“No.”
“What happened to the plan?”
“The plan succeeded.” She took a small step toward him, her eyes narrowing. “Garret asked me to the ball.”
?
?Then why aren’t you dancing with him right now?”
She placed a hand on his upper arm and felt him flinch. Dropping her arm back to her side, she searched his face, hoping he had it in him to forgive her.
“Because I want to be with you,” she said, sorrow leaking into her voice. “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize it. I should’ve chosen you earlier today when you asked me to. And I should’ve chosen you all those years ago when you first left those slightly wilted flowers in my lunch box.”
A pained expression crossed his face and he fiddled with the button on his jacket. “You were in love with my brother.”
“I was in love with a figment of my imagination. The real Garret and I never meshed. Not like you and me. You helped me see that.”
“And so you just decided to take a chance at the Harvest Ball and trap me into coming here with you?”
She winced, her heart aching. When he put it that way, it sounded so horrible. What was she doing? Joseph didn’t deserve to feel second best. She should’ve chosen him first. She should’ve chosen him when he’d begged her to at the arts and crafts festival. It was obvious she didn’t deserve him.
“I’m sorry.” She shook her head, more curls falling into her face. Her eyes stung with unspent tears. “I shouldn’t have done that to you. It was a bad idea. Please forgive me.”
She turned to flee, when a hand wrapped around her wrist. She turned back toward him to see a small smile playing on his lips. His gaze caressed her face, tenderness reflecting in his eyes. “You do realize that your father is going to kill me when he finds out I’m here with his precious daughter?”
A nervous laugh burst from her lips. Looking over her shoulder, she was relieved not to see her dad through the thick crowds that had closed around them. “Don’t worry about him. He’s all bark and no bite.”
“I don’t know if I believe that,” he said, tilting his head to one side as he chuckled. “But in this moment, I don’t care. I want his daughter all to myself. And she wants me. That happy ending seems more within reach than I ever thought before.”
Relief burst through Michelle’s chest. She gazed up into Joseph’s eyes, her heart melting. He looked back at her with more feeling than anyone had before now. She couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome to this twisted week of Thanksgiving shenanigans. Her stubborn head had her chasing after a man she never could’ve loved, but her heart had known the truth all along. Joseph was hers.
“Want to dance with me?” she asked softly.
The band had begun to play a slow tune and couples rushed to the dance floor around them. Joseph nodded slightly, stepping forward to take her hand in his. She tried her best not to tremble as his other hand spread across her lower back. Peering over his shoulder, she closed her eyes and inhaled the pleasant scent of his aftershave.
“I talked to my dad about your application,” she said quietly.
“I know, I just spoke to him.” His grip tightened on her hand and he pulled her in even closer, until no space separated their chests as they swayed to the beat. Goosebumps traveled up and down her back. “Thank you. I didn’t think I deserved your praise. Not after the way I confronted you at the festival. That wasn’t fair of me.”
She pulled back just enough to look up in his eyes. “Everything I said about you was true. You’re a good and honest man. You’ve always been that way. There was no question that you’d make a great cop. I had to let my dad know.”
He moved his hand from her waist to cradle her face. Warmth flooded her skin, all the way down to her toes. “Thank you, Michelle. You have no idea what those words mean to me. Especially from you.”
His thumb slowly traced the cupid’s bow of her lip as his gaze moved to her mouth. Heat smoldered in his eyes. He leaned in closer and butterflies filled her stomach. With just inches between them, he paused and sighed softly.
“I have a confession to make.”
She swallowed nervously, her gaze flicking from his mouth up to his eyes and back. “What’s that?”
“I think I’ve adored you my whole life.”
She raised up onto her toes and pressed her lips against his, her whole body ringing like a bell. He responded in kind by sliding his hand to the back of her head and deepening the kiss. He tasted like sweet mint, the sensation leaving her tingling. As he continued to kiss her, his fingers traced along the curve of her neck, causing sparks to race up and down her spine. She clung to the front of his jacket, afraid to let go.
Never in her wildest daydreams had she imagined such a kiss. It was wonderful. Just like the man holding her tight in his arms.
She’d never mistake daydreams for the real thing again.
Epilogue