here."
"I wouldn't go that far," I said.
He let out a laugh as we continued to dance. "I guess you're going to tell me you didn't notice the way that guy was looking at you."
"I guess it really doesn't matter since he's here with someone else and so am I."
"You're too sweet, Bailey Black," he said, smiling wryly.
I giggled, and before I knew what was happening, he stopped in his tracks, caught me in his arms, and put his lips on mine. My forward momentum caused me to press into him, making the kiss even more exaggerated than he intended. A wave of butterflies began coursing through my body. I wasn't sure if it was because I hoped Jordan might see us and feel some type of way, or if I actually enjoyed kissing Ben. That option seemed wrong, but I put those feelings out of my mind when I remembered the smiling blonde who'd been waiting to steal Dr. Crawford the second our song finished.
"I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to kiss my boss," I whispered once he pulled away.
"That wasn't for me," he said, beginning to move around the dance floor again.
I shot him a confused look that made him smile. "I guess you're gonna tell me you did that for my sake."
"I did," he said. "Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed it. But that was purely for you."
I wrinkled my nose at him, and he chuckled.
"You and him," he added.
"What?"
"The man who can't take his eyes off you." Ben glanced over my shoulder. "Yep. Still looking."
"Who?" I asked, praying he'd say Jordan Crawford.
"That doctor of yours."
"He's not mine."
"You better tell him that."
I laughed nervously. Ben continued to lead me around the dance floor. "I'd be a fool not to see how he's looking at you," he said. "And I'd probably just ignore it if you weren't looking back at him that same way."
"Were we that obvious?" I asked. "I'm not trying to cause him to break up with his girlfriend." Who was I kidding? I totally wanted them to break up.
"You were both pretty obvious," he said. "It looks like his lady is choosing to ignore it, though."
I could tell that Ben was stealing glances toward the other side of the dance floor to scope out the situation as we danced. "That doctor can barely go ten seconds without looking over here."
I imagined Jordan looking at us as we stepped and swayed to the music. "Do you think he saw you kiss me?" I asked.
Ben chuckled. "There's no doubt he saw it," he said.
"Would you kiss me again next time you see him glance over here? You know, just a little peck for—"
Before I could get the words out, Ben stopped dancing, took my face in his hands and put his lips on mine. They were barely touching—just enough to make it look like an official kiss. He pulled back just slightly, but left his hands on my cheeks to hide where our lips were supposed to be touching. I peeked out of my eyes but had them closed enough that no one but Ben could tell they were open. "I'm gonna stay like this for a second," he whispered, barely moving his lips the way a ventriloquist does. "It's gonna seem like a nice, long kiss, and when we're finished, you should smile like you enjoyed it, okay?"
"Okay," I whispered. "Thank you."
He smiled before letting his hands fall.
I gazed at him with a sincere smile. "You're the best," I said.
He laughed as he began leading me again. "Glad to help."
"How will we know if it worked?" I asked.
Just as I said it, we ran straight into a brick wall. One second we were moving fluidly on the dance floor, and the next, we are at a dead stop. I looked up to find that we had run straight into Jordan Crawford. I started to apologize for our clumsiness, but then I realized by his expression that he was the one who had run into us and not the other way around.
"Seriously, Bailey?" he asked, looking straight at me. Shocked, I glanced back and forth from Jordan to Ben. People on the dance floor continued to move around us as if they didn't even notice we'd stop
ped. I scanned our immediate area for Vanessa, but there was no sign of her or her red dress.
"Is there a problem?" Ben asked, putting an arm protectively around my shoulder.
"There's, yes, there's a problem."
I couldn’t believe it. This incredibly gorgeous man who I'd been thinking about for months was so agitated by seeing us kiss that he stopped us right in the middle of a dance. It made me so happy that it was all I could do to hold back a smile. I had to bite the inside of my cheek in order to keep a straight face.
"Are you with him?" he asked, gesturing to Ben. "I thought you said he was just your boss."
"Just your boss?" Ben asked me, looking hurt.
My gaze shifted nervously as I took in the crowded dance floor at this formal affair. I looked at Jordan with an apologetic expression.
"Ben was just helping me out," I said.
"Helping you do what? Clean your teeth?"
Ben and I both laughed. "I told her it seemed like her doctor was jealous, so I kissed her to test my theory."
"Congratulations," Jordan said in a frustrated tone. "Your theory was correct." He looked at me. "Why are you kissing him?"
"Maybe she wants to," Ben said.
Jordan didn't take his eyes off me. "Do you?"
"Where's Vanessa?" I asked, still looking around.
"Do you?" Jordan asked again.
"Where is your date?" I repeated, still searching for her since somewhere in the back of my mind I pictured her coming out of nowhere and pulling my hair or stabbing me with her hi-heel.
"It doesn't really matter, now does it? Because at this point, I think she knows… I think it's obvious that…" He threw his hands into the air and shook his head, looking discouraged. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have interrupted you." He started to walk away, and I was almost too speechless to say anything, but Ben nudged me forward.
"I wanted you to," I said. Jordan turned around to face me again. It looked like a scene from a movie with the way there was music in the background. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Ben walked away, leaving the two of us on the dance floor together.
"What did you say?"
"I said I wanted you to interrupt us. I'm glad you did."
"Why'd you let him kiss you, Bailey?"
"Because I can't think of another man in the whole world that I want more than you, and..."
"So you let someone else kiss you? That makes no sense whatsoever," he said, regarding me with an impassive stare. We were standing about a foot apart, and his posture made it obvious that he was feeling possessive. He was bruiting, and it made him look dangerous and even more irresistible.
"I like you, Dr. Crawford, and if you want to know the truth, I hated seeing you—"
"Jordan," he said, interrupting me. "My name's Jordan."
I cracked a tiny smile as I continued. "Okay, Jordan, truth is, I hated running into you with your beautiful girlfriend."
"At least I didn't have my tongue down her throat," he said.
"Ben's tongue was nowhere near my throat."
"His mouth was on your mouth, Bailey. I could see it plain as day."
"Well, I wasn't enjoying it."
"Then you shouldn't have done it."
I threw my hands in the air and sighed. "Maybe I shouldn't have, but I did. It happened and now here we are." I glanced around. "In the middle of a dance floor, probably causing a scene."
"No one's paying attention to us," he said, taking a slight step closer. His amber eyes looked right through me. He literally took my breath away. I took a deep, shaky breath. I wanted to say I love you, or yes, I'll marry you, or something crazy like that.
"I think I'd like it if you don't see that anesthesiologist anymore," I said instead. I watched as the corner of his curved mouth slowly turned upward in a mischievous grin. There was music, and movement, and people all around us, and we just stood there staring at each other.
"I think your boss should keep his hands off you from now on," he said. Again, our eyes locked, and we smiled slightly at each other as people moved around us.
"Maybe we could go on a date sometime," I said.
"You think?" he asked sarcastically.
"We don't have to," I said, pretending to take him seriously.
"Bailey?"
"Yes?"
"I need a favor."
"What is it?"
"I need you to let me finish things with Vanessa in a way that isn't…" he hesitated. "Like this."
"You don't need to explain yourself to me," I said, feeling yucky and defensive at the mention of her name.
"Please don't pull away," he said. "What sort of gentleman would I be if I brought her here only to leave her without a way to get home or an explanation?"
"You don't need to explain yourself to me, Dr. Crawford. Just do what you need to do and, if anything's meant to happen with us, it'll happe—"
I stopped speaking when he stepped forward and took me by the arm. We were standing so close that I could feel his body heat. He put his mouth right next to my ear. "My name is Jordan, Bailey. Can I hear you say it?"
"You want me to say your name?" I asked breathlessly.
"Yes." He lowered his head so I could speak in his ear.
"Jordan," I said.
His chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath. "Say the word and I'll leave here with you."
I was silent for several long seconds feeling extremely tempted to say those words, but then I imagined myself in Vanessa's position.
"Go be a gentleman," I said, finally.
Chapter 8
"How am I supposed to get in touch with you?" Jordan asked as I started to walk off the dance floor.
I knew it would be awkward for us to stand there and exchange phone numbers, so I said, "I work at 3K Advertising."
He nodded as if that was explanation enough, and we parted ways. I didn't watch to see where he went—didn't want to see the blonde or whatever conversation they might be having.
I spotted Ben who was standing near the dance floor talking with an older woman. I approached with caution. "Hi," I said smiling shyly once he caught sight of me.
He smiled and turned to the woman. "Harriet, this is Bailey Black, one of my best designers. Bailey, this is Harriet Vinson. Her husband owns Vinson Construction… I guess they both do."
I smiled and shook her hand. "I worked on your latest campaign."
"Did you?" she asked. "You must be pretty talented because my husband said this last one was his favorite so far."
"I'm glad to hear it," Ben said.
"Mike was the brains behind it, really," I said. "I just helped him out."
"And she's humble to boot," Harriet said, winking at Ben.
He wrapped his arm around me. "Believe me," I'm hanging on to this one."
"You better." She curtsied slightly the way rich women do. "I should get back to Peter. It was a pleasure meeting you, Bailey."
"Likewise," I said, bowing slightly even though I wasn't quite sure if I was doing it right.
She disappeared into the crowd, and Ben looked at me with a smile. "I thought I lost my date for the evening." He paused and looked over my shoulder. "Did you wise up and refuse that bum?"
I giggled. "Not exactly."
"So what are you doing here with me," he asked still looking over my shoulder has if expecting Jordan to walk up any second.
"It wouldn't really be right for us to leave our dates, now would it? He needed to square things away with that woman he was seeing. It wasn't really fair for him to walk out in the middle of a date."
He held his fist to his mouth and coughed a laugh.
"What?" I asked.
"You're telling me that dude had the nerve to come out there and break up our kiss, but he didn't have the decency to leave his date?"
"It wasn't like that. He said he would—"
"Bailey, don't let that guy treat you like that. You're totally worth leaving a date for. If he can't leave her now, what
makes you think he'll do it tomorrow?"
I shrugged. "I thought he was doing the right thing by—" my statement was interrupted by Ben making a sound of disapproval.
"Pffft." He shook his head, and hugged me by the shoulder, looking down at me. "Just so you know, I'd leave my date for you," he said. "I'd cause a scene, and get in a fight, and break another girl's heart any day of the week for you."
I smiled up at him, rolling my eyes a little. I didn't know what to say.
"And another thing, while I'm at it," he said.
"What?"
"I really enjoyed kissing you. I know I was doing it to make him jealous or whatever, but I'm a man, Bailey, and you should know that I had fun kissing you and would do it again in a heartbeat if you let me."
"You're talking like you forgot you're my boss."
He smiled. "I didn't forget anything. I know you work for me and that we had no plans whatsoever to let this go anywhere, but I just wanted you to know, I enjoyed myself on more than a let's make this other guy jealous level."
I giggled. "I'm pretty sure if I wasn't already obsessed with that other guy, I would have enjoyed myself, too."
"That's what I'm saying. Maybe you need to rethink being obsessed about someone who can't bear to leave his date for you."
I narrowed my eyes at him and he laughed and raised his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying. Did he even get your phone number?"
"He knows where I work," I said defensively.
"Pffft," he said. "No guts."
My eyes widened and I slapped at his shoulder, making him laugh.
"You know I'm just messing with you," he said, "…mostly."
"Well, then I'll tell the itty bitty part of you that isn't messing with me that you're wrong about Jordan."
He smiled. "Oh, he's Jordan now?"
"Dr. Crawford, whatever. It wouldn't be right for him to leave his date or girlfriend or whoever she is without an explanation or a ride home."
Ben smiled and put his hands up in surrender again. "All right, I'll leave you alone about it. Regardless of what I think about his manliness, I'm glad to have you around for the rest of the evening."
"See? You wouldn't like it if I left you in the middle of this thing."
Dreams of Us Page 6
