telling herself to ignore him, but when he danced with another woman, it started to feel as if he was deliberately ignoring her. He probably knew her better than anybody else here, yet he hadn’t even spoken to her?
As the latest song wound down, Luke returned his partner to her table. Then he turned around, looking at Shannon so intently she felt as if her panties were melting.
Then he started toward her.
“Oh, God,” Tasha said. “Here he comes.”
Shannon held her breath, suddenly feeling hot all over. She didn’t want to talk to him. Not here. This was a social occasion, and she wanted to keep their relationship strictly business. So if he thought he was going to sit down and chat, or buy her a drink, of course the answer would be no. And dancing—that was out of the question.
As he drew closer, she tightened her resolve. Stick to your guns. Turn him away. Don’t even think about—
“Hey, Eve!” Luke said. “Wanna dance?”
“Dance? Hell, yes.”
She jumped off her barstool. Luke took her by the hand and led her to the dance floor. And Shannon sat there watching, totally dumbfounded. Eve was being Eve, dancing and smiling and laughing, and Luke actually looked as if he was having a good time, too. A few minutes later when he returned her to her barstool, Shannon thought, Okay, now he’ll at least say hello.
Instead, he grabbed Tasha, who gave him a look of sheer panic. But he just led her to the dance floor, and soon she was dancing in spite of herself.
“Whew!” Eve said, sitting down and reaching for her drink. “Cowboys really aren’t my type, but for that man, I might make an exception.”
A minute later, Luke swapped Tasha for Cynthia and headed to the dance floor. It was official. He was definitely ignoring her.
“Any reason he’s not asking you to dance?” Eve said.
“I don’t like to dance.”
“Does he know you don’t like to dance?”
Shannon didn’t know. Could that be it? He knew she didn’t like to dance, so he didn’t bother asking her?
She frowned. No. Of course not. He couldn’t know. When had she ever been around Luke when there had been a band and a dance floor nearby?
A few minutes later, the band took a break. Luke went to the jukebox. The women were chatting away, a conversation Shannon was barely following. Luke was clearly mocking her. That was the only explanation. He was deliberately making her look like a wallflower by asking every other woman in the place to dance except her.
Enough of this. If he wouldn’t talk to her, she’d go talk to him.
As she slid off her barstool, a little voice inside her head told her it was probably a bad idea, but after a couple of margaritas, she told the little voice to shut up. She strode up beside the jukebox, where Luke stood flipping through the songs.
“Hey, Shannon,” he said, sounding annoyingly cheerful. “Didn’t know you were going to be here tonight.”
“I didn’t know you were going to be here, either,” she said, trying to sound as disinterested as she could. But when he was paying attention to every woman there except her and then staring at her to flaunt that fact, disinterest was the last thing she felt.
“What song do you think I should play?” he asked. “How about ‘Should Have Been a Cowboy’?”
“You already are a cowboy.”
“Didn’t say it was autobiographical.”
“You worked all day. Isn’t your knee about to give out?”
“Ah. You’re worried about me again.”
“Once again, you’re useless to me if you can’t walk.”
“I’m ahead of schedule on my rehab. The physical therapist said the more I use it, the better it’ll get. So I thought I’d hop over here tonight and use it.” He flipped to another page of songs. “Ah. How about this one? ‘Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys’? A good song and a great lesson all rolled up in one.”
“You’ve sure been doing a lot of dancing tonight.”
“That’s right.”
“With every woman in the place.”
“Now, that’s not entirely accurate,” Luke said, still flipping through the songs. “I haven’t danced with you.”
“Hmm. That’s right. You haven’t, have you?”
“Did you want me to?”
“No. I don’t dance.”
“Don’t dance, or can’t dance?”
“It’s not exactly a talent of mine.”
“So if I’d asked you to, you’d have said no?”
“That’s right.”
“So why are you mad at me for not asking you to?”
“Mad? I’m not mad.”
“But you are wondering why.”
Shannon opened her mouth to speak, then realized how dumb it was for