Good Guys Love Dogs (26 page)

now, they're in Jefferson County,
North Carolina, the

principal said, shaking his head.
“So, we're without music.

Ian was nice enough to make a few
calls to the local radio

stations. Both DJs are booked for
wedding receptions. I

real y don't know what to do.

“Does the school
have a music system, Mr. Walters?

Ian asked.

“Yes. A pretty
good one, the principal said.

“I'd be willing
to play DJ if we can set it up in here.

Looking pleased with the suggestion,
Mr. Walters said,

“That would be
great. You'd be a lifesaver. I'd hate to think

what would happen if all the kids
showed up, and we didn't

have any music. Colby, would you
mind helping out?

A quick refusal sprang to her lips.
“I don't know very

much about the kind of music the
kids like.

“Yes, you do. Mr.
Walters smiled. “I'l bet Lena's

laptop is full of it.

He was right. It was. It would be
sil y to refuse Mr.

Walters's request simply because she
promised herself she

would stay away from Ian. “It
is.

“Terrific.

“So is Luke's,
Ian said. He glanced at his watch and

then looked at her. “We
could run by our houses and grab

them. What do you think?

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INGLATH COOPER

Colby had to admit it seemed like a
good idea. And

since their options were limited,
what else could they do?

“Sure. I'd be
glad to help.

Agreeing that it might be quicker to
go separately, Ian

and Colby took their own cars. Colby
arrived back before he

did. Mr. Walters had set up the
speakers while they were

gone. Once Ian arrived, the
principal grateful y left them to it

and went off to put out the most
recent fire.

They worked in silence, burning CDs
of songs they

thought would be appropriate for the
dance. Within twenty

minutes, they had a great mix.

Ian turned to look at her. “Think
we can pul this off?

The question startled her. They
hadn't said anything for

the last ten minutes, both of them
feigning intense

concentration on the task at hand.
She'd been on pins and

needles the entire time. “If
we don't, we may have a rebel ion

on our hands, she said, glancing
toward the door where

couples were filing in. It was
almost eight-thirty. The dance

officially started at eight, but no
one came that early. “Good

thing it isn't cool to get here on
time, huh?

Ian smiled. “Yeah.
We might have been reduced to

singing.

With the atmosphere between them
considerably lighter,

Colby laughed. “
That
would have been a disaster.

“And you haven't
even heard me sing, he said in

mock dismay.

“I was speaking
of my own lack of talent.

His gaze lingered on her. “You
look incredible tonight,

Colby.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

“Thank you, she
said, realizing how much she wanted

him to notice. She would have been
lying to herself to deny it.

“You look nice
yourself.

“No mud or tomato
juice on my shirt?

She smiled while awkwardness
descended upon them in

a grip every bit as crippling as any
she had ever experienced

as a teenager.

For the next forty-five minutes or
so, they played music

and made smal talk. A couple of
their first selections got a

few boos, but several songs into the
mix, they apparently hit

the right combination. The dance
floor was packed, and no

one seemed to be missing the band at
all.

Colby searched the crowd for Lena,
final y spotting her

on the other side of the gym. She
waved, certain that Lena

saw her, but Lena turned away
without waving back.

Colby restacked the CD cases in
front of her,

determined not to let it ruin the
night.

“They can put a
knife through your heart, can't they?

Ian asked in a quiet voice.

Colby looked up, started to deny it,
then decided there

would be no point. He was right. And
she knew he

understood. “I
never thought being a parent would be this

hard. Even when she was a newborn
and I was trying to

go to college, it wasn't this
difficult.

“Caring is what
makes it hard. I imagine it would be a

lot easier if we didn't love them so
much.

“You're right,
she said, sighing. “How are things with

you and Luke?

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INGLATH COOPER

“Better than
they've been in a long time. We're actual y

talking, and it feels real y good.

“I'm happy for
you. That's terrific.

“Thanks. He
paused, then said, “Any word from Lena's

father?

She shook her head. “No.

Ian reached out and squeezed her
shoulder in a gesture

of comfort. Or at least that's what
Colby told herself. That

did not explain, however, her own
response to it: the instant

need it conjured up, the yearning to
be alone with him, away

from curious gazes, to pick up where
they'd left off that

Sunday morning in the storage room
of her clinic.

He took her arm and tugged her into
the crowd. “Come

on. What do you say we test our
selection?

Before she knew it, they were in the
middle of the

throng of dancers, the song a
Coldplay number Lena loved,

and Colby had no idea how to dance
to. She gave it her best

shot, though, and after a minute or
so, forgot about her

inhibitions and relaxed.

As a dancer, Ian surprised her.
She'd always thought

men of his height and breadth had a
disadvantage when it

came to looking good on a dance
floor. He proved her

wrong. They finished out two fast
songs. Toby Keith played

next with a toe-tapper about the
woman of his dreams. “I

don't think I know how to dance to
this one, Ian said.

“You were the one
who wanted to come out here.

You're not getting off that easily.
Come on. I'l show you the

two-step. Colby took his hand and
walked him through the

motions. When he looked impressed
that she knew it, she

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

said, “That was
the one thing I got out of my date with Tip

LaPrade before he showed me the
prenup agreement.

Ian laughed, the sound of it rich
and full and

undeniably seductive.

He caught on quickly, and she said,
“Let me guess.

You own stock in a dance studio.

Ian smiled. “Right.
I've also got a couple of bridges in

Nevada if you're interested.

Colby laughed. They finished out the
Toby Keith.

Kenny Chesney was next, and someone
started a line dance.

Everyone knew the steps except Ian.
“You'l catch on, she

told him when he began to look
doubtful.

He was a good sport, fol owing her
lead but missing

every other step at first. His
forehead wrinkled with the

effort of concentrating, while the
line of dancers moved

gracefully in one direction and then
the other. He started

laughing at one point and said,
“Clueless in Keeling Creek.

That's me.

Colby laughed, too, until tears
threatened to ruin her

mascara. She wiped at her eyes,
smiling and refusing to let

him give up. “No,
you're not. You've almost got it.

“Doesn't that
only count in horseshoes—

“—and
hand grenades, she finished.

They both laughed again, and by the
end of the song,

he nearly had the hang of it.

Something slow and bone melting
followed. Alarm bel s

went off inside Colby. Time to get
back to work. Distance

between them was one thing. Dancing
as closely as this song

cal ed for something else
altogether. Colby turned to head

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INGLATH COOPER

back to the table, but Ian stopped
her with a hand on her

arm. From the look in his eyes, he,
too, knew it wasn't wise,

but that didn't stop him from
saying, “One more?

If she'd had an ounce of honor
inside her, she would

have turned him down. But there in
the middle of the

crowded dance floor, his gaze held
hers, said things that

didn't need words for expression.
The message couldn't have

been more eloquent. Her own response
echoed inside her,

compelled her to take his hand, to
move into the circle of

his arms, the last place on earth
she should have been.

He held her close, closer than she
should have allowed

him to.

The music echoed her pulse rate.
Sensation heightened

her awareness, making her conscious
of each and every place

their bodies touched in mirror
alignment. Her left shoulder to

his right, her hipbone to his thigh,
their knees grazing with

each half turn. She was aware of the
silk of her dress

smoothing across her skin, the brush
of his cotton shirt on

her arm.

To Colby, dancing had always seemed
an act of intimacy,

but this? Another thing altogether.
Here in his arms, they

might have been the only two people
in the room.

Neither of them said a word
throughout the entire song.

They didn't have to. Their bodies
did the talking, and Colby

knew there was no point in denying
what they were saying.

Yet she was dancing with a man
engaged to another

woman. A man who made her question
her own choice to

be alone all these years. She
couldn't make herself step out

of his arms and walk away.

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GOOD GUYS LOVE DOGS

They swayed to the music, their
bodies in tune with

the rhythm, in tune with each other.
The song seemed to go

on forever, but when it ended, Colby
wished it hadn't. They

lingered for a moment under a spell
of confusion, but the

silence fol owing the song jolted
them both back to

awareness. The CD player had
stopped. Everyone on the

dance floor stared at them.

Blushing, she turned and headed back
to the table. Ian

fol owed her, pacifying the crowd
with a promise that the

music would be on in a second.

Luckily for them, the problem ended
up being nothing

more than an electrical cord someone
knocked loose. Ian

got the music started again while
Colby went off to get

herself some punch. She wasn't
thirsty, but she needed to

collect her thoughts.

She stayed away as long as she could
manage without

total y deserting him, talking to
anyone she recognized.

Final y, she returned to the table,
where Ian stood watching

her with knowing eyes.

“You didn't have
to do that, you know, he said.

“Ian, I don't
think it's a good idea for us to— She

broke off, thinking maybe she'd
assumed too much.

“You're right. He
held up a hand. “It wasn't. And

with that, he turned around and
walked away.

249

39

o way!

NHer mother acting as DJ! With
Luke's father!

And the two of them dancing together
a little while ago. It was

awful. The two of them looking at
each other as if they

couldn't pul their eyes away.

Her mother had to be doing this to
deliberately

embarrass her. As if she didn't have
enough to deal with,

anyway.

Lena stood in the shadow of a set of
bleachers, her

gaze on the dance floor where Luke
swayed to a slow song

with Melanie Cundiff.

She felt as if her very soul were
breaking into little

bitty pieces, one grain at a time.

What did he see in her, anyway?

Lena glanced down at her dress and
wished she could

disappear. What a fool she'd been to
let Millie convince

her that she should show up without
a date in the hope

that he would be alone, as wel . She
deserved to feel this

way. It served her right.

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Why did girls like Melanie always
get the guys? Melanie

already had more boyfriends than
Lena dreamed of having

in her whole life.

But then, she knew the answer to her
own question.

Sex. It was always about sex.
Melanie put out.

Everybody knew it.

Since she'd met Luke, Lena thought
about making out

a lot. But whenever her thoughts
reached the sex part,

they'd shied away. She couldn't
imagine that it might

actual y be fun. She'd grown up
seeing animals do it, and to

be honest, she'd always felt kind of
sorry for the female.

How could it be much different with
humans?

Luke and Melanie danced into her
line of vision again.

Melanie's arms were tight around his
neck, her breasts to

his chest, her thighs against his.
Obviously, Lena was

wrong. There had to be a lot more to
it than she'd imagined.

So maybe she needed to try it
herself. She was nearly

sixteen. Several of her friends had
already done it. The

others were talking about doing it.
Why wait, anyway?

If sex would help her get Luke
McKinley, then she would