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Yet it sparkled and shimmered and flowed against her as they moved slowly to the music.
It clouded his thoughts. Made him want far more than this one dance. Far more than this single evening. Yet he already knew she wasn’t looking for anything long-term, with him or anyone else.
She sighed against his chest. “This is wonderful,” she breathed. “I think I could go on forever, just like this.”
A moment later she looked up at him, her eyes lit with a hint of amusement. “Do you think we could pay that quartet to play for the next twenty-four hours nonstop?”
Maybe she felt it too, then. A sweep of emotions too powerful to ignore.
He glanced up, and found another man approaching who was eyeing Jolie with the keen interest and confidence of one who’d cruised this territory for women before. From the top of his well-cut hair and yacht-club tan to the tips of his expensive loafers, he was trouble, wanting an introduction.
At Matt’s intense, warning stare the man’s leer faltered. He veered away.
“Our entrees just arrived.” Matt took her hand and started for their table.
“Can’t we dance just a little longer?”
“Our food will be cold if we stay much longer.” He winked at her, sliding an arm around her waist as they crossed the dance floor, then resting a steadying hand at the small of her back as they wound through the tables to their own. “Your shrimp looked excellent, and I hear the chocolate mousse cheesecake is incredible.”
As she slid into her seat, she tilted her head. “You were sure in a hurry to leave. What happened? Did I crush your toes?”
If that man had so much as touched you, I might have had to deck him, right on the dance floor at Four Pines Lodge.
“No. Well maybe, but I do know a good doctor.”
A rosy flush bloomed in her cheeks. “I’msosorry.”
Her hand felt soft and cool within his, and he marveled at the delicate bone structure. And all she’d done with these hands—healing, comforting, operating, situations he couldn’t even begin to imagine—and regretted that he’d teased her.
“Honey, you didn’t step on my feet. You’re a wonderful dancer. And I’m very, very glad to be here with you tonight.”
Their eyes met, held.
He knew some men—like that guy on the dance floor—might try to hurry this relationship to the next level without a thought. But that guy wasn’t him.
He had an overriding responsibility to Annie and Charlie that precluded any bleary-eyed, late-night homecomings.
Not with his children still learning about life from what he did himself. Not with the values he kept firmly in place.
What he wanted from them—responsibility—he had to demonstrate himself.
JOLIE SHIVERED WITHINMatt’s arms despite the blazer he’d draped over her shoulders. She leaned her head against his chest and folded her arms over his.
After dinner they’d driven to Last Woman Peak, a popular lookout in the hills above Garrett Bluff, parked the truck, then walked the remaining quarter mile. He’d spread a quilt over the grass at their feet.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? I’ve never been up here.”
She felt Matt’s answer rumble against her back.
Below them, the lights of town twinkled as the chilly night breeze tossed the branches of the firs and maples lining the streets.
The crisp white spires of the four stately churches, each standing on a corner at Main and Church, gleamed staunchly under the illumination of floodlights.
The view spoke to her about tradition. Family. Small-town values.Permanence.
All of the things she’d come home to find.
Up in the hills, a chorus of coyotes howled at the moon. From somewhere in the towering pines nearby, an owl hooted, its unearthly, hollow cry echoing on and on. A breeze whistled through the pines.
