She laughed again, and it was almost enough to ease the ache caused by that word. “Sorry.” Jane tilted her head, her eyes scanning his features. “You don’t really have them anymore, do you?” She stepped closer, and her eyes narrowed. “Oh! Nope. They’re still there. Just harder to see.” She winked and pulled back, tearing away their moment of closeness and making him feel colder than before.
Noah stood there like a smiling idiot.
Speak. Say something. She’s standing right there, and you’re acting like you don’t have a thought in your head.
Her lips curled upward, and she folded one arm over her stomach as she held her glass in the other. “Mack said that you were going to be my date today. But the only time you’ve been with me was when we were seated for the ceremony. Then you slipped away like a little mouse. Am I such bad company that you couldn’t?—”
Noah gaped and immediately shook his head. “I didn’t—that’s not what?—”
Jane laughed again. “Calm down, Noah. Don’t be so serious. I recall a time when you were so outgoing that you offered to marry me once.”
He flinched and made a face. There would be no hiding the heat that immediately blasted its way beneath his skin. “Yeah, well, you were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Could you blame me?”
Man, he loved the way she reacted to his statement. Her cheeks got their own little glow at his compliment, and her teasing tone disappeared as she murmured, “You’re sweet.”
“No, I’m honest. And for the record—” He leaned closer, “—the offer still stands.”
For a moment, the amusement in her gaze left her. She blinked at him like he’d told her he’d take her to the moon if she asked. Heck, he couldn’t say that he wouldn’t if she did. Money could buy him anything. And if she wanted to go to the moon, he’d do everything he could to make that dream come true.
The coloring in her cheeks deepened, and he found his resolve strengthening. Maybe he could sweep her off her feet after all. His gaze drilled into her, and his smile deepened as he noted just how flustered she’d become. “Unless, of course, there’s someone else in your life. By my account, our pact would come into play in the next couple of months. You’ll be twenty-seven, right?”
“You remember my birthday?” she blurted.
He chuckled. “You’d be surprised what I remember about you.” Noah had said it under his breath, but by the way her eyes snagged on him, lingering on him with that imploring look, he wasn’t so sure she didn’t hear him admit it.
And she wasn’t running from him.
Yes, he definitely had a chance.
He’d have to thank Mack later.
The MC announced that the happy couple would be dancing together for the first time as husband and wife. Jane turned away from him, but her arm brushed against his. The warmth of her skin against his started a shiver that skittered down his spine. He relished the reaction, exhaling with effort as his focus remained pinned on his brother escorting Lacey to the dance floor.
“They certainly look happy together, don’t they?” Jane mused. She brought her glass to her lips, letting it graze the smile there. “I’m glad he found someone.”
“Yeah,” he rasped, “they’re really good for each other.”
At that moment, Lacey’s son hurried toward them, and Mack let the boy cut in to dance with his mother. Noah’s mother moved forward to dance with Mack, and several other couples joined the dance floor.
Noah bumped shoulders with Jane. “Seeing as you’re my date…”
She lifted her eyes to his. Those beautiful, breath-stealing, soulful brown eyes that he still dreamed about. One side of her mouth quirked upward, making a dimple appear in her right cheek. “I’m not much of a dancer.”
He scoffed. “I doubt that.”
That dimple deepened as her smile stretched wider. “You’re right. There have been some occasions when I’m expected to be on a dance floor. But they’re not all that often.”
Noah arched a brow. That was interesting. “And are you going to tell me why you’re expected to dance sometimes?”
“It’s a work thing.” She returned her focus to those dancing.
“And you don’t enjoy it?”
She lifted a shoulder. “It’s notbad.”
“I see,” he drawled.
This time, she turned to him and laughed, too. “What doesthatmean?”
