Chapter23
“Oops, I’m sorry. Again.”
Anita forced a smile at Rusty. This was the third time he’d stepped on her foot, and not lightly either. Combine that with the ache from her shoes, and this was turning out to be a painful dance. “It’s all right. You’re a good dancer otherwise.” Not exactly true, but her compliment brought a smile to his face.
“You’re a real good dancer,” he said.
His hands rested on her waist while hers were on his shoulders, and they had plenty of space between them. Unlike her dance with Tanner. She had refused to look at him when they danced together and was glad the dancing had been short. Now she could spend the rest of the night enjoying herself, dancing with whomever she wanted to, and not giving him another single thought. That was what she wanted... wasn’t it?
“Can I cut in?”
Her brows shot up, and she turned around to see Tanner standing there.
“Sure,” Rusty said.
“No,” Anita said at the same time. Tanner had to be up to something. Maybe he wanted to try to convince her again to give up the café. She ignored him, keeping her gaze on Rusty. “This is our dance.”
“Oh, I don’t mind,” Rusty said in his always genial way. “Might save you a few bruises.” He drew away from her. “Thanks for the dance, Anita. I sure did like it.”
“But—”
Tanner smoothly took her in his arms, not holding her as close as he had earlier, but not leaving a lot of room between them either.
“Why did you do that?” she asked, not hiding her irritation.
“I wanted to dance with you.”
“We already danced.”
He met her gaze. “I wanted to dance with you again.”
Under the low lights of the reception hall he was almost ethereal.
Stop it.Remembering how he’d tried to manipulate her before, she knew she couldn’t trust him. “What if I don’t want to dance with you?”
Hurt flashed across his face. “Then don’t.”
“I won’t.” She moved out of his arms, ignoring his pained expression, and started to walk away.
“Anita, wait.”
The music stopped the second he finished speaking. Thank God no one had noticed. A fast-paced country song playednext—another surprise since Riley didn’t like country—and even more guests poured onto the dance floor.
Tanner took her arm. “We can’t talk here.”
“What, are you going to drag me into a closet? How about another pantry—I’m sure they have a kitchen around here somewhere.”
His brow flattened. “I was thinking about talking outside.”
She was about to shake her head, and then she paused, remembering Rosa. Regardless of how she felt about Tanner, he’d had a huge scare recently, and she didn’t need to pile anything else on him. She’d listen to whatever he had to say, and then she was moving on. “Lead the way.”
He seemed to know where he was going, which was good because she had never been here before. She followed him down the hallway, past the restrooms, and out the back into a small courtyard. A creek flowed behind it, and unlike the past week, the heat and humidity tonight were at a manageable level. Strings of white lights in the trees and on tall wooden posts surrounded them, casting a hazy, romantic glow.
“How’s this?” he asked, facing her.
“Fine.” She noticed a seating area. Thank the Lord. She sat down on the white metal bench and took off her shoes.Ah, that’s better.
“Feet hurt?” He sat down next to her.
