Promises Reveal by Sarah McCarty Read Free Book Online Page B

know?
    His grip shifted to her elbow as he steered her into the cleared space. The temperature in the room seemed to shoot up ten degrees but it was a good heat, an inviting heat. “It’s not exactly a secret. And if anyone had any doubts, that art show killed them off.”
    “Mother was sending me back East.”
    “For wearing pants.”
    “I was trying to learn to ride.”
    He steered her to the center of the floor, his hand a warm weight at her waist, his thigh brushing hers. He turned her into his embrace. Their bodies fit nicely together. “You were testing your limits.”
    Evie could feel everyone watching. She kept her smile in place. “What do you know about anything?”
    His hand shifted up to rest just above the small of her back, tucking her against him. This close she couldn’t miss his scent—spicy, masculine, and very intriguing.
    “Your family can’t give you what you want.”
    His drawl, rich with innuendo, flowed above the opening strains of a waltz. Pitched just right, it smoothed along her senses, weakened her anger. A red flag went up. He wouldn’t. She looked up, met his eyes, and knew he absolutely would. The Reverend Brad Swanson would seduce his wife on the dance floor in front of the whole town. The thrill from before came back twofold. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the mayor’s wife, Shirley, frown. Evie fluttered her lashes and relaxed into Brad’s embrace.
    “And you can?”
    Without missing a beat, he smiled and took the first gliding step, the subtle tension in his arm guiding her effortlessly into his rhythm. “Absolutely.” He spun her in a wide turn. “You’re not hard to figure out.”
    She blinked. “I’m not?”
    A woman liked to feel she had some mystery.
    “No, but you are intriguing.”
    “How?”
    Other couples joined them. Doc led Dorothy onto the floor. As he took her in his arms, she smoothed his cowlick down. They were so comfortable with each other. Evie couldn’t imagine being like that with Brad, but she’d like to be. The thought came out of nowhere.
    Another spin, this one faster than the last, brought her gaze back up to her husband’s.
    “You’re looking for someone you can’t outthink or run over. Someone who can handle that wild side of yours.”
    That statement shot a thrill of excitement straight to her core. She lifted her chin. “And you think you’re that man?”
    His lips spread in a slow smile. With an easy grace he spun them into another turn, whirling them so fast she lost her balance. Her momentary panic was for nothing. Brad caught her effortlessly with the hand at her back. She waited, but he didn’t pull her up, just held her gaze with the same easy sensuality with which he held her suspended there, helpless, back arched, legs entwined. It was a perfectly shocking, perfectly scandalous thing to do and she loved every second. When he pulled her up with a flex of his arm she went willingly, as hopelessly fascinated with this side of him as with all the others. Bringing her hand to his mouth, he pressed a kiss to the back, that knowing smile still curving his mouth.
    “You can count on it.”

Three

    “IT’S TIME TO go, Evie.”
    Evie looked at the watch pinned to the waist of her skirt. The hand ticked toward six o’clock. As much as she wanted to grab it and keep it from progressing, she knew it wouldn’t do any good. No amount of wishing moved time forward or backward. It just progressed inevitably. In another hour, it would be dark. She took a breath of the humid air and stared at the far-off mountains rising above the plains, desperation building with that forbidden sense of excitement that had enfolded her since she and Brad had danced. “So it is.”
    The rather forced smile on her mother’s face faltered. No doubt she’d hoped Evie had resigned herself to her fate by now.
    “The Reverend’s a good man.”
    The stab of resentment that shot through Evie was an all-too-familiar sensation. “Whether he is or