Free Finding June by Caitlin Kerry Page A

my ponytail swept the floor. We were both breathing hard. Reece had one hand on the small of my back, and the other holding mine closely to his heart; I could feel it pumping feverishly against my palm. There were a few brief moments of silence as the song ended and the place erupted with cheers. Reece slowly lifted me up. He turned toward me as he grabbed my hand and lifted it in the air before he bowed for the crowd. I quickly followed suit and bowed as well.
    Reece broke contact with me, and with a dashing smile and a wink, he walked back to the drink station, acting like nothing had happened. As my heart raced in my chest, I grabbed the pitcher of water that was left on a smaller table and went into the back. The endorphin rush was starting to come down, and the realization of what had just happened was hitting me. I had very publicly danced with Reece in a totally unprofessional stance. Oh my God.
    I walked back to Steve giving a stern talking to Reece. I could hear Reece say he forced me to do it, that it wasn’t my fault and the guests loved it. Steve shook his head and turned around to head back into the kitchen. I was grabbing drinks when I heard Jo come up behind me.
    “Holy shit, June, what was that? That was fucking awesome!”
    “Jo, shut up. I don’t want people to hear you,” I faked whispered, like I was trying to keep a secret.
    “They can’t hear me, trust me. They are still talking about that flash mob type of dance you and Reece did. That was so cool, your tables are going to be throwing money at you after that performance.”
    “I can’t believe I did that!” I really couldn’t. Holy shit was right.
    “Me neither. That was totally non-June behavior. You swept the floor with Reece! You should do ballroom dancing with him. I bet he could find all the right places to put his hands,” Jolene said with a wink as she walked away.
    I gave Jo a weak laugh, but she was right. People were pretty generous with tips afterwards. Sadly, my mood got worse as the night went on. I was starting to get pissed about the fact Reece had totally put me on the spot in front of probably a hundred people and made me look ridiculous. I was an innocent bystander in his singing extravaganza, and suddenly he was making me the main attraction. I was not a circus act.
    As I mentally ranted at him, Bethany walked up to me and said, “Hey, how much do you love me?”
    “Um, not a lot. Why?” Apparently my impromptu dance was not good for my current mood.
    “With the little love you have for me, will you close? My bartender suddenly has the night off and we want to go hang out with his friends.” I was already irritated and didn’t want to deal with Bethany and her little fling.
    “Does your bartender have a name, or do you just scream out drinks to him while you’re doing it?” There was my bitchy mood in full force.
    Bethany shot me a glare. “Classy, June. You always know what to say to make a girl feel special. Yes, hooker, my bartender has a name. It’s Timmy.”
    “I didn’t know anyone named their kid Timmy after 1989.”
    This time Bethany huffed, literally huffed, and said, “June, shut up and answer my question! Close for me or not?”
    “Technically, it’s difficult to answer your question when you tell me to shut up.”
    Bethany’s glare turned into an evil one. Since I had taken out my frustrations on her from the earlier incident and a stupid green-eyed man, I decided my apology would be closing for her, even though I really didn’t want to.
    “Fine,” I snapped. “Who am I closing with?”
    “Reece. Thanks, June,” Bethany said as she walked away to tell Steve.
    Reece? Shit, I knew that! I had forgotten as my mood plummeted. I was trying as hard as possible to avoid him so I had forgotten who was closing. I kicked the crate sitting next to the wall and walked back out front to bus a table. Reece came up to the table to help and said, “Hey, heard you were closing with me now. Cool, but