Read My Lips: Restricted Version

RML: Chapter 16 (R)

Chapter 16

Amber couldn’t figure out why they couldn’t stay in her apartment to dance.  She glanced wide-eyed at the exterior of a brick building that Linc parked his truck in front of.  A blinking, neon sign said, Willy’s Place, and more colorful signs advertised Happy Hour and brands of beer.  He brought me to a honky tonk?  The sight of stetsons and cowboy boots on the people walking into the place told her just about as much as the marquee over the door: “Shotgun Divas to play Friday Night.”

Stubbornly, Amber shook her head.  “No, I not dance here.”

Linc looked at her even as he turned off his truck’s engine.  “Why not?  You wanted to learn to dance.  This as good a place as any."

“I not dance here,” she insisted.  “I not dressed right.”

“You look fine.  Nobody will care what you’re wearing.”

So Amber tried a different tactic.  “I not know music here.”

She could see his shoulders heaving as he chuckled and he smirked at her.  “Why does it matter if you know the music?  You can’t hear it, but at least here, your neighbors aren’t getting upset over the volume.  Trust me, okay?  If you want to learn, the best place is around others.”

“I will look stupid,” she argued, thinking that the whole purpose of learning to dance was so she wouldn’t look dumb in public.  Linc cocked his head sideways.  “Well, I’ll be darned,” he said with a funny smile.  “You just said a whole sentence.  I was wondering if you ever did.”

Amber was confused.  “What you mean?”

“You said, ‘I will’ instead of just ‘I’ like you usually do,” he explained.  “Sometimes it takes me a while to understand you, because your words are a bit broken.”

That deep-down insecurity of Amber’s surfaced with a near explosion.  She hated to be reminded of how poorly she spoke.  “I told you, I not talk well!”  She huffed and crossed her arms, vowing that she won’t say another word all night, if that’s how he felt about it.

“Amber,” he began, but she shifted in her seat to look away from him, not daring to watch him speak, because he had hurt her feelings.  It was childish of her, she knew that, but short of punching him in the ribs, this gave her some satisfaction.  When he leaned over to get in her line of vision, his mouth moving, she closed her eyes, ignoring him the best way she knew how.  A moment later, the truck rocked, and then a few moments after that, she was dragged from her seat through her open door and the shock of it made her eyes fly open.  He’d come around and pulled her out, making her look at him and pay attention to him.

“Amber...”

She squeezed her eyelids together again and violently shook her head.  With her hands, she signed, ‘Take me home,’ not really caring if he understood.  He took hold of her hands, resting them gently on his, but she still refused to look at him.  ‘Look at me,’ he signed.

Amber gasped and she did look, despite her former intentions.  “Where you learn that?”

He grinned.  “I’ve been practicing.  I told you I wanted to learn, and I had hoped you would help me in that.  I don’t know much, but there’s a few phrases I’ve mastered...just in case you ever decide to ignore me this way.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.  “What phrases?”

Straightening his shoulders, he inched back a little and brought his fist up to his mouth as though to clear his throat, which made Amber almost giggle.  He didn’t need to speak to sign.  Slowly, his hands formed, ‘Look at me,’ then, ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ and ‘Repeat that.’  And then, ‘I’m sorry.’  Amber thought that one was especially smooth and fluent, as thought he spent a considerable amount of time practicing it.

“Not bad,” she said, signing the phrase as well.  In fact, she was proud of him.  He seemed determined to tackle this skill.  “You learn on computer?”

“Sort of,” he said, and reached behind her into his truck.  From the glove compartment, he pulled out a thick black and yellow book.  Signing for Dummies.

Amber ruptured into a fit of giggles.  “Don’t laugh,” he said, smiling with her.  “It helps.”

“Let me see,” she said, reaching out for it.  In the dim light of the parking lot, she flipped through the pages.  In her opinion it looked more like a crash course in ASL, the book having more text than illustrations for the signs, but at least it was a start.

She handed it back to him with a pleased smile.  “There’s a computer cd with it,” he said, skimming through the pages the same way she did.  “There’s a lot more on that.  I just read through this quickly last night and this morning.”  He raised his eyes at her.  “Well?  Do you think it’s helpful?”

Amber shrugged.  “Learn best by doing,” she said.  “Why you want to learn?”

He tossed the book back into the truck, over her head, and shut the door.  They stood under a street lamp among other cars and trucks in the parking lot.  “I think someone tried to teach Raven Rose sign language...you know, the mare I’m taking care of?  I showed you her picture the other day, and well, I’m just curious, I guess.  This is the first thing I’ve felt like doing in a long time.”  His lips slanted in a smirk.  “And if we’re going to be friends, I should at least know when your bitching at me, huh?”

Amber laughed.  “That always good to know.  But learn best by doing, by diving in, not reading,” she persisted, flashing her hands in sign language to make her point.  “Study good, but doing better.  Learn faster.”

Linc rested his hands on his hips as he smiled knowingly down at her.  Amber felt wary by his look.  “Which is exactly why you need to learn to dance in a place where there is dancing,” he stated.  Amber’s eyes drifted to the brick building.  Dang it!  He had a point, but all those people in there...staring at her, figuring out fairly quickly that she didn’t know what she was doing.

He touched a finger to her chin, bringing her face back to him.  “Well?  Are you coming?  I’ll teach you to dance like a champ, and you can teach me some sign language.”

She hesitated.  He didn’t remove his finger, and the warmth of it spread through her.  Then, of course, she thought about how he’d have to hold her, and after that declaration of his in her apartment -- something she had already figured out about him, though his anger on the subject scared her -- she honestly didn’t know if she could stand to be held by him.  Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, after all.  She could beg off dancing with Caleb if he asked on their date.  It shouldn’t be too hard, except...

I really want to dance, like everyone else...in a man’s arms...just once.

“Come on, Amber,” Linc crooned -- she could see the challenge in his brown eyes.  “Where’s your backbone?  Where’s the girl who could knock a man flat with one kick of your pretty legs?”

He was teasing her, but she sensed so much more from his words.  He was lighting a fire in her.  Both kinds, the sensual and the stubborn.

“Okay,” she said, pulling upright to her full height.  “But we have one deal.  You learn signs, I learn dancing.”  And with that she zipped her lips shut and dared him with her own solid gaze.  A slow grin slip across his handsome features as he caught on to what she meant.  From here on out, she wouldn’t communicate with her voice.  He had to learn sign language the hard way...through her silence.

“It’s a deal,” he said, releasing her chin to hold out his hand.  Amber shook it, and he led her toward the door under the neon sign.  “Relax,” he said, feeling her body tense up as they drew closer.  “It’s Monday night.  The place won’t be that crowded and I know most of the regulars.  By the end of the night, you’ll have a whole line of men wanting to show you how to two-step.”

Amber noticed that he didn’t look very happy about that prospect, however she didn’t comment on it either.  They’d done a complete one-eighty since he showed up at her door earlier, and she didn’t want to mess that up.  He was willing to help her with this.  The least she could do was be lenient about some things...like his odd jealousy, for starters.  He told her he had no right to feel anything for her, including jealousy.  Maybe not in those exact words, but Amber got the gist anyway.

Inside Willy’s Place, Linc paid for the entrance fee.  Amber made a mental note about that.  She would have to buy him a beer or something to make up for it.  He exchanged some words with the man at the door, but Amber didn’t pay attention.  Her eyes were riveted to the couples on the wooden dance floor, shuffling and twirling under bright lights to music she couldn’t hear.  How she wished she could take off her boots to feel the pulse of the beat under her bare feet.  And then she saw how all the other women were dressed.

Short, denim skirts or blue jeans, and western shirts, some tied at the waist.  Amber glanced down at herself.  She owned a pair of cowgirl boots -- bought them because they went great with her charcoal gray skirt, which she was wearing -- and she threw on a plain white t-shirt over her tank top in the apartment.  Amber felt like an outsider.

Linc, sensing her apprehension as they circled around the dance floor, leaned down to her face and said, “You look great.”  She tried to smile, but it was so difficult.  Instead of going straight into dancing, he took her to the bar, where an older man stood, grinning at them.  At least, she assumed he was grinning.  The entire lower half of his face was covered in a salt-and-pepper beard and mustache, hiding his mouth behind all those whiskers.

Linc clasped the man’s outstretched hand, and then was grabbed in a one-handed hug across the expanse of the bar.  Linc smiled and looked at her.  “Amber, this is Willy.  He owns the place.”

She opened her mouth to greet him, but then recalled her deal.  Darting a glance at Linc, she signed, ‘Hello, nice to meet you.’

Willy had piercing gold eyes which immediately shifted to Linc.  Linc just smiled and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.  Willy’s beard moved.  Amber blinked.  Linc chuckled.  “She can read lips, just not yours, Willy,” he said, looking at Amber.  A light glowed in Willy’s golden gaze.  His tanned fingers lifted to his face and parted all that hair there.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Amber,” Willy said, grinning so wide she almost couldn’t understand him.  So, they both thought this was funny, did they?  Linc was laughing, that was for sure.  Amber elbowed him in the ribs and presented her hand to Willy.  The older man’s palm felt rough, like Linc’s, but his handshake was welcoming.

“What was that for?” Linc asked, holding his bruised side.

‘For being a dumbass,’ she signed back with a sassy grin, knowing he didn’t understand a thing she just signed, and hoped it stayed that way for a while.  Yet, a glint entered his expression, as though he caught the impression of her signs.

And that kind of set the tone for the rest of the evening.  Willy offered them both a drink on the house, and though Amber had never been very keen on drinking, she took the beer and drank thirstily.  She knew it was her anxiety that caused her to swallow half the frosty mug in two giant gulps, but she didn’t care.  By then, more people who Linc knew arrived to greet them, saying things like, “It’s been too long, man.  How are you?” and “We’re glad to see you out in the human world again,” leading Amber to think that he had been something of a recluse in the past few years...probably since losing Macie.  To think that she was responsible for him reacquainting himself with his friends, gave her a warmth of happiness and gratification.  

Pretty soon, Amber was the center of attention, being asked to sign all kinds of things.  “What’s the sign for ‘car’?” one girl asked, who Linc introduced as Joanie.  Amber showed her, and then there were the signs for “love” and “horse” and “dancing.”  Along with “beer” and “whiskey”, “bathroom” and “bar”, and anything else that caught someone’s eye around the interior of Willy’s Place.  One guy named Buck, according to Linc, asked, “How do I tell my girl it’s time to get down and dirty?”  All the while wagging his eyebrows at Joanie.

Amber grinned and signed the question, and Joanie scowled and asked, “How do you tell a guy to ‘Fuck off’?”  To which Amber flipped Buck her middle finger in that universal sign, and everyone burst out laughing, including Linc.  Buck spewed beer through his nose, spraying the bar top.

An hour into the night of laughter, Amber had finished her second draft and had been talked into doing a round of tequila shots, all while Linc nursed his one and only beer.  So, needless to say, she was relaxed and just slightly tipsy -- really, not drunk at all -- when Linc finally pulled her onto the dance floor and secured her in a stance with one hand on his shoulder and the other lightly grasped in his larger one out to the side.

“Just look into my eyes,” he said, leading her around the inner circle of dancers and guiding her steps with his body and his lips.  “Quick, quick...slow...slow...quick, quick...slow...slow,” he murmured, staring straight through her eyes and into her soul.  The alcohol she consumed gave her the boldness to return his searing regard, paying attention only to his deep brown eyes and mobile lips.  

He was so handsome, his hair curling over his forehead, that sprinkle of gray at his temples giving him a devilish quality.  The tiny wrinkles on the outsides of his eyes deepened as he smiled gently and encouragingly at her.  The hands they held together began to heat up, and the one she had on his shoulder felt every contour of his muscles as they tightened and relaxed under her fingers.  Linc’s fingers caressed her lower back and hip, and though no other parts of their bodies touched, Amber felt like he was wrapping her up in a cocoon of sensual heat.  Her heart slammed in her chest, and her feet barely skimmed the floor as she allowed him to control the dance.  She didn’t care that she couldn’t hear or feel the music.  Her pulse and breathing were creating their own unusual beat.  In fact, she was breathing so erratically, her lips became dry, and she automatically wet them with her tongue.

Linc stumbled and stepped on her toe.

“Sorry,” he said and continued on as though nothing happened.  Sometime after that -- a minute?  an hour?  one song?  two, or four? Amber couldn’t tell -- she noticed that the other dancers were slowing and parting, some leaving the dance floor, others joining the mass already there.  Linc drew to a stop.  And he stood there, staring down at her, indecision battling with a frown on his face.

‘What?’ she signed, after freeing her hand from his.  

“Slow dance,” he answered, either deciphering her sign or just the question on her face.

Slow dance?  Amber looked around her.  Yup...a slow dance, and a very sexy one if the couple next to them was any clue.  She gasped at where the man’s hand landed on the woman and shot a look at Linc.  He sighed and started to lead her off the dance floor.

Amber dug in her heels.  If that was part of dancing, she wanted to learn.  She’d never do something like that with Caleb, but she still wanted to learn it.  Linc raised an eyebrow at her.  She pointed at the couple and signed, ‘Teach me that.’

The great thing about what she just requested was that Linc now understood the word “teach” in sign language.  The not-so-great thing about it was the look of utter horror on his face when he figured out what she was asking.  “No,” he said and tugged on her arm.  Amber shook him off her.

‘Yes.’

He turned on her and stuck his hands on his hips.  “No,” he repeated with an even sterner expression.  Amber returned the stance and glared at him.  They stood like that in the middle of the dancers, and if she didn’t do something quick then the song would be over and she’d lose her chance to learn that style of dancing.

He didn’t budge.

‘Fine,’ she signed, and stomped over to a lone cowboy in a corner, who looked eager to do a little slow dancing himself.  

Linc didn’t let her get that far.

He got right up in her face, his dark with anger, and said, “Do you really want to dance that way?”

Amber nodded.

Linc growled so vehemently she could almost feel the rumble in her own chest.  He snatched her hand and dragged her to the middle of the room, under the brightest spotlight, and position her right up against all that hard, muscular flesh of his.  His palms slapped her butt cheeks, causing her squeak and jerk with prudence, but that only lasted until his hips started gyrating, pressing his groin right up against the lower part of her belly, and Amber’s eyes popped as wide as they would go.

Oh, my...

There were some mighty nice things happening to her body as he molded them together, and from the feel of things, there were some extraordinary reactions coming from him.  Amber couldn’t tear her eyes off of him.  His face was bent to smolder her with a heated gaze, and her nose was right in front of the open collar of his shirt, tickled by the patch of hair there.

She’d never felt anything like it.  His knee pushed between her legs, making her almost ride his thigh as he pressed the flat of his hands on her back and pulled her closer to him.  Amber could only grip his shoulders, right at the curve of his neck, and hang on.  He made her body sway and arch deliciously in ways she would have never volunteered on her own.  Tendons stretched under her fingers and a muscle ticked wildly along his jaw as if he were angry about something.  But there was a blazing passion in his eyes, and Amber drowned in it.  She tilted her face up, staring at him, amazed that she could feel this way about a dance, especially since she could not hear the music.  

But there was a rhythm.  Her heartbeat had slowed and deepened, pulsing along every nerve ending.  She could feel it in her toes, in her fingertips, her ears, her chest, and in that one place Linc’s powerful thigh rubbed against. If they had been naked, they’d almost be positioned to make love.  And if they had been alone, the naked part might have happened.  But all too soon, the song ended and Linc was pushing her firmly to the bar.

With shaking hands, she asked Willy for some ice water, but after what just occurred, she needed to dump it on her head.  Linc braced his hands on her shoulders and resolutely stuck her bottom on a bar stool.  “Stay,” he commanded and turned on his heel toward the bathrooms in the back.

Willy chuckled.  And Joanie smiled.  “I think you’ve upset the man,” she said.

Using her voice, which seemed hoarse and raw, she asked, “What I do?”  A part of her wanted to be angry for being treated like a dog and told to “stay,” but the rest of her was so dizzy -- with either the alcohol or the bumping and grinding on the dance floor -- she could barely see straight.

Buck placed a gentle arm around her and squeezed.  “Nothing that every woman doesn’t do,” he answered, and then held out his hand to Joanie for a dance.  Amber watched them for a while, but when Linc didn’t come right back, she swiveled around and frowned at Willy.

She noticed that he had parted his whiskers enough that she could see his mouth when he spoke, and she smiled graciously at him.  “You okay, sugar?” he asked.

Amber sighed.  “I not know why he mad all the time.  I just want to dance.”

“If it’s any help, my wife does the exact same thing to me,” he said, but she didn’t know what he meant, and at her confused look, he laughed and said, “And she gives me that exact same innocent look.  How old are you, honey?”

“Twenty-eight.”

“Then you know,” he replied, filling a mug with beer and sliding it down the bar to a customer.

Amber blinked at him.  He looked at her hard.  “You do know, don’t you?” he asked, amazed.

She blushed because she had an idea, but not personal experience.  But Willy didn’t need to know that.  “Sure,” she said and grinned, hoping it looked mischievous.  He was still studying her intensely when Linc finally came back.  Willy shot Linc with a glare that could only be described as murderous.

“What?” Linc asked suspiciously, halting next to Amber.  Willy glanced once at Amber and then brushed his mustache down to cover his mouth.  The facial hair started moving and bristling, and Willy’s fingers started pointing angrily and jabbing at Linc and waving at Amber, and Amber could only guess what the bar owner was saying.  Linc didn’t say a word.  Willy wound down, but his forehead had turned a shade of purple and his gold eyes were blazing.  

Linc calmly turned to Amber.  “Amber, please tell Willy what our relationship is.”

Amber thought it was okay to use her voice on this.  “We friends,” she said, and Linc said, “And please tell Willy why we are not more than friends.”  Amber frowned and said, “He love Macie.”  Then Linc said, while Willy started to breathe a little more evenly, “And would you tell Willy how you feel about that?”

She considered that question.  If she was honest, she’d say she was unhappy about Linc still being in love with Macie, but since she couldn’t do anything about that, she looked at Willy and shrugged.  “It okay.  We just friends.  He teach me to dance so I dance with Caleb on date Wednesday.”

Linc’s eyes landed on Amber.  She had never told him her date’s name, and she thought it had almost seemed unreal to him until now.  “Maybe you should explain to Willy what will happen if I try to take advantage of you,” Linc added, his brown gaze still on her blue one.

So, that’s what Willy was yelling about.  She grinned at them both.  “He lose a finger,” she said, her ability to do just that coming out loud and clear in her tone.

“And she can do it,” Linc confirmed, though he had yet to look away from her ever since she said Caleb’s name.  Willy parted his whiskers again and smiled in apology at Amber.  “Then I’m sorry for flying off the handle.  You’re just too sweet of a gal to get hurt.  I was only playing the Papa Bear.”

Amber leaned over and patted his arm.  “Since I not see your words, all forgiven.”

“Then let me get you another beer,” Willy offered, reaching for a clean glass behind him.  Linc shook his head.

“We should be going,” he said, but Amber jerked her chin up.

“No, I not leave yet.  I like dancing.”

“And drinking?” Linc inquired as she sipped from her fresh beer.  “I suppose you like drinking, too.”

Amber thought about how giddy and free she felt earlier before everything got so serious, and she wished for that feeling again, if anything to erase the past twenty minutes and Linc’s brooding stare.  “Yes,” she said.  “It on my To-Do list.”  And she grinned and chugged her beer.  Linc sighed and joined her on the neighboring bar stool.