“Harboring Footloose fantasies?” There was a glint of amusement in his eyes.

“Always.” She gave him an air kiss and pulled him along by the hand to get in line. “And don’t be such a snob. You know the food is delicious. Plus, the beer is cheap and they have banana pudding. Not from a box mix. That is high class, my friend.”

Ash laughed. “So your idea of a romantic dinner is eating off butcher paper and watching people line dance. Noted.”

She dragged him closer. “Oh, sugar, who said we’d be watching?”

A flash of panic flickered through his eyes as he glanced toward the dance floor and then back to her. He gripped her shoulders and gave her a serious look. “KC, I love you, but if you think I’m capable of line dancing, you’ve far overestimated my abilities.”

“But—” Whatever she was going to say dissipated in an instant as his words fully registered. “Wait, what?”

“Huh?” he asked. His gaze had drifted back to the dance floor. “I don’t know how to line dance.”

“Not that. You said you loved me.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he waited a beat before turning back to her. “Okay.”

“Okay?” she repeated, confused. “Okay, what?”

He gave her an unreadable look. “We used to say that to each other all the time.”

She stared at him, some weird sensation rolling around in her gut. “Right, but…we were kids. You haven’t said that in a long time.”

His grip on her shoulders softened, and he rubbed her upper arms. “If it weirds you out, I don’t have to say it.”

“I—” She clamped her lips shut. Did it freak her out? She said love you to her friends all the time. Why should this feel any different? “No, it’s fine. I just…don’t want us to confuse things.”

He gave her an enigmatic half smile. “I’m not confused. Promise.”

She nodded and took a breath. “For the record, I love you, too. Even if you don’t know how to line dance.”

A pleased expression filled his face, and he pulled her to him, leaning down to kiss her. “Thanks.”

“Are you two going to order?” a guy behind them asked, his annoyance obvious.

They looked toward the man and his equally annoyed wife, surprised to find anyone there. Ash released her from his hold, and Kincaid offered the guy a bright smile. “Why don’t y’all go on ahead of us? I don’t know what I want.”

Damn, was that ever the truth.

Hearing Ash say I love you had poked some anxious part of her. No man had said that to her since Graham. And she knew this was different. Ash was saying it as her friend, but the sleeping-together part was blurring the lines in her head. The man she was sleeping with had said he loved her. She would not, could not let that get twisted into something it wasn’t in her brain. She and Ash were not meant for that path.