Page 23 of Sweatpants & Sweet Tea

I placed my hand in his palm, and the second we touched, a jolt of awareness spread through my body like an earthquake. It rattled me. As we walked onto the dance floor, I noticed Zoe, Ashley, and Nadia exchanging glances. I wondered if any of them had ever dated Harlan. Small-town dating pools were the size of puddles, so chances were one of them had. Not that it mattered. I had no plans to date the man. By this time tomorrow night, I’d be halfway back to California.

Harlan guided us to a corner of the dance floor, and as we turned to face one another, I placed my hands on his shoulders. His hands rested on my hips, and we began to sway.

“How long are you going to be in town?” he asked.

“Till tomorrow evening.”

A flash of disappointment crossed his face. Or at least, that’s what I thought I saw. I could be projecting.

“Do you come out to visit often?”

“No.” I shook my head.

His lopsided grin appeared once more. “That’s too bad.”

Just like it had been on the porch, the energy between us felt like the sky at night on the Fourth of July. There were fireworks. I stared up at him, willing him to kiss me again. His head lowered, and I closed my eyes. Harlan’s breath fanned my face, and then…

“Buttercup! This thing keeps goin’ off!” Aunt Rhonda’s voice burst the bubble we’d been floating in.

I opened my eyes and saw my phone in front of my face. I blinked at the intrusion.

“Oh, okay.” I took the phone, and Aunt Rhonda turned and walked off the dance floor. When I looked at the screen, I saw that I’d missed four calls from Alexandra. I was not about to cut my dance with Harlan short—not even for her. I’d deal with the consequences later.

“Is everything okay?” he asked as we stilled.

“Yeah, it’s just my boss.”

He pointed to the screen. “Is that your dog?”

“Oh, no, um…” I tucked my phone into the side of my dress and lifted my hands to dance with him again. “I travel too much to have a dog.”

His head tilted to one side as he stared down at me. “So, who’s dog is that?”

Harlan wasn’t the first person who had asked me about my screensaver, but he’s the first one that when I started to explain, embarrassment swamped over me.

“I, um, just downloaded it from Google Images. Ilovedogs and have always wanted a golden retriever, and I don’t know; seeing it just makes me happy and looking forward to the day that I’ll be able to have one.”

“So it’s sort of like a vision board thing?”

I don’t know why, but I was surprised at his reference. He didn’t really strike me as the vision board type. Not that I knew exactly what that would look like.

“Harlan! There you are! We need you and the other bachelors for a photo!” The woman who showed me where the bathroom was and interrupted our kiss earlier rushed toward us.

Before Harlan could respond to her request, my phone rang again. When I looked at it, I wasn’t surprised to see that it was Alexandra calling. Again.

I looked up at him. “I should take this.”

“Yeah, I should go over to…”

For a split second, as we stared into one another’s eyes, the rest of the room, the call from Alexandra, the woman with the Britney Spears headset mic, all disappeared. It was only the two of us suspended in time. I’d seen the phenomenon in movies and television shows, but I never thought it was real. Until now.

“Harlan!” The woman shouted again at the same moment my phone rang in my hand.

Harlan’s hands dropped from around my waist, and my stomach sank with disappointment that our dance was over.

“Hello,” I answered as I plugged one ear with my finger so I could hear Alexandra.

As I walked off the dance floor, I glanced over my shoulder and saw that Harlan was now standing across the room with the other men who had been up for auction. Our gazes met once more, and again, everything else disappeared. It was as if only the two of us existed. I blinked and turned around as a thrill raced down my spine.

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