Page 19 of Save the Last Dance (Take the Backroads #1)

The next night , Nina sat in the bleachers of her old high school and watched the Crestwood band and color guard practice.

She’d asked Mack to meet her here, hoping sitting on these bleachers where so much of her life had started to unravel they could put some of the bad memories behind them.

It had never occurred to her that band and guard would be practicing under the lights at seven o’clock on a Monday evening.

With the color guard’s purple-and-white flags twirling and the sound system blaring a recording of the band’s music, it wasn’t exactly an evening of quiet reflection.

A movement on the steps nearby pulled her attention from the high-stepping twirlers.

Mack climbed the steps toward the top of the bleachers, a white foam cup in each hand.

He wore a dark down vest over a lightweight sweater, the collar of a crisp white shirt just visible enough underneath to contrast with his tanned face and the hint of five o’clock shadow along his jaw.

Would she ever look at him and not be tripped up by old memories and desire?

“Thanks for coming.” She tucked her arms tighter around herself and slid down on the cold metal bench, the scent of autumn in the air. “I didn’t realize there would be a practice tonight.”

He passed her a foam cup.

“I don’t mind. The band sounds good.” Taking a seat beside her, he leaned back on the high fence behind the bleachers.

“I don’t know if the spiced cider is still hot, but I thought you might want to try it.

A local family opened a farm stand just off the highway a few years ago, and they agreed to provide some cider for the Harvest Fest this year. ”

Nina breathed in the spicy scent still steaming from the cup and leaned back on the fence a hand’s span away from Mack.

She wore a short trench coat that ended mid-thigh, but she’d also brought a throw blanket from the pickup truck.

She tucked it around her thighs now to keep herself from brushing against Mack.

She told herself it was just because she was cold that she wanted to lean into him.

“The cider smells amazing. Thank you.” She took her time sipping it, not sure how to delve into the things she needed to say to Mack tonight.

“I saw Ally at the farm stand while I was there. She was buying a ticket to walk through the corn maze with Ethan Brady.”

“The day after she was rushed to the hospital? How is she feeling?” Nina tracked the progress of one line of flag twirlers, amazed at how smoothly they worked in unison.

In comparison, she had always moved through life just a little out of step.

“I’ll bet it wasn’t easy for her to talk Bethany into letting her out of the house. ”

Mack shrugged. “I didn’t say much to Ally because she was giving me the sign to keep quiet, so I just took the cider and got out of there.”

“I hope Ethan Brady is good to her.” Nina remembered seeing him with another girl on Friday night. “She deserves some happiness after what she’s going through with her parents.”

“Scott and Bethany will work things out.” Mack’s chin jutted as if daring her to argue.

“I hope so.” Nina had no intention of getting involved in that particular mess. She had enough to wade through on her own now that she’d decided to stay in Heartache for her grandmother.

“Really?” There was an edge in Mack’s voice. “Because Scott told me you suggested that Bethany start a business of her own.”

Nina’s defenses went up. “Is that a problem?”

“They’re fighting for their marriage, Nina. Why encourage her to do things that take her away from her husband?”

“Because she’s miserable running the store when she sees it as his dream, not hers.

And until she finds her own happiness, she’s not going to figure out how to heal the marriage.

” Damn it, she didn’t want to argue about this.

She hadn’t given that much thought to her conversation with Bethany given all the drama that came afterward.

She’d only mentioned the business idea in passing.

Why couldn’t they just watch the twirling batons and drink cider under the stars?

“I came to town to do whatever I could to help Scott save his marriage. I would appreciate it if you didn’t work against me.” His jaw flexed with restrained emotions.

“I didn’t realize you already had an agenda worked out for their marriage.

” She couldn’t help the sarcasm that leaked into her words.

She’d never been as good at restraint as Mack.

“But if you want to fill me in on what that agenda is, I can certainly be a mouthpiece for the Finley family propaganda. ”

She tightened the blanket around her lap.

“I didn’t come here to argue with you.” Mack tapped her cup. “You should drink your cider before it gets cold.”

“I didn’t invite you here to argue with you, either.” Her words still sounded testy, but she was grateful to set aside the argument for now.

She had the feeling they weren’t really arguing about Scott and Bethany anyhow. Was it any surprise she was lobbying for Bethany to express her individuality and Mack thought the couple should focus on family at all costs? The argument sounded way too familiar. Only the names had changed.

For now, however, she inhaled the steam rising off the cider before taking a drink.

“This tastes so good.” She savored the mulling spices, trying to identify them all. “I’ll have to find a cupcake flavor to go with it.”

The breeze picked up and a gust blew under her blanket, sending a corner flapping over onto Mack.

“Whoa.” Catching it, he reached across her to tuck it back into place. Or at least, that’s what he started to do. His hand stilled before he touched her, the moment suspended.

It was hard to believe they’d been arguing a minute ago when just being close to him still had the power to turn her inside out.

Hand hovering just above her leg, he was close enough to kiss.

His shoulders blocked the wind and her view of the field.

Her heartbeat sped up. And she waited. She could practically taste his lips on hers, the memory of that kiss on the swings still vivid in her mind.

She’d gone to sleep thinking about it every night since.

“I’d better let you fix it.” Mack let the blanket drop before he leaned away. “Too tempting.”

She fumbled with the blanket and re-tucked it just as the band leader turned off the PA system. Practice seemed to be ending for both groups, some of the kids walking toward the locker rooms and some toward the parking lot and waiting parents.

Down on the grass, a few girls squealed and laughed. Some horns honked.

“Nina, the suspense is eating me alive.” He set aside his cup. Then took hers from her hands and set it aside too. “You wanted me to meet you here, of all places. You must have had a reason when it has to be as tough for you as it is for me.”

The bleachers were full of memories for them.

“I’m trying to make peace. I hadn’t been back here since that night.

” She couldn’t move to Heartache permanently if she couldn’t drive past the school without memories of their graduation week, her fight with Vince and the accident.

“I really thought I had my head on straight by the time I finished college, but it’s different being back here.

And then, when you told me about Jenny’s miscarriage?—”

“I shouldn’t have said anything.” He leaned back again. Distancing himself.

“Truly? Because I’ve been wishing you’d told me eight years ago. I know you were sworn to secrecy, but maybe it would have hurt less if I’d understood how much she needed you.”

“But I didn’t fall for Jen because she needed me, if that’s what you’re thinking. The last thing I wanted to do was hit on the mother of my dead friend’s kid.” He edged the words out between clenched teeth. “Losing her baby didn’t stop me from seeing her that way for a long time.”

“Then why did you fall for her? ”

“Why.” Mack looked up at the sky where stars shone in every direction.

“Because she was here, Nina. I just couldn’t walk away from Heartache after Vince died.

My mom was a mess and had a breakdown. My dad couldn’t afford to take the time off to deal with her, so Scott and I took turns sitting with her.

But underneath it all, I was grieving and it helped to talk about Vince. To remember him.”

“And I wasn’t here to do that with you.” She’d known Mack had wanted her to be with him. She just…couldn’t. Not when everyone had blamed her for Vince’s death.

But she was a whole lot stronger than that now. And she didn’t have to make excuses for what had happened in the past.

“It was a rough few years.” Mack leaned forward again, elbows on his knees as he stared down at the empty football field, the Crestwood logo of a hawk still visible in the moonlight.

“Plus Jenny and I were on the same page. The miscarriage really upset her, and she was as committed to not having a family as I was.”

Nina tucked that away, not sure she was ready to find out why Mack was still so determined not to have kids. He’d always been so great with Ally, even when he was a teenager.

“Thank you for explaining that.” She realized she felt better as she retrieved her cup of cider and took another sip. “It helps.”

“If anyone told me last week that I’d be sitting on these bleachers with you today, I would have said they were out of their mind.” He turned to meet her gaze. “Actually, I would have said something more colorful than that, but I cleaned it up for you.”

She set her cup back down.

“You always were a gentleman,” she teased, feeling warm inside even though the temperature was dropping. “So what do you think now? Is it crazy to be sitting here with me?”

“Not since you’ve signed on to dispense the Finley family propaganda.”

“Hey.” She poked him in the knee, laughing. “I can still revoke that offer.”

He grabbed her finger and held it hostage, his skin warm against hers.

“In spite of everything, I like sitting here with you.” He turned her hand over slowly and stared down at it before he traced a circle on her palm with his thumb. And then another. “I’ve been thinking about you a lot since I came home, Nina.”

Her eyes slid closed to savor the sensation of his touch. The gentle rasp of his callused thumb on her skin was a simple pleasure that sent a shiver through her.

“Are you cold?” He stilled.

The wind whistled softly in the trees, the branches creaking.

“No,” she admitted. “Not really. I like being here with you, too.”

“Bet you never imagined yourself saying that a week ago either, did you?” He flipped her hand again and lifted it, drawing her palm toward his lips and kissing the center.

The rush of heat to that one spot was shockingly sensual on a night when she wasn’t ready to feel that way. She’d wanted to recover a friendship, to move forward with a new start in Heartache, not go back and try to fix a relationship broken beyond repair.

“What if our moment is gone?” she asked, confiding a very real fear. “What if we had our chance and missed it?”

“What if we didn’t?” he countered, so close she could smell the hint of nutmeg on his breath from the cider.

“We may want different things for the future, but we’re not talking about the future.

We’re only talking about this moment. Did you ever consider that maybe all this chemistry around us is pushing us together and that our moment isn’t gone at all? ”

“What chemistry?” she tried to tease, but no sooner had the words left her mouth than he captured her lips with his.

Sensations bombarded her from all sides, the barely-there contact of his mouth a treat more decadent than any confection from her bakery.

Heat flared with surprising swiftness, leaping high inside her and sending a jolt of warmth through her veins.

She gasped in surprise and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, his mouth slanting over hers as his tongue stroked along her lower lip.

Reaching for him, she slid her arms around his neck and pressed herself closer.

Her breasts flattened against the hard wall of his chest, the friction spurring a soft sound deep in her throat.

Mack must have heard because he made an answering growl and wrapped his arms around her waist, palming the small of her back.

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, willing away the feel of everything but him.

She could lose herself so easily…

“Hey! Who’s up there?” A man’s voice shouted from the football field.

They broke apart to find a flashlight pointed their way.

“Busted,” Nina muttered, drawing her coat tighter around her and cursing ill-timed interruptions.

“Want to make a new memory on this football field?” Mack asked as the flashlight bobbed closer.

The wicked gleam in his eye called to her as much as his kiss.

“That was half the reason I came out here,” she reminded him.

“Good.” He grabbed her hand. “Because we’re going to run for it.”

With no other warning, he leaped to his feet and drew her with him. They pounded down the metal stairs, laughing while the flashlight-wielding school official shouted after them.

“I’ll find out who you are!” The man called after them. “You’ll sit in detention all next week for this.”

Nina matched her pace to Mack’s, the blanket clutched to her chest, her feet flying across the damp grass toward her pickup truck.

“Leave it.” Mack pulled her toward the El Dorado instead. “Come with me and we’ll cap the night with a joy ride.”

Grateful she didn’t have time to think about it, Nina jumped into his car and closed the door behind her, breathless and still laughing over their escape.

There were a million reasons not to get more involved with Mack Finley. But sitting beside him in the convertible under a fat harvest moon, she couldn’t remember a single one.