She wondered how things were going with Missy, if they ever ended up going out. David didn’t talk much about his personal life. She assumed he was single but for all she knew there was someone in New York he was eager to get back to. For some reason, that thought depressed her. She’d wondered when he first told her about the situation with his mother if he was planning on relocating back to Nantucket. But it didn’t look like that was a possibility. She knew job opportunities, especially for the kind of consulting work that he did, were pretty much non-existent on Nantucket.

A slow song came on and the dance floor filled with couples swaying to the beat. It was an older song that Paula had always loved, “Wonderful Tonight.”

She glanced at David and he smiled. “Great song,” he said.

Paula felt a sense of anticipation and wondered what it would be like to dance with David. To feel his arms around her. She hadn’t really thought about him that way before, but suddenly she was very aware of everything about him. How his lashes were so long it was downright unfair, how his arms were muscled and how the laugh lines around his mouth only made him more attractive. He leaned forward and she prepared to get up and head to the dance floor. But then he sighed instead and leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. And the moment was gone. She felt a bit silly for even imagining he was about to ask her to dance. They were not on a date. They were just two co-workers.

So, when the set ended and David asked if she was ready to go, she nodded. He pulled into her driveway twenty minutes later.

“Thanks for letting me tag along tonight. That was fun,” he said.

“It was. You’re welcome to tag along anytime.”

“Goodnight, Paula.”

He waited until she opened her front door before driving off. Paula stepped inside and locked the door behind her. Chester came running and she scooped him up and gave him a hug. She shook her head, frustrated with herself. It was no wonder she was still single. Instead of falling for the perfectly nice, available local guy, Jason, she instead found herself more interested in someone who was completely unavailable and soon to be leaving Nantucket.

David drove home feeling a mix of emotions, among them regret that he didn’t ask Paula to dance. There was a moment when he sensed he could have and she would have said yes and it might have been magical. But he hesitated and considered it for too long and talked himself out of it. He’d reminded himself that it was inappropriate, given their working relationship and he didn’t want to send the wrong message. Especially since he found himself fighting an attraction that took him by surprise.