“Savannah, this is Karin Briggs from the endowment office.” Gregory spoke quickly, seeming flustered.
“Savannah,” Karin spoke sweetly as she extended her hand, “it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Nice to meet you,” I replied.
“If you’ll excuse me, I must run to the ladies’ room. I’ll be back in a moment, Gregory.” Karin stood as Gregory nodded in acknowledgement.
“You’re quite good, Savannah,” Gregory’s tone was unmistakably seductive.
But, I had to be mistaken. He was my professor.
I opened my mouth to speak, but I was suddenly unsure how to respond. “I …”
“Where’d you learn to dance like that?”
Nathan, apparently growing impatient with my increasingly long conversation with Gregory, saddled up next to me as I sat in the seat Karin vacated.
I shrugged. “Spain, mostly,” I said matter-of-factly. One summer spent literally dancing through the streets of Madrid will teach anyone all they need to know about dancing. And love.
Gregory’s eyes widened in approving surprise. “Spain …” He shifted on the stool, his attention diverting expertly away from my legs as I crossed them.
“Yeah,” I sighed, “when I would visit my mom in the summers we’d take lots of trips around Europe. It would last all summer until I was old enough for the Tanglewood Institute, then I’d spend the first part of the summer with her in Italy, and the second half at Tanglewood.”
“Ah, Tanglewood.” Gregory nodded in approval. “Excellent program. I attended through high school. It completely changed my life.” He ran his index finger along the rim of his glass as he stared into the clear liquid. I was taken back by this bit of honesty from him, given it was a memory that caused him to pull his eyebrows together for a second before looking up again.
“So,” I cleared my throat, circling the conversation back to his initial question, “you dance?”
“It seems so, given our setting, wouldn’t you say?” Half his mouth quirked up as he arched his eyebrow and took another sip of his drink.
Damn.
“Do you want to dance?”
Nathan was engaged in loud conversation with a friend of his behind us. I had no one to stop me.
Gregory’s eyes widened a little bit at the question, and he sat up straighter. “That’s probably not a good idea.”
Yes. His eyes said yes. The rapid rise and fall of his chest accepted my invitation. Why did he say no? “Why not?”
“Because ...” He hesitated after the word. Out of character ... Gregory didn’t hesitate. But just as he was about to continue, Karin returned.
“It was nice to meet you, Karin.” I smiled, extending my hand to shake hers one more time before turning to Gregory. “See you in class tomorrow.”
Gregory eyed Nathan, his face returning to the rigid structure we’d come to expect from our time in his class. “Don’t forget about your assignment.”
Nathan laughed a little before hooking his arm around my waist and yanking me into his body. That caused me to let out a squeal and a laugh. I turned and saw Gregory’s mouth open just a fraction, as if he was going to say something, but I just smiled and waved before letting Nathan lead me back to the dance floor.
Gregory
My eyes involuntarily followed Savannah Marshall, as she and her boyfriend moved out to the dance floor. Savannah wore a form fitting red dress that flared at her hips, revealing shapely legs which were accentuated by matching heels. I took another too big sip of my gin and tonic, forcing myself to look away. That did nothing to clear the sight of her skin glistening a mere foot from my face as we chatted.
“What is it?” Karin shouted over the extremely loud music. Good music, though. Full of rich undertones and an off-tempo Caribbean flair.
“What is what?” I asked.
“You looked startled!”
I brushed off the question. “It’s nothing. Please continue.”
“How about we dance instead?”
I suppose I knew that was coming. Karin and I had been out on several dates, virtually all of them venues I had selected. The Opera, the symphony on one of my rare nights off, elegant dinners. For this date, I’d asked her where she wanted to go, and she’d selected salsa dancing. Not something I normally did, but I suppose if one is dating, you must make some compromises. And, the music was good, after all.
We moved out to the dance floor. Thanks to my mother’s insistence when I was a child, I’m not a bad dancer, though it’s not something I particularly enjoy or seek out on my own. I put an arm on Karin’s waist, took her left hand in my right, and we began to dance. I swung her around on the floor, and as she laughed, my eyes involuntarily fell on Savannah Marshall again, in that red dress, with her boyfriend’s hands inappropriately sliding down her waist and too low on her back. It shouldn’t have bothered me, but it did. Did that young man have no culture at all? I turned with Karin, so aggressively she almost stumbled, so that my back was to Savannah. But my thoughts lingered on the narrowness of her waist and the way the bodice of her dress hugged her breasts.
Annoying thoughts. Inappropriate thoughts, considering she was a student. A student who was out on a date with her boyfriend.
The band slowed down, and the couples on the floor moved closer together. Karin folded herself into my arms, nestling her chin against my shoulder. She was pressed fully against me, and we swayed slowly with the music.
“Gregory … ” Her whisper was right in my ear. I squeezed my arms tighter around her, because that seemed all the response necessary.
I sighed a little as Savannah and Nathan swung into view again. They were appallingly close, and his hand was resting just on the top of the curve of her ass. She was truly a remarkable young woman. And probably deserved someone a lot better than Nathan, who was little more than an overgrown boy. I almost let my mind run to the thought of her in bed, and my body involuntarily responded.
I tried not to freeze, because Karin noticed. And pressed herself against me, tighter. “Gregory?” she said.
“Yes, Karin,” I murmured.
“Let’s go back to my place?”