Did she look tired? Was she sweating? Oh God, what if she was sweating and her deodorant wasn’t doingitsjob.
“No, I’m not tired at all,” she said. “But if you don’t want to dance, Iunderstand.”
Suddenly, Tara felt like they were back in high school, both of them awkward teens who didn’t know how to ask for what they really wanted. This shouldn’t have beensohard.
Beau took a breath and let it out, along with whatever burden he seemed to be carrying. “No, I want to dance with you.” He offered out his hand to her and she gladly took it, her smilereturning.
When they took their place on the floor, joining in with the other couples who were steadily two-stepping in front of the stage, Tara swore up and down that she was in heaven. With Beau holding her, their bodies inching closer and closer as the song progressed, she had never felt happier. All the anxiety she had felt earlier was gone, frightened away by his warmblueeyes.
Each time she looked up into his handsome face, she felt that familiar tingling in the pit of her stomach and that ache that centered even lower and refused to go away. Why did he have to be so damn sexy andattractive?
“You know, I used to have a crush on you,” he suddenly said in a hushed tone so only theycouldhear.
Tara tried not to giggle when she replied, “Really?”
Beau nodded without the slightest hint of remorse. “I did. But I know you didn’t evennoticeme.”
What a slap in the face after he just caressed it with such an admittance. She winced at the confession, knowing it wascompletelytrue.
“And I’m sorryforthat.”
Beau shrugged. “It’s in the past. We were just kids,right?”
Tara wished it could have been so easy to blame her ignorance on her youth, but it wasn’t completely that. If Beau had walked into the coffee shop, whether he looked like the guy on the cover or not, she would have noticed him only because he was hot. If he was as plain, thin, and gangly as he was in high school, she might not have given him a secondglance.
Beau was a great guy on the inside, but she would have never known it if she hadn’t been drawn to his outward appearance first. Suddenly, she felt unerringly guilty for being so petty andshallow.
She would have broken off the dance right there if Beau wasn’t still holding her close. He knew the truth, and he didn’t seem to care. Or maybe he did all along, but he was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt. He was giving her this second chance to find out what a great catch he was and Tara had to grab it with both hands or she might lose himforever.
“Do you forgive me?” she whispered, staring up into his eyes as tears burned at the corners ofherown.
Beau’s chest rose and fell with the great sigh he heaved. After a moment of deliberation, he nodded. “Ido.”
And Tara had to believe him. She had to believe that he was willing to give it a shot with this obvious connection they shared. Every look, every touch, everything screamed that they should be together. Book or no book, their destinies had to be intertwinedsomehow.
The song hit a few last notes and faded, but Tara didn’t want this to betheend.
Without thinking, without reason or under the influence of anything but Beau’s intoxicating spirit, she stood up on her tiptoes and planted a long kiss on his lips. He went rigid at first, but then melted into it, his grip tightening around her shoulders as their chests were pressedtogether.
Her fingers gripped the edge of his shirt sleeve, a wordless plea for him to hold her in that kiss for the rest of eternity. Or at least until closing time. The taste of his lips was sweeter than anything she had ever known. A current of pure bliss streaked through her body. It started in all the places he touched her and kept going straight down to where she neededhislove.
She heard a few whoops from the other bar goers and Beau was the first to break away. By the burning look in his crystalline blue eyes, Tara knew that he felt the same. Her parted lips begged for more, but Beau took a step away, taking his warmth and supportwithhim.
She nearly stumbled, but caught herself in time to stand on her own two feet. He kept a firm hold of her hands, but Beau must have seen the wisdom in keeping some distance from her. Tara almost agreed with him. It may have been wrong to kiss him like that, so quickly and without really knowing where they stood, but she couldn’t resist itanymore.
Beau looked toward the door, then back to her as a slight flicker of panic alighted his gaze. She looked to see Daniel had come back inside without Rebecca. The look on his face expressed enough and Tara understood the gravity of hererror.
There must have been a reason Beau was holding back and this had to be it. Daniel was the one to ask her out in the first place. Even if he was giving Rebecca more attention, Tara was who he had preferred from the beginning. Beau had tried to be respectful and give his brother chances to move in, and she didn’t evenseethat.
So many thoughts came barreling in, confusing her further. What if Beau really didn’t want to dance? What if he didn’t forgive her for ignoring him in high school? What if he still liked her, but he had gotten over her after all theseyears?
Tara felt a rush of heat to her face and it spread across her shoulders until she thought she wouldn’t be able to breathe under this new wave of anxiety. What hadshedone?
She left Beau on the dancefloor and ran straight past Daniel to leave the bar. Rebecca was sitting in the passenger seat of her car, her ankle wrapped up and shoeinhand.
“What happened?” she asked quickly as Tara pulled out her keys. Running away might not have been the greatest solution, but it was the best one she could come up with for now. She needed time to think and read the next chapter of that book. Maybe it would give her some direction on how to fix the mess she hadjustmade.
“Tara!”
