While Mayor Dennison droned on with his typical bullshit speech that doubled as a re-election campaign, I turned to look at Bale over Harlow’s head and smirked.
Then, because I was feeling petty, I broke contact with her briefly to flip him off behind her back.
That’s right, fucker. I’ve got the cojones not to shy away from our girl.
Wait—had I just thought of her as our girl? Shit. My girl. Mine.
My fingers returned to the smallof her back and pressed more firmly, more possessively, into her spine before I forced them to relax.
Our town’s beloved figurehead continued his grand speech to kick off this week’s festival.
“Now that we’ve gotten all the formalities out of the way, the Town Council and I are honored to once again kick off this year’s festival with dancing, drinks, and an evening of celebrating the harvest season!”
Cheers and applause erupted all around us, and soon the band was assembled on the platform, upbeat music floating through the air.
The warmth of Harlow’s body was suddenly removed from beneath my palm as she was tugged away. Bale had grabbed hold of her hand and was heading to the center of the courtyard, where others were already gathered and dancing to the folksy-sounding music.
Bale looked back over his shoulder, grinning like a madman at me as he spun Harlow around before pulling her into a close hold.
Touché, asshole. Touché.
Chapter
Eight
One minute, I’m distracted by the heat of Corbin’s palm on my back. The next, Bale’s fingers threaded with mine, and I had to practically jog to keep up with him towards the center of the courtyard.
The band’s tune combined something celebratory with enough energy to keep your feet moving, but not slow enough to bring movements down to a simmering sway with your partner.
My head was still swimming from the experience with Corbin that had sent sparks flying across whichever part of my brain was responsible for throwing out all logic and reason.
Then, having Bale give me whiplash figuratively and physically was enough to send my senses into overdrive. There was no explanation, just a sudden decision that we were going to sharethe first dance.
Right as I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, his hand twirled me in a circle before drawing me back in close. My free hand landed on his chest with a soft pat to avoid colliding with him.
“They say that the person you share the first dance of the festival with is the same person you end it with.” He roguishly grinned.
Eyeing him skeptically, a breathless giggle escaped me despite myself. “And you believe that?”
He leaned in and whispered in my ear; a stray strand of his hair tickled my temple as he did. “Fuck no, but it makes the girls drop to their knees.”
The words should have pissed me off, but instead I heard the faintest tease as his voice dropped into a gravelly register. It was so minimal, it left me questioning if it had been my imagination or the real deal.
Before I could overthink it, we both moved our feet to the lively beat. Each step was complementary to the other. He moved one way, and I shifted in the other direction as we circled one another.
My hair whipped around my face as he raised my hand above my head and spun me around several times. With each pass, the skirt of my dress flared out around my legs from the motion.
I found myself laughing, genuinely, for the first time since moving to Falston. Despite the rough start to our meeting, my smile couldn’t be wiped off my face if one tried.
This time, when he pulled me back in, the front of ourbodies pressed together. Each rise and fall of our chests synced with the rhythm of our heartbeats.
His hand slid up my back, slipping underneath the curtain of my hair until he held onto the back of my neck. My hand made a similar movement up his broad chest, until it rested on the side of his neck. My thumb stroked over the light scrape of stubble just beneath his jaw.
Our eyes were zeroed in on each other, caught in a game of sizing the other up to see who would break first. Corbin may have called to me on a cellular level, but something about Bale drew me in on a magnetic scale. We were always caught in a constant push and pull.
“You know what I believe?” I asked as my hips slowed their movements just slightly.
“Tell me, kitten. I want to hear the pretty thoughts inside your head.”
