And Then Forever Read Free

that matched Darcy’s constant frenzied pace. And casual enough that she could stop in the middle and dance with a customer or take a quick turn on the stage with the band.
    A college kid was leaning over the jukebox, arguing with his girlfriend about who John Lennon was, which just made Darcy shake her head and wonder about the fate of humanity when it was in the hands of kids who had no idea who the Beatles were.
    The kid punched in a number and a second later, a Beyonce hit boomed from the jukebox’s speakers. Jillian spun away from the hostess station. “Come on, Darcy, dance with me!”
    Jillian grabbed Darcy’s free hand, and the two of them fast-stepped in a quick circle by the jukebox. Darcy kept the tray balanced above her head on the other hand, keeping her steps sure and fast, the tray straight. A second later, two of their regular customers joined in, with the usual hooting and hollering that started a night at The Love Shack. The party was underway, before sundown—exactly how Darcy liked it. She loved the wild nights at The Love Shack, the way her job felt more like a constant celebration than work.
    She spun one more time with Jillian, then they broke apart, laughing, and giving each other a last hip bump before heading off to their respective tables. Just as Darcy turned toward table seven, the door to the restaurant opened, and the last bit of afternoon sun hit the floor, flooding along the wood like an instant gold river.
    And Kincaid Foster walked into Darcy’s life, as easily as he’d walked out of it. Just like that.
    She’d have recognized him anywhere, even though it had been seven years since she’d seen him last. Her heart stopped, and the perpetual motion that made up Darcy’s life came to a halt.
    “Waitress? Hey, is that my burger? I’d like to eat today, you know.”
    The voice drew Darcy back to the present. To her job. To the tray balanced on one hand. To the food getting cold while she stood here, letting Kincaid Foster have some kind of effect on her. Which he no longer did. Not at all.
    She spun to the right, deposited said burger in front of a burly guy with a beard, then headed over to table seven to take their drink orders. Still, her peripheral vision kept straying to Kincaid, watching as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the dim interior, then headed across the room to the bar. He never even looked her way once.
    That stung a bit, she had to admit. They’d been something once—or at least she had thought they were, until Kincaid let her go as easily as letting the wind snatch away a tissue. She’d thought he would fight for her, that she meant more than that, but…
    It had taken her a year to get over him, maybe more, but she was now.
    Over him. For sure.
    “Uh, what did you say you wanted to order again?” she asked the middle-aged couple seated at the four-top before her. She readied a pen and her order pad, but her gaze strayed again to Kincaid. Damn, he looked good.
    Still tall, muscular, with the kind of broad shoulders that seemed to welcome a heavy load. His dark hair was a little long, and one wave hooked over his right brow. She knew his hazel eyes, knew them as well as her own, knew the definition of his hands, the way his smile could make an entire room disappear.
    “Miss? Miss?”
    Darcy turned back. Again. “Um, sorry. What can I get you?”
    The woman’s face filled with annoyance. “A menu? You seated us and said you’d be right back with menus. That was ten minutes ago. Can’t tell you what we want to eat until we know what you have to eat.”
    “Oh, oh, right, sorry.” Darcy snagged two menus from the hostess station and brought them back to the table. Then she beelined for the kitchen, her brain as frazzled as a summer storm.
    Before Darcy got more than a foot inside the door, Jillian was grabbing her arm and hauling her to the side. “Did you see who just walked in?”
    Darcy scowled. Did the man wear a neon sign around his neck or