Dancing with a Stranger

Chapter Two

Present Day – May 7, 2019

The beeping from the alarm clock wakes me from my peaceful rest. How is it six-thirty already?

I use my muscle memory to hit the switch and turn over onto my back. A noise by my side startles me and I look over to see Braden is still here. We have been together for almost a year and it has been amazing.

We met last May when Lottie dragged me out of the house to explore the city. If I didn't know any better, I would have said she set the whole thing up. Seeing as all we did was eat ice cream for hours, we were hungry for real food and found a local eclectic restaurant that had rave reviews. The food was delicious and as we were finishing, she directed my attention towards Braden.

"Hottie, three o'clock," she said, throwing a wink my way.

"Not going to happen, Lottie. Let it go."

"He's been looking at you off and on the entire time," she explained. "I say, 'go for it'."

Refusing to look in his direction, she started coughing and sputtering. "What are you doing?!" I cried, "You're making a scene!"

"That's the point, Lacey, dear." She resumed her fake coughing spell while my face turned beat red in humiliation. Covering her mouth with her napkin, she said, "Oh, good, here he comes. Just like clockwork."

Mortified, I tried to look busy fumbling around in my purse.

"Is everything okay?" The sound of his voice sent shivers up my spine. I slowly looked up from my purse and saw his smiling, handsome face. He had me at 'hello'. He didn't say hello, you idiot. That's not the point. For me, it was love at first sight.

Of course, my aunt 'miraculously' felt better after taking a sip of water and invited him to join us, which he did. He convinced us to have dessert with him. She came up with some sort of excuse as to why she "couldn't stay" but insisted I share a dessert "with the nice young man". I could have throttled her!

Four hours later and we were closing the restaurant. We spent the entire weekend talking and hanging out. By the next weekend, we were inseparable, and we have been that way ever since. I am not sure what I have done to deserve a great guy like this, but I am not complaining. I really think he is the one.

I turn over and look into his beautiful brown eyes. He has a lazy grin on his face as struggles to keep his tired eyes open to look at me. "Morning beauty. Sleep well?" he asks with a yawn.

"Hi handsome," I reply with a quick kiss on his lips. "Yeah, I did, but for some reason I feel really tired."

He brings his hand to my face and pushes my hair aside before giving me a deep kiss. "Maybe you just need a better wake up call," he says as he smiles at me cheekily. Before I can protest, he grabs my face again and pulls me in for another kiss, this one deeper than the last. His thumb gently caresses my cheek and I feel myself succumbing to his seduction.

Realizing what is happening, I break our kiss. "Bray-bear, I love you. But if I don't get out of bed now, I'm going to be late for work."

He crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow at me. "Lace, late for you is still thirty minutes early." I roll my eyes at his sarcasm. This is true. I have no defense, so I just pout at him like a child who hasn't gotten her way. "Why don't you try living on the wild side this morning?" he asks. With a wink, he adds, "A little spontaneity is good for you."

"You're saying that like I want that." I shoot back at him. His offer was so tempting, but I absolutely hate rushing. I was raised to believe that on time meant being early and that you weren't anything if not dependable and reliable.