Undeniable Attraction

“And he knows nothing about it?”

“Ryan is clueless.”

Keith smiled. “Good.”

* * *

Melissa had had enough, and she kicked off her heels. She wiggled her bare toes, hoping to bring circulation back into them. The shoes were beautiful, one of her rare splurges, but she could only wear them for so long. She had passed the threshold of comfort quite some time ago. There was no way she could continue on the dance floor in these.

“Whoever invented high heels wanted to torture women,” Melissa said above the music. She was dancing with Arlene now, as Bonnie had bopped off somewhere else.

“That’s why I wear flats as much as I can,” Arlene said, then raised a foot to show her sensible flat sandals.

Melissa typically did sensible, but today, she’d wanted to do something different. Wanted to come back to Sheridan Falls and make a certain someone realize what he’d missed out on. The beauty of it was, Aaron could only look but not touch, because he was married.

Speaking of married, where was his wife? She hadn’t been here all evening.

Arlene leaned close and asked, “Are you going to the bachelorette party?”

“I’m here, so I guess I’m going to join everyone as we make the rounds.”

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it.” Arlene frowned. “Craig says he’s busy tonight, and he’s giving me a hard time about being a neglectful mom. I might have to pick up Raven from the babysitter’s.”

“Neglectful mom? What the heck is he talking about? You’re an awesome mother.”

“He’s just...he’s finding any excuse to pick a fight with me. I don’t know if I have it in me tonight to argue with him.”

“How’s he even going to know if you go out?” Melissa asked.

Arlene’s lips twisted as she looked at her. “This is a small town, remember?”

Her sister was right. The smallest of news spread like wildfire in this town.

“He’s been on my case about having the babysitter watch her too much. I don’t know how he expects me to hold down a job...”

“Why don’t you ask Mom and Dad to watch her?” Melissa suggested. “He can’t complain about doting grandparents.”

“They’re always coming through for me. Sometimes I feel guilty for leaning on them too much. I don’t know. Tonight I might just stay home.”

Melissa’s eyebrows shot up as she looked into Arlene’s eyes, trying to gauge her sister’s mood. “Everything okay? Is there more going on than you’re telling me?”

Arlene shrugged. “I’m just a little bit stressed. Working, being a single mom...it’s not easy.”

“All the more reason for you to come out with us tonight and enjoy yourself.”

Melissa knew that the plan was to head to Buffalo and make the rounds at several bars. Tasha was ready for her big night, complete with an outfit that would let everyone know she was a single woman about to be married. The bridesmaids were going to treat her to her last big hurrah, so to speak. Perhaps there would be some flirting, but nothing outrageous. They weren’t going to have strippers or anything like that. Just enjoy a great time bonding before Tasha’s big day.

“I’ll see,” Arlene said with a shrug.

The music had changed from a hip-hop beat to something slow, and Melissa watched as Ryan pulled Tasha into his arms in the middle of the dance floor. A smile tugged at Melissa’s lips. It was nice seeing her cousin so happy.

“Mind if I steal you?”

Melissa’s spine stiffened. Certainly Aaron was not speaking to her.

Swallowing, Melissa glanced up and over her shoulder and saw that her ears had not been playing tricks on her. “Steal me for what?” she asked.

“To dance with you.”

Was he out of his mind? “Arlene and I are discussing something.”

“No, you go on,” Arlene said. “Dance. I’ll talk to you in a little bit.”

“But...” Melissa’s protest died in her throat when Arlene smiled at Aaron, then headed off the dance floor.

Melissa wanted to scream at her sister. Why would she encourage Aaron dancing with her? She knew how much he had hurt her years ago. Besides, he was a married man, so dancing to a slow tune with him was inappropriate.

Aaron stepped forward and slipped his arms around her waist. Melissa stood as still as a rock.

“I won’t bite,” Aaron said, trying to urge her body to sway to the music. Then he leveled a charming smile at her.

Melissa could almost imagine his unspoken words. Unless you want me to...

Oh, he thought he was smooth!

Because she knew it would look ridiculous to stand ramrod straight while Aaron tried to lead her in a dance, Melissa moved with him. But she eased her body backward as far as possible so that people watching them wouldn’t get any crazy ideas. The last thing she needed was to come back to town and be embroiled in any sort of scandal.

“So,” Aaron began, “we finally have a moment to talk.”

Melissa said nothing.

“Are you still going to give me the silent treatment?”

Melissa made a face as she looked at him. “What are you talking about? We’ve talked all evening.”

He raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips. “You’ve barely said anything to me.”

“I don’t know what you expect me to say. I haven’t seen you in years.”

“True.” Aaron was silent for a moment as he turned with her, edging her ever closer against his body as he did. He leaned in and said softly, “It really is good to see you again. You look amazing.”

Melissa glanced up at him. She felt a tingle of warmth as she saw the expression in his eyes, something that looked a lot like attraction.

He held her gaze for a long moment, and God help her, the warmth turned to a searing heat. Why was he looking at her as though he wanted to...

To kiss her?

No, she must be imagining things. Maybe he was just fascinated that he was seeing her again. Maybe there was even some level of regret on his part, knowing that he’d let a good woman go. She could only imagine what his life was like with Ella. Despite that Aaron was rumored to be a playboy, she couldn’t imagine that Ella made his life easy.