Page 71 of Dreaming About Forever

Why did love have to be so bittersweet? She was in love for the first time, and she couldn’t even be honest about her feelings.

The melancholy didn’t have time to take over before Jordan made his way toward her. “Can I cut in?”

Grant passed Alicia’s hand over to Jordan and gave her a single nod. “It was a pleasure dancing with you.”

“Thank you for the dance.” She owed Grant more than he realized. He’d saved her from dancing with Tim. Grant was a married man too, but dancing with Jordan’s dad felt a hundred times safer than dancing with Destiny’s husband.

Jordan took her hand, and a tingling warmth spread over her palm and up her arm. The song was ending, and instead of swaying to the dying music, Jordan pulled her in close.

“I can’t take my eyes off you,” he whispered against the shell of her ear.

A wave of warmth rushed over her. “You’re supposed to watch me.”

Jordan’s arm wrapped around her waist. “Not like this.”

There would be dozens of photos of her dancing with different people tonight, but photos of her and Jordan would look starkly different. Simply holding her this close could cost him his job.

A slow song began to play, and Jordan took the lead. “Don’t think about it. Just dance with me.”

Alicia looked up at him. “Your job.”

He pulled her closer. “Don’t worry about it.”

But shewasworried about it. Jordan had already lost the job he’d always wanted. She couldn’t let him lose this one too.

Jordan brushed a hand over her hair. “You’re tense.”

“Everyone is watching,” she whispered back.

Jordan leveled her with an intense stare. “Just say when, and we’ll get out of here.”

She looked over both shoulders. The hype over her attendance had settled down, and few people were still watching her. “Let’s go.”

Jordan whispered into his earpiece and took her hand. He led her toward the back of the barn where they’d entered earlier. A tall man stood beside the door with his hands clasped in front of him, and he gave them a single nod before opening the door.

The cold night hit her bare arms and legs with all the shock of a cold shower. A single light lit up the few trucks parked behind the barn. Another guard patrolled the back of the lot, and he gave them the same nod as the other man seconds before.

Jordan opened the passenger door to the truck, and she slid in quickly, running from the cold that clung to her skin. Seconds later, Jordan slipped into the driver’s seat and started the truck.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have forgotten our coats.” He reached into the back seat and grabbed hers, holding it up for her to slip her arms into it.

“Thanks. It feels colder than usual.”

He reached into the back seat again and pulled out another one. “Put this one over your legs.”

She tucked his thick coat around her legs and shivered. “Are you sure you don’t want it?”

“I’m fine.” He adjusted the heat settings and rubbed his hands together. “We’ll be home in fifteen minutes. The heat in this old truck won’t even have time to warm up.”

Home. Was it a bad thing that she wanted to think of his home as hers too? She’d been so welcomed at Taylor Ranch that she hadn’t wished for her LA penthouse a single time over the last month.

On the ride back to the ranch, Alicia named off every person she’d met at the barn dance, and Jordan told her a little more about them. It was strange how invested she’d become in the town, and getting to know the people here didn’t seem like a chore the same way networking did in the entertainment industry circles.

“So, did you get to talk more with Jason Keen about the New Year’s concert?”

“I did!” She’d gotten to know Jason and Cassie in the last few weeks, and they were the co-founders of a non-profit called Harmony House that protected women and children who’d been abused.

Alicia pulled out her phone and opened a new email to Lillian. “We actually talked about it more tonight. I can’t wait. He said I could take a tour of The Mesa next week, and I need to make sure Lillian can be here.”

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