That Night on Thistle Lane by Carla Neggers Page B

dance. To pretend he was about to lift her into his arms and carry her off as he had so many times in the past.
    How long had it been since he had held her like this?
    There had been only one man in her life. Brandon Sloan. They had been so right together…and then so wrong. Money, pride, dreams, the busyness of life. They’d let them all erode what they’d had together.
    She had so many questions. So much she wanted to say to him.
    “Do you know Dylan McCaffrey?”
    Brandon didn’t hear her, or pretended not to as he held her close.
    Maggie almost didn’t notice when the music stopped. He released her and smiled that rogue’s smile of his. “You’re beautiful, Maggie O’Dunn Sloan.”
    Then he was gone, and by the time Maggie pulled herself together, she was standing alone on the edge of the dance floor, wondering if she’d imagined him. Tears burned in her eyes but she hoped, with the mask, that no one would notice.
    Suddenly she felt hot in her Grace Kelly dress, ridiculous.
    Noah Kendrick eased in next to her in his swashbuckler costume and slipped off his mask. “Maggie, I’m Noah Kendrick. Dylan’s friend. Can I get you a glass of water?”
    “I’m all right, thanks. Just…just hot.”
    “The costumes have their drawbacks.”
    “They get us thinking about fantasies, don’t they?” Maggie appreciated his diplomacy. As Phoebe had said yesterday, it was a slippery slope to want what you knew you couldn’t have. Maggie cleared her throat, straightened her shoulders, wondering if it really could have been her sister who had danced with the California billionaire. Dylan’s friend, and now Olivia’s friend. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Noah.”
    He gave a mock bow. “A pleasure to meet you, too, Maggie.”
    “Have you enjoyed your evening? Who was that you were dancing with?”
    He frowned. “I never got her name. Did you see where she went?”
    Maggie shook her head. “Sorry, no.”
    His eyes settled on her. “Do you know her?”
    “I never talked to her,” she answered carefully. What if it was Phoebe who had danced with Noah? Had she realized who he was? Would she want Maggie blabbing her identity to him?
    She gave herself a mental shake. She was being crazy. It wasn’t Phoebe.
    “I was just impressed with how you two danced together,” Maggie said.
    “I was distracted for a moment.” He seemed to want to go on but sighed. “Well, it’s nothing for you to worry about. You and Olivia look lovely. Great costumes.”
    “Thanks. They’re fun. My sisters helped. I should call it an evening. My mother has my sons for the night, and I want to check in. They’re live wires as it is, and she tends to—” Maggie broke off. She wasn’t going to criticize her mother in front of a man she barely knew. “They always have a great time together.”
    “You’re feeling better, then?”
    She nodded. “It was just one of those things. I’ve learned to have my moments and move on. Are Dylan and Olivia still dancing?”
    “They’re good together,” Noah said simply.
    “Yes, they are,” Maggie said without hesitation. “I hope you enjoyed your hike in the White Mountains.”
    “It was an experience,” he said with a smile.
    Noah was quiet, but he radiated a confidence that Maggie hadn’t noticed at first, probably due more to her preset ideas about him than anything else. She hadn’t expected a high-tech genius, a hard-driving entrepreneur, to be so self-possessed. “A good swordfight more to your taste than mountain climbing?”
    “Than staying a step ahead of a cloud of mosquitoes, for sure.”
    Maggie laughed, feeling more herself again. “Brandon and I climbed Mount Washington before the boys came along. What an experience. The views stay with you forever, don’t they?”
    “I liked the hot dogs at the top,” Noah said with a wink.
    Dylan and Olivia joined them, and Maggie pulled off her mask. The evening was winding down and she wanted to change back into her regular