Chapter 48

She watched as Simon took another sip himself, watched the way the strong column of his throat worked. At that moment the music changed back to an infectiously upbeat rhythm.

Simon extended a hand across the table. “Come on, let’s dance.”

Sara shrank back with genuine fear. She could see couples dancing with effortless grace and style, making moves she could never even hope to mimic. She shook her head desperately, “I told you. I'm not very good at dancing, Simon,”

He left his hand where it was.

“Seriously,” she said pleadingly. “I’m really, really bad, I’ll just embarrass you.”

He stood up and took her hand from her lap, pulling her up.

She tried to resist. “I’ll watch you dance with someone else— honestly.”

He wasn’t listening. He pulled her remorselessly after him. Sara was having flashbacks to excruciating moments on other dance floors where she’d shuffled around, invariably much to her friend's and brother's hysterical amusement. Or