As he stepped on the dance floor with her his hand found her waist and they began to sway together. They chatted freely with the ease of two people who had known each other for years and the conversation stayed light. Niles noticed how bright her smile was as she laughed at something he had said and how happy she seemed in this moment. He, himself, couldn't remember the last time he had had such a good time with someone and intended to make the most of this night with her. His time so far in England with her had been like a dream. It almost felt as though they really were a couple and had only solidified his feelings for her. They danced through a couple of songs together when C.C. said something that slightly surprised him.

They had been swaying in comfortable silence for a few moments when C.C. said "This has been a really good time Niles, I'm glad I agreed to come here with you."

Niles pulled back a bit to look at her face and smirked. "Have you had too much to drink? Because the C.C. I know would never pay me such a compliment." He teased.

She smiled at him. "No I'm serious. I can't remember the last time I've had such a good time with anyone….or the last time I've had such a good time with a man." She looked down at her last words, slightly embarrassed to make eye contact.

Niles' heart soared at her words. He began to think maybe his mother was right. Maybe C.C. did see him the way he saw her. He gently reached forward to lift her chin so she was looking at him again.

His face turned serious. "I'm the luckiest man in the world to have you here with me this weekend."

Her eyes widened at the intensity he gave off. No one had ever spoken to her this way before. Sure she had men in the past who praised her with compliments but they always felt hollow, meaningless. With him it felt real, like he meant every word he spoke and a warmth settled in her stomach.

The song they danced to came to an end and a much slower song started up. C.C. went to pull away but Niles held firm to her waist and pulled her in closer to him so she was pressed up against his chest. She gasped slightly at the unexpected motion but then relaxed against him. He released her other hand and moved so that both his hands rested on her waist and C.C. took the cue to wrap both her hands around his neck. The position felt much more intimate and C.C. gave herself over to the moment and lay her head against his shoulder, moving slowly with him back and forth.

He smelled like a rich cologne and she closed her eyes and breathed him in. One of his hands moved further up her back and she felt his thumb gently rubbing small circles on the bare skin at the middle of her back, sending shivers down her spine.

Niles was on cloud nine holding this woman close to him and it felt all too soon when the song came to an end and a fast paced song started playing.

He reluctantly pulled back from her. "Would you like to take a break from dancing? Have a drink?" He asked her.

"That sounds good. I'll meet you at our table, I just have to use the restroom." She smiled at him and began to turn toward the restrooms, his hand only letting go of hers when she was out of arm's reach. As she walked away He couldn't help the giddy smile that spread over his face.

Niles turned and walked in the direction of the refreshments and grabbed 2 glasses of Champaign. As he turned and started to walk back to their table he came face to face with Jeremy and nearly spilled the drinks trying to keep from running into him.

"Hey watch it there, Baby fat!" Jeremy said loudly to him

Niles flinched at the derogatory nickname, anger beginning to fill him,but he decided to simply try to get away from him as soon as possible so he could continue to spend his evening with C.C. undisturbed.

"Apologies" He said tersely and made to move around him but the man moved in his way, blocking him from leaving.

"Hey hold on now. Don't you want to catch up with an old pal some more?" Jeremy said, giving him a shit eating grin.

OoOoOoOoOo

As C.C exited the bathroom she walked towards their table, expecting to find Niles waiting for her there. When she noticed he wasn't there her eyes began scanning the room for him when she saw him standing across the room at the refreshments table. She noticed his expression and posture looked tense and uncomfortable and saw him speaking to a man she didn't recognize. She immediately realized this must be the man who insulted him at the hotel bar and she began making her way towards him to rescue him from the situation.

As she drew nearer another woman walked up to them and placed a kiss on the other man's cheek. The man smiled at her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She was close enough to hear him speak now.

"Hey babe. I was just talking to old Niles here." He turned to Niles and gave him a satisfied smirk. "You remember my wife Christie don't you Niles? I believe you two used to date back in the day right? That is until you left and I made her mine, Isn't that right babe?"

The woman laughed at her husband and looked at Niles. "Hello Niles, it's nice to see you."

C.C. halted her steps at the mention of the woman's name. Christie as in Christine? The woman Niles said was his first kiss?

C.C. noticed Niles freeze for a moment then she noticed true pain in his eyes at realizing his high school bully was married to the girl he used to care for. She could tell he desperately wanted to get away from these two. Then the man spoke again.

"So where is this beautiful blonde wife of yours? Did she decide not to come or something?" He said tauntingly.

C.C. felt her blood begin to boil at the situation before her and she decided to do something rash. She marched right up to the Niles, placed her hand on the side of his head, pulling his face towards her and crashed her lips against his.

Hey guys! Its been so great reading your reviews from the past few chapters, they really motivate me and I hope you all are enjoying the story. So from here on out things are starting to heat up and I've been toying with the idea of changing the rating of this story to M for future chapters and taking the content a bit further. a bit more explicit. I'd like to know how my readers would feel about that. Yay or Nay?