Not My Type: Felicity Ch. 05

"Really?" The urge to crane my neck around to try to find him and Lilly was strong, but I resisted. Barely.

Adam nodded. "I marvel at you, Flick. Every man here, including the married ones would willingly throw themselves at your feet and you don't even realize it."

I waved off the trite observation. "Don't talk nonsense. Joe wouldn't notice a dozen naked supermodels if Rhiannon was in the room. Nate is so silly for Adele that it's like he's carrying a sign announcing it to the world. And if you think I missed the way you gaze adoringly at your wife when you think no one is looking, you must be an idiot."

Adam's laughter filled the tent. "Nothing gets past you. But what makes you think that Matt is more immune to your charms than anyone else?"

I cocked my head and pretended to think about it. "Hmm. Oh, I don't know," I drawled with plenty of sarcasm. "Because he has been for the past three years?"

Adam froze in the middle of the dance floor. The couples surrounding us stared and then adjusted to drift around the blockade we created.

"Listen to me," he said low enough that the nearby dancers wouldn't overhear him. "That man is stupid for you. Maybe he hasn't quite figured that out yet, but I recognize the symptoms when I see it. Joe has it for Rhi. Nate has it for Adele. Matt has it for you. Don't ever doubt that."

"Doubt it? How can I not when he's yet to prove it?" I tried to pull Adam into moving again, afraid we were attracting attention, but he was more than a foot taller than me, and would not budge.

"Flick, sweetheart, if you give to him, he will take. Trust me. You think I gaze adoringly at Lilly? It's nothing compared to the looks Matt gives you when he thinks no one will notice. He'd eat you up if given the chance."

"Then why the heck hasn't he done something about it?" I hissed under my breath. Logic dictated that Adam was just a typical newlywed who thought everyone should be in love. Problem was I didn't feel like listening to logic; it could get me into lots of trouble.

Adam finally began to move to the music again, taking me with him. "Because if you didn't react positively he'd lose you, lose everything. That's a terrifying thought. Surely you understand?"

I did. Because it's how I felt about it too.

"If you never make a move and he never makes a move, just how in the heck do you think anything's ever going to change between you?" Adam prompted softly. "Don't expect that every man is going to just march up and take what he wants. It's not as easy for us as women seem to think it is."

"This is Matt we're talking about here," I sighed as I looked up into Adam's emerald eyes. "You know... Matthew Tanner? The biggest flirt on the north shore? He smiles and half the women in the province swoon. Since when has he not gone after what he wants?"

"Since it means as much to him as you clearly do."

The music ended and Adam came to a halt again.

"Everyone sees it Flick, everyone except you."

Lilly was at Adam's side before I could respond. He threw his arm over her creamy bare shoulders, and beamed.

"My dearest, darling wife," Adam said with a chuckle. "Would you please tell Miss Stewart here that your little brother is ridiculously smitten with her, even if neither of them knows it yet?"

"He is," Lilly assured me through her own laughter. "I just spent an entire four minutes listening to him rave about you. Actually," she mused as a thoughtful expression crossed her sweet face, "he's pretty much spent several years raving about you."

I opened my mouth to argue, but before the words could find purchase past my tongue, Matt appeared at my side.

"I know you don't drink champagne," he said as he handed me a glass of pale pink liquid. "So I thought you might like some punch."

His fingers brushed mine as I took the glass. I couldn't be sure it wasn't deliberate.

"Kiss him," Lilly leaned over to whisper as she and Adam moved past me, arm-in-arm. "Trust me."

I sighed and took a long drink of punch.

"What was that about?" Matt asked.

I couldn't very well tell him the truth. "Lilly was just giving me some advice," I said, being deliberately vague.

"About what?"

I should have figured Matt wouldn't just let it go. He had the tenacity of a bulldog at times.

You.

"My dancing."

He plucked the glass from my hand and drank up the remainder with one healthy swig, and then he deposited the empty glass on the tray of a passing server. "Well there was no need for her to do that. You'll be dancing with me all night, and my dancing is just as good as hers."

Dancing with Matt was exhilarating. He made it look so easy and led so effortlessly that I didn't have to think at all; I just moved in his arms like I was made to. It felt like flying -- like I was Wendy to his Peter Pan -- or really more like I was Cinderella, caught up in some wonderful, magical spell that was so far removed from normal life that I could have pinched myself to test if I was dreaming. I almost did, but I couldn't bear to take my hand from his long enough for even that.

Being in Matt's arms... well there aren't words, really. Exhilarating didn't begin to cover it. It felt like my feet never touched the ground. Matt was so strong I wasn't scared at all. He held me up easily and I knew he would never let me stumble. I wanted our dances to last forever.

I didn't dance with Matt all night. Chuck made an appearance two songs later for his turn around the floor with me. Joe was next and then Reverend Nate came swooping in, claiming that the first dance we had together didn't count since it wasn't for the entire song. And I was flattered when Gerard Tanner shuffled over to me and gruffly asked if he could steal me away for one song too. I danced with Matt's dad in silence, but he smiled shyly at me the entire time, so I took that as a good sign.

When Matt finally claimed me back from his father, he looked annoyed.

"Miss Popular," he growled under his breath. "I didn't know I was going to be pushed to the back of the line."

I chewed at my bottom lip. "Well, perhaps you should have bought me a different dress then; something baggy and floor-length," I teased, knowing full well that the other Tanner men, Nate, and Adam would probably have danced with me even if I'd been wearing my work overalls.

Matt scowled. "You might be right," he muttered under his breath as he took my arm and led me off the dance floor and down towards the lawn. "My cousin Bill has been ogling your legs all night."

The sun had set while I'd been busy dancing and the lanterns had been lit. The army of paper lanterns cast an otherworldly glow in the trees. We moved through them away from the other guests, to a small private clearing at the edge of the bluff and stopped a foot or so from the precipice. A crooked sliver of moon hovered above the water, smiling at us like the Cheshire cat's grin. Music and laughter floated to us through the trees.

"I don't know why," I giggled. "There's not much to ogle."

"Just because they're short doesn't mean they're not fantastic."

"You think they're fantastic?"

"Of course they are," Matt said, sounding surprised. "Why wouldn't they be?"

"I'm not questioning whether they are or they aren't," I pointed out. "I'm questioning you thinking they are."

I could have sworn Matt blushed, but it was difficult to tell in the faint moonlight.

"Of course I do," he said under his breath. "I've told you that before."

I gaped at him. "No Matt, you haven't. You never say things like that to me."

Matt crossed his arms over his chest and glowered down at me. "Yes I do, I told you that you look beautiful in that dress."

"Yeah, in this dress, an hour ago," I reiterated, feeling my temper rise. "I don't want to be beautiful in just this dress. I want to be beautiful all the time!"

Matt took a step towards me and closed his hands over my upper arms. His fingers felt rough but warm against my bare skin.

"You are beautiful all the time."

His response surprised me into silence.

"How could you think I don't think that?"

"Because you've never mentioned it before tonight," I replied, still in shock.

"I should have." His voice had dropped to a low murmur even though there was no one else around to overhear. "You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." His words caressed my body.

"Your skin is so perfect it glows. Not a flaw, not a mark, nothing but soft perfection." His fingers moved over my shoulder, up my neck, and across my cheek to trail over the rose tucked behind my ear. "I never liked short hair on women until I met you," he confessed as he brushed the short, dark fringe of hair from my forehead. "But I love how it showcases your graceful neck, your sweet little ears, your perfect face, your beautiful eyes. Other women have to hide behind their hair, but you have nothing to hide."

I'd gone three long years without a single compliment from the man. He'd just made up for in less than a hundred words.

His fingertips trailed across my forehead and down my cheek again to brush against my lips.

"I've had the most terrible urge for weeks now and I thought I could fight it but I can't. What's more, I don't want to..." Matt trailed off, having to stop and clear his throat. I stopped breathing altogether.

"Would it be okay if I kissed you?" His voice sounded thick.

I couldn't speak. I could only nod, surprised at suddenly finding myself at the moment I'd dreamt about for so long.

To be continued...