The Dance

*2*

Emma wasn't sure what to do at that point in the conversation, and thought she should cut her losses and make a quick exit. She wasn't sure if the attraction she felt was mutual, but assumed it wasn't, and she was starting to feel a little uncomfortable about the whole scene.

'Well, now that you've seen my eyes, I guess I should get out of your way,' Emma said, gathering her bag.

Prince put his hand on Emma's arm, and she immediately froze in place. She could feel the warmth of his skin on her bare arm, and something that felt like a current of electricity. Emma realized she was holding her breath. Prince's eyes widened slightly as he, too, felt the same current. He had experienced physical attraction before, even strong lust on multiple occasions. This current was something he had not felt before. It felt exciting and comfortable at the same time, which was very intriguing.

'I'd love for you to stay if you don't already have other plans,' he said. We're having an aftershow, which you can attend as my guest, maybe even stick around for pancakes?' he said with a wink. 'Oh, man, I'm falling into the same pattern. I need to slow down, stop the pursuit and see what she is interested in-me, or the guy onstage.'

'That sounds perfect,' Emma replied. 'Is he serious? I'm nobody. I guess I'm just a distraction. Well, I will definitely enjoy pretending to be one of the glitterati! I can't imagine he has more in mind than friendship.'

Hours later, when the after show had ended, Emma found herself in Prince's penthouse, which took up the entire top floor of the hotel in which she was staying. The place was full of musicians, famous people she recognized, and a couple of people that didn't really seem to fit any category, which is where Emma saw herself.

True to his word, hotel employees arrived with carts of pancakes and syrups, and Emma found herself handing out filled plates and forks alongside the penthouse butler and Prince himself. She was surprised to see that he was comfortable serving others. 'Maybe I have underestimated him, writing him off as this big arrogant star. I'll have to drop some preconceived notions.'

Finally all the guests were served, and Emma sat down in an inconspicuous corner to enjoy her pancakes, since all the seating was taken. Upon hearing a throat being cleared, she looked up with a mouth full of pancakes to see Prince standing over her holding his own plate. Talk about embarrassing-having your mouth full in front of Prince! Emma swallowed quickly.

'May I join you?' he asked, as he simultaneously sat down on the floor beside her.

'Of course,' Emma replied, 'but I thought you'd be spending time with all these important people. I'm really enjoying the people watching. I'm memorizing the scene so I can play it back in my head later.'

'I see you don't really get what's going on here. YOU are the most important person in the room for me tonight,' Prince replied, looking intensely into her eyes.

Emma was transfixed in deep pools of amber with green lights, like someone hypnotized. She really couldn't tear her eyes away, and found herself swallowing convulsively. His face showed far more than casual interest, which confused her. 'What is his game?'

'Here, let's go somewhere quieter so we can actually have a conversation,' he said, as he stood and took the plate from Emma's hand. He handed the plate to a waiter, linked his fingers with hers, helped her up, and led her from the living room into an adjoining bedroom.

Emma could feel the eyes of all the women in the room staring at her back as they left the living area. Walking across the lavishly decorated bedroom lit by multiple scented candles, they sat on a love seat facing picture windows with a sparkling view of the night sky reflected on the lake.

'Tell me about yourself,' Prince said. 'Begin with why that song touched you so deeply. It's been a long time since I've seen such naked, genuine emotion on someone's face at one of my concerts, and witnessed such an effort to stay in control,' he continued.

'Okay, I'll start with why I'm here at all. My daughters purchased this trip for me as a birthday present and a thank you for getting us through the past two years,' Emma began.

Prince picked up her left hand, lightly touching the wedding rings on her finger. 'You're married, but your daughters bought you this trip?' he inquired.

'I was married,' she corrected. 'I was widowed two years ago when my husband had a tear in his aorta which killed him within hours. The ironic part about it was that he was the more health conscious of the two of us. He was a marathoner, among other things. Your music and prayer were the two things that kept me sane the first few months. I've worked through lots of grief these past two years, but hearing a live performance of one of the songs that got me through those initial months of shock and horror was far more overwhelming than I had anticipated. I'm sorry if it was a distraction for you. The last thing I wanted was to cause you to lose concentration during a performance.'

Prince's empathetic heart ached for Emma as he listened to her story. Her graceful explanation simultaneously impressed him and broke his heart, having seen her an emotional mess just a few hours before.

'That is a tragic circumstance,' he replied, still holding her hand in his. He began rubbing circles across the back of her hand in a way that Emma thought was meant to be soothing, but just created more electrical pulses inside her, running straight to her core. 'I'm so very sorry for your loss. I hope hearing the song didn't cause you too much pain.'

'Actually, by the end of the concert I felt almost buoyant,' she replied, shifting and releasing more pent-up tension from her shoulders. She tried to process the attraction she was feeling, and what seemed like an equal attraction on Prince's part. 'This is too weird, I'm nobody special.'

She continued speaking, 'It was as if that moment helped  clear away residual grief that had been holding me down. I'm grateful to you for that performance and what it did for me personally.'

'So,' Prince continued with a small smile, 'you're here on your own, and I luckily scooped you up into my world.' He looked up into Emma's eyes again. 'I hope you're willing to stay in it for awhile.'

'Please, say yes. Please don't walk away yet. Please, please, please...God, I need some confirmation, here!'

'I'm here for the week,' Emma explained. 'I arrived today, and I have tickets for your other two shows. I'm hoping to do some sightseeing, but I have no other plans. If you would really like to have me around, I'm open to spending time with you.' Emma couldn't believe what he was asking, and was amazed to be agreeing to his idea. 'Maybe jet lag has taken over!'

'I was hoping you would say that,' Prince replied. 'Could I have your room key? I'd like to have your belongings delivered to the guest room in the penthouse. Where are you staying?"

A/N-He just jumped right in, didn't he? Will Emma take him up on his offer? Would you? Thanks for reading, commenting, and voting!