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“But—”
“Have you taken a night off since you got back into town?” She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but then shut it again and shook her head. “That’s what I thought. Come on.”
She put her hand in his and as his fingers closed around her delicate but calloused palms, warmth traveled up his arm. She might not know it yet, but this woman was his past, his home, and his future. He just needed to give her space and time to realize it herself.
He led them to the dance floor where everyone was line dancing to a new Luke Bryan boot stomper the band covered well. Bennett jumped right in even though he didn’t know the steps just yet. Maggie laughed and shook her head, then joined him.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he yelled over the music. “You know this dance? And you said you don’t go out often.”
She smiled, clapped the three requisite times, kicked her right leg, then shimmied to the left.
“Devil’s in the details, Marshall. I said I don’t go out often. When we do, we go line dancing.”
“We?” he asked, a surge of unexpected jealousy flaring up.
“My friend Jill and me. She works for Steel Born. Now watch and follow along.” Pulling his gaze from her deep-brown eyes that danced with passion was hard, but he jumped right in. “Left foot now. Good! Now, we spin to the right so we’re facing the jukebox.”
“I think I’ve got it,” he said, beaming until the whole crowd spun the opposite direction and he found himself face-to-face with Maggie. She was kind enough to laugh and brush off his mistake, even as his foot collided with hers. She winced and grabbed her injured ankle.
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded and got right back to dancing, but before he could remedy his klutziness, the music stopped, and the lead singer took the mic out of its stand.
“We’re gonna slow it down a little for you folks. Give the lovers a turn on the dance floor and everyone else time to refresh those drinks. Don’t forget to take care of the man who’s taking care of us tonight. We love you, Marc.”
Marc waved from behind the bar. Bennett was about to suggest he and Maggie get back to their drinks when the group of folks leaving the dance floor bumped into him. The gap between he and Maggie closed and only fractions of space existed between them as they gazed at each other. Her scent wrapped around his heart and squeezed.
He’d never not want to be close to this woman, would he? Nothing had sated him since he was seventeen and he doubted anything would again.
The music began, a fiddle and six-string harmonizing with the brothers’ throaty alto. The lyrics—telling a story of two people who got a second chance at love they thought had passed them by—washed over Bennett like a cleansing stream.
He wasn’t sure who made the first move, but his arms were around Maggie’s waist and her hands were clasped around his neck. They’d pulled each other close and swayed to the gentle beat. When her head rested on his chest, he felt… at home. Could she hear how his heart beat to her steps?
The song ended and Bennett didn’t move. Stepping away from her was impossible. When the band slid into another number, she still hadn’t let him go. He pulled her tighter and let the rhythm guide them.
Words built at the back of his throat, words that had taken a decade to break free of the wall he’d plastered them behind. But it wasn’t the time to share them; not yet. Just knowing they were there at the ready for when he’d need them was enough for now.
“This is nice,” she whispered.
He almost didn’t hear it, but his heart was paying attention and slammed against his chest.
Nice enough to stay? “It is.”
The spell broke when the band played the first few notes of a popular line dance tune and everyone who was at the bar clamored for space on the dance floor.
He leaned in so she could hear him. “I’d like to talk. You know, where it isn’t so loud.”
“I’d like that, too.”
He took her hand, and she didn’t pull away. It fit perfectly in his, as if the curves of his palm were designed to wrap around hers, his fingers meant to lace up with Maggie’s.
Hope scratched at the door of a still walled-off part of his heart that, after two failed attempts at wooing her with kisses, he’d worried was closed off for good. He wanted to let it out, to say what was stuck in his throat, but fear clamped it shut. Still, it was nice to know as he walked hand-in-hand with Maggie toward the upper banks of Deer Creek that it was alive in there somewhere.
Chapter Nine
The warmth radiating Maggie’s palm resting against Bennett’s spread up her arm, fighting off the chill of the evening.
Once they were away from the crowd outside the bar, he didn’t release her hand, and she sent up a tiny prayer of thanks. While her heart and mind warred with each other about how to react to this man’s presence in her life, neither could come up with a good enough reason for her not to simply enjoy the moment.
