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Beth finished chewing and stood facing him in the middle of the impromptu dance floor. Everyone else was dancing around them.
Awkward.
And he just couldn’t help it. He laughed. Something from within, so open and expansive it brought tears to his eyes. “You know there’s no saying no to Vivie, right?”
She closed her eyes. Nodded. “I know. Oh, I know. It doesn’t stop me from trying, though.”
He’d missed this. The twist of memories that locked him in. Rooted him. Maybe he just hadn’t tried hard enough in Oregon. Always played it low-key. Detached. The cowboy in the bar that was good for a night of dancing and darts.
And a front-door goodbye.
No strings. No attachments.
Because a man like him couldn’t risk connecting with others. No matter how tempting.
Especially after Harper.
Yet here he was, in the middle of all the layers of history. Of family. Of community. And he was starting to like it despite every attempt he’d made to stay in Oregon.
Beth began to slip away.
“Whoa,” he said and held out his hand to her. Maybe he could give in. Try a little harder. Dig a little deeper. Take a risk. Because somehow, it didn’t seem as risky or wrong when it came to Beth.
She stared at his hand for a moment.
“Come on!” Vivien said, her husband giving her a slow twirl.
Beth said something he couldn’t hear. He leaned in.
“I don’t know how to dance.” Her breath tickled his ear, shot rays of electricity down his back and arms and tingled every nerve in his body.
“Just trust me.” As soon as the words left his lips, he wanted to exit the area. Who was he to ask for her to trust him?
She teased her lower lip between her teeth.
“If you can relax, all you need to do is let me lead.” He waited for her to look up at him. “I really did win that dance contest. Now my reputation’s on the line.”
She nodded and slid her right hand into his left. He placed her left hand on his shoulder. Let his right hand find the sweet spot on her back.
Instead of a two-step, a strong country swing was playing. He drew her toward him.
He caught Doug Strauss’s eyes on him. A little wary. Very watchful.
Grayson looked away and tried to turn Beth. For such a petite woman, it was like trying to move a one-ton round bale. “You’re fighting me.”
“I’m not.”
“Relax.”
“I’m trying.”
“Don’t try—it’s like riding. Feel.”
What she needed was an old-fashioned distraction. Something to make her quit thinking about her feet and just move with him. “I’m sorry for the way I left the other night,” Grayson said.
She turned her head, releasing a citrusy smell from her hair. “I—I shouldn’t have said what I said. I’m sorry.” She gave him a crooked smile. “I’ve wanted to apologize for three days, but I was afraid to bring it up again.”
“Yeah. I know that feeling.”
