Searching For Treasure by L.C. Davenport Page A

dining room, but now he was confused that Dana and Jack were still sitting at opposite sides of the courtyard. Flipping through the disks hurriedly, he found a song that was a special favorite of theirs. After a whispered conference with Josie, he inserted it into the machine and they began to sing.
    She knew he could feel her watching him. She waited until finally he looked at her, a long solemn considering look, his whole heart there in his eyes for her to see if she wanted to. Dana's own heart pounded painfully in her chest. He was waiting for her to make the next move, she realized. He had laid his cards on the table earlier when he had kissed her with such raw passion. He had taken his risk. Now he was waiting for her to take one, too.
    Jack watched her walk toward him. Every muscle in his body was tense. He couldn't read her expression. He couldn't read her intent. He had chosen to be patient, something he was well practiced at. He had begun to hope this weekend that his patience was beginning to pay off.
    Yesterday he realized that she was becoming more aware of him as a man rather than jus t‘ good old Jac k’ . He'd had every intention to use that awareness to coax her, to entice her, to seduce her, to try and bring her closer to feeling for him what he felt for her. But he had let his fear-fueled temper get the best of him. He had taken such a gamble today. Was he about to lose?
    "Do you want to dance?" Dana asked Jack.
    At the look in her eyes, Jack felt such a surge of relief pass through him that it seemed his muscles had turned to jelly. Dana reached for his hand, tugged him up out of his chair and led him to the dance floor. They went into each othe r’ s arms like they had a thousand times before. But this time it felt brand new.
    Noah and Josie slapped their hands together in a low five and continued their song.
    "I guess he thinks he's pretty clever ,” Jack said.
    "Actually ,” Dana murmured, sliding her hand up his chest to bury her fingers in the hair at the back of his neck, "I think he's pretty clever myself."
    The light in her eyes, the playfulness in her tone, warmed him in a way nothing had in years. He felt it all the way to the soles of his boots. "You do, huh?"
    "Yes."
    Jack looked into her eyes seriously, all teasing set aside for the moment. "D, I know you're scared. I'm scared, too. But I'd rather be scared with you than without you."
    "Jack?"
    "Yeah?"
    "Shut-up and kiss me."
    "Yes, ma'am."
    This kiss was gentler than the last, but no less powerful. Dana felt it speak promises to her soul. Promises of what she didn't know. But as she put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, she found herself desperate to find out.
    "Hey!"
    Dana and Jack jumped away from each other guiltily but Noah was no longer watching them. Instead he was racing towards the back of the castle. "I just saw someone run past!" He stopped at the corner of the courtyard and peered around it. He saw nothing but the old water well.
    "It was Just Cedric!" Grace ran to join him, looking around to see if she could catch a glimpse as well. "Oh, Noah, you saw him, too."
    Rose snorted in disbelief and smirked at Oscar. "Come on, fess up. You hired someone to run around the castle at night, didn't you?"
    Oscar merely cocked an eyebrow. "Did I?"
    Rose huffed. "I hate it when he does that."

 
     
    Chapter 7
    Dana couldn't get to sleep that night.
    The party had broken up about an hour before midnight. Dana and Jack had spent most of the time dancing, which actually amounted to little more than holding each other and swaying to the music. They had walked hand and hand up the stairs. Jack kissed her at the door of her bedroom until even her body vibrated. Then he left her to go to his own room. So now she couldn't sleep, feeling very confused and out-of-sorts.
    What had she thought was going to happen? Had she really wanted Jack to stay with her tonight? While her hormones were screaming, "Yes! Yes!" the rest of her wasn't so