Page 22 of A Jilted Bride for the Cowboy

He met her gaze then looked away. If he kept staring at her, drinking her in, she’d know he couldn’t keep his thoughts to himself. “I haven’t eaten. Why don’t we go get in line?”

“Sure. Let’s do that.” She tucked her hand around his arm, which automatically bent to receive it.

Graham’s heart skipped a beat at her casual touch. At her fragrance. At her lilting voice that matched her name. Now he only had to keep his wits about him enough not to trip over air or spill baked beans down this plaid shirt. Not to talk nonsense or recite prime numbers.

One question had been looming over his mind since Friday. Would he have the nerve to ask her to dance? One side of him argued that it was a fun Independence Day celebration, that of course she’d be dancing, probably with a dozen guys. There’d be line dances and square dances and… other kinds. She wouldn’t sit on the sidelines. Asking her didn’t have to mean anything.

But that’s where the opposite side of his brain kicked in. It didn’t have to mean anything. It likely wouldn’t, not to her. But to him? It meant something. It meant he was tongue-tied in her presence and that he’d never gotten over his infatuation of her from way back when.

The trick was not letting on that it mattered to him. He’d need to play it cool and pretend to be fun. Because, if she was going to dance anyway, he wasn’t going to sit back and watch her swinging around with other guys without having a shot at it himself.

She’d be in his arms.

Her fingertips clasped his bicep. There wasn’t much to squeeze compared to most of the guys around here. He should start working out.

He hated sweating.

But he didn’t want Cadence to think he was just another wimpy city boy.

* * *

“Dance with me?” Cadence held her hand out to Graham as she rose to her feet. The Delgado duo had struck up a lively tune.

“I…” He looked startled. “Sure.”

“Too forward?” She angled her head as he stood and wiped his palms down those stiff dark blue jeans.

“No. I was going to ask you anyway, but I was getting my nerve together.”

“Nerve?” She angled her head at him as she took his hand. “It’s too beautiful a night not to dance, and you’re the only person here I know at all.”

He looked away.

Cadence replayed the words inside her head. “I’m sorry. That made it sound like you would have been my last choice, which is totally not true. Still, it’s a fact I don’t know anyone else.”

Graham set his hand on her waist and offered a guarded smile. “That’s fair enough. And I probably know you better than I know anyone else here.”

She looked up at him as they began to step to the music. “But you’ve been here for three months. And we didn’t know each other all that well in college.”

He swallowed hard. “I noticed you, though.”

“You did? You never let on.”

“I’m not good at this. Not good at talking about anything but numbers or maybe books.”

“Yet you called out Paul on marrying me when he said he didn’t love me.”

His eyes locked on hers. “What did you hear?”

Cadence shrugged. “One of my bridesmaids is dating one of the groomsmen. He told her what went down. You stuck out your neck for me.”

“And took a dunking for it.” He managed a chuckle.

“So, I think you’re my hero, and that’s why I wanted this dance.”

“And maybe another one?”

She squeezed their clasped hands. “You might be able to talk me into a dozen.”

---