Chapter 123: Asking for a Dance

"Would you like to dance with me?"

Chelsea’s soft voice floated right past Arthur’s ear.

"It would be an absolute honor, Miss Lee," Arthur beamed, bowing his head and reaching his right hand toward her waist.

The very next second, Chelsea put her hand out, shoved Arthur’s shoulder to the side, and frowned in annoyance.

"Excuse you... I wasn’t talking to you!"

Arthur froze, his hand still hanging awkwardly in mid-air, all the color draining from his face until he looked like a corpse.

Nothing in his entire life had ever embarrassed him this badly...

Chelsea hadn’t even lowered her voice; every single billionaire and socialite within fifty feet had heard her shove him out of the way like an annoying chair.

If it weren’t for his family’s muscle keeping people quiet, half the room would have burst out laughing in his face!

Without giving Arthur another glance, Chelsea took two steps forward and stopped right in front of Jude, close enough for her sweet perfume to hit his face.

Tilting her chin up, her eyes sparkled as she asked softly, "Jude, will you do me the honor of being my dance partner?"

A collective gasp went through the crowd.

Skipping over every single billionaire heir in Manhattan, the founder of the Heavens Club had walked all the way across the ballroom just to ask Jude Lawson to dance?

Two steps away, Arthur Snyder looked like he was about to vomit blood.

If Chelsea had dumped him for an old-money Rockefeller, he could take the hit... but getting shoved out of the way for Jude Lawson made him want to rip his hair out.

Yet what happened next shocked everyone even more.

Looking down at her, Jude shook his head without missing a beat. "Pass. I don’t know how to dance."

Three hundred jaws hit the floor at the exact same time.

Getting a dance with Chelsea Lee was something every man in the room would kill for... and when she handed it to Jude on a silver platter, he turned her down flat in front of the entire party?!

Arthur Snyder stared at Jude like he was looking at an escaped mental patient.

Instead of getting mad, Chelsea went up on her tiptoes, leaning in until her soft lips were an inch from Jude’s ear.

"Come on, Jude," she whispered. "This is my own club. If you shoot me down cold in front of three hundred people, how am I supposed to walk back out on stage later?"

Jude hesitated for a second, then whispered back so only she could hear, "One song... on one condition. You tell me why you put on that whole fake act outside earlier."

"Deal... I’ll tell you while we dance," Chelsea smiled easily.

Before Jude could make sure she meant it, her fingers wrapped tight around his wrist, pulling him right out from the pillars and onto the center of the dance floor.

Knowing that pulling his hand away now really would leave her stranded in front of everyone, Jude let out a sigh and let her drag him under the main chandelier just as the violins started playing a slow waltz.

"Fair warning... I have zero clue what my feet are doing," Jude muttered as they faced each other.

"Lucky for you, you’ve got the best teacher in the world," Chelsea smiled.

She took Jude’s right hand and placed his palm against the curve of her waist, resting her other hand on his shoulder.

With no way out, Jude matched her steps and began moving across the floor.

Personally, he never got why rich people cared so much about spinning around in circles to classical music though he had to admit, having his hand on her waist felt pretty nice.

Thirty feet away, Salma Thompson watched them spin under the chandelier, squeezing her champagne glass so hard her knuckles turned white.

"That bastard..." Salma hissed through her teeth. "Turns me down three times in one night talking about loyalty, and two minutes later he’s out there holding Chelsea Lee by the waist?!"

Every guy who tried to walk over and ask Salma to dance got yelled at so brutally they basically sprinted across the floor to get away from her.

Out on the floor, Jude looked down at Chelsea’s smiling face. "Alright, I’m dancing. Keep your word... why did you lie to me from the start tonight?"

Chelsea batted her long eyelashes innocently. "You haven’t learned the steps yet! I said I’d tell you once you actually know how to dance."

"And why would I waste my time learning how to waltz?" Jude asked dryly.

"Because dancing is basic manners in high society," Chelsea said with a straight face. "If a big boss like you can’t even lead a girl on the dance floor, people will laugh at you behind your back!"

"Laugh behind my back?"

Jude let out laugh as he guided Chelsea through a turn under the chandelier. "People have been laughing at me for years, Miss Lee. A few more jokes tonight won’t keep me awake."

Chelsea looked up at him. "Someone with your kind of cash has actually been laughed at?"

Jude paused for a split second, his eyes narrowing slightly. "And how do you know what kind of cash I have?"

Chelsea didn’t even try to dodge it. "Didn’t you call me out five minutes ago? I planned this whole meeting. Of course I did my homework on you first."

"Then stop dodging," Jude said, looking down at her with a frown. "Why pull that stunt outside just to get close to me?"

Chelsea met his eyes while the music played around them, then gave a light smile.

"If I had to put it into words... let’s call it a gut feeling."

"A gut feeling?"

Jude blinked, lost for a second before sighing internally.

Back when he was broke, he would’ve laughed in someone’s face for saying that.

Lately, though, his luck with powerful women had given him enough headaches for a lifetime.

"Yeah... pure gut," Chelsea nodded, her hand resting on his shoulder. "Relax, Jude. I’m not here to hurt you, and I don’t have bad intentions."

"And why should I believe that?" Jude asked.

"Just wait until the night’s over," Chelsea whispered, a smile on her face. "You’ll see for yourself."

Around the dance floor, three hundred pairs of eyes stayed glued to them.

From thirty feet away, nobody could hear a word over the violins...

To everyone in the room, their voices and close steps looked like two people deeply in love, whispering sweet talk to each other!