The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club, #1)(58)

The man looked at Gavin. “I know you.”

Gavin let go of Mack’s shirt. “No, you don’t.”

“You’re Gavin Scott.”

“No, he is not,” the Russian supplied. “Gavin Scott much bigger man. And not so ugly as this one.”

The man snorted and washed his hands. In the mirror, he looked at Gavin. “You should ask her to dance. If she’s looking at the dance floor, she wants to.”

Great. Now he was getting advice from strangers in the goddamn bathroom?

The man dried his hands. “I heard nothing,” he said. Then he left.

Gavin pointed at Mack. “You are going to leave. Now.”

“Just listen to us,” Mack said. “You’re doing really well, but dance with her, and use it as a chance to get her to talk. It happens all the time in the manuals. Remember when Irena and Benedict danced the waltz? It brought them closer. People reveal secrets when they dance. It’s easier to talk to a shoulder than to a face.”

That made an absurd amount of sense, which pissed Gavin off.

The door opened again, and in strode a security guard in a gray uniform. He surveyed the scene. “Everything all right in here?”

“Yep,” Mack said. “Nothing to see here.”

“A woman said she was worried that her husband might be in trouble.”

Gavin extended his hand. “My name is Gavin Scott, and I’m a player for the Nashville Legends. These two men are harassing my wife and me, and I’d like you to throw them out, please.”

“Let’s go.” The security guard took Mack’s arm. He hesitated when he realized Mack was solid muscle. “Um . . .”

Mack ignored the guard. “When you get home, ask if you can kiss her in the driveway. In your car. She’ll love it. I read it in this one book, and I tried it on a girl once, and I swear, she melted on my lap like butter.”

“This man is clearly unhinged,” Gavin told the security guard.

“Have you been drinking, sir?” the security guard asked.

Mack nodded. “Yes. Good. I’ll pretend I’m drunk. Make sure Thea sees this when he throws us out. You can follow us out and be all, get the fuck out of here, and be all alpha male and shit.”

“You’re insane.”

Mack put his hat back on. “I’m telling you, she’ll open up with you after all this. You’ll be thanking us later.”

The security guard pulled on Mack’s arm. “Look, I don’t know what the hell is going on in here, and I’m not sure I want to know, but you two, out.”

He shoved Mack toward the door. The Russian followed. “My disguise does not suck.”

A small, curious crowd had formed outside the bathroom, because who isn’t curious when a security guard goes into the john at a bar? Mack turned to look over his shoulder and made as big a scene as possible. “I love you, man,” he cried, stumbling for effect. “I’m a huge fan. Huge.”

Gavin pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Yes. Huge fan,” the Russian said, inexplicably throwing his arms high in the air.

“Out you go,” the security guard said, pushing them to the door.

Gavin ignored the looks and questions from people as he walked back around the dance floor. He looked up to see Thea leaning over the railing, biting her lip. He took the stairs two at a time.

She rushed over to him. “What happened?”

“Nothing. It’s fine.”

“What did you say to them?”

“I told them that I was enjoying a nice evening with my wife and that I would appreciate it if they would leave us alone.”

“Don’t do that again. Do you hear me? They could have been crazy! I don’t want you to do that again.”

“I won’t.”

“I’m serious.”

Gavin put his hands on her hips and pulled her against him. “Do you w-want to dance?”



* * *



? ? ?

“Dance?” Thea scanned Gavin’s face for signs of another head wound. Had one of them hit him in the bathroom?

Uncertainty flashed across his face. “I thought maybe you w-w-wanted to.”

“I—”

“We don’t have to.”

He started to step back, but Thea covered his hands with her own. “I didn’t say that. We just, we’ve never danced before.”

“I know. It’s long overdue, don’t you think?”

Yes, but not much about their marriage was normal. They were doing a lot of things for the first time that most married couples did long before they got married and had children.

“I like dancing,” she finally said. Wait. No. What was she thinking? This wasn’t supposed to be a real date. She was supposed to be going through the motions. The washi tape and wine were scrambling her brain. She backed up.

“So do I,” Gavin said. He caught her hand with one of his and pulled her back. He curled their fingers together. “So should we?”

Thea looked around the dark loft. They were safe from prying eyes, and the band was playing a slow song.

Nervous butterflies took flight in her stomach as Gavin wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. His other hand curled around hers, and he tucked them both against his heart. It was manly and gallant and sexy as hell, and that was before he began to move.