New Worlds - Havana

“She wants you to dance with her.”



Will eyed the bargirl dubiously. “Jack, you know I don’t dance.”



“S’bout time you learned then, aye?” Jack grinned, waving a hand towards the crowded dance floor. “It’s why they come here, for the rumba. And the rum.” He took an appreciative drink and added, “Rum, rumba. Positively perfect combination, if you ask me.”



Will sat back with a definitive snort. “Then you dance with her.”



The bargirl looked from one man to the other with a puzzled expression. She was accustomed to entertaining more willing patrons of the nightclub, on and off the dance floor.



“You no dance?” She asked, reaching for Will’s hand. “It’s no problem. Mercedes teach you.” She tugged at Will with two hands, backing towards the dancers. “It’s easy, like the cha cha cha. I show you.”



Jack wore a broad grin as Will fought the losing battle between his aversion to dancing and his natural chivalry towards women. And what a woman she was. A full-figured girl, a flower of the islands in full bloom. A sultry siren on a hot Havananight.



A delightful plum any red-blooded man would enjoy plucking from the tree. Except Will wasn’t any ordinary man. On sabbatical from the Dutchman, Will had been looking forward to spending some enjoyable free time with Jack, not being seduced by a B-girl in a Havana bar.



“Besides,” Jack added with a laugh, as Will lost the tug-of-war with the determined girl. “I want to watch.”



Will glared back. “You owe me, Jack.”



Smiling, Jack stretched out his legs and pushed his white Panama hat back, wriggling his bottom more comfortably in the rattan chair. “And I’ll make it up to you. Promise.”



Oh, I plan on rumba-ing the night away with you, dear William.