Page 44 of Save the Dance

“I am. I have to warn you, though. The play ends with a kiss.”

At Jason’s shy grin, her heart skipped a beat. This was one opportunity she couldn’t pass up. “I’ll need the script so I can learn my lines.”

“I’ll have a copy delivered to your room,” Jason promised. “It’s not complicated. Rehearsals are tomorrow afternoon at two in the Blue Room.”

She chewed softly on her bottom lip. The pageant was the last big event on her schedule before she returned to New York. And then what? She hadn’t told Jason that she’d developed feelings for him, but what was the point if all too soon she’d be forced to move a thousand miles away? So far, she hadn’t found a single entry in Mary’s diaries that would save her job.

“Is something bothering you?”

“Why do you ask?”

“You have your hand pressed to your throat. You do that whenever you’re worried or upset.” Jason drank from his coffee cup.

Deliberately, she lowered her fingers. “You know me so well.”

She stopped by a rocky outcropping. Above them, sea birds wheeled and turned, riding the thermals that rose off the cliffs. Her gaze fell to a lone figure on the beach below. Swinging a metal detector in slow arcs, he worked the water’s edge. He stopped every now and again to dig up a scoop of sand and let the grains sift through his fingers into the gentle waves. She sighed. The secrets she’d kept from Jason weighed heavily on her. She needed to get some of them off her chest. She owed him that much.

“I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but I’m in trouble at work. My editor hasn’t exactly been pleased with how I’ve handled this assignment.” She paused to fortify herself with coffee. “I wasn’t supposed to fall for my host and tour guide.” Her fingers crossed, she let that last part hang between them.

Jason was beside her in an instant. A questioning glint filled his eyes. “Handsome, dark-haired fellow? Runs the most popular wedding venue on the East Coast? Poor man. I’ve heard he’s head over heels for a journalist from New York.”

Tara’s breath caught. “Really?” she whispered.

“Yeah, really.”

He wrapped his arms around her. “I know this happened fast, but when you know, well, you know. I love you.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. I love you, too.” She leaned into Jason’s embrace. Resting her head on his chest’s broad plane, she sighed. In the movies, this was the part where the hero plied his beloved with kisses. But this was real life, not some made-up fantasy. Before she and Jason could pledge their hearts and lives to each other, they had some things to figure out. “So what does that mean for us? Where do we go from here?”

“This is all new to me. I have to admit, I don’t have all the answers. At the moment, I’m still trying to figure out how we got lucky enough to find each other.”

“It is a lot to take in, isn’t it?” She tipped her head to get a better look at his face. “I keep pinching myself to make sure this isn’t a dream.”

He snuggled her closer. “If it is, we’re having the same one.” His fingers traced lazy circles on her shoulder. “I hope it never ends.”

Which, when she stopped to think about it, was at least a big part of their problem. His life, his future, lay in Heart’s Landing. But by this time next week, she’d be in New York. There was no telling where she’d end up after that. She couldn’t let their feelings for one another grow without telling him the rest, starting with the real reason she was in Heart’s Landing. That wasn’t something she could do when he held her like he never wanted to let her go. Already regretting the loss of his warmth around her, she untangled herself from his hold.

“There’s a couple of other things you should know. I told you this assignment was my last chance to make a name for myself at Weddings Today?” Her voice rose, questioning.

“Your review of Heart’s Landing for America’s Top Wedding Destination.” Tension tightened the lines around Jason’s mouth. “That’s what you’ve been working on so hard ever since you arrived. I hope you aren’t going to say we’ve failed to live up to your expectations.”

“You surpassed all of them, and more,” she assured him, glad she could ease at least that one doubt. “I firmly believe Heart’s Landing is the ideal place to get married.” From the lowliest sales clerk to the owner of the Captain’s Cottage, everyone took their mission of providing the perfect wedding for each bride and groom very seriously. The town offered such a wide variety of venues—from rustic barns to grand ballrooms—that even the pickiest bride could hold her wedding in her ideal setting. Not only that, but the stores in town provided a wealth of choices sure to satisfy a wide range of couples. Those who’d chosen to elope on the spur of the moment would be just as pleased here as discriminating brides who demanded perfection in every detail.

“Well, that’s a relief.” As quickly as they’d appeared, the lines around Jason’s mouth softened. “We work hard to make sure everything goes smoothly for all our brides and grooms.”

“I know. I’ve given the town top marks. If the choice was entirely mine, Heart’s Landing would definitely retain its ranking. But my editor expects something more than the usual fluff piece.”

“You said as much, didn’t you?” Jason’s brows knitted. “I thought that’s why you’ve spent so much time digging into Captain Thaddeus’s past. You wanted to tell the history of Heart’s Landing from his perspective.”

“That’s part of it.” She took a breath. Keeping secrets from Jason was killing her. She wanted to tell him everything. How she’d been pressured to undermine the town’s chances in the contest. How Regina blamed the people here for ruining her wedding. But what was the point in admitting that she’d been less than honest with Jason if she didn’t have a future with him? Before she could tell him the whole story, she had to find that out. “The thing is, despite all my digging, I haven’t found a hook to hang the story on. My editor’s getting antsy. She’s given me the rest of my time in Heart’s Landing to come up with something. If I can’t, I probably won’t have a job at Weddings Today to go back to.”

Jason stilled. “And that’s always been your dream.”

She nodded, miserable. “Ever since I bought my first copy with money I’d saved busing tables at the restaurant.” She sought his eyes, pleading with him to understand. “It’s not just my job or my career that’s at stake. If Weddings Today lets me go, I won’t be able to stay in New York. I’ll probably have to go back to Savannah and work in my parents’ restaurant.”

There. She’d said it. It had been bad enough that she lived and worked in the city. Now, she’d told the man who’d made it perfectly clear he wasn’t interested in a long-distance relationship that there was a very good possibility she’d be moving a thousand miles away.

For several long seconds, Jason stared at the horizon while she held her breath, certain that this would be the end of things between them before they even got started.

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