The potential inherent in Badger’s suggestion made him hyperventilate as she drew closer to the table. Lack of oxygen to the brain was never a good thing, especially when so much was at stake.

  She approached warily. “Hey, guys.”

  “Hey, Caitlin!” Aaron winced as he and Badger spoke in tandem and leaped up together to pull out a chair for her. Badger drew back and let him handle the chair thing, but still. Comedy Central.

  She glanced up at him as he scooted her in. “Thanks.”

  “What would you like to drink?”

  She surveyed the bottles of McGavin’s Pale Ale on the table. “A glass of red wine, please.”

  Maybe that order wasn’t a statement. Maybe she was just in the mood for wine instead of McGavin’s Pale Ale. But he wouldn’t bet on it.

  “I just signaled Ellen,” Badger said. “She should come by shortly.”

  Caitlin grabbed her camera bag from the chair next to her and began tucking stuff away. “I may be getting paranoid, but I can’t help thinking you two were over here plotting a strategy before I showed up.”

  “We were.”

  Her head jerked up and Badger gave her a big smile.

  Aaron stared at him in shock. “Why would you say a thing like that?”

  “Because she deserves to hear the truth after what we put her through.”

  “Damn straight.” She hung her bag from the back of her chair and leaned forward, arms on the table. “What’s your strategy?”

  Aaron’s jaw dropped as Badger outlined the dancing plan, even touching lightly on the idea that dancing could be a way to meld Raven and Aaron into one person.

  “Wow, that’s brilliant.” She settled back in her chair and studied them, her unreadable gaze moving from Badger over to him. “Thanks for the heads up.”

  He had no words. Badger was always full of surprises, but this one would go down in the history books.

  She continued to stare at him. “I could fake an injury.”

  He swallowed. “Yes, ma’am, you certainly could.”

  “But then I’d have to limp around for the rest of the night and that doesn’t sound like much fun.”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “April and Ryker are on their way back,” Badger said. “Time to switch topics.”

  “You bet.” Caitlin turned toward Badger. “What did you think of the rehearsal?”

  “Awesome. Loved every minute.”

  “Went better than I expected,” Ryker chimed in. He helped April into her chair and settled into his. “Of course, Delilah didn’t have the rings, so that lowered my stress level considerably.”

  And Aaron’s was rising fast. Once the music started, he’d be up to bat. He hadn’t been this nervous about asking a girl to dance since middle school.

  “Relax, Cowboy.” Badger picked up his beer. “Those rings will be fine.”

  The band should be playing by now. Why not? Aaron shifted restlessly in his chair.

  “Delilah still stinks,” Ryker said. “When she pranced up to the altar and wagged her tail, I caught a whiff of eau de skunk.”

  April patted his arm. “That’ll be gone by tomorrow. Abigail and Luke are on it.” She glanced toward the front door. “And here comes Hayley!”

  Badger tapped a brief message on his phone before shoving back his chair. “If y’all will excuse me, I need to discuss somethin’ with my bride.”

  You mean fill her in on the plan.

  “Hayley and I will take another Pale Ale, if y’all wouldn’t mind ordering for us when Ellen gets here.”

  Ryker nodded. “Got it.”

  “Thank you kindly. Appreciate it.” He left quickly, intercepting Hayley before she made it to their table.

  Ellen arrived moments later, took their drink order and hurried back to the bar.

  Still not a peep from the band. The suspense was killing him.

  “I am so glad Sheila got here in time for the rehearsal and dinner,” April smiled at Aaron. “That was sweet of you to dance with her.”

  “I was happy to. She loves it and doesn’t get much opportunity back home.” He glanced toward the bandstand. Nicole and Bryce had left their table and were conferring with the musicians, for some reason. Somebody brought out Bryce’s guitar.

  Badger led Hayley back to the table and his gaze flicked to the bandstand. “Excellent.”

  “What are they doing up there?” Ryker frowned. “I thought Bryce and Nicole had the night off.”

  “They do. I just made a small request the other day and they agreed to indulge me.”

  Hayley gazed at him. “What are you up to, now?”

  “Well, after all that debatin’ about what we’d have them play for our first dance tomorrow night, I started thinkin’ that our alternate choice should have its moment tonight.”

  “Aww, Badger!” She leaned over, put her arms around him and kissed him soundly on the mouth.

  He smiled at her. “Hope you like it, darlin’. Usually Nicole does this as a solo, but they thought it would be more appropriate as a duet.”

  “I’m sure I’ll love it.”

  A romantic song meant for Badger and Hayley would likely be a solo dance for them, if they even danced at all. Maybe everyone would just sit and listen. Taking a deep breath, Aaron leaned back in his chair.

  Nicole stepped to the mic. “We’ve had a request from Badger to sing one of Hayley’s favorite numbers. One of mine and Bryce’s, too, as it happens.”

  Hayley wiped her eyes. “I’m tearing up.”

  “Good.” Badger wrapped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed.

  “Badger’s also requested that the dancers out there come up and fill the floor. It’ll be close quarters, but we’re all family, right?” She spread her arms and the group yelled right in unison.

  Aaron glanced at Caitlin. Her cheeks were pink and her breathing unsteady. He leaned closer. “Think you know what song they’re talking about?”

  She nodded but didn’t look at him. “We talked about it once. She loves it, too.”

  His breath caught. Not such a coincidence, really. It was a popular song. But if that was the one coming up, this dance would be loaded with more significance than he’d planned on. Maybe it would turn out to be a different tune.

  Nope. As Bryce lifted his guitar strap over his head and joined Nicole at the mic, he played the first few notes of Breathe.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Caitlin left her chair when Aaron stood and held out his hand. Placing her hand in his, she met his gaze as the first tender lyrics of the song floated around them. She’d danced to this song in Raven’s strong arms. But the intensity in Aaron’s golden eyes sent a clear message. He would be the one holding her tonight.

  He gave her a soft smile, turned and led her to the dance floor. Miraculously he found an opening in the swirling mass of dancers and drew her close as the current swept them into the midst of organized chaos.

  Creating distance between his body and hers wasn’t an option. The crush of the other couples kept them locked together.

  Instead of making the steps more difficult, the forced proximity kept her focused on every sensuous point of contact. His muscles flexed and hers responded with intuitive grace.

  His chest brushed hers in rhythm with the music. Their hips swiveled in perfect alignment. Dancing as foreplay. If they’d been naked, they would be making love.

  As the tension built to a fever pitch, she resisted the urge to look up, to complete the intimate connection. Raven’s shadowed eyes had been part of the fantasy. Aaron’s direct gaze was all too real.

  Caught in this whirlpool of sensation, she chose the safety of staring at the collar of his black shirt and the tanned skin revealed by two pearl snaps he’d left undone.

  Maybe not so safe. His strong neck and firm jaw radiated masculinity. A drop of sweat slid into the hollow of his throat where his pulse beat. She could hear him breathing.

  The scent of him—shaving lotion, soap, shampoo and musk—taunted her with images of an open shirt, a muscled chest sprinkled with dark hair, a rendezvous in the dark, skin to skin…hot kisses, pleasure…

  Urges beyond her control dragged her gaze upward, sliding over his strong chin to his talented mouth. He’d kissed her with reckless abandon, as if he’d been impatiently waiting for her and couldn’t contain his joy.

  No man had ever kissed her that way. His urgency had fueled hers. But when he’d laced desire with tenderness, conveying without words that she was cherished…the walls had come down.

  If she could experience that again…but what if it had been an illusion? What if the cloaked atmosphere and the shared secret had skewed her perception?

  He pulled her in tight and spun her one more time. All outward movement stopped, but her heart raced on and her world continued to whirl. The music faded away as the other dancers clapped and cheered. She struggled for breath.

  “That’s all.” His breathing was ragged, too. “Song’s over.” Yet he hadn’t let her go. “Having you in my arms again is…incredible.”

  She gathered her courage and gazed into his eyes. The heat blazing there made her gulp. “I thought…I could handle this. But it’s not as easy as I expected.”

  “This?”

  “The situation. You. Whoever you are.”

  The pleasure faded from his expression. “Guess it’s not as simple as Badger seems to think.”

  “Not even close. I’m attracted to you, or at least to the side of you I spent time with this week.” She sucked in another lungful of air. “But you’re also the guy who pretended to be someone else to trick me into liking you.”

  He slowly released her. “It seemed like my only choice.”

  “That doesn’t make it right. I’m still dealing with the implications. The issue of trust.”

  Pain flashed in his eyes. “I’m not an untrustworthy man.”

  “And yet—”

  “Look, you just admitted that something special happens when we’re together. If I hadn’t pretended to be someone else, we wouldn’t have found that out.”

  “The band’s playing again. We should—”

  “Okay.” He looped an arm around her shoulders and guided her to a secluded spot away from the dance floor and beyond the polished antique bar.

  His touch was her kryptonite. She eased away from the protective curve of his arm and faced him. “So the end justifies the means?”

  “Maybe.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Last night I told Badger that I didn’t regret anything.” He held her gaze. “Boil my privates in oil if you want, but I’d do it all again.”

  “Even knowing that I’d be furious with you?”

  He gazed at her. “Furious is better than indifferent.”

  “I wasn’t indifferent to you. I just—”

  “Would never have considered spending time with me. Well, now you have. You’ve confirmed my hunch that we’d be great together. I know what I’d like to do with that information, but I can’t speak for you.”

  “Of course you’d be ready to start a relationship with me. I’ve been the same person all along. But you’re this split personality and I can’t—”

  “So Raven and Aaron are still two separate entities to you?”

  “Yes. I know Badger was hoping that a dance would fix that, but like I said, it’s not that simple.”

  “Then how about a few more dances to solidify the concept?”

  “And then what?”

  “Well…not that we’d have to, but we could maybe test out a more private setting.”

  Her jaw tightened. “And have sex?”

  “Or, as I prefer to say, make love.”

  “Tonight? Seems a little nervy on your part.”

  “Is it really such a stretch? We almost did on Tuesday night. We likely would have if you hadn’t knocked over my books.”

  “Your books.” She stared at him. “I forgot all about that.”

  He smiled. “Want to get together and geek out over Dick Francis?”

  Just when she’d worked herself into a state of indignation, he had to say something adorable. “So it’s either have sex or talk about our favorite author?”

  He shrugged. “Or both. I’d be hard-pressed to choose one over the other.”

  “Liar.”

  “Yeah, I’d rather talk about Dick Francis.”

  “Sure you would.” Now he was being playful, like Raven. Way too appealing. “I’m really sorry about the dent in the dust cover.”

  “I’m not. I’ll think of you every time I notice it.”

  “See? You’ll notice it because it’s a new dent. I damaged one of your rare books.”

  “You don’t get all the credit. I should’ve seen that stack sitting there.”

  “But I put them—”

  “I’m glad we knocked them over. We were headed for disaster that night.”

  “Oh?”

  “As Badger explained the next day, once we stepped into that hall, we would have crossed the line from Raven’s World into Aaron Donahue Land.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “My second bedroom is an office. If you’d figured that out—”

  “Ah. The game would have been over. Then why did you let it go that far?”

  He glanced down and sighed. When he looked up again, regret shone in his eyes. “My brain took a little vacay. Not proud of admitting it.”

  “So that’s why we went parking Wednesday night?”

  “Yep. Full disclosure. I almost rented a bedroom set for that office. Could’ve had everything arranged before you got there.”

  Fascinating. “Why didn’t you?”

  “My conscience kicked in. Taking you to bed would’ve been wrong.”

  “I wouldn’t say that, exactly. Precipitous, maybe, but we’re consenting adults. I wouldn’t label it—”

  “You didn’t know who I was.”

  “That didn’t stop you from kissing me.”

  “You kissed me first.”

  So she had. Discussing it was having a predictable effect on her libido. “Since I clearly wanted you, why draw the line at taking me to bed?”

  “It was the compromise I made with myself. Kissing was okay, giving you pleasure was okay. Allowing myself pleasure would mean I was taking advantage of the situation. Of you.”

  His reasoning made a kind of convoluted sense. It was gallant in a way. “And here I wondered if you had some terrible scar, or a sexual hang-up that kept you from having normal—”

  “I told you I didn’t.”

  “I know, which made it even more puzzling. I came over Thursday night determined to find out what was keeping you—and me, for that matter—from enjoying ourselves in your bed.”

  “Nothing, now.”

  She gazed at him. “Nothing and everything.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I take it you’d like to pick up where we left off Wednesday night.”

  “The answer is yes, but I have a strong suspicion that’s not the right answer.”

  “I wasn’t planning to stay after I took pictures here. Virginia talked me into it.”

  “So I heard. And Badger offered to relocate me to another table so you’d be more comfortable. When you told him that wasn’t necessary, I hoped that you—”

  “I wanted to find out whether you and I could function as casual friends because that’s all I intended for us to be. Ever.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Then you and Badger came up with this dance plan. I give him credit for laying it out in advance.”

  “Me, too. It was the right move.”

  “Catching me by surprise wouldn’t have gone well for you.”

  “Probably not.” He sighed. “I’m just so damned sure we could make a go of it that I’m willing to do whatever it takes to influence your thinking.”

  “Whatever it takes?”

  “Except for one thing. I won’t legally change my name.”

  “I would never expect you to do that.”

  “That’s good, because I won’t. My mother gave it to me and although I never knew my dad, she says he was a great guy, so I’m proud of my last name, too.”

  “What’s your middle name?”

  He smiled. “Henry.”

  “So would you consider—”

  “No. Sorry. Not even for you, and it would be only a partial fix, anyway. I’d still have the Donahue part.”

  “I agree it’s a lame solution.”

  “But it sounds like you might be looking for a better one.”

  “There’s an obvious answer to this.”

  “If you mean using Raven, maybe, although that’s more of a buddy thing with Badger and Cowboy. I’m Aaron to everyone else, so I don’t think that’s—”

  “I wasn’t going to suggest Raven, either. The obvious fix is for you to find a woman without an aversion to your name.”

  He was silent for a few moments. “Is that what you want me to do?”

  “Well, I—”

  “Let me put it another way. If nothing that happened this week has changed your mind about spending time with a guy named Aaron Donahue…” He swallowed. “I’ll give up.”

  “And if I tell you that that’s the case, you’ll abandon all thoughts of me and turn your attention to someone else?”

  “There’s no way I can abandon all thoughts of you. You’re embedded in my brain, likely will be for some time. But I won’t be pestering you anymore.”

  Her heart thumped painfully. She should say it. Put them both out of their misery. No more games. No more angst. No more kisses…

  “I’m encouraged that you didn’t just blurt it out. Have I made some inroads, after all?”

  “Why can’t your name be John Smith?”

  “Because it’s not. And never will be. That’s the bottom line. If you’re going to hate my name for the rest of your life, then we need to call it.”

  “Would it be terrible if I asked for a little time to think about it?”

  “Not at all. Take whatever you need.”

  “Twenty-four hours. I don’t want to leave you hanging.”

  “Why not? Wouldn’t that be a fitting revenge?”

  “I’m losing my taste for revenge. Twenty-four hours is enough time.”