From the Heart

dance floor.
    “Really?” Kasey lifted her cheek from his. She laughed at the wry look he gave her. “She’s a very pretty lady, Jordan, and a very nice one. I like her.”
    “You make up your mind quickly.”
    “Usually it saves time.” She smiled as he whirled her around the floor. “I decided you were a marvelous dancer,” she pointed out. “And I was right.”
    “If I told you I’d never enjoyed a waltz more, would you believe me?”
    “I might.” She laughed up at him.
    “I’m going to have to let you dance with the men here who can’t keep their eyes off you. I’m not going to like it.”
    Her brows lifted. “Are there many?” she asked, teasing him while she tried to sort out how she felt about his statement.
    “Too many. You walk into a room, and every eye rests on you. Including mine.”
    Kasey laughed and shook her head. “You’ve a writer’s imagination, Jordan.”
    “And a man’s,” he murmured. “I can’t get you out of my mind.”
    She was staring up at him, forgetting the music they moved to, the people who moved with them. “Do you want to?”
    He couldn’t look away from her. “I don’t know.” He couldn’t think straight when she was in his arms, pressed close. “I wish I did. Is it enough to tell you there’s never been another woman who’s been as important to me as you are?”
    It was a cautious step, and Kasey took it no further. She touched his cheek with her fingers. “It’s enough, Jordan.”
    Throughout the evening Kasey was never alone. She sparked interest everywhere she went. She enjoyed answering the questions put to her and fielding flirtations. She enjoyed the elegance, the glamour, just as she enjoyed a trip to the corner movie. Buttered popcorn or champagne, it was all part of life.
    “Miss Wyatt.”
    Kasey turned away from a discussion with a yachting enthusiast and his wife and smiled at Harry Rhodes. “Hello, Harry. It’s good to see you.”
    “It’s nice seeing you again. You look lovely.”
    “So do you.” She touched the lapel of his dinner jacket. He cleared his throat.
    “I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed reading the book you loaned me.”
    “Anytime, Harry.” He had a nice face, she thought. Jordan was fortunate to have him for a friend.
    “I’ve been practicing, you know. I’m going to challenge you to another game of pool.”
    “I’d like that.” She grinned now. “We’ll have to try eight ball this time.”
    “Miss Wyatt . . . Kathleen . . . Kasey,” he decided, as her smile warmed for him. “That’s what Jordan calls you, isn’t it?”
    “All my friends do.”
    He fiddled with his glasses and smiled. His eyes were kind, she thought, like the wise little bear he reminded her of.
    “Kasey, I don’t suppose you’d care to risk the dance floor with a doddering old professor.”
    “I don’t see one.” Kasey set down her glass and offered her hand. “But I’d love to dance with you, Harry.”
    “Jordan’s a very fortunate man to have found you,” he told her as they headed for the dance floor.
    “But it was you who found me, wasn’t it, Harry?”
    “Then I should pat myself on the back.” He liked the dimple at the corner of her mouth, the way her hair curled without design around her face. She seemed a little of the waif, a little of the siren. “I hope Jordan appreciates you.”
    “He’s a very kind man, isn’t he? Kind, loving, and gentle.”
    “He loved his brother very much, you know.” Harry gave a sigh. “They were close. Allen, his father, was a dear friend of mine. He died several years before, and Beatrice has never been a maternal woman. Best hostess I know,” he added. “But simply not cut for mothering. The boys were quite a pair. A bit wild now and then, but—”
    “Wild?” Kasey interrupted with a surprised laugh. “Jordan?”
    “He had his moments, my dear.” Recalling a few, Harry decided it would be more discreet not to detail them. “It was very difficult for Jordan when he lost his brother. They were twins.”
    “I didn’t know.” Losing a brother would be hard enough, she mused, but losing a twin would be losing part of yourself. “He’s never talked about it with me.”
    “He closed himself in after that. It hasn’t been until recently that I’ve noticed the door opening again.” Harry looked down at Kasey. “That’s your doing. You care for him very much, don’t you?”
    Kasey met his eyes directly. “I’m in love with him.”
    Harry