"Have to fill those long hours with something." The detective didn't clear up what it was he was filling his time with, not right off. He just spun her out, careful not to upset her cupcake eating, and spun her right back to him. If people were watching, they were also staying out of the way.
"I would read. It's how I found zen." As if he had to go looking for it. Actually, in this case, he did. He had to find some way to deal with those years in a place he didn't belong.
He took her one more time around the floor, what there was of it, before returning her back to her box of chocolate treats. He lifted the hand he'd claimed to begin with to his lips, brushing a kiss at her knuckles.
"Thank you for the dance. And, if you want them? Sometimes you must go after them." He wasn't telling her to do so. "But, if there is love, isn't it love that lets you let him find love? Friendship is love."