He stared after her in amazement.
Kelsey had agreed to go with him?
He shook his head.
Well, he might as well use this chance to talk to her and find out what was going on.
Grumbling, Harrison grabbed the bootjack and pulled the work boots from his feet.
¤ ¤ ¤
Billy’s waltzing was accomplished with more fervor than finesse.
Miracle, stumbling a little over his quickly moving feet, clutched his shoulders to keep from falling, gasping and chuckling at his speed.
“Slow down!” she ordered.
“This isn’t a race.”
He grinned, turning red to the tips of his ears.
He tried to do as she suggested, but as soon as he eased the pace his feet tripped all over each other, tangling in the hem of Miracle’s skirt until she burst out laughing, which only increased his embarrassment.
“I’m sorry,” she said breathlessly as he led her toward the punch bowl.
“I ain’t much of a dancer,” he remarked unnecessarily.
“I’m
not
much of a dancer,” she answered automatically.
“No, you’re good!” His face turned earnestly to hers, and Miracle didn’t have the heart to explain she’d been merely correcting his English.
They’d been at the dance for nearly an hour.
Miracle had felt the disapproving gazes of the row of old biddies lined up behind the tables at the north end of the room.
The Ladies Aid Society sure knew how to dampen the merriment of their own benefit.
They stared at her in scorn.
Why, if Miracle didn’t know better, she’d suspect they knew about her and Harrison.
God help her, he hadn’t
told
, had he?
She crushed that horrifying thought as soon as it crossed her mind.
No, he’d been shocked right to the soles of his feet when she’d blurted out the truth; she was certain of that.
And she’d seen the guilt that passed across his eyes before he dropped that damned inscrutable mask over his face.
Thinking of Harrison made her uncomfortable.
Through the shield of her lashes she scanned the room.
The young people of Rock Springs had turned out in droves, but there was no Harrison.
Come to think of it, there was no Lexie, Tremaine, or Kelsey Garrett, either.
But Jace Garrett was here, she thought grimly, shooting him a surreptitious look.
And the dark-haired woman with the elegant white hands and mean smile was undoubtedly his wife.
That woman was trouble.
Her black eyes watched Miracle’s every move, and Miracle suddenly wondered if something
she’d
said had convinced the stout, stern-faced women of the Ladies Aid Society that Miracle was someone to be scorned.
Her black eyes, in fact, reminded Miracle of Gil, the bounty hunter, and Miracle, who’d pushed the man right out of her brain, suddenly wondered if he’d ever contacted Sheriff Raynor.
It would be nice to think someone besides the well-meaning but round-bellied sheriff was on the trail of the man Gil had called Brody.
She didn’t like thinking about him.
She hadn’t forgotten that she could identify him, and she doubted Brody, if he had any sense at all, had forgotten it, either.
“Here,” Billy said, handing her a cup of lemonade.
“Would you like something to eat?”
“No, thank you.” Miracle accepted the drink, her gaze centering on the door.
Cedar boughs bound together with string surrounded the door frame, and thick red beeswax candles were set in rows against the narrow tables flanking the entrance, flickering wildly every time someone new entered.
Miracle watched for several minutes, waiting.
Billy’s eyes were focused on a girl with ringlets of blond curls.
She fluttered her lashes coquettishly at every man who asked her to dance and had a habit of flipping her velvet skirts with one hand as she moved, displaying an eyebrow-raising length of calf.
Yet the Ladies Aid Society didn’t turn their collective heads once in the girl’s direction.
Nor did they even glance at Isabella, who was clutching the arm of a handsome man in a dark gray suit.
No, their frowning, grim little mouths turned down even more at the corners only when they caught sight of Miracle.
It was enough to give one a feeling of persecution!
Then the door opened again and Lexington Danner swept in, Tremaine’s hand against the small of her back, guiding her inside.
She was breathtakingly beautiful, the grin on her face so unaffected that it drew people to her like bees to honey.
Tremaine, too, had his share of admiration, especially from the female members, but Miracle’s anxious gaze swept past him to the person behind him.
Kelsey Garrett.
Her stomach dropped so hard she was certain Billy could hear it.
Her dreams crumbled as she gazed at Harrison Danner’s fiancé.
Stunning, ravishing, glowing – the words were like spangled banners inside her mind, bursting out, none quite superlative enough to describe the woman on Harrison’s arm.
She couldn’t look at Harrison.
All she saw was Kelsey in a deep magenta dress that made her hair shimmer as if rubies were hidden amongst the thick auburn tresses.
Miracle had known she was beautiful; she hadn’t realized she was breathtaking.
The joy went out of the evening like the air from a burst balloon.
Unwilling to reveal her feelings, she merely swept a glance over Harrison and pretended not to notice him – just in case the biddies were watching.
But her heart ached.
She’d never seen Harrison in an elegant black suit before; it made his dark gold hair look like a thick lion’s mane.
“Want to dance again?” Billy asked, somewhat tentatively.
The light in his eyes had died when the girl with the blond ringlets flipped her skirt as she swept across the floor with a handsome dark-haired partner.
“Sure.” Miracle’s voice sounded strange, and she cleared her throat.
“I’d be delighted,” she added formally when inside she felt sick.
For some strange reason she’d never fully accepted Kelsey Garrett as a rival.
Lord, I’ve been a fool once again.
But I’ll be wiser from now on.
You have my word.
### #
Across the room, Harrison’s gaze fell on Miracle and Billy as they twirled rapidly from one corner of the room to the other.
In that one moment he forgot Kelsey and the fact that she, for reasons he truly couldn’t fathom, seemed to have forgiven him for his unjust rejection of her and, at the same time, had grown delighted with her newfound independence.
That no one else knew their engagement was over didn’t seem to bother her.
In fact, Kelsey seemed serenely unaware of the situation, to the point of smiling at him sheepishly, as if
she’d
been somehow to blame.
One look at Miracle, however, and his problems with Kelsey were jolted out of his head.
He hadn’t expected Miracle to be here.
The little savage had never shown any social skills yet, other than a cultured voice which was otherwise damaged by a tongue wicked enough to cut through metal.
Yet here she was, bold as brass, trying to hold Billy to the waltz with an iron grip, meanwhile looking as softly sweet and luscious as any well-bred lady.
Softly sweet?
Well-bred?
He snorted.
Luscious
was the only compliment that truly fit, because she was definitely, unerringly luscious.
That blue gown molded every slender, voluptuous curve; that black hair glowed like ravens’ wings, smooth and straight and silken; those long, lightly bronzed arms dazzled beneath a cluster of suspended oil lamps.
His mouth went dry, and he fervently clamped down on his rampant, lusty thoughts but to no goddamn avail.
Memories of Miracle flowed like wine.
He
did
remember her beneath him.
He
did
remember her cries and moans.
He
did
remember the suppleness of her skin and the incredible warmth of her surrounding him.
Lord help them, he was going to be an embarrassment to himself and the Danner name if he didn’t learn some self-control, he thought angrily, shoving his hands in his pockets to disguise a truly unworthy reaction.
He saw Isabella on the other side of the room and concentrated on her.
Anything was better than thinking of Miracle.
“Harrison?”
He jerked to attention.
Kelsey was regarding him searchingly, her lovely brows drawing together in a frown.
“I’m sorry for what I said the other night,” she apologized.
“I’ve been giving the – situation – a lot of thought these past few weeks, and I’ve realized a few things.”
He nodded, aware that this was one of those times she deserved his entire attention, but every time blue satin circled this side of the room his ears refused to hear anything but Miracle Jones’s husky voice.
“– was never meant to be,” Kelsey’s voice was saying.
“I wanted to be out of Jace’s house, and you weren’t following your –”
Black hair swung seductively in his peripheral vision, a thick curtain so rich and silken he wanted to crush it in his palms, taste it on his lips.
“– best all around.
I haven’t found a way to tell Jace yet, though.
It seemed better to wait.
Tonight seemed a good time to ask your advice, so I told Lexie I’d go with you to –”
He heard Miracle’s laughter, a ripple of velvet, sultry yet somehow soft and innocent and inexorably inviting.
“What do I have to do to get your attention?” Kelsey demanded.
“Stab you in the back like Miracle did?”
“What did you say?” She had his full attention now!
“Harrison,” Kelsey said with forced patience.
“I faced the fact that my main reason for wanting to marry you was to get out from beneath my brother’s thumb.
But since I have a new plan, I don’t want any hard feelings between us.
However, if you can’t face how you feel about Miracle Jones and let the rest of this town know it, you’re going to do both me
and
Miracle an injustice that she may never forgive you for, even if I will!”
Kelsey’s voice had risen with each and every syllable until the members of the Ladies Aid Society, the other good residents of Rock Springs, Jace and Emerald, and Lexie and Tremaine all turned to look at them.
“How did you know Miracle stabbed me?” Harrison demanded.
“I didn’t.
I guessed.
It must have been cupid’s arrow because it sure as hell turned you deaf, dumb, and blind to me!”
His jaw dropped.
Her gray eyes were filled with annoyance, anger, and a little bit of injured pride, but they were not filled with jealousy.
In fact, Kelsey looked more exasperated than wounded.
“Now, are you going to listen to me or must I scream at the top of my lungs?” she demanded, her hands on her hips.
“I’m yours,” he answered dryly as the music stopped and Miracle ended up right by his side.
He couldn’t look at her for fear his good intentions would vanish.
But she sensed her.
Lord, how he sensed her!
¤ ¤ ¤
Miracle’s chest was heaving from the exercise Billy’s dancing took from her.
It was just as well, for it gave her something to concentrate on, a reason to fan her face and gasp for air, when it was Harrison’s words that knocked the air from her lungs, the hope from her heart, the strength from her knees.
I’m yours.
“Did I do better that time?” Billy wanted to know.
“Magnificent,” Miracle lied.
She had to get away.
Now.
Before she was forced to face Harrison.
“Hello, Miracle.” Kelsey Garrett’s voice greeted her in a cautious tone.
She turned her gaze on Kelsey.
Better that than to have to look at Harrison.
“It’s nice to see you again, Miss Garrett,” she said stiffly.
Kelsey smiled distractedly.
“It’s nice to see you, too.”
“How’ve you been?” Harrison’s deep voice intoned, causing Miracle to nearly jump from her skin.
“Fine.”
“She taught me how to waltz,” Billy said with gratitude.
“Didn’t you, Miracle?”
“Quite a feat,” Kelsey observed, and Miracle could have sworn a smile twitched at the corners of her mouth.
“Billy’s an – ah – eager pupil,” Miracle said.
She still hadn’t looked at Harrison.
But he’d spoken to her, and rudeness would only emphasize how much he affected her.
Pulling herself together, she gazed directly at him and realized his handsome face was drawn into an unhappy scowl.
“Would you be willing to waltz with me?” Kelsey asked Billy, and Miracle was touched by her kindness.
Billy swallowed.
“It would be a good thing if your shoes were not your best, Miss Garrett.”