Page 37 of Let's Talk About Love

(P&P2: The Fall of the House of Alice.)

“This isn’t happening,” she whispered.

“Dance with me?” he asked, bowing slightly.

“Do I have a choice?”

Takumi paused. “Doesn’t seem like it.” He held out his hand.

After rubbing her fingers against her palm, Alice placed her hand in his. He escorted her out to the middle of the room as the dance floor cleared. The guests formed a ring of spectators around them. Spinning her in a small circle first, he stopped the movement of her body with his own. Her resulting squeak echoed around the vaulted ceilings, and Takumi chuckled low in her ear. Goose bumps erupted all over her skin. He kept one of his hands in hers, placing the other on her waist, right where the corset had squeezed her into artificial narrowness.

They swayed together as the first few notes from a violin filled the room before Takumi picked up the pace, gliding with her around the room in large sweeping loops. Now, Alice had taken dance classes since she was four and didn’t stop until she was sixteen. She knew how to dance. But knowing and remembering were not synonymous in this dream. She stared at his gold rose boutonniere, managing to not step on his feet or trip over her dress while she counted to stay on track.

“Alice,” he whispered in her ear.

“Shh! I’m concentrating,” she whispered back, on edge. She didn’t want the partygoers to know she didn’t know what she was doing.

“They’re all gone.”

Everyone had indeed disappeared. The room was also now strangely smaller, complete with a lush bed large enough to fit a small army. The comforter, pillows, and canopy were a sumptuous black velvet.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

She stared at him with a surprising amount of terror rolling around in her stomach.

“For?” she squeaked.

“The last night of your life.” He leaned forward, her body froze, and he placed a light kiss right in front of her ear.

***

ALICE SHOT UPin bed, panting, gripping her chest. Her nightshirt was drenched in sweat. Groaning, she plopped back down on her bed, staring at the ceiling in desperation and relief.

“Nothing happened.” She laughed, covering her eyes. And then she groaned again, flopping on her bed like an angry fish on land. That awful dream had sealed it. If she couldn’t even have a proper sex dream, she must not have wanted Takumi in a sexual way.

Then… howdidshe want him?

When he looked at her and she looked at him and all they could see was each other… her heart might or might not have begun having tiny reactions.

Nothing too radical. It was a light feeling—airy, twisty, and warm. It made her want to be near him, hear him laugh, and maybe try to poke him in the dimples when he smiled.

It waspossibleAlice had a tiny romantic crush on him.

It waspossibleAlice had a not-so-tiny romantic crush on him.

It waspossibleAlice liked Takumi far more than she was willing to admit.

Possible did not make it a conclusive fact.

“Are you up?” Ryan said, knocking on her door. “You better be up.”

“Yeah. Why?” she called, checking the time before flying out of bed. How did she sleep through her main alarmandthe fail-safe?

“Because that stupid seminar starts in thirty minutes. Are you dressed? And you’re buying me coffee.”

Alice opened the door, grinning as Ryan’s frown intensified. “Gladly, Grumpy Bear. I just need ten minutes!”

Four hours later, she was ready for a nap. And some chocolate.