A Fool's Gold Christmas (Fool's Gold #9.5)

Then she began to dance.

She moved across the stage. She was strong and elegant at the same time. Lithe, graceful. He could watch her forever.

Behind him, he heard quiet conversation. He turned and saw several of her students had walked in. They were dressed exactly like her—in black tights and black leotards. Their hair was in braids wrapped around their heads, just like her.

The girls, ranging in age from maybe seven to twelve, didn’t notice him. They only saw Evie. A couple of them held out their arms, as if dancing with her. He heard whispers of “Beautiful” and “Oh, look at that turn.”

They wanted to be just like her.

He knew Evie had been brought to Fool’s Gold under difficult circumstances. The last thing she’d been looking for was a connection with her family. But she’d found that, along with a place to belong. He would guess her plans to leave in a few months were also unraveling. Fool’s Gold was now home.

He was a man who had gone out of his way never to form serious connections. Oh, sure, he was friends with Rafe, but that was different. Caring about a woman meant risking more than he was willing to put on the line.

But what if Evie needed him to care now? Everything in her life was coming together. It would only be natural for her to start looking at the future. If her needs had changed, then he needed to back off. To make sure she wasn’t expecting more than he could give. Only he wasn’t ready to stop seeing her. He liked seeing her.

The music ended, and the girls clapped. Evie turned toward the sound and smiled when she saw her students. Then her gaze met his, and the smile became a little wicked.

He grinned in return.

Maybe he was reading too much into the situation, he told himself. Just because she was finding her way with her family and enjoying the town didn’t mean she wanted more from him. He would wait and watch. If things seemed different between them, then he would act. Until then, he would hang on and enjoy the ride.

* * *

“DO YOU HAVE any idea how many seats that is?” Evie asked, sitting up and reaching for her glass of wine.

“Three thousand, two hundred?” Dante asked.

She turned to him. “I’m seriously on the edge. Don’t mess with me.”

He leaned in and kissed her. “You don’t scare me. I used to be bad.”

They were at his place, curled up together in the living room. The gas fireplace flickered away. After an afternoon of practicing with her students on the huge stage at the convention center, Evie was both exhausted and wired.

His mouth lingered, causing her to relax. This was nice, she thought. Spending time with him, touching him, being touched. Except for her being in love and him not in love with her, it was about as close to perfect as she’d ever gotten.

He drew back and she sighed.

“I feel so stupid.”

“It’s an honest mistake. Everyone thought you already knew and you didn’t.”

“I know.” She scooted back into the arm of the sofa and rested her sock-covered feet on his lap. “But I’m still playing catch-up. That place is huge.”

“Your girls will be fine. You’ve done a great job with them.”

“They’re the ones who worked hard.” She drew in a breath. “But it’s done. We’re there and we’re practicing, and I’ll be fine. I hope.”

He rested his hand on her legs. “You’ll be fine.” He leaned to the side and pulled a flat package out of the drawer of the end table, then handed it to her. “This will distract you.”

She stared at the simply wrapped package. “You bought me a gift.”

“It’s not a Christmas present. Don’t freak out.”

“I’m not freaking, and it is wrapped in Christmas paper.”

“They offered, I said yes. Like I told you, it’s no big deal.”

Except it was a big deal to her. Dante had bought her something.

She took the package and realized it was a book. After carefully opening it, she stared at the cover.

Cats for Dummies.

She looked at him.

“You’re thinking of getting that cat,” he told her. “I saw this and thought it would help you decide.”

Love flooded her and it was all she could do to hold in the words. She settled on throwing herself at him and hugging him.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

“You’re welcome.” He wrapped his arms around her. “This is nice. I didn’t know you responded so well to presents. I’ll have to remember that.”

* * *

“KNOCK, KNOCK.”

Dante looked up from his computer and saw May walking toward his desk. It was lunchtime and nearly everyone was gone. Something about a holiday get-together, he thought. Or maybe not. He’d been busy with a new construction contract and not paying attention.

Now he resurfaced long enough to stand and greet his partner’s mother.

“Am I interrupting?” May asked. “Silly question. You’re focused on something.”