Free Accidentally Yours by Bettye Griffin

he could hold her in his arms.
    Vivian and Glenda were both asked to dance at the start of the very next song the deejay played. From that time on they seldom had time to sit . After an hour Vivian began to develop a thirst. She was about to go to the bar for a plain grapefruit juice when another man approached her. “Would you like to dance?”
    “ Sure,” she said, deciding the bar would still be there when she was ready for it.
    They joined the other dancers in the center of the room. His movements struck her as being on the stiff side, but he was kind of cute, tall with curly black hair, a goatee, and glasses.
    The deejay played a succession of some of her favorite songs, but after the third Vivian found she was getting sluggish and gestured to her partner that she wished to stop.
    He escorted her off the dance floor and thanked her. “May I buy you a drink?”
    She hesitated. This situation could be tricky. It was a nice gesture, but a lot of men felt that the purchase of a single drink for a woman entitled them to monopolize her company for the rest of the evening. She wouldn’t be willing to exchange her freedom for the price of a Remy Martin, much less a simple grapefruit juice. Still, he seemed like a nice enough fellow, and she wouldn’t mind talking with him, at least for a little while. If he didn’t seem willing to let her go, she would manage to tactfully get away. “Thank you, yes.”
    They walked over to the bar.
    “What would you like?”
    “ Just grapefruit juice, please.”
    He gave the order to the bartender, requesting a rum and coke for himself, then introduced himself as Bernard Williams. In turn she gave her name, and they carried their drinks to the reception area where it was quiet enough to talk. Vivian learned he was a stockbroker for a major firm in the Financial District and that he lived in Riverdale. In return, she shared with him the same basic information about herself: where she lived and what she did.
    She glanced at her watch. She had been talking with Bernard for forty-five minutes, and she was beginning to feel a little restless. But when the deejay slowed his pace Bernard stood and held out his hand, and she took it.
    The crowd on the dance floor typically thinned out when the slow jams were played. Vivian never could figure out the reason for this. Maybe the fellows just didn’t feel like getting that close to anyone. As she stepped into Bernard’s arms, she wondered where Zack was. A glance around at the other couples on the floor did not reveal that he was among them, and in that red jacket he would be easy to spot. Wherever he was, she hoped he saw her with Bernard, who, while not the best-looking man in the place—that honor would ultimately go to Zack—was no slouch in the looks department. He looked every inch the successful businessman in a navy blue suit that seemed perfectly tailored to his tall, thin body. If there was anything that irked her more than seeing women incorporate those dyed fabric shoes—obviously left over from days of serving as a bridesmaid—into their everyday wardrobes, it was a man whose clothes didn’t fit properly.
    Zack was standing with a number of other men near the door. He stood slightly behind them so that Vivian would not be able to see him. If she didn ’t see him, she wouldn’t know that he knew she was in the arms of another man. He had received compliments on his ensemble from men and women alike, but now he felt like his red blazer stood out like a fire engine among a group of black limousines.
    He had felt a sensuous light flickering between them when they talked earlier. It was like there was no one else in the building but the two of them…until she had spotted her friend, and then the magic moment passed.
    He ’d danced and socialized since then, but all the while kept an eye on where Vivian was and who she was with. Some undernourished-looking dude had latched on to her, and, from the looks of it, wasn’t ready to