He picked up a bottle of bourbon from it and two glasses.

“I love this thing. I found it at a garage sale nearby—the wheels worked, but it was totally scuffed and beaten up. I bought it immediately, then spent months researching how to fix it up, and then probably a month on and off sanding it and staining it. It didn’t even cost all that much to fix it up, but now I spend far too much money on cocktail accessories and good alcohol, since I feel like the bar cart deserves it.”

She ran her finger up and down the dark brown wood.

“I’m impressed. You did a great job.” She picked up the cocktail shaker. “You probably got those fancy ice cube trays to make the good ice like they have at all those trendy bars.” She looked up at his carefully blank face. “You did!”

He walked over to the freezer and took out an ice cube tray.

“I did.” He set the glasses on the counter. “Want to sample the good ice? What’s your cocktail of choice?”

She took a step back and considered the bottles of liquor he had sitting on the bar cart.

“You pick. You’re the expert here.”

He walked over to her to survey the choices on the bar cart. When he stood next to her, she could feel his body heat. She almost took a step back, but he selected a bottle and walked away before she could.

“I’ll make you an old-fashioned. I like this bourbon. It’s not my favorite one—that I reserve for sipping neat—but it’s a great one for a classic cocktail. Do you like cherries?”

She nodded.

“Good, I have excellent ones here.” He dropped this and that into their glasses as he talked. “Alexa got them for me for Christmas last year.”

Maddie took her drink from Theo. She really shouldn’t be drinking right now. She was going to have to drive home in just a few minutes, as soon as she made him dance for her. She took a sip anyway.

“These are good, but I liked the old neon red ones,” she said.

Theo came around and leaned against Maddie’s side of the island. He was close to her again like he had been before. No, maybe closer. His arm was propped next to her, just barely brushing against her waist.

She should move away. Why was she standing this close to Theo anyway? Why was she in his apartment? Why was she drinking his bourbon and listening to him talk about cherries? Why had she even stayed at his birthday party for so long? She should have been at home in her own bed at least three hours ago.

She stood upright.

“You’re stalling. It’s dancing time.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket. “What song are we doing here? Madonna? Prince? Gaga? I want to see all your best moves.” She held back a giggle.

He shook his head and picked up his drink.

“We’ll do this in the living room, and I’m in charge of the music.”

She followed him back to the living room and watched him push his coffee table up against the wall and roll his rug back. So he was really going to try to do this. Incredible.

He glanced up at her as she stood by the doorway.

“Thanks for the help.”

She nodded and sipped her drink.

“It seemed like you had everything well in hand. I didn’t want to get in the way.”

He shook his head without saying anything and walked over to the record player in the corner of the room.

Of course he had a record player. He was just the kind of pretentious guy who would have one. He bent down to the shelf below it and pulled out a few albums. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen a guy touch something that lovingly.

“Okay.” He took another sip of his drink. “Sit down.”

She obeyed him and took the seat at the far edge of his couch. He waited for her to sit down before he turned the music on.

She heard the opening strains of “Bye Bye Bye” and laughed out loud. This was what Theo was going to try to do?

He stood still for the opening stanza of the song, and just stared back at her with a faint smile on his face. Then, all of a sudden, he jumped right into it. His hips thrusted, his feet leapt, his arms flew, and she was mesmerized. He did it so well, and so unlike the Theo she thought she knew, that she laughed out loud again, but this time in wonder. He kicked, moved, and spun like he did this every day, all with a provocative look on his face, one she’d never seen before.

My God. He hadn’t been fucking with her. He really could dance.

She put her drink down on the floor so she could concentrate on this performance. When he unbuttoned his oxford shirt and threw it across the room, she tossed imaginary dollar bills at him. He shook his—now that she thought about it, really good—butt at her, and she laughed out loud. In her wildest dreams, she never would have thought boring, pedantic, mild-mannered Theo could dance like a black Channing Tatum.

When he finished, with one last punch in the air, she cheered and clapped. He had a smug grin on his face, like he knew she didn’t think he could do it, like he was thrilled to dance just for her, like he was victorious. Fine, he’d earned that smug look, this time.

She never thought she’d clap for anything Theo did, but this had been a surprising night in many ways. He bowed to her, then reached out his hand.

“Now you have to dance with me.”

She let him pull her off the couch.

“Who said I have to dance with you?”

He kept hold of her hand.

“Those are the rules. Argue with the people who made the rules, not me.”

She thought about arguing, but she knew it would just be for the sake of arguing. For some reason, she had no idea why, she really wanted to dance with Theo right now. She didn’t question it and just let herself slide into his arms.

“Holy shit,” she said. “I can’t believe Alexa never told me you could do that.”

He grinned.

“Alexa doesn’t know. A guy has to have some secrets, after all.”

She shook her head.

“I admit it,” she said. “You can definitely outdance me. That was amazing.”

He looked away from her and laughed. And she thought maybe even blushed a little.

“Thanks. My mom was a single parent and worked a lot, and Ben and I got in the habit of teaching ourselves all sorts of dances. . . I kind of never stopped. Yes, I know, I’m a big dork.”

She had no idea he’d been raised by a single mom. She almost told him she had, too, but he kept talking.

“My brother’s probably off at a club somewhere impressing a whole room of people, but that shows you the difference between the two of us in a nutshell. Ben likes to be the center of attention. I just like dancing.”

Then he dipped her almost to the floor, which made her laugh so hard she couldn’t talk for a while.

“Wait.” She looked around the room. “You pushed the table out of the way and rolled the rug up like you do that all the time, because you do! You have regular dance breaks, don’t you?”

He gave her a sheepish smile.

“Got to stay in shape. There’s nothing like some NSYNC or Prince”—he winked at her—“or Beyonce for getting the butterflies out of your stomach before a big day at work.”

She shook her head.

“Remind me to try that the next time I have an important client meeting.”

The song changed, and he pulled her closer. She let herself cling to him; his soft T-shirt against her hand, the warmth of his skin underneath heating her up.

“I’ll remind you. Now, let’s try something fun.”

He plucked her hand from around his neck and held it in his, and then at the beat of the music, spun her around. This time she didn’t hesitate to follow his lead. When they were done, she held on tight to him.

“You could have warned me!”

He took both of her hands and stepped back, still dancing.

“But where’s the fun in that?” He let go of one of her hands and spun her around, again and again, until she collapsed against him dizzy and laughing.

When he bent down to kiss her, she didn’t hesitate there, either. It was like a fire had been lit inside both of them. His hands were in her hair, her arms were wrapped around his body, and they were kissing each other like it was the oxygen they needed in order to survive. The music played around them; they were both hot and sweaty and couldn’t stop touching each other.

Theo had always been so buttoned-up, so measured, so conservative, and if she’d ever thought about what kind of kisser he’d be, she’d probably imagined that he’d be tentative, and slow, and awkward. That couldn’t be further from the truth. She didn’t know who the hell this guy was, but he wasn’t the Theo she’d known for years. And holy shit, was this Theo hot. His hand was already up under her dress, and his other arm had locked her against his body. She reached down to cup that butt she’d admired just a few moments ago.

He pulled away from her with a groan. Why was he stopping?

He pushed her down onto his couch and bit her shoulder. She wrapped her legs around him, and he pulled her into another long, hard, deep kiss.