“Excellent,” Kris said, in his most obnoxiously pompous tone. He was sure she was being intransigent, beneath the veneer of good graces – he just didn’t know whether he was pleased or annoyed about it yet. Nor whether he wanted to ignore or to prod at her until the facade unravelled.
He escorted her out to take their places, kept his eyes determinedly on her all the while as they made ready; she would not have any respite here, no glancing around at the other couples and pretending she was not here. “So,” he said, self-satisfied, and happy to make perfectly banal conversation if it meant she had to indulge him in kind – his hand was on her back now, the other clasping hers – “do you like to dance?”
He escorted her out to take their places, kept his eyes determinedly on her all the while as they made ready; she would not have any respite here, no glancing around at the other couples and pretending she was not here. “So,” he said, self-satisfied, and happy to make perfectly banal conversation if it meant she had to indulge him in kind – his hand was on her back now, the other clasping hers – “do you like to dance?”
