The Daddy Dance (11 page)

“That’s about my top speed, these days.”

She took the hand that he offered, letting him pull her to her feet. They fell into step easily as they crossed to the swing set. She actually laughed as he gestured toward the center leather strap, waving his hand as if he were presenting her with a royal gift. “Mademoiselle,” he said, holding the iron chains steady so that she could sit.

She settled herself gracefully, pretending that the playground equipment was some elegant carriage. Her fingers curled around the chains, and he sat next to her. Neither of them pushed off the scraped dirt, though. Instead, they braced their feet against the ground and continued talking.

“I feel terrible,” she said, throwing her head back to look up at the clear blue sky. “Keeping you working in the studio when you should be up in Richmond.”

“You shouldn’t. A job’s a job.”

“But this job is taking so much of your time. What do you need, up in Richmond? What am I keeping you from doing?”

Sleeping
, he wanted to say.
Concentrating on my work. Focusing on running a business instead of imagining what would have happened if I hadn’t let you chicken out the other night
.

“I need to build a website,” he said, somehow keeping his voice absolutely even. “Order business cards. Envelopes. Stationery for bids. I’m lousy at that sort of stuff.”

She nodded, as if she were writing down every word. “What else?”

“I’ve joined the Chamber of Commerce, but I haven’t made it to a meeting yet. I’ve got to get the ball rolling with a little in-person networking. Start building that all-valuable word of mouth.”

“That all sounds manageable.”

“I’ve got some paperwork that I have to file with the state. Copies of my license, that sort of thing.”

“I’ve got to say, Mr. Harmon. It sounds like you’ve got everything pretty much under control. Even
if
I keep dragging you back to Eden Falls.”

“I’m glad one of us thinks so.” He smiled, to make sure that she didn’t take offense. It was his own damn fault that he couldn’t stay away from here. His own damn fault that he put thousands of miles on the truck, wearing the tires thin on constant trips up and down the interstate. Old habits died hard.

Time to change the topic of conversation. Time to get away from the way he had screwed up his business plans, over and over and over again, ever since he’d graduated from college.

“So,” he said, purposely tilting his voice into a lighthearted challenge. “What do you think? Who can pump higher, here on the swings?”

For answer, Kat laughed and pushed off, bending her knees and throwing back her head. Before he could match her, though, the bells on the courthouse started to toll, counting out five o’clock.

“Wait!” Kat said, stopping short. “Niffer and I have to get home. Mama will start to worry.”

He bit his tongue to keep from cursing the bells.

Kat looked around the park, surprised to see that nearly everyone else had left. Of course, it was a Saturday in Eden Falls. Everyone had an early-bird dinner waiting at home. She glanced toward the castle jungle gym, ready to call Niffer and leave.

Except Niffer was nowhere to be seen.

Kat shook her head, forcing herself to swallow the immediate bile of panic. Of course her niece was on the playground equipment. She’d headed over there just a few minutes before.

Kat scrambled to her feet, taking off at a lopsided jog toward the castle. “Niffer!” she called. And then, “Jenny! Jenny!” The bright pink climbing bars mocked her as she reached the base of the toy. Up close, it looked impossibly tall, far too dangerous to be sitting in a public park. “Jenny!”

She looked around wildly. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t have lost her niece. She couldn’t have let anything happen to Niffer, to Jenny, to Rachel’s daughter.

“Kat! What’s wrong?”

Rye skidded to a stop beside her, his ebony eyes flashing. She tried to pull up words past the horror that closed her throat, over the massive wave of guilt. He put a hand on her back, spread his fingers wide, as if to give her a web of support. She started to pull away—she didn’t deserve to be touched. She was too irresponsible for anyone to stand near her. She had been given one single goal—watch Jenny—and she had broken all the rules by letting the child wander off unsupervised. Broken all the rules, just so that she could sit on the swings and flirt with Rye Harmon.

Broken all the rules, like Rachel.

“I can’t find her,” she sobbed. “I told her that she could go to the castle, and I only looked away for a couple of minutes, but she’s gone!”

Without thinking, Rye moved his hand from Kat’s back, twining his fingers around hers. He felt her trembling beside him, understood that she was terrified as she darted her gaze around the park. She wasn’t seeing anything, though. She was too frightened. No, beyond frightened. Panicked. Not thinking clearly.

He narrowed his eyes, staring into the deep shadows by the oak trees on the edge of the park. There! In the piles of leaves, left over from last autumn. Niffer was plowing through the dusty debris, obviously pretending that she was a tractor, or a dinosaur, or some imaginary creature.

“Look,” he said to Kat, turning her so that she could see the child. “She’s fine.”

Kat stiffened the instant that she saw her niece. Instinctively, Rye tightened his grip on her hand, letting himself be dragged along as Kat stumbled across the uneven grass to the oak tree border.

“Jennifer Allison Morehouse, just what do you think you’re doing?”

The little girl froze in midswoop, guilt painting her face. Instead of answering her aunt, though, she turned to Rye. “See? I told you that Jennifer is a bad name.”

Incredibly, Kat felt Rye start to laugh beside her. He managed to wipe his face clear after only a moment, but he was standing close enough that she could feel his scarcely bridled amusement. For some reason, his good humor only stoked her anger. “I asked what you are doing over here, young lady! Didn’t I give you permission to play on the castle? Not under the trees?”

The child’s lower lip began to tremble. “I
was
playing on the castle. I was a princess. But the unicorn mermaids told me that I had to find their diamond ring over here.”

Unicorn mermaids. Like Kat was going to buy that. She filled her lungs, ready to let her niece know exactly what she thought of unicorns and mermaids and diamond rings.

Before she could let loose, though, Rye squeezed her hand. Just a little. Barely enough that she was certain she felt it. Certainly not enough that Niffer could see.

Kat remembered her mother, sitting in the drab kitchen, sipping her cooling tea and saying that Kat should be more playful. She remembered Rye coaching the children, encouraging each of them in whatever they did best. She remembered the relaxed camaraderie of the T-ball parents, picking up their kids.

She took a deep breath and held it for a count of five. She exhaled slowly, just as she had when Rye taught her how to drive. No. Not like that. That had ended in disaster.

This was a new venture. A new effort to achieve a different goal. “You’ll have to teach me about the unicorn mermaids,” she said. “But that will be another day. Right now, we have to get home to Gram and Pop-pop.”

Niffer looked as if she thought a magician might have somehow enchanted her Aunt Kat, turned her into a newt, or something worse—a bewitched, unreliable adult. “Okay,” she said uncertainly.

“Come on, then,” Kat said. “Let’s go.”

As Niffer started scuffling through the leaves, Kat caught a harsh reprimand at the back of her throat. Instead, she whispered to Rye under the cover of the rustling, “She scared me.”

“I know,” he whispered back, and he squeezed her hand again.

“She really, really scared me.”

“But she’s fine,” he said. “And you will be, too.”

Kat had to remind herself to breathe as they walked out of the park and down the block to her parents’ house. Somehow, she forgot to reclaim her hand from Rye’s.

Chapter Five

K
at raised her voice over the band, practically shouting so that Amanda could hear her. The crowd was raucous at Andy’s Bar and Grill that night, and the musicians were making the most of having a full house. “Okay,” she shouted. “You win! You said the music was great and I didn’t believe you!”

Amanda laughed and clinked her mug of beer against Kat’s. “Drink up!”

Kat obliged. After all, a bet was a bet. This mug tasted even better than the first had.

Kat couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun on a Friday night. Amanda had called her around noon, reporting that she’d already arranged for Susan and Mike to keep an eye on Niffer for the evening. Her cousin had picked her up at Rachel’s house, only to frown when Kat answered the door in her skinny black jeans and a silk T-shirt. They’d made an emergency stop back at Amanda’s house—Kat still wore black, but Amanda had rounded out the outfit with a flame-red scarf, lashed around Kat’s hips like a belt. That, and a ruby-drop necklace that had belonged to their grandmother made Kat feel like she was someone new. Someone daring. Someone who wasn’t afraid of being a little bit sexy, on a Friday night out on the town.

In fact, when Kat was hanging out with Amanda at the crowded bar, listening to her cousin’s running commentary about the cute blond bartender, she felt like she was discovering a whole new world of fun. What had Susan said, the week before? That Kat had been cheated out of going to prom? Maybe Kat
had
lost out on a thing or two in New York, if this was what it felt like to hang out with her cousin, to cut loose, without a care in the world.

Kat certainly couldn’t remember the last time she had indulged in drinking alcohol, anything more than a sip or two of champagne at an opening-night gala. Her entire body thrummed in time to the crashing music, and the roof of her mouth had started to tingle. Amanda, on the other hand, seemed entirely unaffected by the single glass of beer that she had sipped.

Before Kat could challenge Amanda to keep pace properly, a man shuffled over to the table. “Hey, Amanda,” he said, mumbling a little and looking down at his boots.

“Hey,” came Amanda’s cool reply. “Brandon Harmon, don’t be rude. You remember my cousin Kat, don’t you?”

“Hey, Kat,” the man said, still intent on studying the floor.

Brandon Harmon. Kat blinked hard and looked at him as closely as she dared. Nope. She didn’t remember him. This being Eden Falls, though, they had probably sat next to each other in fourth-grade social studies. From his name, he had to be one of Rye’s countless siblings. Or cousins. Or whatever. It seemed like they comprised half the town.

As if he could read Kat’s mind, Brandon looked over his shoulder. There was a cluster of men standing at the bar, their broad shoulders, chestnut curls and midnight eyes all proclaiming them part of the same clan.

Rye stood in the center of the bunch. He lifted his mug toward Kat in a wry salute. She was surprised by the sudden rush of warmth she felt at his attention. Unconsciously, she flexed her fingers, thinking about how strong his hand had felt in hers the Saturday before, after she had panicked about losing Niffer in the park. She’d spent the better part of the past week thinking about Rye’s touch. His touch, and the patient humor in his voice… And that truly spectacular kiss that they had shared in Rachel’s kitchen…

Kat’s belly swooped in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with the beer that she had drunk. She’d felt the same sensation a hundred times in the past week. The past week, while Rye had been working up in Richmond. In between taking care of Niffer and running some errands for Susan, Kat had put in a lot of hours at the studio, but Rye had been nowhere in sight. The hardwood for the new floor had been delivered, though. It needed to spend a week acclimating to the temperature and humidity in the studio. A week when Rye had tended to other business. A week that Kat had been left alone with her memories, with her dreams.

But she was being ridiculous, mooning around, missing Rye. She knew perfectly well that he lived in Richmond now, that he was never moving back to Eden Falls.

And what did it matter?
She
had already spent two weeks in Eden Falls—seven days longer than she’d planned. It was time to turn her attention back to New York. Back to her career. She couldn’t daydream about the way Rye’s lips quirked just so when he smiled….

In front of her, Brandon shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Amanda,” he said, apparently summoning the nerve to bellow over the music. “Do you want to dance?”

Amanda laughed. “I’m sorry, Brandon. I can’t leave my cousin here alone.”

The poor man looked so crushed that Kat immediately took pity on him. She feared that he might never screw up his courage to ask out another woman again if she didn’t free Amanda now. “Go ahead,” she shouted to her cousin. “I’ll be fine.”

“Really?”

“Go! It’s not like I can join you!” Kat gestured at her walking boot.

Amanda laughed and cast a quick glance toward Kat’s mug, as if questioning her cousin’s judgment. Kat shook her head. She wasn’t drunk—not exactly. But she was definitely feeling…relaxed. Loose. Free, in a way that she hadn’t felt since coming to Eden Falls. That she hadn’t felt in
years
.

As Amanda mouthed a quick “Thank you” from the dance floor, Kat realized just how much her cousin had hoped Kat would let her go. Curious, Kat studied the cowboy, surprised to see how quickly he gained the confidence to place his hands on Amanda’s trim waist, to guide her into a smooth Texas Two-Step.

There was something about those Harmon men…. Something about a Southern gentleman with the determination to go after something that he wanted… She swallowed hard, thinking once again of a very different Harmon. She wished that she and Amanda had been drinking soda, or sweet tea, or anything that came in a tall glass with ice, so that she could cool the pulse points in her wrists.

“You’re a kind woman,” Kat heard, close to her ear. She whirled to find herself face-to-face with Rye.

“What do you mean?” He was close enough that she barely needed to raise her voice. Thank heavens the band was playing, though. Otherwise, he would have heard her heart leap into high gear.

“It took Brandon two whiskey shots to get up the courage to ask Amanda to dance. If you hadn’t let her go, all that booze would have gone to waste.”

Kat laughed and said, “False courage for a silver-tongued devil like that?” As if to emphasize her words, she set the flat of her palm against Rye’s broad chest. The action seemed to surprise him almost as much as it did her—he stiffened at the touch for just a moment. She tossed her hair, though, and thought,
What have I got to lose?
She continued in her best imitation of a carefree flirt. “Why, I bet that Brandon could have any woman in this place.”

“Really?” Rye lowered his voice and stepped closer to Kat. He practically nuzzled her neck as he said, “
Any
woman?” She shivered, a delicious trembling that made him think truly evil thoughts. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get some fresh air.”

“I can’t leave Amanda!”

He cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed, “Hey, Amanda!” When the woman looked up from the dance floor, he pointed once to Kat, once to himself, and once to the door. Amanda laughed and nodded, waving goodbye to both of them. Rye settled one hand on the small of Kat’s back as he guided her through the crowd.

A cool evening breeze hit them like an Arctic blast. “Come here,” he said, pulling her around the corner of the building. They were sheltered from the wind there, and from the prying eyes of new arrivals to the bar. A bench was pushed up against the rough wooden wall. He gestured toward it and waited for Kat to take a seat. Before she had fully settled, he sat beside her, closer than was strictly necessary.

She wore some sort of sleek black top, one that revealed every bit as much of her figure as it covered, even with its long sleeves. The neckline swooped down, way down, reminding him of the sensitive hollow at the base of her throat. That patch of vulnerable flesh was now marked by a sparkling ruby pendant—as if he could forget it. His fingers twitched, and he resisted the urge to pull at the matching crimson scarf around her waist.

Shivering in the twilight air, Kat rubbed her hands against her arms. “I bet this is where you take all your women.” She surprised him for the second time that night, squirming closer to his side, as if she wanted to soak up every ounce of his body heat.

“Just the ones I want to hear talk,” he said, yawning a little in a useless attempt to clear the dullness from his ears. Andy’s joint was always fun on Friday nights, but the band was far too loud.

“Talk,” Kat purred, placing a hand on his thigh. “Is that why you asked me outside?”

This was a Kat he hadn’t seen before. Sure, she’d let him kiss her in Rachel’s kitchen. And it had seemed second nature to take her hand when she was so worried about Niffer. He’d enjoyed that feeling, that closeness, that sense of protecting her, and he hadn’t let go as he walked her back to Susan and Mike’s house.

He’d spent the week up in Richmond, though. A week of business. Of remembering his priorities. With his contractor’s license properly filed and a dozen business meetings completed, he was newly charged with determination to make Harmon Contracting a success.

Except… Now that he was away from the office? Back in Eden Falls? And breathing in Kat’s intoxicating scent…?

Her fingers started to move in distracting patterns, tracing the double-stitched seam on his jeans as if she’d glimpsed his dreams all week long. His body leaped to immediate attention, and he barely swallowed a groan. He leaned forward and found her face already tilted toward him, her lips eagerly parted for his kiss. Heat rolled through him as he breathed in the honey apricot of her hair. He tangled one hand in the lush strands, using the other to trace the shape of that incredible, clinging black top.

He outlined her lower lip with the tip of his tongue, grinning as he heard a needy moan gather at the back of her throat. Her hands were working their own magic, one fiddling with the top button of his shirt, the other continuing its exploration of his increasingly tented jeans. “Kat,” he breathed, and then he sealed their kiss.

Heat, and slick velvet, and a pounding, urgent need. But behind that, under her sweet cry, he tasted the sharp bite of hops. Beer. He was shocked to realize that she’d been drinking. Sure, she was an adult; she was allowed to drink alcohol. But his mind refused to reconcile the notion of Kat, the ice princess, cutting loose. Kat, the tightly bound queen of control, tossing back a couple.

All of a sudden he understood the boldness in her hands, the brazen teasing in her words.

He shifted his hand from the back of her head, stopped crushing her close. Instead, he brought his palm around to cup the line of her jaw, using the motion to soften the end of his plunging kiss. She pulled back, just enough for him to look into her platinum eyes. He asked, “How much have you had to drink?”

She looked confused. “Just a couple of beers.”

A couple of beers. With her frame? And he was willing to bet that she didn’t have any tolerance at all—she couldn’t possibly make a practice of hanging out at bars, pounding down a few brewskis on a Friday night.

He leaned in for another kiss, this one quick. Chaste.

“What?” she protested. “I’m an adult. I’m allowed to have a couple of beers.”

“Of course you are. But I’m not going to take advantage of you like this.”

“It’s not taking advantage if I want it, too.”

Her blustering response made him certain he was making the right decision. The Kat he knew would never throw herself at him like that. What had she told him, one of those days when he was hanging out at the dance studio? She had
goals
and
strategies
and
rules
.

He clenched his jaw and pulled away from her. “Come on,” he said, keeping his voice as light as possible. “Let’s get something to eat.”

Kat shivered, freezing now that Rye had pulled away from her. She plucked at the scarf around her waist, suddenly ashamed. Two lousy beers. How much could that have impaired her judgment?

But the world was just starting to swirl around the edges—not enough to make her dizzy, but more than enough to tell her she was over her limit. She thought about what she had done, about where her hands had just been, and she was overwhelmed with a scarlet wash of embarrassment.

“Kat?” Rye’s voice was gentle. “Let’s go get some dinner at the Garden Diner.”

“I don’t want dinner,” she whispered.

“What? You’re going to tell me that dinner goes against your dancer rules?”

More than fooling around on a bench outside a backroads bar
? he meant. Her eyes shot up at the amusement in his voice, and her shame started to morph into anger. “What about you?” she challenged him. “Did it take you a couple of shots to come over and talk to me, just like Brandon? I bet you shouldn’t be driving around Eden Falls right now.”

“I don’t need liquor to help me do what I want to do,” Rye said. She heard the passion behind his words, the absolute certainty that he
had
wanted to talk to her, to be with her. Even if he’d been gone for the entire week. Even if he’d been the one to pull back just now. His voice was only marginally less fierce as he said, “I stuck to soda water tonight. I have an early day tomorrow, back up in Richmond. A site visit for a prospective client.”