Page 96 of Lucky Haven

I want that.

I want that with Cash, but…he’s not there.

He made that clear from the beginning, and I just lost sight of it for a while. His only options for me were bodyguard or fake boyfriend. He never offered his heart.

I just got greedy.

As we enter the barn, Dax heads straight for the band. This must be pre-arranged, because the musicians take the song down to a background level, and the singer says, “Please welcome to the dance floor for the first time as husband and wife, Zane and Hope Kincaid.”

Whispers swirl through the room almost as loud as the scattered applause, but then Ridge hollers a loud whoop and the crowd takes the hint, cheering as Zane pulls Hope to the centre of the dance floor.

I watch them until the crowd crushes in, and then I turn away—only to find Cash watching me. Something moves across his face. He tips his chin, giving me permission I don’t need, telling me to go dance.

But not with him.

I jerk my gaze back to the centre of the barn, my cheeks blazing.

I do want to dance tonight, and if not with him, then…with anyone. With the next man who appears in front of me, who happens to be Jasper Lane.

“Haven,” he says with a ready grin. “You came in with the Kincaids. Were you in on the secret?”

“Your sister didn’t tell you about it?”

He holds out his hand. “Dance with me, and I’ll tell you all the ways my sister tells me almost nothing at all.”

I pause a split second.

He lowers his voice. “Cash is watching. You might as well make him jealous.”

“A spectacular idea,” I say brightly.

He spins me onto the floor.

“Trouble in paradise?”

I shrug. “Since when is Dragonfly Creek any kind of paradise?”

He chuckles. “Spoken exactly like a Kincaid.”

“Why doesn’t Mercy tell you secrets?”

“She thinks I’m a buzzkill.”

“Are you?”

“Probably.” He presses his hand in the small of my back, pulling me closer. “I didn’t think barn dances were your thing.”

“That was foolish on my part. They’re quite a lot of fun.”

“They are.”

Jasper is an excellent dancer, just like his sister. I am not, but I am getting better, and the line between good dancer and woman-who-is-simply-not-afraid-anymore is thinner than I thought.

After Jasper, I dance with Dax, then Callum Kerr shows up, having changed out of his clerical outfit, and he’s talking to Luna when Dax claims his mother for a dance.

“You look like a cowboy, Reverand,” I say as we watch Luna and Dax twirl away.

“Thank you, ma’am.”