Free You are Mine by Lisa G Riley

outfit. He personally didn’t like the
outfit because of its length, but he knew that Caroline had no
problem with it, and was fidgeting for an entirely different
reason. He laughed. “Time to go shake what your mama gave you,
sweetheart.”
    Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. “You
wouldn’t be laughing if you were going through this torture.”
    He shrugged. “I can’t help it if work kept
me from most of the rehearsals, regrettably resulting in my being
kicked out of the group.”
    “Yes, work. How very convenient,” she
muttered.
    Feeling absolutely no remorse whatsoever,
Brian said, “Well, I do have to bring home the bacon.”
    Caroline snorted out a laugh. “That doesn’t
even deserve a response.”
    “Then why’d you give me one?” he teased.
    “Oh, shut up,” she said, making him laugh
again. “I just want this whole thing to be over.”
    “And it will be in two days.”
    “And the day after that, we’re off to
Mackinac Island,” she said wistfully. Leaning across the gearshift,
she kissed his cheek and turned for the door latch. “I’d better get
in there.”
    Brian put a halting hand on her arm. “We
have to wait for Jae, remember? He’ll be here in a few minutes. He
had to go into Jack’s office to go over some paperwork.”
    Caroline relaxed back against the seat and
looked at him. “I won’t argue, though a few minutes without you or
Jae around probably won’t matter all that much, especially since
there will be lots of other people inside.”
    “Good, then we won’t argue, even though we
both know that a lot of things can happen in a few minutes.”
    “Yes, they can,” Caroline said as she leaned
back against him and put her head on his shoulder. “Like for
instance, me disabling someone with a kick to the knee or an elbow
to the nose,” she murmured and entwined her fingers with his.
    Brian grinned and kissed the top of her
head, his hand automatically going to her knee. “That you could,
warrior princess that you are.”
    “And don’t you forget it,” she warned. “All
those self-defense, judo and shooting lessons were not just for
show, you know.”
    “Unlike these dance lessons, which are,”
Brian teased. “I can’t wait to see you. It’s going to be sexy as
hell.”
    Caroline snorted. “With my barely-there
rhythm? Hardly. You seriously need to manage your
expectations.”
    “Oh, it will be sexy all right,” Brian
murmured as he thought about her wriggling her behind in that
short, short dress, “trust me.”
    Caroline shrugged. “At any rate, Mom and Dad
will love it. We’re doing some of their favorite songs from the
sixties.”
    “Tell me the names of some of the songs
again.”
    ““This Old Heart of Mine”, “Your Love Keeps
Lifting Me Higher”, “Buttercup” , “Ain’t No Mountain High
Enough” , etcetera. Lee picked the songs -- all songs where
he’s the lead singer and Tracy, K.K. , Cat and I are the back-ups
doing both singing and dancing.”
    “Your brother’s a smart man.”
    “I prefer to think of it as just plain
sneaky.”
    “You would never have sung lead anyway
because that would have put you too much in the forefront. You’re
worried about the dancing.”
    “Of course I am. I mean, I have to do dances
with names like the Watusi, the Hully Gully, and the Swim. God,
with names like those you know right off the bat that you’re going
to look ridiculous doing them.”
    Brian snickered loudly as he continued to
absentmindedly stroke her knee with his thumb. “While you’re up on
stage, just keep thinking Mackinac, Mackinac,” he suggested, saying
the vacation spot’s name in a hypnotic tone.
    Caroline cocked her head back on his
shoulder to look up at him. “You’re a nut,” she said with a
smile.
    He smiled back at her. “That may be, but I
happen to know that you have a particular fondness for the Keenan
nut.”
    She chuckled. “Pretty cocky for a guy who
will neither sing nor dance,” she challenged, looking at