But time couldn’t freeze. Those moments were fleeting.

Right now, he had her. The woman he’d always wanted. Earlier, he’d told her he loved her, and he’d seen something new in her eyes. Something more. She’d been scared, yes. They’d backpedaled and played like it was about their friendship. But he’d seen the change there, the hope. She’d looked at him with fresh eyes. She wanted him. Not as a friend. Not as a lover. She wanted it all.

He’d been soaring on the way to their table, making plans in his head. Then he’d seen his family, and reality had come crashing down around him. He was a liar.

Kincaid lifted her head and looked up at him, a soft smile on her lips. “You’re a good dancer.”

“Thanks.”

“How did I not know this?” she asked. “Have we never danced together?”

He turned her, guiding her around an older couple. “No. When would we have done that?”

She frowned. “We didn’t dance together at prom?”

The word prom was like a swift punch to the lung. Hello, universe. Balancing yourself out again? He knew then the magical minutes were over. He’d gotten his warning. You don’t deserve this.

“We didn’t,” he said as another song started.

Her brow wrinkled. “I feel like I remember we did.”

He wet his lips as they drifted toward the edge of the dance floor. “What do you remember?”

She stared up at him, concentrating. “I feel like I have a memory of us like this. Close. You in a tux.”

He took a deep breath, his skin prickling with a chill. She remembered him holding her in the hallway, pulling her close. He’d never danced with her. Graham wouldn’t have stood for it. “We didn’t dance.”

She frowned. “Sometimes I hate that I can’t remember. I know it’s a blessing to not remember the horrible stuff, but I have so many blank spots all through that night. Sometimes I dream and it’s like…right there, some memory, and then it slips away again.”

“Right.”

“I know you told me what happened, but big parts of that night are just…lost.”

Ash pulled her close, touched his forehead to hers, and grieved for what he was about to lose. “Let’s go home, KC. We need to talk.”

* * *

Ash was leaving. She knew that had to be what this was about. She’d seen his expression tonight when he’d run into his parents. Everything he hated about this town had been thrown in his face tonight. His parents. His father looking like a hero with the football team. His mother turning her back and walking away again. Even the silly restaurant had probably reminded him of why he hated this town.

She’d felt him pulling away, preparing her, even while she was falling head over heels in love with him on the dance floor. God, she was so stupid. She’d known this was going to be the outcome, and she’d let herself love him anyway. Yes, he was supposed to stay longer, but he didn’t have to be here anymore. The bookstore was done. He could scrape together enough money to go off somewhere else until the store sold and the money came through from that.