"Why are you looking at me?"
"He's looking around the room and I don't want him to catch me staring at him. Besides, I'm getting sick of looking at him. I'd rather look at you."
She smiled up at him.
"I'd rather look at me too. I'm beginning to think his friend is late."
Bobby led them around until it was Alex's turn to watch again. They kept up the dancing for well over an hour. She was lamenting her choice of costume when she felt the boots start to pinch her toes. She was watching Jun-Thai and silently praying for the mystery guest to arrive when she saw him tense slightly and stare at a spot over to his right. She tried to see who it was but there were so many people it was difficult. She noted with some dismay that no one on that side of the room even appeared to be looking at Jun-Thai. Still, it was progress.
"He's here," she declared.
"Do we know who 'he' is?"
"No. No one seems to be paying any attention to him at all from the spot he was looking at. I just hope it isn't a woman."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well if it is then they can be out on the dance floor and all he has to do is whisper in her ear. Anyone looking would just assume he's sweet-talking her."
He nodded and would have said more but Jun-Thai chose that moment to leave the dance floor, whispering in his partner's ear as he led her back to the table. Bobby and Alex stayed out for a little while longer before moving off the floor.
"It's obvious that if he's going to say anything of import to a man that he's not going to do it out there, where he could be heard by anyone. He's going to look for a more private place and so should we."
Alex simply nodded. Bobby looked around and took note of the most likely spot. Over at the far end of the dance floor there was a set of doors. Beyond the doors was a staircase leading up to another pair of restrooms and the remaining floors of the gallery. On either side of the staircase there were alcoves with smooth marble benches. Most of the gallery had been roped off so most people wouldn't go that way unless they were looking for privacy.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Yes."
He was careful to keep a hold of Alex's hand as they walked to keep up the pretense. They strolled leisurely, making their way to the secluded area in back of the gallery. Once Bobby had shut the doors behind them he turned to address Alex.
"Hopefully he's going to make his move soon."
They looked out the door and across the expanse of the gallery to the table where Jun-Thai was resting, eating and drinking like before. It was another ten minutes before he moved, and when he did it was to go back onto the dance floor.
"Well shoot," Alex said, "Do we go back out there or what?"
"Let's give him a few minutes. If he doesn't move off the floor then we'll go back out. In the meantime it feels like one of my bolts is coming off. I'm going to go look at it," he told her.
"Here, let me look," she responded, walking the short distance to the staircase behind them. She stepped up on one of the stairs and reached her arms up to pull him over to her, "I'd hate for you to miss out on any of the fun while you're gone."
With a last glance out the door he ambled over to her. He reached out his left hand to grasp the handrail and Alex couldn't help but notice that if he performed a similar motion with his right hand she would be within the circle of his arms. With her on the step she was almost at eye level with him, a position she almost never found herself in. Their gazes locked for a moment before she blushed and broke the contact, using her hand to gently tilt his head so she could have better access to his neck. The lights were on but were just dim enough that she had to lean in pretty close to him to see what she was doing. She traced the outline of the bolt, feeling for any cracks or looseness. Finding none on that one she cupped his jaw on the opposite side and tipped his head the other way. She hesitated to look directly at him but when she did she was more than a little surprised to find that he wasn't looking at her at all. In fact, his eyes weren't even opened.
What was that about? She decided it was one of three things: he was upset with her for touching him, he was sleepy, or the most unbelievable option which of course was that he was enjoying what she was doing. She dismissed the second option since he wasn't swaying on his feet or anything like that so it was between he liked it or he hated it. But how to tell? She drew her finger across the outline of the other bolt and felt what could have been a crack. She realized that with her gloves on it was a little hard to distinguish. And that's what gave her the idea. So she removed her gloves and dropped them on the step next to her.
The feel of Alex's bare hand on his neck made Bobby's eyes snap open but he didn't say anything. She noticed, however, and reassured him.
"I thought I felt a crack over here but with my gloves on it was hard to tell. I hope you don't mind?"
He cleared his throat, which made Alex want to smile.
"No, I don't mind."
She nodded and stroked the area where she thought the crack had been. There it was, just a hairline. Barely noticeable and could be easily fixed. She was almost convinced that he did enjoy her ministrations but decided another test was in order so she cupped the opposite jaw in her hand and looked at him.
"Would you mind if I examined the other side again? Maybe I missed something."
"Go ahead," he told her and then allowed her to lean his head in the opposite direction.
She moved her hand down from his jaw to the bolt but instead of lifting her hand up and repositioning it she trailed her fingers down his neck. She heard his hand clench the railing a bit tighter and had to fight the urge to smile as wide as she wanted. So he did like that.
"Well there is a small crack on the other side. Nothing that can't be fixed in a jiffy," she uttered in a soft voice as she met his gaze.
As Bobby focused on her face he realized that there was a gleam of triumph that she was trying really hard to disguise from him. And then he knew that she had been teasing him with that last stroke, to see if he was affected by her touch. He decided that two could play at that game and began to plan his revenge. He was about to call her on it when he noticed that she was looking over his shoulder and frowning slightly. He leaned in closer to her.
"What is it?" he whispered.
"Jun-Thai's headed our way. He's outside the door. He's looking at me, well my outfit, more precisely. He creeps me out."
Perfect. He would get Alex back and maybe learn a bit more about Jun-Thai in the process.
"Okay. Alex, I want you to listen to me. I want you to keep watching him, see if anyone approaches him. I'm going to make it seem like we're too busy to care what he's doing, all right?"
She was already doing just that and so her full attention wasn't on what Bobby was saying. But she answered anyway.
"Sure. But how are you going to do that?"
"Do you trust me, Alex?"
It took a moment for the words to penetrate her brain but when they did she rolled her eyes.
"Of course I do, Bobby."
"Then just put your left hand on my shoulder and I'll do the rest."
She obliged and positioned her hand on his shoulder so she could block Jun-Thai's line of sight if needed.
"I think your mask is coming undone," he whispered, "I'll see, okay?"
She nodded absently, her attention back on Jun-Thai who seemed to be waiting for someone at the edge of the dance floor. Was it his dance partner? Was it the mystery guest he had been waiting for? But her attention snapped back to Bobby when she felt his fingers thread themselves through her hair. She stiffened in response and the fingers on his shoulder twitched momentarily but she got herself under control rapidly. Goren almost grinned at the obvious reaction. He didn't remove his fingers. Instead he moved them to the nape of her neck and started massaging in deep, slow circles.
"You're awful tense, Alex. Just relax and keep a watch on our guy," his voice soothed. He moved one hand to cup her jaw much like she had done with him earlier but instead of stopping he allowed his thumb to trace her jaw line, making sure he dipped down to feel her pulse for a moment. He was deeply satisfied when he felt it beating fast and erratic. She was just as affected as he was and no better at hiding it.
Time to up the stakes.
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Author's note: *insert evil cackle*………
Disclaimer: I never claimed to be non-evil. I do however, choose to disclaim any ownership of anything besides the plot.