Read Online New Life by Bonnie Dee - Free Book Online

mixed together. It’s a lot of fun.” I glanced at
his right leg, which stuck straight out beneath the table. “Do you
think you’d like to try a slow number? Nothing fancy.”
    “Maybe in a bit.” He sipped his drink.
    I looked at the dance floor and wondered if I
should’ve picked someplace else for our date.
    A guy I vaguely knew suddenly grabbed my hand
and pulled me up from my seat. I looked over my shoulder at Jason
and gave him a helpless shrug before the guy twirled me onto the
crowded floor. I’d be back at the table after one dance. It wasn’t
as if I was abandoning Jason for the night.
    My partner was way out of my league. As he
spun me in and threw me out, at one point even tossing me up into
the air, it was all I could do to keep up. By the end of the
number, I was gasping for breath and grinning. I’d forgotten how
much fun this was. After spending too much time in my apartment
recently, it felt good to be out dancing.
    I started to make my way back to my table and
Jason, but he wasn’t there. I figured he’d gone to the restroom, so
I decided another dance couldn’t hurt. This time I joined several
women. We twisted and shimmied and sang along with the chorus of a
song we knew.
    When it ended, I checked on Jason—still not
back in his seat. It occurred to me he might have been more annoyed
by my ditching him to dance with some other guy than he’d appeared.
I didn’t see his dark shock of hair anywhere in the room, so I
grabbed a guy heading into the men’s room and asked him to see if
my friend was in there. I waited outside, impatience growing, until
the man emerged.
    “Some guy’s puking in one of the stalls.
Could be your date,” he said.
    Great. Thanks for your concern . I
pushed through the door and into the stink of the restroom.
Luckily, nobody was at the urinals. The sound of retching came from
behind a stall door.
    “Um, Jason?”
    There was a long pause. “Yeah.”
    “Are you okay?”
    The toilet flushed, and the door opened.
Jason stepped out, face pale, dark hair matted to his damp
forehead. He went to the sink, rinsed out his mouth and splashed
water on his face.
    I handed him paper towels. “You’re sick.” I
stated the obvious.
    “Naw. I get these migraines sometimes. It’s
nothing.”
    “Well, you need to go home and lie down.”
    “I’ll be okay now.” He looked at me with
those somber eyes. “I don’t want to cancel our date.”
    “Not canceling, only postponing,” I assured
him. “I’ll drive you home, make you tea or something.”
    He frowned. “You don’t want to park your car
in my neighborhood.”
    He was probably right. “Nonsense. I—”
    The door opened, and a man entered the
restroom. “Hey. Whoa.” His gaze flicked from me to the urinals as
if checking to make sure he was in the right place.
    “We’re just leaving.” I put my hand on
Jason’s back and propelled him from the room.
    “If you were feeling crappy, I wish you’d
told me,” I said when we were outside the restrooms.
    “I really wanted to go out with you
tonight.”
    He looked down into my eyes just as someone
shoved past and knocked me into him. I felt the warmth of Jason’s
body pressed against mine, the heat sizzling in our locked gazes,
and even though he’d just thrown up, I was inclined to kiss him.
But he looked away, breaking the moment of tension.
    I seized his arm. “Come on. I’m taking you
home.”
    Jason let me guide him outdoors. A breath of
cool air made me realize how stuffy the club had been. No wonder
the poor guy had gotten sick. I was touched by how hard he must
have fought to appear okay when he felt like crap, all because he
wanted to be with me.
    “My car’s only a couple of blocks away. Can
you walk that far?”
    “Yes. I told you I’m okay.” He pulled away
and stalked stiffly by my side.
    Okay, a little male ego happening. I could
tell he was embarrassed and my fussing was making him think he
appeared weak. I could be cool. Pretend