Dante stumbled a little before catching himself, taking a deep breath he crossed the ballroom towards her. God help him, he was nervous. He didn't know why, it wasn't like he had never asked a woman to dance before. Before he reached her a man stepped in front of him, taking her hand in his he led her out to the dance floor. His mom stepped up beside him, "I'm sorry honey."
"Looks like I missed my chance. That's probably her boyfriend anyways, so I just saved myself a beating."He replied with a laugh.
"Come on you can dance with your Ma."She said as he took her hand and led her out on the floor.

He knew this was probably for the best since he definitely wasn't ready for any kind of relationship and he had no business leading anyone into thinking he was. He had been telling his mom that much before he spotted her and everything he was saying went out the window.

"Care to dance with your older brother?" Lucky asked as he stopped in front of his little sister.
"Sure," she said as they headed for the dance floor leaving Maxie who hadn't even noticed she was gone. She was too busy looking out for single guys.
"Having fun tonight?" he asked with a smile.
"Yeah, Maxie thinks were both gonna meet some nice, single guys tonight." she said with a laugh as he twirled her around the floor.
"Well maybe you will."
"You know I'm not looking to meet anyone."
"Come on Lu, it's been a while since you and Johnny broke up. Don't you think it's time to move on?"
"I have moved on. Just cause I'm not with someone new doesn't mean I'm still hung up on him."
"But maybe the perfect guy is out there waiting for you. Just cause Johnny wasn't the right one doesn't mean he's not out there."

Dante looked at the number on his ticket and matched it to the number on the table, his table was near the dance floor and his mother was seated at the next table over. 'Great,' he thought as he sunk into his seat. 'Now I don't know anyone at my table.' He knew he would be forced to make small talk and pretend to be interested in what ever the other people at his table had to say.
Loosening his tie just a little he took a sip of the red wine that was served beside each plate when he heard a voice behind him, "Is this seat taken?"
Turning around he was surprised to see the very woman that he had planned on asking to dance only moments earlier. "No have a seat," he said pulling out the chair beside him as she sat down.
"Thanks." She told him dropping her purse on the table beside her plate.

"I wonder what their serving at this thing?" Dante said fiddling with the silverware beside his plate.
"Not sure but I guess we'll find out soon enough." She said as waiters brought out trays of food.
Placing a tray on their table Dante lifted the lid to see dishes off food that could only be described as inedible at least to him. "What is this stuff?"
"I think that's frogs legs, that might be caviar and I'm not too sure what the heck that stuff is," she said pointing to the pile of goopy stuff in the next dish.
"I don't know about you but I'd much rather have a hamburger." He said with a laugh.
"Oh yeah with a side of fries." She said dropping the lid back onto the plates.

Deciding to eat something later on instead Dante held out his hand, "Care to dance?" he asked with a smile.
"Love to." She said as he led her onto the floor with a few other couples.
The band played as he held her close, "He didn't need to see her whole face to know she was beautiful. "Should I worry about someone breaking my kneecaps for dancing with you?" he asked with a grin.
"Not unless you count my brother," she said pointing to the guy he had seen her with earlier. 'Ah so it's her brother,' he thought to himself.
"So why did you come with him instead of a date? They must be beating down your door."
"Actually I came with my friend but she seems to have ditched me for some doctor, go figure."
"I'd be happy to keep you company the rest of the night." He said as they twirled around the floor.

They spent the rest of the night together talking, dancing and just having a good time. She enjoyed talking to him and he was incredibly easy to talk to for someone she had just met. She found herself telling him a lot about herself but for fun they decided not to tell each other their real names. They agreed to just enjoy the night together and not have to deal with what came next. She wasn't looking for another relationship or attachments at the moment and neither was he. She learned that he had been hurt in the past which was something they had in common.