“Why is it so important to you?” Jade asked, breaking the silence as they neared the Corn Dog Castle.
He jerked his head at her sudden question. “What?”
“KeepingThe Clementine Times?”
Back to business again. He looked at her, the polar bear tucked in the crook of her arm. Adorable. Oh well, he’d bite, but as soon as she said the words “deal” or “Harrington,” he was done. He could talk aboutThe Timesall she wanted, but he wasn’t going to spoil his day with acquisition discussion. “It’s—”
“Jade!”
She groaned as Logan closed in on them. “What’s he doing here?”
“All right, ladies!” Thurman Story, the hoedown MC, came through loud and clear over the microphone. “It’s what you’ve all been waiting for—time to get yer feller for the Sadie Hawkins dance!”
Already? Nuts. Despite telling Evelyn Margot that he didn’t duck the dance, he always totally did.
“You’ve got five minutes to hit the dance floor.”
Seb felt a cold hand slip into his. He looked at it, then at Jade’s determined expression.
“Let’s go.” She tugged him toward the dance floor.
“Wait,” Logan called after her. “Jade, I need to talk to you—”
“You want to dance?” Seb asked, baffled.
“Yes.” She was practically dragging him now, shooting a look over her shoulder at her brother.
This wasn’t the first time Seb had been asked to participate in the Sadie Hawkins dance. In fact, he’d been asked every year, by more than one single woman, although several of them had beenclose to his mother’s age. A few years ago he developed a plan to make himself scarce. He would have already implemented it by now, if it weren’t for—
“Jade!” Logan continued pursuit.
She pulled on Seb, and as they passed by the stage, she dropped her polar bear on the edge, then moved to the middle of the dance floor until they were engulfed by couples.
“All right, Biscuit Boys, let it rip!”
The overall-clad band began a moderately paced country song, punctuated by Jubal Fontaine’s twangy jaw harp.
Seb and Jade faced each other.
“Now what do we do?” Jade asked, looking bewildered as couples swirled around them.
“We—” Seb pitched forward as someone rammed into him. They couldn’t just stand and chitchat anymore. He put his hands on her waist. “Dance.”
It was his turn to tug, pull, and lead Jade around the parquet floor, every type of cowboy boot known to mankind thudding in concert with the lively music.
“What kind of dancing is this?” she said over the din.
He shrugged. “No idea. I don’t dance.”
“Me neither. But I needed to get away from Logan.”
He tried to ignore the twinge her words caused. Then again, why would he expect that she wanted to dance with him instead of using him as the equivalent of a getaway car? “He seemed eager to talk to you again.”
Jade’s face pinched. “I don’t want to talk to him right now.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask why, but he pulled back.No getting involved.He didn’t need to know what was going on with those two.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Junior Simpkins and his girlfriend, Dora Mae, barreling toward them. Junior was the size of an NFL linebacker and Dora Mae was hanging on for dear life.
