"Ten Days Wonder" - Five.
The lights were low, the club closed for the afternoon, when she tried the front door. She hoped that Rex's banishment of her had only applied to times it was actually open for business.
As she let herself in, peering around to make sure that his poor bouncers were nowhere to be found, the sounds of rhythmic salsa drifted across the darkened main room. None of that grinding industrial rock that River liked so much and insisted she listen to. Yerba Buena. Doing one of her favorite songs. Imagine that...Rex hadn't been lying. Perhaps he did know how to dance.
And if he wasn't lying about that...maybe he was right. Maybe all River had wanted from her was one thing...and only the threat of her giving it to somebody else had made him come running back to her.
She had to know.
Was her love story worth it?
Noise came from the back tables...Rex's voice as he spoke on the phone, and she ducked behind the wall of monitors, trying not to listen in, letting the drum beat take her some place else.
"Roxy...Mom...I don't think...no. Fine. Fine, it's still on. Look, I'll talk to you later, okay? Stay away from the ponies."
He sighed, ending the call with his thumb and sliding the flat phone back into his pocket. He didn't blame Roxanne for the back-up plan. Pretty much nobody had faith in his abilities to pull anything off. Although, Jen seemed to think he was capable of great things. Funny how she could shine his halo now but had spent their whole relationship thinking he was scum.
Of course, run-ins with his ex were the last thing on his mind. He'd long since passed that exit on the Downward Spiral highway. There really were some things more important than love. Money. Survival. Michigan State football.
Adriana.
As he rounded the bank of video screens, there she was. He had no idea how she'd gotten in again. And as he watched her...he suddenly didn't care.
She was dancing to some new tracks he was checking out. Completely unaware of anything except the way her hips swayed from side to side. Her arms moved up and down in some kind of complicated swirl. And her feet...he had no idea what they were doing. Her conservative skirt fanned out around her and it was automatically the most indecent piece of clothing ever invented. No...no, he changed his mind. Her simple white shirt, unbuttoned to the third button, just barely showing him what went beyond her collarbone ...that...that was seriously dirty.
And then she turned towards him and held out her hand.
She'd lost track of when he'd stopped talking on the phone and when he'd begun watching her, but it felt only natural to reach out, to murmur, impishly, "How about that dance?"
He looked startled by the question, startled by her presence, but he took her fingers in his, letting her tug him into position.
"Second thing," she reminded. "Show me I don't have to teach you..."
"I still haven't taught you anything," he pointed out as he put one hand, lightly, on her hip and the other on her shoulder. "Wasn't I supposed to warn you that all men are losers or something?"
"Later..." and she urged him to move with her.
Was his grip too firm? Was he administering the Bad Touch? Rex tried to keep his touch impersonal...but salsa wasn't that waltz crap where you had a foot between you. He could practically feel her heartbeat and every breath she took.
He followed her, toe to toe, and when she bent back, he flowed with her. To his credit, he didn't glance down to make sure his steps were right. He couldn't have even if he tried...because he couldn't stop looking at her. She was in her element...and he was in it with her. She was sharing this, like she'd shared her problems and her dessert and her laugh.
He was tentative at first and then she felt him relax, falling into the music, into the rhythm. His chest was hard where hers was soft, his arms secure enough to hold her, she couldn't deny that he was accomplished at this. She couldn't deny that they fit.
"You're...you're really good," she whispered as the playful song faded into something slower.
"You don't know the half of it." It was time for him to pull away. But he was stalling. Did she have any idea that dancing like this was just an opening act for getting naked? Was she really that naive?
He had to know.
He tilted his head, gazing down at her as his fingertips flirted with the edges of her blouse. He waited for her to slap him. To move out of range of his lips, which were suddenly hovering just a few inches above hers. When that didn't happen, his palms continued the progression, sliding upwards beneath the loose cloth, just above her waist Damn. Still no slap. And he couldn't move. He couldn't go farther, he couldn't go back.
"Adriana..." he pleaded.
She covered his fingers with her own and moved them higher.
She couldn't explain why. It felt...good. Hot. But not a burn. No...it was like that day where she and River had nearly...and with only simple touching. How was that even possible? "Rex...?" How did she even ask?
Oh. Oh, Man. She...she had no clue what kind of power she had. She didn't even know what she was asking with that little breathless gasp of his name. She was absolutely, 100%, virginal...and he was going to kiss her. If he didn't push her away. So, he pushed. He whispered something too harsh for her virgin ears and virgin eyes and virgin everything else and put her away from him, back against the wall of monitors.
"Did you...did you need something from me? Is that why you're here?" he demanded, hoping she couldn't hear how out of breath he was...how totally off balance.
Adriana tried to find the proper words, English ones. They still escaped her. And she was glad for the screens behind her because they held her up.
Yes...yes, she'd needed something from him.
An answer.
And she'd received it.
River Carpenter was a boy.
Rex Balsom was a man.
What they wanted was completely different.
When she was with them, what she wanted was different, too.
"Adriana..." Rex reached out and, at the last second, realized what the Hell he was doing and yanked his hand back.
She nodded, understanding, now, what that look in his eyes meant.
"I know...I know...I should leave."