Page 13 of How Not to Hex a Gentleman (Witches of Edinburgh)
Chapter Thirteen
KENNEDY
" E veryone get into a circle. Aye, let's go!" The man waves his arms around and we scramble to follow instructions, while I try desperately not to make eye contact with the thorn in my side.
"Kennedy, honey, your face is going to get stuck like that," Parker whispers, taking her place beside me.
I roll my eyes, not missing Lily's soft chuckle on my other side. "I can't believe you invited him," I hiss. "Did I not specifically say I think he's…not good?" I'm so frazzled I can't even come up with a proper synonym for evil.
The girls shake their heads in unison as Parker levels me with a look. "Kennedy, I have no idea what you've been through in your life to hold on so tightly to this idea, but my…power," she lowers her voice even more at that word, "is telling me that he's good. Can you give yourself a chance to see that for yourself instead of making an assumption?"
She's making a logical argument, something she knows I can't argue against, but because I'm stubborn, I want to anyway. I can't just turn off my pre-programmed notions about people because I want to. It's a process.
I'm reaching for Parker's hand when a man steps between us. I look at him in confusion and he motions toward the instructor.
"He said it's man every other one." The guy shrugs and I move to the side to let him take the spot between Parker and me while another steps on the other side of me. There are definitely more women here than men, but our side of the room is pretty evened out.
"I invited him because he can help and you need to get over your hiccup when it comes to him." Parker is relentless. She leans over the guys beside her and raises her eyebrow at me.
"We're in the middle of a cèilidh, Parker," I huff. "What is he going to do? Pull out an encyclopedia from his back pocket and shout Scottish lore at us from across the room?"
"If you talked to him initially, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now," Parker replies.
"No, we'd be having it at a jail," I mumble, but clearly not quietly enough because the guy on my right gives me a sharp look.
"Don't worry, she's more bark than bite," Lily says to the man and he relaxes at her soft words. The girl can truly work magic all on her own without any mystical powers. "You should really be listening to instructions," she says to Parker and me.
"Listening isn't Parker's strong suit," I say and I don't miss the grunt from the other side.
"Should we talk about this later?" Parker asks, giving the man between us a once-over, and I realize we do sound a little bit like lunatics.
"Talk about it now; she can't assault you in public," Lily chimes in. The two men listening to our convo both chuckle and I shake my head, focusing my attention on the instructor. He's gone through most of the dance already, but luckily someone across the way asks a question and he shouts a quick set of rules.
"Forward, back, then the women are passed on. Every four, you pair up and dance, before moving on. No more questions!" He hurries on when someone else asks a follow-up. "We dance, you figure it out."
The music starts up immediately and we link hands, walking to the center of the room as one big group before we walk backward to our spots. Next, the women come out first and I scramble to keep up, then the men do the same before we join hands again. Clearly the guys were paying attention because I'm then twirled to the right, stopping between the next two. The Scottish folk sounds fill the hall and just like before, I'm lost to it instantly.
Lily, of course, is a natural. I'm pretty sure she could make a career out of it if she really wanted to. I watch her as I'm twirled to the next set, grinning at the pure joy on her face. When I glance to my left, I see Parker is enjoying herself just as much, but then my eyes look over her shoulder and there he is.
The smug annoying one.
I tear my gaze away immediately, as I'm twirled again, and then again. The next man catches me easily and he looks like he knows what he's doing as I move away and he pulls me back. "Now we dance together." We step forward, then turn and step backward, before he twirls me, catching me again. In a proper hold, we waltz for four beats, before he says, "Now you keep going."
And suddenly I'm back in the queue, being passed down the line after we do the forward and back to the center of the room. I throw him a grateful smile as I move on. Never in a million years would I have tried a cèilidh, but here I am, and loving every second of it.
Even as I focus on the music and the steps though, it's almost like my attention is pulled in his direction and I have to look for him . The next time I'm spun around, my eyes clash with Bennett's once more and hold. The music swells and I keep moving, closer and closer to him with each twirl and pass around the room.
When we finally stop, we're face to face, just as the music ends once more.
Our noses are barely inches apart and my breath is caught somewhere between here and three steps behind me. He's too close, my body fully aware of him in that annoying way that I wish it wasn't. This is the part where I move away; I know this, but I simply can't. I'm held immobile by the intensity in his eyes. It has to be because he's doing something to me, trying to entice me into a false sense of security before he takes my power, right?
Don't trust anyone, specifically men. They will only want to use you for their own advancement. My aunt's voice is so loud in my head I almost turn around to see if she's suddenly here.
"Brilliant! We have our next couple of victims."
The voice booms over me, snapping me out of whatever trance I was in and I turn to find the man in charge of the dancing instructions right beside us. I don't understand what he means, but then he reaches over, taking me and Bennett by the elbows, and drawing us to the center of the room.
"What we have here is Strip the Willow and in this one, you cannot be shy." He turns to us. "Come then, step forward."
I glance at Bennett in confusion—the least hostile expression he's seen from me lately—and find that he's just as frozen.
"Well, go on then. We don't have all day." The man nudges me forward until I'm once again just mere inches from Bennett.
"Here we go," the man says. "Cross arms, cupping the other's elbow."
When neither of us moves, he huffs a frustrated breath. "Before I'm gray and old." He doesn't wait for us to move as he grabs Bennett's arm and then mine, twining us together, our chests touching with only our arms a barrier between us. Bennett's hand cups the back of my elbow, as I do the same to him. We're so close we're breathing each other's air.
"You're just letting this happen," I hiss.
"So are you," he replies, completely unbothered. He seems to have recovered from his momentary immobility. There's a spark in his eyes, almost as if he's enjoying it, and I'm not surprised considering he seems to enjoy everything. Especially when it comes to me.
"I don't feel like causing a scene," I reply.
"Then I guess you better listen closely because we're about to demonstrate."
I turn just in time to see the instructor come back to us after he oriented the other couples into the same hold and placed five other couples facing each other like a tunnel near us.
"You spin," he says, pointing at us. "Spin, spin!"
Bennett pulls me into a twirl as the man shouts, but apparently, we're not going fast enough for the instructor as he motions with his hands. I want to lead but Bennett is stronger than me, so his movement is the one that's carrying me and I'm not sure how to feel about that.
"Faster, faster!"
Bennett doesn't hesitate to spin me faster and I'm gripping his elbow like I'm about to fly off into the sky. The instructor stops us and then guides me to the men lined up on my right. I link arms with the first one, spin, and am led back to Bennett. We link arms, spin, and then it's the next man's turn. I link arms with each of the men in the row, each time coming back to Bennett, each time with him ready to catch me as I turn. We do another spin and then come back down the small tunnel of people, this time with him linking arms with the women and me being there to catch him. By the time we come back to the front of the line, we're to link elbows again, and Bennett pulls me into a dizzying spin.
"Now again, but both sides!"
There's no hesitation in Bennett's movements as he leads me to the men and back to him, each time pulling me closer and closer as we spin. I want to keep the distance between us because it's safer somehow, but his arms catch me each time.
"You're fighting me," Bennett calls as we spin.
I manage to throw a glare his way. "Get used to it."
He chuckles, completely unfazed, yet he pulls me a little closer as if to keep me from losing my footing.
I'm out of breath before we're done, my head spinning. I honestly can't tell if it's the dance or Bennett's proximity, but I am nearly drunk on it all. We freeze as we finish the last spin, both of us breathing heavily. My body is almost completely against him, with our arms directly across my stomach as the only obstacle. The dance is wild, much like my experience in Edinburgh has been, but with Bennett acting as an anchor, I don't seem to spin completely out of control.
"Again, with the music. And much faster!" the instructor shouts and the music starts up immediately along with the cheers from the crowd. I glance over at the girls only long enough to see broad grins on their faces as they are pulled into the dance.
"Ready?" Bennett's voice is low, but I hear it over the introductory chords of the song. He seems a little unsure, as if I'm going to bolt out of here, and maybe that's my fault since it's been my standard response when it comes to him. But suddenly, I don't want to run. Running will imply that I'm giving in to my aunt's ideas about the world, instead of creating my own. Much like Parker encouraged me, I suddenly want to give Bennett the benefit of the doubt and make my opinions based on facts, not the prejudice of a scared woman. That realization surprises me, but it also immediately settles in my heart like the truth and I give myself the permission to smile.
The grin Bennett gives me in return could probably chase away the Edinburgh clouds, nearly blinding me into a stupor, but then he's gripping my arm again as the music swells and we're spinning.