BECCA DIDN’T HAVE TO WORK to smile one more time for the camera. After watching her sister marry the love of her life, the harder part was not smiling. Amanda and Michael seemed perfect for each other. Michael had made some corny belay reference in his vows about Amanda having his life in her hands. Everyone watching laughed, but even in her slightly cynical heart, she didn’t doubt for a moment that her sister and her new husband were as happy as they looked.

“That’s it,” said the photographer, a petite redheaded powerhouse with the kind of bubbly energy that made Becca envious. “Beautiful!”

Everything about the farm had been beautiful. Grace and her team handled the ceremony and the switch to the reception without a hiccup. And Nate... Honestly, watching the man take off his tuxedo jacket and roll up his shirt sleeves had done alarming things to her pulse. Seeing him hold her tiny second cousin in his strong arms turbocharged her previously dormant ovaries. It was a miracle she’d gotten out of there with her heart intact. Right now, she needed to sneak away and make sure he survived the ordeal.

“Wedding party over here, please.” Grace stood at the opening to the barn where the reception was being held and waited for them to all line up.

As maid of honor, Becca was paired with Michael’s best man, a wilderness guide from Colorado who’d been friends with Michael forever. Gabe and Emerson were in the wedding party too, matched with Michael’s sisters. As they filed into the barn, Becca scanned the room for Nate. She felt his gaze a second before she found him, sitting at a table with Liam, Andy, and a few of the Southerland cousins. There were too many of them to put at one table.

Amanda and Michael hadn’t wanted anything too formal. The caterer hit the balance perfectly with smoked pork and all the trimmings, including the best macaroni and cheese Becca ever tasted. It was comfort food at its best, paired with long wooden trestle tables covered with long white table runners, silver candlesticks, and lush peonies interspersed with purple thistle pods and sage-green foliage. The whole thing felt like Amanda and Michael. Comfortable, unpretentious but elegant; beautiful the way a perfect peach could be beautiful or a cup of tea in a porcelain cup showing its years of wear.

Becca glanced around the room, presumably taking in all the details but really to satisfy her curiosity about Nate and what he was doing. She found him sitting between Andy and her cousin Rachel. Andy leaned over to whisper something in his ear and he laughed. Seeing him, smiling and surrounded by her family, tugged on her heart the same way seeing him with the kids had. Being around so many happily married people was clearly having an impact on her judgment. She didn’t know Nate. They’d only met twice, once under less than ideal circumstances—dream encounters did not count. She had no reason to be thinking of him alongside hearts and roses and happily ever afters.

“We’re up,” said the best man, pulling her attention away from the man two tables away and back to her job as maid of honor.

She stood, tapping lightly on her glass to get everyone’s attention, and paused a moment to take in all their family gathered together. She was so lucky to have this. So lucky to be surrounded by so much love. She’d written out her toast and practiced until she could give it with the same ease as an opening argument. What she felt in that room with the people she’d known all her life was so much more.

“I’d prepared a toast for today, but standing here, seeing Amanda and Michael together,” she glanced to her sister and her new husband, “surrounded by all the people they love and who love them, all I can think about is how lucky we are to have this time together. To celebrate our love for each other. Parents and children, grandparents and cousins.” She glanced around the room at her mom and dad, her cousins, and Aunt Emily before her gaze landed on the table with Liam and Andy. And Nate. He met her gaze and for a moment she felt frozen in place, pinned by his focus on her. “Friends,” she said, turning her attention back to her sister and Michael before she said something stupid. “And most importantly, to celebrate the love Michael and Amanda share.” She raised her glass. “To many happy years together and all the sweetness love has to offer.”

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BECCA TOOK ADVANTAGE of the pause after Amanda and Michael’s first dance to find Nate. She’d watched him and seen him watching her during dinner. They’d shared the gaze-holding moment during her toast, but she’d been so busy with maid of honor duties, she hadn’t had a chance to find out how the babysitting went and to thank him again for saving her. At least that’s the story she told herself as she made a beeline across the room to his table.

“You all clearly survived the best the junior Southerlands could dish out.” She directed her comments to Liam and Andy as well, but she let her hand rest on Nate’s shoulder. Oh so casually. Like any friendly person would. Except the look in his eyes when he turned to face her was much hotter than friends, and when he caught her fingers with his, she had to work to keep the effect his touch had on her from registering on her face.

“Tears were wiped, diapers were changed, and everyone survived.” Nate stood, shuffling chairs to make space for her to sit.

“We rocked it. I’m Auntie Andy now. I’ve never been anyone’s auntie before.” She practically beamed, which meant the babies couldn’t have been too hard on them.

“I think we were lucky to survive,” said Liam, relaxing back in his chair. “I served back-to-back tours in Afghanistan and had commanding officers who weren’t as demanding as John Michael. I couldn’t give him his bottle fast enough, and he went through every diaper in his momma’s bag.” He shuddered, and Becca bit back a grin at the image of the six-foot-two badass conquered by Adam and Erica’s seven-month-old.

“Matilda would make a brilliant CO,” said Nate. “She got John and Lilian in line and kept them there. She managed me, too. Juice boxes and goldfish crackers were handed out on time and in order.”

Becca laughed. She’d been on the receiving end of Matilda’s management before. It must be her cousin, Bailey’s, influence. The woman was a powerhouse.

“I can’t thank you enough,” she said, glancing from Nate to Liam and Andy. “Seriously. I’m not sure what I’d have done if the three of you hadn’t stepped up.”

“It’s our pleasure,” said Andy. “It was good practice.”

Liam practically did a spit take with his beer.

“Easy, soldier.” Andy laughed. “For the goats. They’re going to start dropping kids in a couple of months.”

Liam went from looking shocked to a little disappointed, and Becca wondered if he might be picturing a future with something other than baby goats in it.

“I want one of those cupcakes.” Andy motioned to the table covered with tiers of mini cupcakes decorated to look like flowers. Amanda hadn’t wanted a traditional wedding cake. The baker Grace recommended did a beautiful job creating individual treats. “They’re almost too pretty to eat, but I’ll manage. Come help me choose.” She stood, taking Liam by the hand, and headed to the dessert table, leaving Becca and Nate alone.

“Did you want to...”

“Thank you a...”

They spoke over each other, as if they were in a hurry to fill the silence. She shouldn’t be nervous. She was at her sister’s wedding, surrounded by people she loved, some of whom had known her her entire life. But being alone with Nate, even in a room full of people, managed to add an importance to everything.

“You first,” she said, breathing in slowly to calm her racing heart. She wasn’t awkward around men. Ever. Not since she was a teenager. Something about the gorgeous man with the kind smile and too-perceptive eyes had her stumbling over herself. She didn’t like it.

“I was going to ask if you wanted a cupcake.”

“Oh.” For a moment, she’d thought he was going to ask her something else, although she couldn’t have said what. “No, not now. You should get one, though. The pale-blue ones are lemon cake filled with lemon curd and iced with a lavender-scented buttercream.” God, she sounded like a bakery brochure. If there even were such a thing.

“I’m good.” He winked at her, over emphasizing the gesture.

It was such an obvious double entendre; the laughter bubbled out of her, ending in an unladylike snort, which only made her laugh harder. Once the dam broke, it was as if all the tension between them dissolved in the giggles. Before long, they were leaning toward each other, foreheads practically touching, gasping for breath.

“Well, I am,” he said, between bouts of laughter.

“I don’t doubt it,” she said, managing to catch her breath. And then she very deliberately winked at him in an I Love Lucy kind of way, and they dissolved all over again.

“What did we miss?” Emerson’s voice cut through the laughter, and Nate straightened so quickly, it was a miracle he didn’t get whiplash.

Emerson might be Nate’s boss, but he was her big brother and she wasn’t about to let him get the better of her.

“I was just filling Nate in on all your smooth dance moves. Sophie, have you ever seen my big brother dance?”

“Seen him? He’s my favorite partner.”

“Now I know you’re lying.” She cut the bite of her words with a smile. Her brothers had, to a lesser or greater degree, always been pains in her butt. She still loved seeing them happy, and there was no doubt Sophie made her uptight older brother happy.

“Brat,” he said, bumping her shoulder with his hip. “Thank you, Sophie darling.” He pressed a kiss to the woman’s temple and she practically bloomed at his attention. Becca had a feeling they’d be the next ones down the aisle, if Gabe and Berlin didn’t beat them to it.

“The cupcakes are gorgeous,” said Andy.

“And delicious,” chimed Liam, following her with a plate loaded with frosting flowers.

God, she was surrounded by couples, and Nate was watching her like she was a puzzle and he was trying to find a missing piece.

“I’ve got a special request from the bride.” The DJ paused for a moment to make sure he had everyone’s attention and then the bass started to thump to the beat of “Cupid Shuffle.” A mixture of groans and squeals rose from around the table. “Come on, people, you know what to do.”

“What’s going on?” asked Sophie.

“We’ll show you.” Becca took Sophie’s hand, motioning for Andy and Berlin to follow, and headed for the dance floor. “You too, Abby Southerland,” she called to her young second cousin, who looked equal parts horrified and proud to be included.

The women took up half the dance floor and started “to the lefting” and “walking it by themselves” in something close to unison. By the second chorus, Sophie was in sync with the rest of them and the men were forming their own group on the opposite side of the dance floor.

Nate followed her brothers out onto the dance floor and Becca tried not to lose her footing as he started to work his hips in time with the music.

“Liam, get your ass out here,” Gabe called over the thump of the bass. “Sorry, Momma.”

“I changed diapers. That ought to at least buy me a pass from group dancing.” Liam relaxed back in his chair like a man with no intention of moving.

“So did Nate and you don’t hear him whining like a girl.”

Nate did a quick spin that would have made Bruno Mars proud and Becca hooted along with the other women.

“You should be so lucky to be anything like a girl, Liam Rogers.” Hips swaying in time with the music, Andy stalked across the floor.

Taking his hand, she tugged him to his feet, although it was clearly the force of her presence and not her physical strength that got the retired soldier to move. Liam wrapped his arms around her and carried her back to the dance floor in time for the last chorus.

By the time the song finished with a down, down, do your dance, they were laughing and moving more or less in unison. There wouldn’t be any America’s Got Talent appearances in their futures, but with all the Southerland weddings, anniversaries, and other family events, they danced together enough to make some kind of second-rate flash mob. Or third-rate. The secret was to stop worrying about being embarrassed and focus on having fun, a lesson Nate clearly learned long ago. Becca glanced across the dance floor to see him laughing and fist-bumping her brothers, and something tugged in her chest. His smile was so friendly and open—so unconcerned—and then he caught her watching him, and it shifted to something more intense.

“Let’s slow things down for a minute. Give y’all a chance to catch your breath,” said the DJ as the opening notes of “The Way You Look Tonight” started.

Becca saw her cousin Travis lean in to say something to his daughter Abby and then take her offered hand. With Travis’s slight limp and the teenager’s unfamiliarity with the music, they made an adorably awkward pair. As the other couples paired up, Becca turned away, intending to grab her phone and snap a picture for Summer. The hand on her arm stopped her.

“We seem to do this particular dance a lot,” said Nate, glancing from his hand to her eyes. “The one where you’re turning away from me. Why don’t we try something different this time. Would you dance with me?”

If she said no, he’d let go of her, and she could take cute pictures of her niece and pretend that was all she wanted. But they’d both know it was because she was too chicken to say yes, and she never ran from something that scared her. That was the line she told herself as she nodded and slid her hand into his. It was easier, at least for the time being, than admitting she wanted to know what it felt like to be in Nate’s arms. He shifted their hands and pulled her in close, resting his hand on the small of her back, and started to move.

In the two steps it took them to get to the opening lines of the melody, she could tell she was outmatched. She’d never done much more than the cling to each other and sway kind of dancing. Nate seemed intent on them covering a lot more ground than she was used to. She managed to avoid stepping on his feet, but it was a near thing. He moved them to the left and she shifted right, bumping into him hard enough to make the breath leave her in a whoosh. Travis and Abby could give them lessons in grace. Or, rather, give her lessons. Nate seemed to have everything under control, while she felt like the pity partner on Dancing with the Stars opening night. The one you could see counting to themselves as they moved like Frankenstein across the dance floor. The first to leave the competition because no one could be that bad of a dancer.

“This will work a lot better if you let me lead.” He held her with arms so strong and steady, she had a hard time imagining anything he couldn’t handle.

Well, there was the jail thing. He’d needed her for that.

“Duchess.”

She bristled at the unfamiliar nickname, and Nate stroked his hand over the small of her back, his palm warm through the silk of her dress.

“Stop thinking and follow me. Just for the next five minutes,” he added, smiling almost ruefully. “And then you can pick up the reins again. Okay?”

Letting out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, she nodded.

“Good,” he said, his lips a breath away from her temple in a way that made it hard for her to think.

He moved them to the left, and she stopped fighting him. In the beginning, it took everything she had to stay out of her own way. It still felt like she was always half a beat behind and stuck reacting instead of acting. The feeling was foreign and antithetical to almost everything about her. But after a few bars, she managed to surrender and let Nate steer them around the dance floor. By the second chorus, he was spinning her away from him and pulling her back to cradle her gently against the broad expanse of his chest. Nate wasn’t a big man—five ten with broad shoulders and narrow hips, strong but not hulking—but in his arms, dancing with him, she felt sheltered. Cared for. Like she might actually be able to surrender control for more than the few minutes the song was playing.

Frank sang the final just the way you look tonight. Keeping her hand anchored in his, Nate sent her spiraling away from him one last time before pulling her close, her back resting against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his cheek to hers.

“I think you should let me lead more often, Becca.”

This was where she was supposed to disagree with him, but with him holding her, she couldn’t remember why.