A Dance

Her hair caught his eyes first. Honey-brown hair reflecting the golden rays of the sun, he acknowledged to himself.

Hairs with lengths like hers always had a luster about them as they cascade in beautiful, radiant waves, and those were what he saw as she stepped on the aisle, parting the long rows of seats arrayed for the wedding guest.

Walking beside her was a girl he vaguely remembered as the bride's cousin. He had encountered her at the engagement party, but her friend, he shifted his eyes back to her.

He remembered from last night.

"She looks different." Someone said beside him, and while he could have imagined Christopher saying that, he turned to see Stellan.

Stellan's recognition of her took away whatever doubt he could have had about her not being the girl from last night. He returned his gaze to her.

"Different in what way?" He asked without taking his eyes off her.

"Different in your kind of way," Stellan answered. "Or don't you think so?"

Pete wasn't sure what he thought or what Stellan was insinuating, but he'd undoubtedly admit that she was slightly different from the flustered girl from last night and incredibly pleasing to the eye. Maybe even far more pleasing than anyone he had seen.

She had a beautiful and innocent face that was in wide contrast to the dynamite packaged figure she had poured into a slinky silk green gown, with a provocative thigh-high slit revealing a flash of shapely legs as she walked further down the aisle and stopped by a row of seats reserved for the bride's family.

He watched as she slowly glanced toward his direction as if aware of his gaze, but just as their eyes met, she swiftly turned away like his gaze had scorched her.

She glanced at her friend, who was gesturing to a seat and lowered herself to it. Her neck and shoulders were visibly stiff from where he stood.

His lips twitched in an understanding of that reaction. The reflexive grip of her hand on her purse at the brief moment their eyes met had not missed his eyes.

Was she reeling with regret or surprise? He mused.

"Pete." A slight nudge came to his side, reeling his mind back to him. He buttoned up his suit and took his seat beside his friends, Christopher and Stellan, as the occasion came to a start.

The officiating minister gave an opening speech, and the procession notes wafted from the grand piano close to the wedding arch announcing the bride's arrival.

Pete peered at his little cousin, Tim, who was eagerly waiting for his bride as she arrived at the beginning of the aisle.

Tim was radiant as a beaming star as he watched his bride walk down the aisle toward him. He was literally radiating love and glee like every other person who had been opportuned to find that one person they couldn't live without.

Opportuned was the keyword because not everyone was lucky to find their very own person at the age of twenty-three, and not everyone would.

"Lucky bastard!" He chuckled under his breath.

"Not lucky, but stupid. I can't believe he's already making this decision at such a young age," Stellan commented. "Many great men before him had plied this path and had woefully failed. Marriage is good, but love alone doesn't keep it. He should be chasing his dreams and building a net worth for himself." He said, and Pete turned to him.

"And what other net worth does he need than what he already has?" Pete amusedly questioned his friend.

Stellan shrugged. "One that isn't entitled to the Hudson name, perhaps?" Stellan answered. "Like yours, for instance." He said, turning to Pete. "I heard you're paying for the wedding."

Pete noncommittally shrugged. He looked away and lolled on his seat. "It's a good investment." He casually replied.

"A bad investment, you mean." Christopher dryly countered in his low voice. "Marriage is a bondage, and love an insulting illusion, Hudson." He boredly commented, his fingers habitually flicking the lighter in his hand.

Pete glanced over to Christopher but said nothing. He didn't think marriage was a bondage or love an illusion, and neither could wealth keep it, as Stellan believed.

He believes love and marriage are both the most incredible things that could happen to anyone, and nothing beats being eternally shackled to that one person you'd want to live for and makes you incredibly happy.

His gaze shifted towards the bride as she walked past, but his eyes suddenly paused on a pair of brown eyes staring at him.

And just as their eyes met again, she looked away. His lips slightly curved up.

Now he could tell she was embarrassed.

But why was she embarrassed? She was the one who kissed him. He mused with amusement.

********

Lina slowly let go of the breath caught up in her chest, her knuckles slightly white from clenching too tightly on her purse.

She stiffly fixed her gaze ahead of her, not daring to look elsewhere but at the flowers standing ahead of her.

She had not meant to look at him. She had only been looking at the bride as she approached the groom, but somehow her gaze had paused on him.

He recognized her. Hell, he did!

She had seen the way he had looked at her with a somewhat amused smile on his face. Had he been laughing at her? At her foolishness from last night?

'Why didn't he —' She slurred on her thoughts.

How stupid of her to assume they wouldn't happen upon each other at the wedding today, no matter how grand it might be.

Even if they hadn't seen each other here, there was still the reception and the beach party tomorrow. And did she fail to mention the resort was reserved exclusively for the wedding by the groom's family?

Apparently, rich people did things differently.

Everyone at the resort was a guest at the wedding, so yeah, how stupid she had been to wish for the impossible.

The universe had never really worked in her favor, so of course, she should have known it would mess with her in such a fashion.

"Lina?" Sharon's sharp call of her name jolted her back to reality.

She blinked as she turned to her with confused eyes. "Did you say something?"

"What were you thinking about?" Sharon asked with a slight furrow of her brows.

Shaking her head, Lina lied, "Nothing," not wanting to mention the eyes she had attracted to herself. "What were you saying?" She asked, wanting to distract her mind from the eyes which might still be staring at her.

Sharon suspiciously stared at her but quickly shrugged it off. "I was talking about Laura," Sharon replied.

"What about her?" Lina asked, shifting her eyes to the bride, glowing with smiles and blushes as she stood before her groom.

"I was wondering why she has to go through all this stress simply to sleep with him. Sex is no reason to get married. She could have just gone about dating him and having all the fun." She whispered to her, careful enough not to sound such blasphemous words to the hearing of her family members present.

She didn't want to sound like a witch, especially when Laura was her cousin.

Lina silently peered at the couples, who were all glee and shine, and her eyes turned distant. "Is there ever a reason to get married?" She distantly muttered, making Sharon to still her gaze on her.

Lina sighed as she quickly realized herself. She turned to Sharon. "I wonder if your family knows how much of a jinx you are? Why do you keep coming to all these weddings? And why the hell did you bring me to this one?" She demanded with a mock-stern gaze.

"One question at a time, baby." Sharon chuckled. She turned and smiled at her aunt, who hushed her, indicating they were both being noisy.

She leaned closer to Lina's ears. "First, I'm not a jinx. Secondly, You know why I come to these weddings. Where else can one get slutty bathroom sex with the assurance of never meeting whoever again?" She said with a wink, which made Lina sigh as she helplessly shook her head.

Sharon chuckled at her cute reaction. How antiquated her Lina was, but she loved her just like that. Between them, there was no judgment whatsoever.

She leaned back in her seat. "And about why you're here. I need you to help take my mum and aunt off my back with the marriage talk, and also, I needed to take you out of Pamilton."

"You've been couped up there for too long, and lastly, I wanted you to have a glimpse of the place you'll be relocating to in a few weeks. So yeah, I thought you should see your new place and the people living in it. Maybe you might just encounter someone you'd be opportune to meet later." Sharon told her, surreptitiously observing Lina's reaction from the corner of her eyes.

Lina furrowed her brows. Encounter someone? She wasn't sure she wanted to meet anyone so soon when she was yet to move here.

Indeed, she'd be moving from her home at Pamilton and relocating to Newfaux in a few weeks, but this wasn't a decision she made of her own volition.

Her grandmother had just passed away, and the lovely woman had deemed it fit to will her bakeshop and home to her, with a dying wish for her to take over the small family heritage they had.

If it had been up to Lina, she wouldn't have considered moving, especially not to Newfaux. But she couldn't really go against her grandmother's dying wishes, could she?

She resignedly sighed. "Well, let's hope I don't encounter anyone too troublesome. I hate drama." She warily sighed.

"But I love drama. I live for it." Sharon wriggled her brows with a mild giggle, which had Lina pitiably shaking her head.

Lina spent the remaining hour impatiently waiting for the ceremony to end.

She felt stiff and suffocated in the dress Sharon had made her wear. The corset was cutting away at her entrails which were already grumbling with hunger.

She couldn't wait to lay her hands on some food and drinks at the reception and prolly get out of the dress. Why was the slit so high anyway? She frustratedly sighed as she tried to hide what was exposed of her thigh.

At the reception, Lina's mouth watered at the sight of the delicacies served. The varieties of expensive cuisines served reinformed her how differently rich people behaved.

She had been dissecting the desert, trying to figure out the different ingredients used in making it, when Sharon returned with two refilled glasses of champagne.

If she were counting correctly, this would be Sharon's sixth and her third.

"You're not trying to get drunk, are you?" Lina suspiciously questioned with puckered brows, and Sharon unashamedly affirmed it.

"That's the goal, honey. Get drunk, have sex, and hopefully too drunk to forget the mister's face by morning." She shamelessly answered, making Lina look at her with incredulity.

She watched as Sharon raised the glass to her lips, taking a large sip while her eyes toured around for her next victim of wedding sexcapade.

"Well, happy I'm not having sex with you, so I'm not drinking," Lina said and continued with her dessert, missing the mischievous gleam in Sharon's eyes.

"I'm not so sure about that," Sharon muttered impishly, and Lina raised her gaze to her.

"He's coming," Sharon warned gleefully. "Three o'clock, but don't look, Lina." She tried to warn, but she was already too late.

Lina already had her head turned to the right, curious to see who had Sharon on all grins, but the moment she did, her heart stopped.

"Now tell me, he isn't divine." Sharon challenged, her lips still holding a smile — a very pleased one at that.

"I guess your lips did a number on him, my dear Lina. It's our lucky day!" She squealed under her breath, but Lina was long lost on her ramblings.

Her heart had suddenly frozen with shock.

It was him from last night, her dare-kiss, and he was striding across the dancefloor and towards her, with eyes declaring his intent.

He was coming to her, and there was no doubt about it. Everything about him screamed it, from the determination in his gray eyes to his powerfully muscled thighs his trouser seemed to strain over, powerful shoulders which his gun-mental suit elegantly sat upon like it had been tailored just for him, and his brown leather shoes, which were leading his course.

His strides were intentional and lethal with the grace of a cougar on a prowl. Each step was filled with purpose, and he wasn't about to be diverted.

A convulsive shiver skimmed down her spine, and she was fixated on the spot with no idea what to do. Her heart thumped with fear rather than with excitement at the aggressive maleness he exuded.

Lina stiffened when he stopped before her with an open palm in confident invitation. Lina lowered her eyes to it, and her heart skipped again.

What was going on?

"Dance with me." He said in a soft command, drawing Lina's gaze to his face.

Lina was astounded by this sudden demand. She silently peered at his face as she tried to comprehend what was currently happening, and before she could think of what to say, Sharon gleefully echoed, "Yes, she will," picking her hand and placing it on his.