God, had she ever noticed what an amazing smile he had?
Her own lips curved a little in response because she found she didn’t want to disappoint him.
Tucker came back to his seat, rubbing his hands together in nothing less than pure glee. “Now comes the fun part.”
“What’s that?”
“Practice.”
Oh boy.
Chapter 6
“You are completely insane if you think I can do that.” Corinne pointed from herself to the screen of his laptop, where they’d just watched a YouTube video of a jive performance from Dancing With The Stars.
“I promise, I’m not certifiable,” Tucker told her, shoving back his coffee table to make a bit more floor space in the living room of his apartment. It’d be too small for most of their rehearsals, but for tonight, it would do.
“I’m sorry, Tucker. We’re going to get cut right off because there’s no way I can do that.”
He wondered if he could get a glass of wine into her, loose
n her up some. “You were a cheerleader in high school. Y’all did all kinds of complicated choreography for those routines.”
“That’s different. And a long time ago to boot.”
“When was the last time you danced?”
“Like that? Never. At all?” She shoved a hand through her glossy dark hair. “I don’t know. Maybe freshman year at college?” Her shoulders slumped. “Mama Pearl made a mistake. I’m not cut out for this. I’m going to disappoint everyone.”
“Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it, sugar.” Tucker wanted to thoroughly beat whoever had put those thoughts into her head. He suspected it’d be a long list of people. Instead, he opened his music and queued up a half dozen songs. As the opening brass sounded for the first number, he held out his hand for hers. “You aren’t going to disappoint anybody. You’ve got me as a partner, and I’m damned good.”
With a look of skepticism, she took it. “Were you this cocky in high school?”
“It’s not cocky if you’re stating the facts.” With a quick tug, he had her stumbling against him.
Her breath wooshed out and her breasts pressed against his chest. Half the blood in his head rushed south, and he had to resist the urge to skim his hands up her spine. Instead, he slid one arm around her back, adjusting her posture. “You just need to loosen up a bit, have fun with it.”
“Fun,” she repeated.
The blank expression on her face absolutely broke his heart. But if he’d learned anything from watching her these past months, it was that Corinne Dawson didn’t want pity in any form.
“For the next little while, you need to forget about work, forget about school, forget about your test, forget about being a mom, forget about life. You need to get used to moving with me.”
Oh hell, did that actually sound as suggestive as it did in my head?
A flash of something—Awareness? Wariness?—in her eyes told him it probably did.
Slow your roll, McGee. Right now, this is just business.
As Sinatra crooned that he wouldn’t dance, Tucker stepped into her, enjoying the press of her body against his before she stepped haltingly back. Even stiff as a board, she felt amazing. She tried to look down at her feet.
“Relax. Eyes on mine. You’re thinking too hard about what you’re doing.”
“I told you I’d be terrible at this.”
“You’re not terrible. You haven’t stepped on my feet once. Norah would’ve broken three toes by now.”
The corner of her mouth twitched. “Seriously?”