She turned the corner. Enzo was leaning against the building’s wall, texting on his phone. She’d seen him an hour ago, and yet part of her still marveled at how good he looked, at his rugged grace. He seemed out of place here in her mundane harvesting world. He wore his jacket even though the day was still warm. He must expect that they would be dancing for quite a while.
Well, she did need a lot of work.
He looked up and smiled a slow, sultry smile. One that probably stunned women into eager compliance. She’d have to remember to keep her head.
He slid his phone into his back pocket. Two pairs of weeding gloves lay on a stump near the building. He picked them up and held a pair out to her with a flourish. “Your dancing gloves, m’lady.”
She put on hers. “You didn’t skimp on elegance for the evening.”
“I’m all about elegance. You should include that on the list of things you’ve learned about me.” He slipped his gloves on. “Do you have a playlist ready?”
She glanced over her shoulder, scanning the area. “Are you sure you want to dance out here? Won’t you feel embarrassed if anyone comes by and sees us?”
“No one will come by. I took the signal booster out of my truck and let Reverend Russell use it to get the game on his screen. First football game of the season. All the guys are in the bunkhouse watching it.”
Removing a signal booster from the truck must have taken a lot of work. “That was nice of you.”
“I had ulterior motives.”
“A love of dancing, no doubt.”
“Add it to your list.”
She brought up her waltz playlist on her phone, started the first song, and set her phone against the side of the building. Despite the solitude, she kept the volume on low. She didn’t want anyone who might be wandering around to hear the sound and come to investigate.
Enzo took her hand in his. The gloves felt awkward, too thick. She missed the touch of his fingers closing around hers. Still, this was the proper way to do things.
His nearness made it hard to think. She wanted to trace the lines of his face, to admire the thick lashes that rimmed his dark eyes. She had to force herself to concentrate on the beat of the music.
1…2…3.
The feel of his hand on her waist brought back memories of the last time his hand had rested there, two nights ago when it had traveled up her back. She’d never thought the smell of the soap and shampoo the harvesters used was particularly intoxicating, but she wanted to close the space between them and breathe in that fresh scent from him. Was she fixating on Enzo’s neck? That wasn’t a normal thing, was it?
The earlier lessons had fled her mind, and she stumbled into him. “I’m sorry. I’m still not very good at this.”
“That’s okay,” he murmured into her ear. “Mostly I just want to get to the part where we’re not waltzing anymore.”
She felt a blush rising in her cheeks. He wanted to kiss her. Or maybe he was teasing her. Telling her she was hopeless at dancing, and he wanted to stop. “What do you mean by that?”
“Let me show you.” He lowered his head to kiss her.
Sanity returned before his lips reached hers. She dropped her hands and moved away from him. “We should talk.”
He stepped toward her, undeterred. “That’s what you want to do right now?”
She continued backward, keeping distance between them. “I just need to know who you really are.”
He followed her, going the same slow pace, his eyes never leaving hers. “You already know who I am. You’ve got a list going.”
“I need to know more. I understand why you wanted to learn to shoot. I believe you about that. But where does a civilian get the bullets to practice? How could you afford them? You haven’t told me nearly enough about your past.”
“You’re about to run into the building.”
She stopped and glanced over her shoulder. He was right. She stood less than a foot away. He stepped closer, his hands reaching for her. She backed up and felt the wall press against her. “Are you going to answer my questions?”
He put his arms on either side of her, trapping her. She should’ve anticipated this would happen. He hadn’t been moving fast. She could’ve darted away. But in truth, she didn’t want to run away from him. She wanted his arms around her. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair, and they both wore these stupid gloves.
His gaze moved to her lips, and his voice turned husky. “One kiss and then we’ll talk.”