Page 15 of Unbroken (Poplar Springs #2)

THIRTEEN

FIONA

“ Y ou actually want to keep going?” I asked, incredulous that Eli didn’t hightail it back to the table after the song ended. “Another dance with me ?”

He nodded. “Feels much better out here with you than back there at the table. At least when it’s only the two of us, I know what I’m up against.”

“Oh, do you now?” I asked, a mischievous smile creeping onto my lips. “Are you sure you can handle the heat, Eli Carter? I’ve gotten much more devious since high school. I might be plotting something mind-blowing right now .”

He pulled me closer and did a quick spin, his eyes locked on mine. “I wouldn’t if I were you. Because you’re not the only one capable of devious ideas. You might regret taking me on.”

I laughed, but a shiver passed through me at his glower. We both knew it was a joke, but it was … sexy . And then there was the way his hands felt on my body. My dress was silk, and the warmth of his palms made it seem like there was nothing between our skin .

“Ooh, I’m scared,” I managed to spit out, mostly convincingly and while the shiver was real, the timing of it made it seem as if I’d faked it.

That was the thing about competing with Eli back in the day: No matter how intense the rivalry got, or how ridiculous the jokes became, I knew there were lines he’d never cross. Number one, he’d never do anything outright mean, and number two, he’d never make me feel unsafe.

Being in his arms on the dance floor reminded me that he’d always gone out of his way to make me feel safe.

The time when he’d filled my car with ping-pong balls?

He’d caught me in his arms when I started sliding on them as they spilled out into the parking lot.

The Halloween when he’d spent two hours outside his house sitting immobile in a scarecrow costume, waiting for me to walk by?

He’d whipped off the mask the second I screamed.

Even now, dancing with him, I felt protected.

The way he held me and navigated me around the dance floor, keeping me in one spot to avoid crashing into other couples, then sweeping me to the far edges of the dance floor when the center got too crowded.

He always seemed to be looking out for me.

That trust I felt now had always been there, which only made me feel worse about how cruel I had been to him when I’d ditched him on prom night.

“Talk to me,” Eli said. “Help me keep my mind off the fact that everyone is watching us and not the bride and groom.”

I peeked around and realized that he was right. “Good thing you know what you’re doing when it comes to dancing.” He whirled me around and I grinned because now, he was showing off.

“Part of my dad’s training. He believes that every man should know how to lead a lady.” He shrugged. “Closest thing to being on stage that I’ll ever willingly do. But all those lessons paid off, I guess. ”

Did they ever. I had done my time with sweaty-palmed belly rubbers who just wanted to smoosh up against me. Eli made me feel like I knew what I was doing.

“Well, since we’re free from the enhanced interrogation back at the table, what should we talk about?” I asked.

“We could talk about you.”

I laughed. “My favorite subject! What do you want to know? I’m an open book.”

“Really? Then why don’t you tell me why you left Denver? I’m curious.”

I screwed up my face and shook my head. “Let’s not talk about that right now.” The memories weren’t pleasant, and I had no desire to revisit them when I was enjoying being in Eli’s arms.

“We don’t have to if you really don’t want to,” Eli said. “But there’s a good chance it’ll come up when we have to go back to the table. I can do a better job of protecting you if I know the whole story.”

And God, wasn’t that just like him? He wasn’t after gossip, wasn’t looking to poke at my bruises. He only wanted to know how to protect me. Faced with that, how could I offer him anything other than the truth?

I hated thinking about it, and I hated talking about it even more.

The mistake that had blown the life I’d built to bits.

But Eli deserved to know the truth. Besides, I’d made him confront some uncomfortable topics with me, and he hadn’t hesitated to be honest. It was only fair that I should bare my soul a little as well.

And doing it wrapped in his warm bubble felt okay.

Like he wouldn’t judge anything I told him.

“I, uh, I got fired for doing something foolish and impetuous.” I let out a harsh laugh. “Imagine that, me not thinking something through.” I cleared my throat. “You know that guy, Chase Wickander? He’s a gamer, and he’s got a huge social media following.”

Eli shook his head. “I don’t. I stay away from that stuff. I’d rather be outside living real life than playing it on a computer.”

“Wise choice,” I said wryly. “Anyway, the marketing company I worked for had just won the Lemon-Lime Soda account, and they said they wanted to make a big splash with a younger demographic. So, I had the bright idea of setting up a deal with a hot gamer like Chase. Get him a full-on sponsorship deal. He’s hugely in-demand, so rather than going through the proper channels in my company first, meaning, getting actual permission from them, I reached out to Chase and preempted him with an offer.

He accepted, so I put together this incredible presentation, got Chase to come meet with the clients, and they loved the idea.

I was a rock star for setting it up. They signed the papers, announced it, and Chase started his promo work. ”

Eli adjusted me so that I was a little closer to him. “Sounds like a win-win to me. Isn’t that what you corporate folks say?”

“And it was. Until …” I broke off. “Until the old videos of him making all sorts of, uh, bodily fluid jokes about Lemon-Lime Soda surfaced.”

“Oh, wow. Well, I get it, though. The stuff is bright yellow.”

I shut my eyes. “I know, and so do they. They’re sensitive about it.”

“But that’s not your fault. Why would they fire you for his mistake?”

I sighed. “If we’d gone through the proper pre-hire protocols, they would’ve found it in a deep dive background check.

But I jumped the gun and made him an offer without it.

And when the world started laughing at Lemon-Lime and they needed someone to take the blame for hiring a spokesperson who’d made fun of them, that was me. ”

We danced in silence for a few minutes while Eli seemed to process everything I’d told him.

I was surprised to realize that talking to Eli had been weirdly cathartic.

He wasn’t the kind of person who was quick to judge.

And he knew me well enough to understand that I’d had the best of intentions when I’d tried to set up the deal, even if it had all gone wrong.

“Well, I’m really sorry how it all went down,” he said, rubbing my shoulder in a way that instantly comforted me.

“Me too,” I said with a hollow laugh. “I worked so hard to move on and build a name for myself in Denver after … after Mom and Dad died.” I sniffled at the unexpected prickle of tears. “And now it’s all shot to hell, and I’m pretty much blacklisted from ever getting another job in the industry.”

“That seems extreme. It’s not like you intended to cause problems.”

“No, but now I’ve got a reputation for going all John Wayne on stuff and not following protocols.”

Eli snorted. “John Wayne?”

I could feel his smirk and I suddenly wanted to make him laugh more than anything. “You know, being aggressive and taking the bull by the horns?”

“Sounds dangerous,” he murmured against my ear, making me shiver.

“Oh, it is. But it’s the way. The cowboy way.” I giggled at my own joke.

The song was ending and I looked up at Eli expectantly.

We both paused and waited for the next song, and sure enough, it was another slow one.

He raised his eyebrows questioningly, and my heart galloped as I nodded.

I didn’t want to stop dancing with him. And more surprisingly, I didn’t want to stop talking with him .

The song was slower than the last, and Eli moved me from a formal dance-frame position to circle his arm tighter around my waist and bring me in closer. We danced together, neither of us talking, and it felt right. At least for now.

“Do you want to go back to Denver?” he asked, his voice neutral.

“I’m not sure. It’s something I’d been asking myself ever since I came home.”

Part of me was one hundred percent sure that the city was where I belonged.

My life there had been busy enough to keep my mind occupied and not focused on the past, which was what I’d wanted.

But being back in Poplar Springs made me realize how homesick I’d been.

Keeping busy was my way of not thinking about everything I’d left behind.

Everything I’d run away from.

“Charlotte looks like she’s a lion getting ready for the takedown,” Eli said in a low voice. “Man, she will not stop staring at us.”

“Well then, boyfriend, let’s give her something to watch. Twirl me or something, cowboy.”

“Oh, you wanna twirl?” he said with an evil look. “Let’s go, then, little lady.”

Even though the song was slow, Eli managed to keep the tempo up as he spun me around again and again.

His hand grazed my waist and stomach every time I turned, and I couldn’t tell if I was getting dizzy or if Eli’s touch was doing something to me.

When he finally stopped, I fell against him, unsteady on my feet.

“Damn. We made that look really good,” Eli said as he steadied me.

The way he said it made it seem like a team effort, but the reality was that Eli had done all the work, all I’d done was clutch his hand and pray I wouldn’t fall.

“Did she see?”

“Oh yeah, she did. So did everyone else.”

I looked around the room again and realized that we were the only two people on the dance floor. I spotted Charlotte right as she reached out her spoon to tap her wineglass. The sound spread throughout the room like a tidal wave.

“Hold on,” I said, looking around in a panic. “That’s not for us … right?”

Eli looked equally stricken. “No. No way, it can’t be. But where are Nick and Cassie? I don’t see them anywhere.”

The tapping continued, and we stared at one another with wide eyes, frozen in place.

“Umm …” I said.

“Wait, there they are,” Eli said in a relieved rush. “They’re over by the cake taking pictures.”

I watched as every eye in the room shifted to the bride and groom. Cassie raised her hand in the air to wave at her guests, then leaned in to kiss her new husband. Nick swept her into his arms, then dipped her dramatically, and everyone exploded into laughter and applause.

The pressure was off and as much as I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, a tiny part of me wished I’d had the chance to find out what it would be like to kiss Eli Carter.

Sure, I’d imagined it as a teenager. It was only natural to think about kissing anyone and everyone back then when hormones were high and judgment was low; it had nothing to do with him specifically .

Now, spending an evening by his side and the better part of three songs wrapped in his arms, my curiosity about kissing Eli Carter was back and stronger than ever.