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Jack stopped dancing and brought his hands up to the sides of her neck. He used his thumbs to angle her face upward, then dipped his head, making sure he had her full attention. “Robin, if I wasn’t okay with that, we wouldn’t be here right now. I’ve wanted this for years, but I held back because I didn’t think you’d ever feel the same way. But now that I know you do, now that I know you’re willing to let me love you, I don’t care if that means I’m sharing your heart with Matthew.”

Robin’s mind whirled, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop a tear from rolling down her cheek. The slow song that’d been playing morphed into the startling clapping strains of “Cupid Shuffle,” and Robin started as loud cheers rang out around them. Then men, women, and children of all ages rushed to the floor to begin the popular dance.

Jack jumped at the sudden commotion, almost as if he, too, had somehow forgotten that they were standing in the middle of the crowded hall. Then he flashed her a quick grin and brought his lips to hers, apparently unconcerned by the line dance unfolding around them.

“Did you just say something about letting youloveme?” she asked, so quietly she was afraid he might not have heard her over the song and the shuffling of the dancers.

“Yeah, I did. Because I do. Love you. It should be too soon, but I think it’s been building up for a while.”

“I think so too.” She gave him another peck, then, just as she was about to tell him she loved him too, Abby forced her way through the crowd and wedged herself between them.

“Jack,” she said brightly, taking his hand and steering him in the direction the others were facing, “watch my feet. I’ll teach you how to do it.”

Jack shot Robin a sardonic smile, then shook his head at her little girl. “Ha.Youwatchmyfeet.”

And suddenly, Robin was able to picture him all too clearly in those dress blues, doing this silly dance with hoards of Marines. Could she get her hands on a video of that? Because as his dark and agile form moved to the music, his hips swaying and his feet perfectly executing the steps in time with everyone else, she realized that was something she’d pay to see. Onrepeat.

Robin finally quit ogling the man she loved and joined in on the dance, and when it was over, she fanned her face and leaned down to Abby. “Having fun?”

“So much fun!”

“Hey,” Holly said as she, Nick, Joan, and Noelle—who was dressed in a red princess dress that matched Abby’s on a smaller scale—approached them. “Robin, can you help me get ready for Santa and the presents? Joan and Nick are about to take Noelle to watch theNutcrackerperformance on the main stage, so I thought maybe Jack and Abby could go with them while we prepare?”

Everyone agreed, and they parted ways. As Robin and Holly clicked across the hall’s linoleum floor toward the auxiliary room to retrieve the gifts, Holly bumped her arm. “You realize that if you marry Jack someday we’re gonna be sisters, right?”

Robin grinned. “I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that.”

“How crazy is it that Jack told you he loved you at the Gingerbread Ball, and Nick and I had a big moment here three years ago? This ball is like magic for couples, I swear.”

Robin grabbed Holly’s hand and pulled her to a stop. She’d been wrapped up in Jack’s swoony stare, but how had she missed Holly standing right there? “Wait, you heard him say that?”

“Nope. But Miss Patty was doing the Cupid Shuffle right next to you guys when he said it. Didn’t you see her?”

Robin shook her head with a chuckle. “Guess not.”

“News travels fast in Snow Hill, remember?”

They laughed as they pushed into the auxiliary room, and Robin helped Holly load her arms with presents before grabbing a few of her own. Then she helped her friend get back through the door.

But as she turned to follow her through it, she heard a voice calling her name. Robin turned back, stepping in and searching the far side of the space where they hadn’t turned on the lights. “Hello? Is someone in here?”

As a dark shadow in the corner came alive when someone moved forward, the presents fell from her hands. “You.”

CHAPTER19

Jack

When the performance was over,the girls were eager to visit Santa for their presents. Well, Abby was eager for that. Noelle just hopped around in her fancy dress like the Energizer bunny, eager for life in general.

But Jack? Now that he’d told Robin he loved her and they’d shared that moment on the dance floor, the thirty minutes they’d spent apart while he was watching the condensed version of the classic Christmas ballet was too long for him.

Hewas eager for Robin.

Time alone with her, more specifically, but that would have to wait.

“You wanna go take them to get in line, and I’ll meet you guys over there when I find Robin?” he asked Nick, who agreed and left with the girls.

Jack looked around the hall, keeping his eyes peeled for the emerald-green dress that would probably haunt his dreams for the next decade, at least. Okay, so not the dress itself. But the way his woman looked in it.

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