Page 56 of Jack

She sort of missed the adventure of the Geo.What?No, she did not.

“By the way,” Boo said, her voice lowered, “Oaken and I talked, and he talked with Goldie, and you’re in.”

In?

Boo smiled.

Oh,in.“You’ll let me have the exclusive?”

“The article, yes. Pictures are already promised toPeople, but I’ll give you a couple exclusive shots.” She winked.

“Oh, Boo, thank you. I promise, I’ll write you something beautiful.”

“I know you will. I trust you.” Boo gave her hand a squeeze, then shut the door.

The words wound down into her soul.“I trust you.”

As they pulled into the parking lot of the Moonlight Supperclub, she spotted a couple cars as well as the Geo.

She tried to ignore it, along with the stupid rush of anticipation.

It was just a dance lesson, not a date.

Not anything.

She got out, followed the troupe inside, and spotted Ethan by the door, dressed in his uniform. He smiled at her, nodded, seemed to have sobered up. Or maybe he just faked well.

Inside, she checked her coat and headed to the dance floor.

The men stood in a circle, talking and laughing—well, almost all of them. Jack stood, arms folded, legs spread out, as if he might be assessing their conversation.

Or a million miles away, thinking.

Boo walked up to Oaken, who kissed her, and then the one named Shep, with his dark hair and denim shirt, pulled London close. Romance hung in the air.

Austen looped her arm through Stein’s, which left Harper to walk up to Jack.

“Hey.”

He blinked at her for a moment, then pulled a long breath, didn’t smile. She frowned.

“We need to talk,” he said, just as Julian came into the hall.

“Okay, dancers, today we’ll run through the two-step, then start working on the choreography of theDirty Dancingcrew.” He clapped his hands and arranged everyone in a circle.

“What’s going on?” she said to Jack softly as she put one hand on his shoulder, settled the other into his grip. He smelled good—she hadn’t noticed that before. And being this close to him, the sense that he’d matured in the last ten years—filled out, become solid, muscled, capable—stirred inside her.

Nope, not a twenty-four-year-old spring-break fling anymore.

“He’s been a bit of a loner since then.”

Shoot.Now she cared, thinking of him in that old bus, rumbling around the country. She absolutely would not take that as another personal challenge.

Wouldnot.

The music started, one of Oaken’s hits, and Julian had them moving around the floor. She counted in her head, quick-quick-slow, quick-quick-slow.

“I found the source of the song,” Jack said, low, under his breath.