Page 102 of Dancing in the Dark

“Because I said I wanted a night out, and you said you were working. You didn’t seem to mind that I was coming out. But here you are anyway.”

“No, I swear.” I search for her in the dark and easily look past the blondes. The pixie cuts. The redheads. The too-tall. The too-short. “I swear, Sera. I’m not that guy who’s gonna tell you if you can go out or not.”

“So why are you here?” I hear the same music twice in my ears, once in real time, and again a quarter of a second later through the phone. “Why are you wearing your badge?”

I look down at the shield hung around my neck, then up again. Where the fuck is she? “Working. I got a tip that someone of interest might be here tonight.”

Not entirely untruthful.

“Wanted to get my eyes inside the club to see what I see, that’s all. Am I close?”

“To me?” Her words come out with a saucy grin. “Mm. You already walked past me.”

Spinning, I wander back the way I came. “Sera? Why don’t you come to me? You clearly wanted my attention.” I drop my voice into a low rumble. “I didn’t know you were here, so you could’ve gone on with your night and I never would’ve known. But you called me.” I stop behind a woman whose hair is about the right length. Right color. Her hips, the right width. I press the tip of my finger to her shoulder and draw her around…. And strike out. “Sorry, ma’am.” I drop my hand again. “I thought you were someone else.”

“A-am I in trouble?” Her eyes instinctively go to my badge. “Did I do something wrong?”

Sera snickers in my ear. “Is it irritating, Charlie? You can’t go anywhere with that badge without people assuming you hate them.”

“The only irritating thing about my life right now is that you’re near, but not near enough.” I turn away from the woman and search for my next mystery door. “You wanna make this a game? Give me a clue? Or are you trying to hurt me?”

Her soft laughter pulses through our call. “What kind of game could we play? I have no clue which way is north or west in here, and it’s not like I could tell you to turn left when you get to the woman with red curls.”

A mere two feet ahead of me, a woman with red curls dances, so I turn left and scour the dozens of bodies in my way. “You wanna be in charge again?” I study couples. Large hands pressed to tiny waists. I break my heart and heal it at the same time, imagining her dancing with someone like that, someone other than me.

But then I remember her loyalty.

Seraphina Lewis would never. Not in a million years.

“You remember what happened last time you took charge, don’t you?”

“Mmm.” She purrs. “I remember. Probably can’t do that in here without getting arrested by this cop I know…”

“I’ll call in a bomb threat and have the place emptied in seconds.” I squeeze between bodies and search eyes. So many sets of eyes. “You want me to destroy your pussy inside this club, Sera?”

“Don’t call in a bomb threat,” she giggles. “That would be bad. How long do you have until your babysitter’s expecting you home?”

“As long as I want. Is your hair up or down?”

“Up.” Her breath comes a little faster in my ear. “High ponytail. Perfect for holding onto if you’ve got a certain itch to do so.”

Fuckkkkk.

I discard every brunette whose hair isn’t in a ponytail. And still… “I can’t see you.”

“Does that make you sad?”

I press my free hand to my chest and groan. “So fucking sad.”

“Shouldn’t you be working?”

I swear to Christ, I can smell her in the air.

“If I show myself, you might be inclined to dance. And if you’re dancing, you may miss this person of interest you’ve come to see.”

“I don’t fuckin’ care.” Angling left, I move around a cage. It might even be the cage I once saw her in. “Please, Sera?”

“Would you dance with me in the dark, Charlie?”