“It’s fine,” the blonde admitted as she swept a hand down as though indicating the whole poofy—thing. Yeah, I didn’t have words for the dress. It was awful. “I hate it. It’s not even a contender, and our boy over there flinched. You, though…” She twirled her finger, and I sighed before doing a little pirouette. “Three-inch heels, pull your hair up, and get a nice choker, and girl, you would slay in that dress. The blue is really working for you.”
“Not really a fan,” I admitted. I was not comfortable. At all. “It’s too tight.”
“No such thing,” Cheryl said. “What do you think, Coop?”
“Nope,” he said flatly, and we both glanced at him. Despite a scorching and intense stare, he gave me a lazy smile. “Homecomingdance. You dance in that outfit, and everyone is going to see your ass. So no, I think not.”
“See, this is a no,” I said, probably way too brightly. Admittedly, I liked the way he was looking at me, but the dress was justtoo little. Seriously, too little.
“I think it’s a maybe,” Cheryl countered. “It’s too form fitting to show your ass. You can move in it, right?”
I really didn’t intend to find out.
“C’mon, Coop. I know for a fact you can dance. Front and center.” Cheryl clapped her hands. “Come dance with our girl, and let’s see how it moves.”
A startled look crossed Coop’s face before he shoved off the seat and headed toward me. “Just pretend the music in here is louder,” he offered, before crooking his finger.
They were killing me.
Laughter eddied upward. This was ridiculous.
But I caught Coop’s offered hand and let him pull me to him. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I just hoped like hell the top didn’t slide down.
Thankfully, it stayed firmly in place. Hands on my hips, Coop started to sway. This close, it was hard to miss the firm muscle where I brushed against him. He was also a lot warmer than I was. They had the air conditioning turned way down.
Oh, there was a benefit of ruching, my perking nipples were not on display. I might like this dress—a little. Especially since Coop looked at me like that. It was easy to move with him as he drifted in a simple box step.
We’d learned this one together in sixth grade gym when our school had its very first dance. Coach had taken pity on all of us and taught everyone a simple way to dance. Coop had been a great partner. Except, he had belched every time we got too close and then would crack up as I glared.
Thankfully, he made no such gesture now. With my hands that close to his hair, I curled my fingers to trace from his scalp to his nape. Faintly, somewhere, the music played overhead seemed a bit faster but we just kept moving slowly. Coop trailed his gaze down to my lips…
Cheryl’s sudden burst of laughter sucked me right out of the moment. “Real dancing guys, though you look adorable at the moment.”
“I’m good,” I said, slipping my hands free and trying not to respond to the quirk of his lips. “We still have twenty-six dresses to go.”
“Fine,” Cheryl said, throwing up her arms. “Next ones then.” She marched back into her changing room, and Coop snaked his arms around my middle and pulled me back before I could head into mine.
Lips next to my ear, he said, “I’m sorry.”
Twisting to look at him, I raised my brows. “For what?”
“I thought you were exaggerating,” he said in a tight whisper. “This really is going to take all night.”
He pressed a kiss to my cheek, and I covered his hand on my abdomen. “Yep.” My stomach gurgled. “We will need some major sustenance if I manage to survive this.”
“You will,” he promised. “I’ll be here, every step of the way.”
Thatmade me feel better. “Thanks for coming,” I said, and he grinned before hugging me against him.
“Glad I could be here, now go find your dress, Cinderella.”
I laughed. “That would be shoes.”
“Don’t worry,” Cheryl called. “We’ll go out for shoes after we figure out the dresses.”
I must have looked as stricken as I felt, because Coop put a hand over his mouth but couldn’t quite muffle the snicker. Someday, I was totally getting even for this. It wasn’t Coop’s fault, but he was here, and he was having too much fun at my expense.
In honor of that, I kissed my finger before I flipped him off. Once I was shut back in the changing room, he cracked up for real. Leaning against the door, I stared at the dresses.