AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When they’d danced for a couple of minutes, he said, “We spent all morning together, even kidnapped a hapless man and dragged him here. I thought after that, things would go back to normal between us, but apparently, they’re still not.” He tilted his chin down. “So how long are you planning on avoiding me?”
She coughed and feigned surprise. “What makes you think I’m avoiding you?”
“You’ve never come home from college in the summertime—”
“It’s easier to find work in Missoula,” she said.
“Every time I went to your house to see Carson during Christmas breaks, you never set foot out of your room.”
She hadn’t thought he would notice or remember this fact. “I was busy reading. Sorry, you can’t compete with Rochester or Mr. Darcy.”
“You never went anywhere you would see me, including church…”
She shrugged it off like it was a joke. “I became a vampire at college. I’m not supposed to step foot on hallowed ground.”
“Which would explain why you’ve hardly stayed in one spot since the wedding.”
“I’ve been helping.”
“Carson hired people to do that. And you’ve reverted back to refusing to look me in the eye.”
She met his gaze to prove she could. He was staring at her. His blue eyes were intense, penetrating in a way that made it clear he wasn’t thinking about math. The heat from Kye’s hands seemed to increase, seemed to tingle from her hip up her back. She looked away.
He let out a disapproving grunt. “See,” he said as though she’d proved his point. “You can’t even look me in the eyes.”
Well, what did he expect when he looked at her like that?
He pulled her closer so he could speak into her ear. “Elsie, you’ve got to stop this. Your parents live here. Your brother wants me to be his children’s godfather. Once he retires from football, he’s considering buying half my ranch, moving out here, and helping me run cattle. Are you going to avoid your family just so you can keep avoiding me?”
“No,” she said with forced lightness, “I’m pretty sure I can see them and avoid you at the same time.”
He made another grunting sound. “I can’t believe you’re still acting this way. You know, I don’t think my cows surrounded your car on accident. I think they staged an intervention.”
He smelled so good. He wore the same aftershave he’d used when she’d been in high school. It made her feel like she was walking back through time. All the old familiar feelings of longing were stirring around inside her, promises of a summer that never happened. It was dangerous dancing with him this way. She gazed around the room to clear her mind. “Shouldn’t you be dancing with Lisa? Where is your girlfriend anyway?”
“Lisa is just a friend, and she ended up not coming.”
“Then where were you this afternoon?”
“After we found a suit that fit Mr. Travers, I was at the family science teacher’s house paying her to hem some of my pants so they fit him. I figured I ought to stay with him to make sure he didn’t take any detours to a bar.”
“Oh.” Elsie not only met his eyes, she held his gaze. He was so thoughtful. It made the ache inside her all that much worse. Kye was wonderful, and he had never been and never would be interested in her.
Kye’s hand tightened on her hip possessively. “You would’ve seen me come in with Olivia’s dad if you hadn’t been hiding in the bride’s room.”
“I wasn’t hiding.” Okay, she sort of was, but she wasn’t about to admit it. “I was seeing if Olivia needed anything.”
Kye pulled Elsie closer to avoid another couple. “Which brings us back to the topic at hand. We were talking about your inability to let go of the past.”
“No, we weren’t.” She looked over his shoulder at Carson and Olivia dancing, at all the couples clinging to each other. “You were lecturing me, and I was ignoring you. I’m not your student anymore. I don’t have to listen to you.”
Kye sighed and stopped dancing. She had no idea what he meant by this action, or what she was supposed to do now. He wasn’t watching her anymore, though. He was gazing at the door that led to the hallway. Still holding Elsie’s hand, he led her across the dance floor. They weaved around other people, threading their way to the door.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“We’re going to fix this once and for all.”
She could have pulled her hand away. Part of her wanted to. It was arrogant of him to assume she would just walk out of the room with him. But another part of her was curious. How exactly did he think he could fix this?
