The dance floor took up the back quarter of the barn, and though there was a small stage at one end, there was no band tonight, only a DJ. It was surrounded on three sides by high-top tables, so people could sit and watch the dance floor like it was a football game—or a town gossip source.

As we approached, multiple people called out to Holden, hellos, random smart-aleck comments, and even some congrats, which they included me on.

If I’d done an exhaustive search of all the age-appropriate guys in Dragonfly Lake to find the most connected, best-loved guy to be my partner in this giant charade, it still would’ve ended up being Holden. I was crazy lucky that he was the one person I knew well enough, felt comfortable with, and trusted to marry. His popularity gave us a built-in audience, and while I knew Angelica wasn’t connected to this town beyond the hotel, it couldn’t hurt to have everyone from Dragonfly Lake in the “know.”

As the notes of a slow song started up, Holden led me to the middle of the dance floor and pulled me into his arms, as if he’d known it was coming.

“How’d you do that?” I asked.

He laughed. “Pays to serve the DJ good beer on his night off.”

“So you just walk into the biggest bar in town on Saturday night, ask the DJ to play a slow song, and your wish is his command?”

“Pretty much. You married well. Adrian and I go way back.” He took one of my hands in his and slid the other down my back and rested it just above my butt, pulling me into him, and that took my mind right off of our conversation.

I yanked my mind back, because while we were putting on a show, this wasn’t the place to totally lose myself. The only time that was safe was in the dark, when Holden was inside of me. We kept the light on sometimes, and those times, I had to work harder to keep my feelings buried, just like I did now, so he wouldn’t figure out I cared more than I was supposed to.

With my wedge heels, he wasn’t that much taller than I was, and while our bodies teased each other, we held eye contact.

“I didn’t expect to see you here tonight,” I said.

“Didn’t want to miss out on a dance with my wife.”

“I had no idea you were such a good dancer.”

“I used to be addicted to the hokey-pokey,” he said, staring into my eyes, “but I finally turned myself around.”

“Yeah? Was that a two-step program?”

We shared another private laugh that was genuine, not for show, because this was us. It had always been us. Just not usually with our thighs touching, our chests a whisper apart, breathing in each other’s every breath.