Page 19 of Undone

The girl I’d been chatting with drifted over to the others and another woman joined them. She looked familiar. I squinted trying to figure out where I’d seen her before as I watched her make all the appropriate responses to the engagement ring that was flashed in her face. I thought Shannon had said she worked in the mayor’s office, but I couldn’t remember her name. Amy! With that mystery solved, I scoped out the bar and sucked down my cider. I smirked. Even my drink choice was different; the growing crew clustered around the newly affianced all clutched martini glasses.

The bar crowd looked exactly the way I remembered from the one time I’d gone to the bar years before: country cool. The women were dressed to impress in cowboy boots and floaty skirts that swung out when they twirled on the dance floor, and the guys were wearing pressed jeans that left little to the imagination, the quintessential plaid shirt with snaps, and boots. I watched the dancers, and a tiny partwished that the impromptu lessons on line dancing and the two step Shannon had given me years ago had stuck.

To say that I had two left feet was an understatement. I couldn’t stick to the beat despite the hours Shannon spent teaching me all the steps. As soon as I had to dance with the music, my feet would get tangled on air.

Watching everyone out there now, it looked like a lot of fun.

I scanned the room again and my heart stopped when I spotted the figure across the bar.

Josh.

I was trying to avoid him by going out, so what was he doing here?

I felt a nervous, fluttery feeling in my stomach at the sight of him, like a middle schooler at the first dance of the year. Why did he have that effect on me? The ability to make me feel buzzy and nauseated at the same time. I needed to get whateverthiswas under control or staying at the ranch and working with him was going to be torture.

He was engrossed in conversation with a guy wearing a worn cowboy hat and neither of them paid attention to the women a few barstools down from them laughing loudly and trying to get them to look their way. Whatever Josh and the guy were discussing, it seemed important.

I drifted closer to Shannon’s group. They were talking about gel manicures, and I tucked my free hand in my pocket. I kept my nails short so they didn’t clack on the keyboard, and with the pounding my fingertips took when I was on a roll, nail polish tended to chip off fast.

I drained the last of my cider. “I’m going to grab another. Anyone need a refill?”

They held up their full glasses so I nodded and headed for the bar. The crowd was three deep around making it unlikely that the busy bartender would even notice me tucked in between the rowdier patrons. I sighed. Why had I agreed to come out again?

“You’ll never get the bartender’s attention from there. Need help?”

The voice near my ear made me jump.

“Josh! Where did you come from?”

He pointed across the bar. “Just finishing up a friendly meeting. Saw you were over here, so I thought I’d come say hi before I left.”

I perked up at the thought of possibly hitching a ride home with him but realized that putting the two of us alone in his truck would make my mind wander to dangerous places. And maybe my hands too.

“You trying to avoid the coven?” he said, nodding toward where Shannon and her friends were clustered. Amy was no longer there, but two others had joined them also holding martini glasses. Was that a drink requirement with them?

“Oh, they’re not so bad,” I said. “They’re all nice, I just have nothing in common with them.”

“I can believe that.”

What did that mean?I struggled to come up with something to say but Josh’s face brightened, and he pointed up as the song changed.

“I’ve got an idea. Kill some time with me on the dance floor. This song is great.”

It wasn’t a belly-rubber, as my dad called slow songs, nor was it a dance that required me to know how to do complicated footwork or spins. Josh looked so hopeful that I felt like I had no choice but to say yes.

“You do remember that I’m a terrible dancer, right?”

“Well then, it’s a damn good thing I’m an excellent dance lead. I’ll make you look good.”

Josh took my hand and tingles spread up my arm exactly the way they had when he’d helped me off Indigo. He led me to a comparatively quiet spot in the back corner of the dance floor.

“This is a country waltz. It’s just a one-two-three, one-two-three over and over,” Josh said in a reassuring way, as if I’d know what it meant. I nodded as he brought me closer and placed his other hand on the small of my back.

Dancing was a terrible idea.

Josh paused for a minute to find the beat, then set off, using the pressure of his hands to guide me around. After a few stumbles, and far-too-many attempts to quiet my misgivings, I found the rhythm and relaxed enough to focus on what his body was doing.

“You’re agreatdancer!” he said over the music, leaning close enough so that I could smell his piney scent.

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