A Certain Kind of Hero Read Free

jukebox. I picked all slow tunes.”
    Her tentative smile seemed real enough. “Is that supposed to be reassuring?”
    â€œIt’s supposed to be romantic. I’ve been in the woods a long time, and I’ve had nothing but all-male fishing parties all summer.” Locking her gaze with his, he took her hands and slid them over his shoulders, as though he were putting on a necklace. “I was about ready to put on an apron and dance with one of them, like they used to do in the old days at the trappers’ rendezvous.”
    â€œYou enjoy dancing that much?” He’d put both his arms around her. She promptly withdrew his left one and made him do the tea-spout pose with her. “I was taught this way.”
    â€œReally? How about this?” He made a silly face and started them rocking side to side.
    â€œAre you serious?”
    â€œHell, no. Just trying to make you smile.” And this time her smile came easily. “There. That took some of the tension out of your shoulders. I could feel it.” He spread his hand over the middle of her back, pulling her closer. “Damn, guess I shouldn’t have mentioned it. You stiffened up again.”
    Casting him an apologetic glance, she made a deliberate attempt to relax. “I don’t know anyone here very well yet. I’m really not very…good at this sort of thing.”
    â€œNot much of a barfly?” She shook her pretty head, and he chuckled. “Not much nightlife in a small town. You from the Twin Cities?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œTeacher, right?” She gave a tight nod. “First year?”Another nod. He pulled in the teapot spout and held her hand against his shoulder. This time she didn’t object. He figured he’d hit on a compromise.
    â€œWhat made you decide to start your career at Pine Lake Indian Reservation, of all places?”
    â€œThey offered me a job.”
    â€œNot your first choice, huh?”
    â€œI wanted to start out in a small school, and I’ve always loved the northern part of the state.” She glanced up at him, still unsure, but clearly, as far as he was concerned, attracted. “And I wanted to come to a reservation.”
    â€œReally.” He slid his hand down her spine and let it rest at the small of her back. He led with his hips. She wanted to follow merely with her feet, but he was having none of that, and he could feel it the minute her hips stopped resisting the rhythm. He smiled and settled in. She was going to give him a run for his money, but he would reach the payoff window eventually. “Well, here you are. How do you like our music?”
    â€œIt’s—” she drew a shallow breath and gave a soft sigh “—familiar.”
    â€œYou’ve heard this one somewhere before?” She nodded. “How about our dancing?” She looked up. He indicated the two of them with a suggestive chinjerk. “ Our dancing.”
    â€œI like it,” she confessed. Unwilling to lose the ground he’d gained, he drew her only a fraction of an inch closer. She acknowledged his restraint with a smile. “I like it very much.”
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    He had held her close on the dance floor, touched his cheek to hers, and later that night he had tasted her lips. And in the months that followed he’d found himself, much to his surprise, going for broke. Not only had he tried to make it with her,he’d also tried to make her love him. Unfortunately, he’d made a few mistakes. Maybe more than a few—he’d been good at that then. But he’d made up for it by introducing her to the Defender who could do no wrong—his brother, Jared.
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    When she finally looked up, she peered straight at him and smiled, as though she’d known he was there all along. His boot heels sounded an unhurried rhythm across the hardwood floor of the lobby. She closed the magazine, set it aside and slowly rose from the chair. He