She nodded, dropping her arms and walking back toward the entrance of the hotel. Alexander took one more quick glance across the street before entering the front doors. The park bench was empty.
When Olivia and Alexander made their way back to the banquet hall, the servers had come around and cleared the tables. A twenty-piece big band had replaced the four-piece string quartet that had been playing during dinner and many guests had started to dance.
“May I have this dance?” Alexander looked at Olivia, reaching his hand out to her. She grabbed it and he led her onto the dance floor. The opening notes of Let’s Fall In Love sounded through the elegant room. As he took her in his arms, he placed one hand on the small of her exposed back, exhaling as his did so. The feel of her skin still made it difficult for Alexander to maintain his composure.
She gazed up at him, savoring the feel of his hand on her body as he led the dance. Olivia was surprised how well he glided across the dance floor. “You’re quite a good dancer, Mr. Burnham. Still surprising me after all these months.” Olivia winked at him.
“You’re not so bad yourself, Miss Adler.” He beamed down at the woman in his arms.
“Where did you learn to dance?”
“Do you remember the girl my mom was talking about during dinner? The one I was madly in love with when I was a little boy?”
She nodded her head. “Your other Olivia?”
“Yes. Well, she would always say that she would only marry me if I could dance. She would say that she couldn’t possibly be seen at a ball with a man who had two left feet. According to her, princesses needed a prince who could show off on the dance floor.” Olivia looked at him, the memory clearly painful for him, his words stirring a memory deep within her own brain.
“I’m sorry, darling,” she said, leaning her head against his chest as they continued to dance, Olivia wondering why the story about his childhood friend sounded so familiar.
“So am I,” Alexander whispered so she couldn’t hear him.
Over the next several hours, Alexander led Olivia around the dance floor, not wanting to miss any opportunity to dance with her.
“May I cut in?” Tyler said to Alexander toward the end of the night.
“Sure, but keep your hands above the waist, little bro.” Alexander smirked.
“Tyler,” Olivia said, putting one arm around his neck and clutching his hand with her free one.
“Hi, Libby,” he replied, grabbing onto her waist, heeding his brother’s warning to keep his hands on an appropriate part of her body.
“Enjoying yourself?” Olivia asked, noting that Tyler danced just as well as Alexander. Maybe it was genetic.
“I am, but if I had to dance once more with Ma, I was going to lose it.” He laughed, nodding toward his mother, now dancing with Alexander. Olivia followed his gaze, her eyes settling on the beautiful man that she knew so intimately.
“You make him very happy, you know,” Tyler said, bringing Olivia’s gaze back to his.
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy. I mean, and this was before I was born and all, when he lost his friend, it took him years to get over it. According to Ma, they were inseparable growing up, and he took it hard. And don’t even try to talk to him around his birthday. He’s such a brood.”
Olivia looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“That’s when she died. August twenty-fourth. Same day as his birthday. That’s why he never celebrates it. He usually goes down to Connecticut and sits at her grave. Fun way to spend your birthday, huh?”
Olivia was shocked. She didn’t realize that was his birthday. “Well, it must have been hard,” she said, snapping back. “I know how difficult it was for me when I lost my parents at such a young age.” Olivia couldn’t believe that she was openly talking about her parents. She reflected briefly about how far she had come in the several months she had known Alexander and how she could barely recognize the woman she was before. “I used to have trouble talking about them, and I don’t think I ever really got over their deaths. Sometimes it’s doing the little things in order to keep them alive in your heart. That way, they’re never really gone,” she said, recalling Alexander’s words to her that day months ago when they were at Beer Works.
Olivia looked up to see Alexander standing over his brother’s shoulder. “I’ll take over from here, Tyler,” Alexander said sternly.
“Okay. It was a pleasure, Libby.” Tyler bowed and left them.
“I’m sorry about that,” Alexander said, bringing Olivia’s body close to his once more, leading them across the dance floor with ease. “I don’t want you to get the wrong idea and think I’m still hung up on a girl I knew when I was a little boy. I’m not.”
“Alexander,” Olivia interrupted. “It’s okay. I get it. You suffered a loss at such a young age. I know what that feels like. And everyone has different ways of coping with loss. Music was, and still is, mine. If you need to sit by her grave every year, I understand.”
Alexander smiled, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead, relishing the feeling of her in his arms as the song finished.
Polite applause sounded from the guests in attendance before the pianist started playing the opening notes of A Kiss To Build A Dream On.
“Dance with me, love.” Alexander pulled Olivia back into his embrace, and they began to move around the dance floor to the melody. Alexander gazed down at her, his adoration for her swelling in his chest. How could he possibly explain to her how important she had become to him? She had always been important to him, but now that he knew it really was her, how could he put that into words?
He pulled her into his chest and leaned down as they swayed to the music. Alexander began to sing along with the band. Olivia sighed at the sound of his voice crooning those words to her, knowing that he sang them only for her, just as she sang each night for him.
As the song ended, Alexander dipped Olivia back, leaning over her, and kissed her passionately in the middle of the dance floor. Reaching up, she ran her fingers through his hair, loving the feeling of his silky locks as she communicated with her mouth how much she needed him. She couldn’t imagine life without Alexander in it, but she still wasn’t able to admit that she loved him. It was too soon.
~~~~~~~~~~
“We can wait in here,” Alexander said, motioning to the hotel lobby after they made their way out of the banquet hall. “That way you don’t freeze while we wait for Martin.”