He slipped his hands on her shoulders and brushed his thumbs up and down the sides of her neck. “And you’ll be great. I can’t wait to be your date. Do you know who this year’s honoree is? It’s usually someone who’s donated a lot of money or raised a lot of money over the past year.”

“So I’ve heard,” she said cryptically.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” He didn’t need her nod to know the truth. “Of course it is. Why else would you put yourself out there for public display if you didn’t have to?”

“It’s really not my thing. I much prefer a quiet night in. With you.”

“Me, too. And your dad and his family will be there, too, right?”

“Yes. You know, I was afraid I was going to be completely embarrassed that night, but you could give me something so I won’t be.”

“Anything.” He meant it. He never wanted her to feel uncomfortable or out of place anywhere.

“Dancing lessons.”

That took him aback. “Seriously? You don’t know how to dance?”

“I grew up alone on a ranch. I never went to school, let alone a dance or prom. The few ranch hands who came and went taught me a lot more . . . let’s say, colorful skills.”

“Like lockpicking,” he said, remembering.

Her cheeks blazed pink. “There will be dancing after the dinner. And, well, I’ve never actually danced with a man.” Her chin nearly hit her chest when she stared at the floor. “Please don’t laugh at me.”

He touched his finger to her face and made her look at him. “I’d never laugh at you, sweetheart. I think it’s a shame you never went to prom and wore a pretty dress and had your feet stepped on by some klutzy, sex-crazed teenage boy.”

She laughed and it eased the ache in his heart for all the things he took for granted as a kid that she’d never had.

“Sing me a slow song, sweetheart.” He took her hand in his, wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her close, then started to sway right there in the middle of the kitchen.

Sarah stared down at her feet as he began to dance them around the island. “You want me to sing? I’m trying to figure out all the steps.”

“It’s easier if we have a song to move to. All you have to do is follow me. I’ll hold on to you.”

Her sweet voice rose in a lovely ballad that matched the tempo of his movements.

He held her close and lost himself in the feel of her moving with him, the sound of her pretty voice rising and falling with the poetry of the words about finding the one you love.

Luke stared into her gorgeous eyes and lost himself in her, the song, and the tender moment. He smiled when his parents, brother and sister-in-law, and Margaret, swaying with Emma in her arms, joined them. The boys stood in the doorway watching.