Quaking Ch. 23

CHAPTER 23: Cade

Cade couldn't keep the amused smile off of his face. It was eleven p.m. and Joy was—bouncing. There was no other word for it. Smile on her face. Starlight in her eyes. In Cade, such behavior would've been cause for concern. Cade suspected Joy was just—

Yup. Joy was filled with joy.

Joy had called it quits on the job site early. She'd extended her rentals for a week and then roped Cade into skiing well past his dinner time. When even she'd admitted that she could eat, Joy had turned down Rocky's in favor of the drive into town. Cade had obliged because he would've climbed Rheasilva Peak just for a chance to see that glorious smile that Joy'd now gifted him thirty-seven times in the past hour. But who was counting? Not Cade. He was so gone for this woman.

"Let's do something fun. Do you want to do something fun?" Joy skipped out the door Cade held open. For a second, it looked like she might go all Yellow Brick Road. "I want to do something fun."

"Sure," Cade said. Honestly, keeping up with Joy on the slopes had exhausted him. He was kind of looking forward to bed. But Joy was smiling again and there was no saying no to that smile. "Did you have something in mind?"

"Yup." Joy held up her phone. She'd been scrolling through it while he'd been paying for their dinner. "This."

Rippers. That's what the Yelp review called it. The picture made it look like a bar masquerading as a nightclub. Looking up, Cade saw that Ripper's was right across the street. A steady stream of people flowed in and out. A rhythmic, sonic boom base thrummed from the maw of its revolving door.

"They're doing country swing and two steppin' tonight."

"Um." Cade combed a hand through his hair. "I can't dance." That wasn't entirely true. He'd taken about three months of West Coast swing classes prior to his prom—some thirty-plus years ago.

"Oh. Come on. It'll be fun." Joy spotlighted him with her smile. "I'll help you."

Cade cycled a centering breath and gifted Joy a wry grin of his own. "Is that code for you're going to make an ass of me?" He strode towards the street. There was no point in finding parking in the lot across the way.

Joy bounced past, snagged his hand and tugged Cade to hurry him up. She was lit up brighter than the Christmas constellations lining the street. They dodged the non-existent traffic on Quaking's Main Street and entered Ripper's on Curves Like A Back Road.

"Do you want a drink?" The music wasn't as ear-shattering as Cade had feared, although he still had to shout to be heard. The press of bodies wasn't too pressure cooker either. The building was probably at only twice its fire marshal capacity.

Joy planted a fist on her hip and pointed towards the dance floor. She tried for a glacial glare, but the spark in her eyes ruined it. The smile that carved her face screamed playful. When Cade hesitated, no fewer than three men took a step towards Joy because no back road had curves like hers. With a gorilla grunt to warn off the competition, Cade grabbed Joy's outstretched hand. He led her to the corner of the dance floor—because, hey, he didn't want to get in anyone's way.

Five minutes later, Joy was in stitches. She'd gotten good at dancing her toes out of the way, but Cade was still slide-step, slide-step, trip. Joy looked glitter drunk. Cade's hackles were up. The coyotes, ones that might actually know how to dance, had crept closer. The DJ had spun up Look What God Gave Her and Cade was not the only one with eyes.

What he wouldn't have given for a four rounds of Jose Cuervo right now. With no other option, Cade surrendered to the moment. He tore his gaze off his two left feet and laser-locked his eyes on Joy. Joy nodded her encouragement and he pulled her into a slide-step, a second, a third and a back-slide. A butterfly spin brought them nose-to-nose over his left shoulder. Thank God for muscle memory because that'd come from nowhere. The surprised delight that fireworked in Joy's expression rivaled nothing Cade'd ever known. Something swelled in his chest and—

Cade spun Joy out of the embrace. The mahogany-colored fan of Joy's hair showered angel kisses as it brushed past. Slid, twirl, dip, twist, twirl, twirl and twirl until Joy was delirious with laughter. Her smile could've powered all of North America.

Joy fell into him and clutched his shirt. She hung on Cade as I Love This Life closed out. "Oh my God. Thank you!" Joy smiled up at him—soul-light, joy shining from her eyes. "See. That wasn't so hard." She rested her head upon his shoulder. Cade banded his arms about her and they swayed to Kiss Somebody. Joy's gaze met his. She bit her lip. Cade's blood pressure spiked. His chest pressured up as though his relief valve had busted.

Joy looked away and sighed. Her smile dropped. She waved at the bar. "I'll take that drink now."

Guarding his claim, Cade kept Joy's hand in his. He snow-plowed their way to the bar. The pub didn't have her KBS. The only chocolate stout on hand was a Black Butte Porter. Cade picked up the same. His ski-bruised body, the hour and the fact he was driving red-flagged his preferred whisky.

"Wow. I like!" Joy shouted over one hundred decibel Dibs. She bopped to the beat. Pressed chest to chest by the crush at the bar, she moved against him. Cade shifted self-consciously. It was only a matter of time before Joy noticed the goliath threatening to burst his fly.

Joy's attention drifted back to the dance floor. "I don't want to leave." Her voice was mournful. "I haven't had this much fun in—" Her expression turned pensive. "—forever."

Cade's heart did a belly flop. Joy wasn't joyful anymore. "Do you—" Cade couldn't believe he was about to ask this. "—want to dance?"

Joy's smile exploded across her face. "Yes." She feathered a kiss onto Cade's cheekbone. "I'd love to—" She looked at her phone. The time was pushing one. "—but we have to go to work tomorrow." She let out a hard groan. "Early. And I wanna get more runs in come morning."

Cade dropped some cash and abandoned his bottle. Hand in hand, they ditched the crowd to the opening notes of More Than I Know.