"One dance."
"And then we talk. Properly. Without an audience."
"Anything you want."
She placed her hand in his.
The touch sent electricity singing through his veins. He drew her gently onto the dance floor, into the space where the fairy lights were brightest and half of Harmony Glen could see themclearly. He could feel the weight of eyes, the buzz of whispered speculation, and he couldn't have cared less.
He settled one hand at her waist, the other cradling her fingers like something precious.
"Ready?" he murmured.
"No."
"Good. Neither am I."
And then they were moving.
She was stiff at first, just like in the grove—too aware of her feet, too worried about making mistakes. He guided her through the simple steps, using pressure and momentum rather than words. A slight squeeze to signal a turn. A subtle shift to help her find the rhythm.
Gradually, impossibly, she began to relax.
Her hand loosened in his. Her shoulders dropped. She stopped watching her feet and started watching him instead, and the look in her eyes made him feel like he'd swallowed the sun.
"People are staring," she said.
"People are jealous."
"Of what?"
"Of me." He pulled her slightly closer, not enough to be improper, but enough that he could feel the warmth of her through the thin fabric of her dress. "I'm dancing with the most beautiful woman in Harmony Glen. They have every right to be envious."
"You're ridiculous."
"You keep saying that."
"Because it keeps being true."
The song shifted into something slower, sweeter. Other couples faded to background noise. In that moment, there was only Marigold—the green of her eyes, the warmth of her hand, the way she fit against him like she'd been designed to be there.
"I was scared," she said quietly.
"I know."
"Rachel said… she said things that made sense. About you, about satyrs, about how this always ends." She looked away. "My mother fell for charming men my whole life. They always left. They always broke her. And I promised myself I'd never?—"
"I'm not them."
"I know." Her voice cracked. "I think I've known since the beginning. That's what scared me most of all."
He stopped dancing.
They stood in the middle of the dance floor, fairy lights overhead and the whole town watching, and he didn't give a damn about any of it.
"Marigold."
She looked up at him.
