But she doesn’t. Instead her smile gets even bigger and she leans toward me. “Lucky me.”
3
Jackie
The way Reagan is looking at me sets me on fire. I’m relieved when he asks me to dance and I have an excuse to touch him.
We dance and I find out he’s got rhythm. I can’t help but laugh when he spins me out and pulls me back to him, but as soon as I’m fitted up against his hard body, my hands almost have a mind of their own as I slide them up his chest. I’m staring at the thin material of his white shirt almost like I’m wishing it away so I can see the skin underneath. His hands on my hips grip me almost painfully, pulling me against him. When I feel the bulge in the front of his jeans, my eyes snap up to his. There’s a fire raging in their depths and before I can question him or get any closer, he’s holding my hips away from him.
The way he pushes me away, I would assume that maybe he doesn’t want me, but the look in his eyes tells me he does. I want to ask him about it, but I don’t. A salsa beat starts and I start shaking my hips. I know some people don’t want to see my wide hips shaking, but I also know that they were made for salsa. The dance floor is already crowded, but that doesn’t stop me. I let go of Reagan to do some fancy salsa moves when I feel someone behind me, grinding on my ass.
Reagan didn’t seem like the confrontational type with Carter, so I assume I’ll have to tell the grinding guy to go away. I turn toward him and tell him, but he’s not listening. He’s acting like me turning toward him is a like a yes, please keep grinding on me. I freeze up and start to back away.
Reagan comes around me and puts himself between the two of us and says less than two words to the jerk who then races off the dance floor. Even hotter, Reagan doesn’t make a big deal about it. He pulls me back into his hot embrace to keep dancing. The music and dancing goes on all around us, but I’m not moving like I was. No, now I’m just as happy to be in his arms, our feet barely moving and swaying against each other.
I can’t believe he doesn’t have women falling all over themselves to be with him. It’s unlikely I’ll get to keep him. I’m never down on myself. I know I’m no debutante. I’m plain. I have black hair that never wants to lay right. Probably my best feature are my eyes. But that’s only if you can get past my chubby cheeks and my rounded body. My hands tighten on his shoulders knowing that this is probably a one-night thing. I clench my eyes shut almost as if I’m willing the negative thoughts away. I’m not this girl. I’m Miss Positive, I can find the good in anything. So I’m determined to enjoy this time with Reagan while I can.
Reagan
When I drive across town to get Jackie’s car from the lot at the baseball field, I can tell that she is ready for me to suggest we go to my place or hers. The silence between us is comfortable and I’m not looking forward to the night ending. I look at her small hand in mine, resting on the console between us. Whether she knows it or not, her thumb is stroking mine and the sensations are like a jolt up my arm.
When I pull into the lot, I turn in my seat to look at her. I can see the longing in her green eyes and I open the car door to get out and away for a minute. I could take her home with me right now. I know she would say yes. But I don’t want that. I don’t want her to think I’m like Carter. I want her to know that I value her as a person, not just a piece of meat or a trophy. Besides, I like Jackie a whole lot more than the few girls I’ve dated since Diane and those women hadn’t worked out well. No sense in rushing.
I open her car door and help her out. She’s looking at me with a question in her eyes and I know I can’t just let her walk away like this. I crowd her against the side of my car. I’m close enough to smell her sweet scent, but I don’t touch her. I’m afraid if I do, I’ll lose the last bit of control I have.
She licks her lips and is looking up at me with wide eyes. Just a kiss, I tell myself. Just one kiss. “May I kiss you, Jackie?”