Page 59 of Serenity Harbor

“If you say so, darling.” He leaned down to Milo’s level. “Hello there. I’m Jamie. You must be Milo.”

The boy nodded but kept his arms around Katrina’s waist.

“It appears you want to dance with Katrina. Is that right?”

Milo continued gazing up at him, clearly not sure how to respond.

“You might not know this,” Jamie said, “but when you want to dance with another guy’s partner, next time you can tap them on the shoulder. Like this.”

He demonstrated by shifting slightly and drumming his index finger on the shoulder of a passing male—who just happened to be his brother, Aidan. Aidan turned around with an annoyed look and gave a heavy sigh as he relinquished his stepdaughter, Maddie, who twirled with a giggle into her uncle’s arms.

Milo watched this interaction with wide eyes, still looking confused.

“Do you want to dance?” Katrina asked. “Here. Put your hand right here on my waist, and then we hold hands like this.”

She put her hand on his shoulder and they stood for a moment, moving in a rather herky-jerky rhythm in a little circle. When she turned with the movement of the dance, she caught sight of Bowie standing at the edge of the plywood dance floor. He was talking to McKenzie and seemed to be listening intently to her but still didn’t take his gaze off her and Milo, which left her breathless and achy.

“Thank you for the dance, sir,” Katrina said to Milo the moment the music stopped. He broke away from her and headed toward his brother, leaving her little choice but to follow.

“Sorry about that,” Bowie said with an apologetic look when they reached him. “He slipped away from me.”

“It was fun. He’s a great dancer,” she said with a smile to Milo.

“I could see that. You’ve got the moves, kid.”

“I’ll say,” McKenzie said. “Any chance you might want to dance with me? Maybe some of that dance skill will rub off.”

She held an arm out. Milo looked from Katrina to Bowie and back to McKenzie, then hooked his arm through hers as the band struck up a faster dance number.

Only after they left did Katrina realize she was now alone with Bowie. Or as alone as she could be in a backyard filled with two hundred of her closest friends and family members.

“That surprises me,” Bowie said, looking after Kenz and Milo. “I thought he would stick pretty close to me tonight. He doesn’t like crowds or strangers much.”

“McKenzie’s not a stranger. We’ve spent a great deal of time with her over the last few weeks, helping to get things ready for the wedding. Milo likes her—and he absolutely adores her dogs. And speaking of dogs of a different sort, I have to get out of these shoes. My feet are killing me.”

She slipped them off and tucked them under the nearest table, where she conveniently had stowed her flip-flops for just this eventuality.

“Emergency shoe storage. That’s handy,” he said.

“Can I borrow your arm for a moment?”

He held it out and she grabbed his biceps—purely for balance, she told herself—while she slipped the flip-flops onto her bare feet.

“There. Much better,” she said, trying not to notice that delicious, woodsy scent of his aftershave that made her want to snuggle against his neck and inhale.

She forced herself to drop her arm and step away. When she lifted her gaze to his, she thought she saw something hot and glittery flash in his eyes for just a moment—but that might have been a trick of the spotty light out here on the moonlit grass.

“All that dancing. Can’t be easy on your feet,” he murmured.

“Jamie was the first person I’ve danced with all night. It’s not the dancing, it’s the standing and walking, anyway. Have you ever tried to walk in high heels on grass?”

“Can’t say I have.” His mouth twisted into a half smile. “I was going to ask you to dance, but if your feet need a rest, I totally understand.”

“They’re fine now. I could go all night in flip-flops or barefoot,” she said, breathless all over again.

He paused, with an endearing hesitancy in his eyes. “I don’t know, though. Without shoes, you might end up with broken toes. I’ll warn you ahead of time I’m a lousy dancer. I didn’t go to much high school—certainly not in one place long enough to go to any school dances—so I never really had the chance to learn.”

“I’m willing to risk it,” she said softly, unable to tell him how touched she was by the confession she sensed didn’t come easily to him. “Though as an educator, I feel it’s my obligation to point out there are plenty of dance classes around, if you feel that strongly about it. We even have a free one here in Haven Point. Wilma Searle teaches ballroom dance every Tuesday night at the community center.”

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