Page 6 of Secret Santas and Holiday Dances

He chuckled. “Yeah, right.”

Their server dropped off the paid bill.

Liam took his card and put it away, then glanced at her over the table. “Here’s something that might make you smile.” He cleared his throat.

Grace stared blankly. “What?”

“The Christmas Barn Dance is on Friday,” he said,

She stiffened her spine. Was he . . .?

“And this is your first Christmas in Harvest Ranch.”

She slumped. No, he wasn’t. “So?”

“I’m going, have to by order of my sisters, but I thought I’d see if you’d like to come along?”

Right. He definitely wasn’t asking her out. “What time?”

“Starts at eight-thirty and goes to midnight.”

“I don’t know . . .” She had been curious about it. Her cousins were all going. It might be fun, but . . . “The studio is doing a show Friday night. David hasn’t said anything yet, but I think he’ll want me to be there.” David was the king of last-minute scheduling.

Liam nodded. His pretty blue-gray eyes dimmed right before her. Was he disappointed? “Well, if you change your mind—”

She grinned. “I know where the Cultural Hall is.”

They left and headed up Main toward his work. The town had gone all out on decorations. While the best time to walk down Main Street at Christmas was at night, there was plenty to see in the day. Each store had done their own decorations, always with lots of lights, and they’d set up a Christmas tree in the gazebo at Maple Park.

Liam stopped out front of his building, lights wrapped around the front windows of Swiss Bliss Salon, the store below Liam’s offices. Grace peered inside, spotting her cousin, Maggie May—Jessie’s little sister. She waved and got an enthusiastic wave back that warmed her from head to toe. She loved having family all over the place. It was such a comforting feeling.

Liam pulled a little chocolate from his pocket and handed it to her. “I know you don’t like chocolate but you’ve got to try this.”

She grinned. “I do like chocolate. I just don’t have a very good relationship with it. I’m one of those people who don’t know when to stop.” Boy, was that an understatement. She’d sworn off the stuff years ago after her freshman fifteen had doubled. Turned out a stressed Grace plus chocolate weren’t a good combination. But she didn’t feel stressed now, so maybe it was safe. She thanked him and pocketed the chocolate.

He laughed. “Does that mean you have a good relationship with buttermints?”

“I have an excellent relationship with buttermints,” she said.

“I know, you have them everywhere.” He rolled back on his heels. “The peppermint kind.”

She chuckled. That was true. She always had some in her pockets, she had a bowl of them on her desk, and she reserved a cup holder in her car for them. She rarely ate more than one a day if that, but she enjoyed seeing them. “They . . . they remind me of my stepdad.”

“I’m guessing because you’re smiling, you mean Walt?” he asked.

Walt had been married to her mom from when she was four until she was eight. Her mom had married twice more since him. All Grace’s best Christmas memories came from her time with him. “You remembered his name?”

“Of course,” Liam said.

She’d mentioned Walt once. And that had been months ago. She couldn’t believe he remembered. Her gaze fell to his lips, to the perfect curve of them, and she licked her own. Agh! She wanted to kiss him. She ripped her gaze away and stared at the sidewalk.

“Well, I better . . .” She turned toward her work, which was directly across the street.

He cleared his throat, and she glanced at him quick once again. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he ran a hand over the back of his neck. She stopped breathing—had he seen her staring at his mouth? Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no!

“See you tomorrow?” he smiled.

She gave him a thumbs-up and dashed across the street before he could see her blush.

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