“Anyway, I felt like letting my geek flag fly, and I figured we’ll get pop culture votes from the online crowd.”
He’d sought to take care of her and entertain her baby. And he remembered something about her that no one in high school had known. Oh, he was playing it off, but he’d put thought into this. For both of them. No one had ever done that before. Certainly not Lance.
Something inside her warmed and shifted, and this unexpected thing between them slid right on past a simple flirtation and into something more.
As he put his hands on her, began to demonstrate the basic steps of the dance, all she could think was, Uh oh.
Chapter 9
“Okay, I’m calling it. I can’t possibly cram in any more questions or choreography tonight.”
“Sure?” Tucker asked, whipping her into a spin.
Corinne stumbled, lost her footing, and ended up plastered up against his chest, her arms clutching his shoulders. Exactly what he’d intended.
“Whoa there. I’ve got you.”
She blinked up at him, her pupils blown wide. One corner of her mouth quirked as she regained her footing and stepped away from him, bracing her hands on her thighs as she worked to catch her breath. He could pretend it was from more than the dancing, right?
Tucker handed over a bottle of water and chugged one of his own. “It’s a good start. You’ve got all the components. We just need to work on putting them all together. And it sounds like you’re better prepared for your test than you thought. I might even be able to answer a fair chunk of that test now.”
“Keep dreaming, Tuck,” Piper laughed. “Seriously, though, you’re in good shape, Corinne. We can do this again, if you like. When is your exam?”
“A week from Monday. I’ll be so relieved when it’s over. And yes, I’d love to do this again, if you don’t mind.”
“I’ll dig through my stuff at home. I know I’ve got more test materials stuffed in a box somewhere.”
“Thank you.” Corinne capped her w
ater. “I should be getting home to Kurt. It’s nearly time for bed, and we have another installment of Captain Underpants to cover.”
“Same time tomorrow night?” Tucker asked.
“Yeah, I can do that.” She smiled down at the lightsaber. “Kurt is seriously going to love this. Thanks for thinking of it.”
It was such a small thing and a fun thing. He’d just wanted to see the kid light up. But the way his mother looked at him as she handed the toy back over, as if he were her own personal superhero, made his chest swell with pride. Yeah, he could get used to that.
“You gonna tell him?”
“Oh no. He’d want to come to all the rehearsals and then we wouldn’t get anything done. This should be a surprise. Mama Pearl’s bringing him to the show.”
“Somebody will have to be sure to get a picture of his face when he sees,” Tucker said.
“It’ll be pure magic.” She grinned at him, and that, too, was pure magic.
The moment stretched out between them, full of things unsaid, gestures not made because they were both aware of their audience. They’d turned a corner, and he wasn’t quite sure how or what it meant. But there’d be time enough to figure that out later.
At last, Corinne scooped up her purse. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Tucker.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Thanks again for the study session,” she added, with a wave at Piper.
“No problem.”
They both watched as she walked out of the fellowship hall. Tucker turned back to his bluetooth speaker and made a bit of a production of turning it off, stowing it in the case.
“You know, I thought, at first, when you asked me to come drill her that this was about the competition and you helping out so you could get the most practice time. But you like her.”