Free Lieutenant (An Ell Donsaii story #3) by Laurence Dahners

woman. They were doing a very complex swing dance that involved whirling and spinning, all the while keeping their hands in contact with one another. He even whirled the girl into the air once. It looked like a lot of fun and since Ell’s mind wasn’t really on what she was doing in the line dance she focused on exactly what the swing dancing couple did.
    The music slowed and the line dancers broke up to sit. Ell noticed that the young man took his dance partner back to her seat and went back to where his friend still stood. She walked back to her own table with Amy who said, “Now it’s time to apologize to that guy you ‘shot down’ and ask him to dance.”
    Ell stuck out her lower lip and lowered her head, “Don’ wanna!” Then she looked up and her eyes crinkled as she said, “But I will if you insist.”
    “Yep, ‘Momma Amy’ says it’s the polite thing to do.”
    Ell stood started walking towards the man, her heart in her throat. When she was about half way there his blond friend nudged him and pointed her out with his beer bottle. They both turned to watch her approach. The dark haired one lifted one eyebrow as she got close. Ell stopped in front of them and found herself momentarily unable to speak. Finally, she choked out, “My friend Amy,” with a thumb she pointed back over her shoulder, “says it was rude of me to turn down a dance. So, I’ve come to apologize and ask if you would dance with me after all?” She smiled tentatively at him.
    Cody’d admired her walking towards him, hoping that she’d changed her mind about dancing. Girls often came up to him wanting to dance after they’d seen him dance with Connie. Connie and he studied dance together at UNLV and liked going out to bars to “slum with the ordinary dancers” as they called it. It was fun to dance with regular folks who struggled to keep up, then occasionally throw in a dance with Connie to show them what real dance was all about. With a serious look on his face he said, “No.”
    Ell’s face fell and she turned, red faced, to make a walk of shame back to her seat.
    He said, “Wait! I was kidding! I just wanted you to feel all ‘turned down’ like I did. Of course I’d dance with you. I’d love to.”
    Ell turned back and flashed him a blinding smile. “Thanks!” She tilted her head. “I guess I deserved that.”
    “Naw, you didn’t. I was being a jerk. My name’s Cody, what’s yours?” He studied her surprisingly pretty face.
    “E… Raquel, I really don’t know how to dance. That’s why I turned you down earlier. Would you teach me?”
    “Hah! I saw you line dancing, you’ve got some nice moves.”
    “But I don’t know how to do anything else.”
    He shrugged, “Sure, all you’ve gotta do is follow. Keep your elbows bent ninety degrees so I can push and pull on you and then I’ll just sweep you around the floor like a broom.”
    Ell widened her eyes, “Oh, could you? That’s just what I was hoping for.” her eyes rolled.
    He grinned, “Ah, a spunky one!” They reached the floor as a slow song finished and another fast one started. His left hand took her right and he started a gentle push pull with the beat which she immediately picked up. His right hand pointed down at his feet, indicating the simple shuffle he was doing to keep time. Cody’s brows rose as she immediately picked up the step he was doing and shuffled an exact reciprocal to his.
    Ell looked up at Cody and was pleased that he didn’t look too bored. Delightedly she saw Amy walking out to the dance floor with Cody’s older blond friend. Cody took her left hand and, with a quick pull of his left, twirled her to “cuddle” in his right arm. Smoothly, he began moving her around the floor, their hips swinging slightly together. He twirled her out, then back in to cuddle in his left arm. Her eyebrows rose, this looked hard, but the moves she’d watched him do with the other girl were actually pretty easy. She thought to herself that