- Saturday, 1st December, 2012 -

The dinner portion of the evening was an entertaining affair as the parents of the bride and groom were on very friendly terms. Mix in a bridal party full of friends, and the result was a pleasurable gathering, sans the drama one might expect.

Dinner wound down, and the parents settled in for an evening of bridge. The bride and groom had decided to forgo individual stag parties, and the potential accompanying guilt, accusations and arguments. They had opted to enjoy an evening out dancing and relaxing with friends instead. With that in mind, the bridal party was headed into the city to meet up with more friends to celebrate the upcoming wedding, rather than mourn the impending loss of single-dom.

In order to limit the number of people who needed to remain in a fit state to drive, they agreed to park all of the cars at a couple of spacious houses and apartments and carpool; couches, futons, and air mattresses had been pledged so no one would have to drive too far out of the way. The plan was to meet at a club in the city with a variety of music options, so they could split up or just move between rooms and music styles rather than bar hopping. The Best Man and Matron of Honor (Susie and John) had arranged for a table and bottle service, so they would have somewhere to stash coats and purses, as well as relax with a beverage.

The bridal party arrived at the club in small groups around 10pm. They were able to skip the line as bottle service also got them on the VIP list. Everyone arrived and shed winter layers, followed by a couple rounds of funny and racy toasts. Eventually some headed to the dance floors in pairs or groups, while others opted to sit and chat.

Cat remembered the conversation from their date about dancing, but didn't want to assume anything regarding Vincent's plans for the rest of the evening. She saw Tess and Simon across the table, and managed to catch Tess' attention, motioning with her head and lifted eyebrows towards the dance floor. Tess turned to let Simon know she was going out on the floor to dance. Cat started to walk around the outside of the group when her wrist was caught in a careful but firm grip, which spun her back into a set of strong arms. Even with her back to him, one arm caught across the front of her body, she could somehow tell it was Vincent who'd snagged her. She was surprised by this knowledge, there were other guys in the group who could have grabbed her in this manner, but none felt like he did; she was never this comfortable in a man's embrace.

"You weren't going to go dancing with Tess and leave me here at the table, were you?" Vincent rasped into Catherine's ear. She shivered and fought the urge to tilt her head to give him better access to her sensitive neck. Instead she turned her head towards him, which was just as dangerous to her sanity: her lips ended up mere inches from the doctor's. They both held this pose for a moment, until Catherine blushed and ducked her head. She twisted her arms gently – she knew he could hold her if he wanted to, she wasn't trying to break free, just let him know she wanted to move. Vincent let go of the petite detective's wrist, but kept his arms loosely about her. Catherine turned within the circle, braced her hands against his chest and looked up. She raised up on her tip toes to try to get her mouth closer to his ear so she didn't have to yell, but even with 4 inch heels he was too tall for that. She slid her left hand up his chest and to the back of his neck to gently pull him down.

As his head dipped, her fingers slipped up into his hair; she began to play with it as she tipped her head back to bring her mouth closer to his left ear to taunt, "There's got to be 8 people still at the table, you wouldn't have been alone."

Vincent slid his right hand up to cup the back of Catherine's head and support her neck as she reached up to be sure he could hear her. His left arm slid around her waist and pulled her closer. His mouth was now even with left ear as well, so he was easily able to respond, "I can talk to them at work, and I don't want to dance with any of them. Besides, I hear there's a Latin room, and I've been looking forward to see how well we move together. You up for it?" he challenged.

"Feels like you are," she breathed, caught up in the feel of his body pressed against hers.

"Feisty this evening! Let's put that fire to good work," he began to straighten as he relaxed his embrace, skimming his hands down her arms to her hands in preparation to go in search of Latin music.

Catherine blushed so brightly that Vincent could see it even in the dim club lighting. "You weren't supposed to hear that!" She tried to pull her hands back to herself and step away, but was thwarted by the gentle strength in the hands that wouldn't let her go.

Vincent pulled her hands back to each side of him and leaned back in to assure, "I like you this way. I've been looking forward to this for a week. Please dance with me?"

She bit her lower lip and peeked up at him through her eyelashes, then gave a shy smile and nodded her agreement. Vincent turned her around and placed his palm at the small of her back. "You lead; I don't want to lose you in the crowd. You look much too good tonight to be wandering around alone."

Cat nodded and began to work her way towards the door. She was so flustered that she forgot all about Tess.

The tall detective wasn't alarmed when her partner turned and walked towards the next room. She and Simon had watched the whole interplay with great amusement. "You game to dance?" she asked Simon easily. With her heels, she was little more than an inch shorter than Simon, and she was looking forward to dancing with someone tall enough to be comfortable.

"I'll dance, but don't want to have to work at the Latin tonight. There's R&B here, or 80's downstairs…"

"Oh 80s is always fun!" Tess grabbed Simon's hand and took off for the stairs.

Catherine led Vincent to a slightly open spot near the edge of the dance floor in the Latin room. "Time to see if those lessons paid off," she teased.

"For you? Or me?" he asked, as he took her right hand in his left, and placed his right hand on her rib cage.

"Both," she replied as they began to move to the live band. She was pleased that he actually knew the proper hand positions; now she had hopes of enjoying the dancing, aside from just being in his arms.

They salsa'd, rumba'd, mambo'd and meringue'd their way through several songs, finally ending up near the center of the floor. Both were pleasantly surprised at how natural it felt to dance together. Cat was especially pleased that she had no problems following; normally to give up control and follow a new partner she had to close her eyes, but with Vincent she was only closing them to better savor the experience. A tango started, and Vincent pulled Catherine flush against him in the Argentine style. As they continued through the dance, other couples began to simply sway in place to watch them. Catherine and Vincent swayed, dipped, spun and played with foot placement, all the time holding each other's gaze.

At the end, Vincent dipped Catherine, her head and arms flung back, then snapped her up against him as the song ended. The two simply stood lost in the moment, breathing heavily and gazing into each other's eyes. The crowd and band held their breath for that magical moment of silence that happens after you witness something spectacular before the applause finally starts. When applause did start, it startled them into awareness. Vincent had the presence of mind to step slightly away from Catherine, snagging her hand, and bow. She caught on and dipped a quick curtsey. They straightened and waved then tacitly agreed to walk off the floor.

Vincent ducked his head as they walked toward the bar, "I'll get us both water."

"Thank you," Catherine squeezed his hand, "I'm going to snag space on that bench before it's gone."

Vincent nodded, then stepped up to the bar. With his height, he was easily able to catch the bar tender's attention. He tried to pay for the water, but she waved him off, "It's on the house. It was a pleasure to watch the two of you."

"Thank you," Vincent saluted with one of the bottles. He worked his way over to Catherine, who was sitting in the corner of the bench that ran the length of the room. He considered the space as he approached. She'd either misgauged the size or others had sat down, because there was no way Vincent would fit next to her; his shoulders were simply too broad. The brunette realized this as he neared. Her dismay was clear to see on her face.

"I can stand for a bit," she started apologetically as he reached out both bottles of water.

"Just hold these for a moment," he requested. She reached out both hands and complied, a puzzled look on her face. Vincent gave her the bottles, then grasped her wrists, pulled her up and towards him, swung them both around quickly, sat, then tugged her to sit on his right knee, her legs tucked safely between his, and his right arm reaching around her back.

Catherine was glad she was seated. She was already dazed from their last dance, and his latest move had caused her to go weak at the knees. She finally managed to shut her mouth and hold out one of the bottles of water to him. Vincent took it and held it so he could reach to open it with both hands, which also pulled her closer into his chest. She simply relaxed her left side into his chest, leaning her head on his shoulder. Right now she couldn't remember why she'd been trying to keep any distance between them.

They sat for a few minutes, drinking their water. Vincent's right hand played up and down Catherine's back and side, his left rested on her legs with his water bottle. Catherine's left hand held her water while her right hand explored Vincent's chest and left arm. She was finally bold enough to sit up a bit and slide her hand up his neck and into his hair to get his attention. "We should probably check in with Lynn and Robert."

"You're right. Sitting with them and having a drink sounds good, I haven't done much dancing recently."

They joined the rest of the group, please to find that everyone was having a great time. It seemed no one saw their little 'display' in the Latin room – they were safe from harassment and mocking… for now. As the evening was winding down, everyone gathered back at the table to have a last drink. A short while later the lights flashed for last call; and the group decided to head out before the big rush. Coats, scarves and purses were untangled, rides were sorted out, and the group headed for the exit. Goodbyes were said outside the door before groups parted ways.

Vincent and Catherine were both sober enough to be drivers, so they said goodbye and promised to both text when they were safely home. They moved towards each other, intending a quiet goodbye, maybe even a hug, but were tugged in different directions by their eager passengers.

Author's Note 22nd April, 2013

Sorry the updates are coming so slowly. Work's still busy, and I came back from Vegas with a nasty cold. NOT the souvenir I was hoping for...

Thanks for the follows and the posts requesting more! It will keep coming until they have a HEA.

Anyway, here's an update, with the hopes it makes someone's Monday better. :)