by Molly Cannon
“Make one of them a slow dance.” His smile teased her, sending wicked impulses chasing through her body.
The space inside the car suddenly seemed charged with intimacy. Irene sank into the soft leather seat. Theo smelled like clean soap and subtle cologne. She inhaled the scent of him, savoring the flutters that awoke in her stomach. It had been so long since she’d let herself feel like a woman. That yearning that Theo could create simply by sitting too close. “Don’t start flirting with me now, Theo. I don’t know what to do with it.”
“I could make some suggestions, Ree.” His words held danger and temptation.
She looked straight ahead, but she could feel his gaze brush across her skin. “Keep your eyes on the road, and keep your suggestions to yourself.”
His voice grew serious. “I’ve told you I’m leaving once Jake’s home, but in the meantime, I don’t know how to pretend I don’t still want you.”
His words set off a physical ache that wrapped her in need. “That’s what I’m talking about. You say these things, and what am I supposed to do? Say okay, Theo, take me, I’m yours until you leave town?”
He stepped on the brakes, guiding the car to the side of the road. As soon as the car stopped, he turned to face her. “I apologize. I’m sorry. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but I know in a week or so I’ll be gone, and I’ll manage the same way I’ve managed all of these years.”
“On to the next adventure. On to the next woman. And you’ll forget about me all over again.” Her voice was bright with the false impression that she approved and understood.
His eyes glittered in the dark as he sat still as a stone. But then he was moving, unfastening his seat belt and reaching for her. His mouth was a weapon, slashing and devouring hers like a conquering warrior. She kissed him back because she had wanted—no, needed—to kiss him again from the moment he’d flown back into town. She had no intention of resisting now. And her mouth opened under his, seeking the taste of him, wanting the contradiction of comfort and fire that only came from his touch.
He raised his head and moved back into his seat. In an almost angry voice he asked, “Do you honestly think I can forget that? Ever? Until the day I die, I’ll never find a woman that makes me come undone the way you do. And believe me I’ve tried.”
She was unreasonably flattered by his words and irritated by his tone at the same time. But she wasn’t about to take the blame for everything. She wasn’t going to let him get away with pretending he was the only one who’d been carrying baggage from their past all these years. “I’m sure it’s been a chore for you, Theo, but you aren’t the only one with regrets.”
They stared at each other, eyes locked in defiance, neither backing down. He surrendered first.
“God.” He put his head back against his seat and sighed. “Let’s don’t do this tonight. I’m weary of the battle. Aren’t you?”
She sighed, too, as she reached over and took his hand from the steering wheel. Wrapping her fingers around his, she gave them a little squeeze. “More than you know.”
He rolled his head to look at her. “So, can we just go and have a good time? I’ll behave. I promise.”
She nodded. “Okay. Let’s go show Derbyville High how two of its finest turned out. Deal?”
He smiled and returned her hand softly to her lap. “You got it.” Then he started the car and pulled back onto the road. They rode in silence as the lights of Derbyville twinkled in the distance.
Chapter Eighteen
The entrance to the gym of Derbyville High was decorated with an enormous green-and-white balloon arch. Irene also noted the crepe paper streamers hanging limply from the rafters and butcher paper posters lining the walls in an attempt to transform the old gymnasium into a festive party place for the reunion. She tried to ignore the mothlike fluttering of her chest as she and Theo approached the table set up to greet people on their arrival for the big event. She was surprised she recognized the woman at the table. Carol Boykin-Weems. Back in high school she’d been popular and nice to everyone. The perfect person to welcome the prodigal students back to the scene of their crimes.
Her smile was big and bright as she said, “Hello, y’all! Did you two preregister?” She waved a hand over the name tags spread across the table. “If you give me your names, I’ll help you find your tags. They’re alphabetical.”
Theo said, “Hi, Carol. I registered us. Theo Jacobson and Irene Cunningham.”
“Oh, here you are.” Carol found Irene’s name tag in the C’s and studied the yearbook picture before holding it out to her. “You are just as pretty as you were in high school, Irene! A lot of these people don’t look the same at all.”
“Thanks, Carol. How have you been?”
“I’m great. Married with two kids.
“Anyone I know?” Irene asked.
“No, I met Greg in college, and we moved back so I could take care of my mom. We need to talk more later on, once I’m through checking folks in.”
Irene smiled. “I’d like that.”
So far so good. Tonight might turn out to be better than she’d thought. She took Theo’s arm and together they walked inside.
“Theo Jacobson, as I live and breathe!” Coach Barstow’s voice boomed across the crowded room. Theo looked up to see his old baseball coach loping toward him with his arm held high in a friendly wave. He pounded him on the shoulder, saying, “I didn’t know you’d be here. How’ve you been?”
“I’m great, coach. It’s good to see you, too.”
“And this must be your wife? This young man played baseball for me, and I tell you he was a real go-getter. I wish I’d had a bunch more like him.”
Irene smiled. “I think one Theo is more than the world can handle, coach. And I’m not his wife. I’m just his date for the moment. I attended Derbyville High, too.”
He blushed red. “I apologize for jumping to conclusions.” He spotted her name tag and gave her a closer look. “Irene Cunningham. I remember you now. It’s heartening to see all the old students come back home.”
“It should be fun,” Theo agreed. He was happy Irene hadn’t seemed bothered when the coach thought she was his wife. Despite his good intentions, a big part of him would have been happy to introduce her as his wife, show off to everyone his good fortune. But he reined his imagination back in and decided that they were sharing a temporary truce. Another one.
He was still reeling from that kiss. It rocked him to the core. He must have kissed dozens of women in his time and he’d enjoyed most of them, but Ree made the top of his head blow off. And he shouldn’t have kissed her. He should have resisted the urge. She was addictive and that was the problem. He’d gone cold turkey a long time ago, but one taste and he was craving a whole lot more.
Coach Barstow shook his hand and moved on to some other former students. “Sorry about that, Ree.” Theo made a wry face. “Thanks for not killing him for thinking you’re my wife.”
She patted his arm. “Don’t worry about it. But it looks like I could use some help from you now.”
He looked concerned. “What’s up?”
She widened her eyes and nodded her head in the direction of the snack table. “Trouble at three o’clock and it’s heading this way. Smile and look like I’m the most interesting person in the world, if you don’t mind.”
Theo glanced around and spotted Christine Dempsey and a gaggle of other women heading their way. They were whispering and smirking in a way that made Theo’s blood boil. He turned back to Irene, placing his knuckle under her chin as he gazed into her eyes, looking at her as if she was the most magnificent creature on earth. He didn’t have to work too hard to imagine that she was exactly that. “Don’t let them see you sweat, Ree. We’ve got this.”
She blessed him with a smile that melted his heart like a blown-out candle. “I’m going to owe you for this, aren’t I?”
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “This one’s on the house, darlin’.”
<
br /> A feminine voice that floated on the air like spun sugar interrupted them. “Excuse me.”
He turned to face the one and only Christine Dempsey. She was stunning at first glance. Blonde curly hair that gave her the appearance of an angel. A sexy, seductive body that most men would find impossible to ignore.
But all her efforts left Theo cold, and he realized he’d never give her a second glance even if Irene hadn’t been in the room. Christine’s blue eyes glinted as they calculated and schemed, constantly taking in her surroundings, trying to scope out and eliminate her competition.
Irene turned, too, exclaiming, “Why, Christine Dempsey! How are you?” She smiled and gushed like she’d just found an old, dear friend.
Theo could see the group of women hadn’t been expecting her reaction to be so friendly, and they grew quiet waiting to gauge their leader’s response so they could follow her example.
“Irene Cunningham. My goodness, it’s been ages.” Christine batted her eyes at Theo while she spoke. She eyed him like someone on a diet who suddenly spotted a chocolate cupcake. Theo raised an eyebrow. She’d certainly never noticed him back in high school. He’d been way below her on the social scale, and he almost laughed now at her interest. She read his name tag. “Theo Jacobson. Did we have classes together?”
Theo pulled Irene close and barely looked at the women around them. “I don’t think so.” In fact, they’d sat next to each other in Algebra, where she’d cheated off his papers, and were both in the same biology class. He was happy to let her think he hardly remembered her at all.
Irene snuggled into Theo’s body and asked, “What have you been up to these days, Christine?”
“Oh, I have a little antique shop downtown. It’s not much, but I like to dabble in business. You should stop in sometime if you ever visit your aunt. Where do you live these days?”
“I’m still in the area. I live in Everson. Theo was in town for a visit, so he convinced me to come to the reunion with him. It’s been fun to see how we’ve all changed.”
Christine nodded agreeably. “I didn’t realize that. I see your aunt once in a while. We both belong to the Women’s League. What do you do in Everson these days? I remember when you worked at Piggly Wiggly back in high school.”
“No more grocery stores for me. I recently started a wedding planning business. It’s a lot of fun.” Irene smiled at the group. “Anyone planning to get married should give me a call.”
Christine seemed less than impressed. “Well, that sounds precious. I’m sure you are very good at it, too.”
Theo stepped in and decided to take the reins on this one. “She’s being modest. The wedding planning business is just one of Irene’s many accomplishments.”
“Oh, really? What do you mean?” Christine feigned interest, but it was clear she doubted Irene could compete with her in any way, not even business.
Theo drew back to look at Irene as if she was the smartest woman in the room. “She also runs a successful charitable foundation that provides help not just to the folks in Everson, but provides assistance to people in the entire county. That includes Derbyville.”
Beverly and Joan looked at each other before Joan asked, “Goodness, how did you get hired to do that?”
Theo grinned. “She’s highly qualified for the job, but she wasn’t just hired. It’s her foundation, and she’s quite the generous benefactor. Now, if you ladies will excuse us, Irene promised me this dance.” Without waiting, he whisked Irene onto the dance floor, but he noticed Christine watching them with new interest. A fast song was playing, and he’d never been much of a dancer to rock and roll in high school, but he held one of her hands and bounced around to the beat. “That was fun. Did you see their faces?”
Irene bounced, too, looking much better at it than he did. “I did. You enjoyed that a little too much, Theo.”
“Oh, come on. Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy Christine looking like she had swallowed a bug. I wish I’d had a camera.”
Irene giggled, and she never giggled that he could recall. “Okay. I’ll admit it. I wasn’t planning to flaunt my position in life, but since you did it instead…”
“No problem, darlin’. I’m available anytime.”
She swung her hips seductively. “Thank you, Theo. I could have faced them alone, but it was more fun having you beside me.”
“Arm candy?” He winked. “Is that all I am now?”
“Christine looked like she wanted to take a bite out of you.”
“Remind me to keep my distance.” He raised his arm and twirled her around. “I reckon I don’t like mean women very much. I guess I proved that by the way I handled Nell. Or should I say screwed things up with Nell.”
“I’ve almost forgiven you for that.” Irene shook her shoulders and turned in a circle. “But I don’t think Nell’s really mean. She’s just misguided.”
He moved his elbows up and down and shuffled his feet in an awkward attempt to keep time to the music. He made a mental plea that the next song they played would be a two-step or something he could handle and maintain his dignity, but watching Irene dance with such wild abandon was a reward all its own. He did his best to imitate her movement, surrendering and enjoying the moment. “You are more generous than I am, then.”
The music stopped and to his relief changed to a country song. Keith Urban was singing “Thank You” to someone. With pleasure he held out his arms in a wide invitation. “Shall we?”
She smiled and moved into his embrace without hesitation. After a moment they began to twirl and advance around the floor as if they’d been dancing together for years. Irene found it exhilarating, as if she was home at last. In Theo’s arms, with music filling the air around them, filling her body and soul. She held on as he executed a man under and spun her around to the beat. Nothing else mattered. And she realized how silly she’d been to care what Christine and her minions thought of her. They weren’t worth her time or energy, and she felt shallow for giving them that kind of power. Some things and some people should stay in the past.
She’d known since his return to Everson that she hadn’t been able to say the same about Theo with any kind of certainty. She felt his strong arms anchoring her to the dance floor. The feel of his hand on her back was such a little thing, such a tiny touch, but it filled her with a raging happiness that made her feel as if she could’ve danced all night. Or instead when the reunion ended, she could climb back into his car and let him drive her back into the night. Hope he’d pull his car over and kiss her again the way he’d done earlier. She wouldn’t stop him.
She knew he was leaving town soon and whatever happened tonight there wasn’t a chance it would lead to anything that would last. But right now, she didn’t care. Theo was a right now kind of man. And she wanted him.
Right now.
After this dance she would make the rounds. Make more of an effort to say hello to old classmates while he did the same. Chat with them all, make new contacts, and when it was time to leave, she would walk out with Theo by her side.
And whatever happened after that—well, she wasn’t going to fight it anymore. The dance ended, and before they made it off the dance floor, Theo was surrounded by some of his old baseball buddies. Irene waved at him and left them to catch up with each other.
She was pulled back onto the dance floor by Carol Boykin-Weems and a group of women who decided it was time for a line dance. She laughed and slid and kicked and twirled, having a great time. After, Carol introduced her and she remembered a lot of the women. They were friendly and warm, and they outnumbered Christine and her snarky little bunch. She made a lunch date with Carol, and for the first time all night, she was glad Theo had convinced her to come.
All that dancing made her thirsty, so she wandered over to the table that held a punch bowl. It also held every kind of cookie, chips and dips, something that looked like meatballs, and a platter of wings. She poured herself a cup of punch, but passed on the food, and made a note to nix
that kind of food for her wedding receptions unless they were served in silver serving dishes. It was all in presentation.
A male voice interrupted her musings about the snack table. “Irene Cunningham? Is that you?”
“Yes?” She looked up at the tall man by her side and smiled while reading his name tag. “Well, hello, Mark Connors. How are you?” He’d been in her chemistry class, and due to alphabetical seating, they’d been lab partners on several experiments.
“I’m great. It’s really nice to see you here.”
“It’s nice to see you, too. How’ve you been?”
“I’m fine. Do you still live around here?”
“I’m in the area. I live in Everson. What about you, Mark?” She sat her punch on the table and turned toward him.
He beamed at her undivided attention. “I live in Dallas. I almost didn’t come to the reunion, but now I’m glad I did.”
She nodded. “I know what you mean. It’s hard to know what to expect at these things. A friend convinced me to come at the last minute.”
“Anyone I know?”
“Maybe.” She nodded over at the group of men, laughing and slapping each other on the back. “Do you remember Theo Jacobson?”
“Sure. He was one of the jocks. Theo’s here? I heard he’d gone and joined the Navy.”
“You heard right. He was home for his brother’s wedding.”
“So, are you and Theo…”
Irene answered truthfully, “We’re just friends, and he’ll be leaving soon.”
Mark stuck his hands in his pockets, looking as if he was considering something important. “Would you like to dance?” He smiled and leaned toward her. “I’m not trying to be pushy, but I never had the nerve to ask in high school.”
Before she could accept Theo reappeared at her side with a sharklike smile on his face. “Mark Connors. It’s been a long time, buddy.” He held out his hand.
Mark took it, and the two men shook hands. “Hello, Theo. Irene was just telling me you were in town for your brother’s wedding.”