The Forbidden Brother. Joanne Rock

sounds great,” she agreed with a breathless laugh. “Thank you.”

      Sliding her cool fingers into his palm, she rose and let him lead her to the dance floor. It was small and a little warped on one side, but then, they were the only couple out there. Cody turned her to face him before drawing her into the circle of his arms. She fitted there perfectly, even if she was a head shorter than him. It put her at the perfect height where he could have buried his face in her hair. The glossy red curls smelled like honeysuckle.

      She tipped her head up to look at him as they began an easy two-step, moving together well enough. She let him lead, her feet mirroring his as he spun them in slow circles around the floor. The full sleeves of her blouse grazed his arms, gently clinging to him.

      Sensual hunger stirred with new restlessness, reminding him of every single month he’d spent alone since his last relationship. All twelve of them, in fact. And he hadn’t been remotely tempted by anyone after discovering his ex-girlfriend’s faithlessness, a treachery she defended by saying he was “too cold” for a woman to love.

      Tonight he was anything but cold.

      “I like this idea,” the redhead in his arms confided, her fingers flexing ever so slightly against his shoulder where she touched him. “I can’t remember the last time I danced with a stranger.”

      Stranger?

      Cody assumed she’d mistaken him for Carson. Did she not know his twin, either? He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. At first, he’d been just as glad to undermine his disloyal brother. But as his temper cooled, and the longer he held this vibrant woman in his arms, the more he appreciated the idea that Carson didn’t have any kind of prior claim.

      “You’ve improved my Friday night a whole lot, too.” He liked the feel of her, his hand warming the cool skin through the thin blouse she wore. “It’s been a long time since I’ve thought about anything outside of work.”

      Her eyebrows lifted. “Leading me to wonder what you could be thinking about right now.” Her lips curved. “Admiring the Wrangler’s decor? Or maybe remembering how much you like a good George Jones tune?”

      He laughed appreciatively. “I do respect a bar that still plays a classic. But the vinyl upholstery in the booths isn’t doing much for me in the decor department.” His gaze skated over her features; he was looking forward to making her blush again. “And I was thinking about you more than anything else.”

      His directness might have caught her off guard. She nibbled her lower lip briefly before meeting his eyes. “I haven’t been the center of anyone’s attention in...a long time.”

      There was a story there. He heard it in her voice. Saw it in her eyes.

      “You aren’t involved with someone else?” He needed to be sure before he let this go on any longer. But his pulse was already thrumming. “I don’t see a ring, but I have to ask.”

      “I am very much unattached.” She shook her head, red curls catching the overhead light as she moved. “What about you? No one waiting at home?”

      “The only ones who might be missing my presence right now are a couple of rowdy shepherds back at my ranch who would have preferred the night off.” He swayed with her. Her knee brushed his now and again in a way that fired right through him. “But no girlfriend. No wife.”

      He respected that she asked, even though she was clearly feeling the same spark as him. And now that those formalities had been cleared away, he could simply enjoy the moment. The completely unexpected pleasure of having a beautiful stranger in his arms. He didn’t want to let go of her now. He wanted to take her outside into the fresh, rain-cleaned night and kiss her. See if she tasted as good as he imagined.

      “The stars are aligning for us so far, aren’t they?” She peered up at him with something like wonder in her eyes.

      He couldn’t remember a woman ever looking at him quite like that. As if he was the answer to a question. An answer that pleased her.

      “It feels that way.” He didn’t want to scare her off with empty pickup lines, or come across as some lowlife playing games with a woman in a bar. But as the music shifted again—this time to an even slower, modern country love song—Cody wondered if he could convince her to let the spark between them run wild. To follow the heat wherever it led. “And since the stars aligning would be a first for me, I wonder if can ask you just one thing.”

      He halted them in the middle of the floor, now that the two-step was done. Bringing her fractionally closer, he swayed to the slower tempo in a barely moving lovers’ dance.

      She followed him seamlessly, her gaze never straying from his. She was fully focused on him. Framed by dusky brown lashes, those green-gold eyes reminded him of new grass and spring.

      “Sure. Ask away.” Her voice had a sweet-sultry quality that made him want to listen to her speak more.

      “Don’t you ever wish you could forget about the expectations of the world around you and just...choose your own adventure?” He remembered books like that when he’d been a kid, where you could test out different endings to a story.

      For someone who’d always taken the safe route in real life, he had liked the option of seeing how another choice played out. At least in a book. Cody couldn’t do that with ranching. Or his family. But he could take a chance here. Tonight.

      Her lashes swept down for a long moment, hiding her expression. But when she tilted a glance up at him again, there was a new curiosity there.

      “Are you asking to share an adventure with me?” She sounded disbelieving. But maybe a little intrigued.

      “I suppose I am.” He would never have made such an outrageous suggestion to a local—a woman who knew him or his family. But she had tourist and temporary written all over her. Surely there couldn’t be any harm in drawing out the flirtation? “What would you say to throwing away the rule book for a little longer?”

      He let go of her hand for a moment to tip her chin higher, to see her face in the dim overhead light of the dance floor. Feminine interest flickered in her eyes. He inhaled as she released a pent-up breath. He could almost taste her in the space of silence between them.

      Then he leaned closer to press his cause. “Choose me tonight.”

       Two

      It was kismet.

      Normally, Jillian wasn’t the kind of woman who jumped on the fairy-tale bandwagon. Cancer had shredded every last romantic notion she had about the world and her place in it. These days, she was a realist. A pragmatist.

      But how else could she view this man’s suggestion that she choose a new adventure with him, at a time in her life when she was desperately rewriting her personal script to embrace new challenges? She owed her sanity and maybe even her physical health to that list of life adventures she’d written.

      So for Carson McNeill to somehow tap into the deepest hunger of her soul and suggest they throw out the rule book, Jillian knew there had to be some kind of cosmic destiny at work. Call it providence, or maybe luck. Surely she could table her business agenda—just for a little while—to pursue this off-the-charts attraction? Once he’d rolled out the idea of an adventure, her personal mantra this year, Jillian saw it as a gauntlet thrown down by the hand of fate.

      She was powerless to refuse.

      To say nothing of how deeply attracted she felt to the man. She hadn’t experienced the shimmering warmth of desire coating her skin this way since...ever. There was no precedent for the wobbly feeling in her knees. The light-headedness and the tingle over her scalp. The rest of the barroom faded away.

      Her business with the McNeills would have to wait.

      And if this turned out to be a mistake, she’d have to find another way to get to Cody