The Allure of Love

Chapter 20

The ballroom spun around Anastasia in a technicolor whirlwind as she and Chris moved across the dancefloor, their bodies falling into a familiar synchronicity that belied the years of separation. Being back in his arms like this, his sturdy frame solid and sure against her as he guided them effortlessly through the crush of swaying couples, made her head swim with a fierce rush of déjà vu.

How many times had they done this before, back in their college heyday? Stolen moments just like this one, wrapped up in each other amidst the anonymous sea of their partying classmates? There had been so many close calls, Anastasia recalled with a pang, where the electricity crackling between them had nearly boiled over - a lingering touch here, a heated glance there, breaths mingling in the scant space between their lips as the rest of the world fell away. Looking back now, she wondered how much sooner they could have collided if one of them had simply been brave enough to take that final leap into the abyss of their longing.

"You doing okay?" Chris's low rumble shook Anastasia from her reverie, his warm breath ghosting over the shell of her ear and raising goosebumps along her bare arms. "You got quiet all of a sudden there."

She shook her head with a rueful smile, determined not to let her melancholy musings drag them back into the quicksand of their complicated history. Tonight was meant to be a fresh start, a tentative olive branch extended across the chasm that time and circumstance had wedged between them.

"I'm more than okay," she assured him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze where it rested against her waist. "Just taking a moment to appreciate being back here like this, with you. It's...surreal, in the best possible way."

Chris's answering grin was soft, his eyes crinkling at the corners in that devastating way she had never quite been able to resist. "I know what you mean. Part of me was worried it would be too weird, trying to recapture even a fraction of what we used to have. But this..." He trailed off, gaze roaming over her face with an intensity that stole her breath. "This feels right. Like coming home, almost."

Anastasia's heart clenched at his words, the sincerity ringing in every syllable. She wanted so badly to sink into that feeling, to let herself luxuriate in the golden possibility that whispered between them in the scant inches separating their bodies. But the rational part of her brain knew it was a dangerous line they were toeing, an indulgence in nostalgia that could only lead to ruin if they weren't careful.

Licking her suddenly dry lips, Anastasia searched for a neutral response, something to diffuse the simmering tension building inexorably in the shrinking bubble of their private world on the dancefloor.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I could definitely go for another drink right about now," she said brightly, forcing a note of airy levity into her voice. "What do you say we take a breather and see about getting our Homecoming buzz adequately fortified, hm?"

For a moment, Chris looked as if he wanted to protest, his grip tightening almost imperceptibly on her waist. But then he seemed to catch himself, a rueful smile tugging at the corner of his mouth as he released her with a gracious nod.

"Far be it from me to stand in the way of a lady and her libations," he teased, offering his elbow with exaggerated gallantry. "Lead the way, Miss Anastasia. Your wish is my command."

Giggling despite herself, Anastasia slipped her arm through his and allowed him to escort her through the parting throng of dancers towards the gleaming mahogany bar in the far corner. As they wove their way past knots of alumni in various states of inebriation and raucous laughter, she couldn't help but marvel at how easily they had slipped back into their old rhythms - the effortless banter, the subtle touches and glances heavy with unspoken meaning. It was a heady rush, a glimpse of the road not taken.