Nick wasn’t a designated driver and hard apple cider was working for him tonight. Just because he’d figured out why Eva was so frightened about getting married and having kids didn’t mean he had answers.
In the Brotherhood’s opinion, he needed to simply convince Eva she could never be a negligent parent. Not workable. Sure as the world, she’d dig in her heels if he tried that. But he had no other ideas. The cider took the edge off his frustration, so he indulged.
When the band played tunes for couples, only Leo and Garrett sought out partners. Nick stayed in the booth with the other guys and watched Henri and Ben slow dancing like newlyweds.
“It’s weird,” Matt said, “but in a nice way.”
“She used to dance like that with Charley.” Jake sipped his drink.
“Yeah.” CJ exhaled. “That’s the weird part. But you know what? Charley would have wanted her to find someone. He’d be cool with this.”
“He liked Ben,” Rafe said. “If he could have picked someone for Henri, it would be Ben.”
Nick polished off his fifth bottle of cider. “Think they’ll get married?” Marriage. His topic de jour.
“Don’t know.” Rafe gazed out at the dance floor. “But if they do, it’ll be a helluva party.”
The slow tune ended and the band announced Boot Scootin’ Boogie.
Nick glanced at his brothers. “Let’s do this.”
“Hell, yeah, let’s do this.” Matt put down his bottle. “We’ll bust some Brotherhood moves.”
They grabbed Leo and Garrett, lined up together and proceeded to show off. Nick threw himself into it. Dancing drunk was fun. Hadn’t done it in a while. He was loose. And he had this number down cold.
The message was passed along from Matt’s end—Babes in the house. Henri was already here, but the others must have arrived. Whenever the Babes showed up at the Moose, the Brotherhood swung into action, but that didn’t mean dropping out of a line dance. Nick kept going, adding flourishes whenever possible.
A flash of blue hair made him miss a step. Wait. That wasn’t Eva. The blue-hair lady was with Ed and Josette. Whoops. Another blue-hair sighting. That was Eva. What the hell?
He stumbled, turned the wrong way and was solely responsible for a major pileup in front of her. Wonderful.
She stood at the edge of the dance floor staring at him. What was she doing here? She hardly ever came to the Moose. Why now?
He needed to get his act together. Come up with a game plan. But the Babes were here, too, which meant he had a responsibility to—
A hand gripped his shoulder. “We’ve got this,” Rafe said. “Go talk to your lady.”
He nodded and walked over to Eva. “Hi.” Brilliant.
“I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Ditto.” More brilliance.
“I came with the Babes. Ellie Mae wanted blue hair.”
“That was Ellie Mae?”
“Blue hair really changes a person.”
“On the outside. Not the inside. Speaking of outside, let’s go there.”
She peered at him. “You’re drunk.”
“Pretty much.”
“I’ve never seen you like this.”
“Well, here I am. Drunk. Can we go outside?” That fifth cider was kicking in.
“Yes. I think you could use the fresh air.” She took him by the arm and guided him through the front door.
He shouldn’t let her do that. He should be taking her arm. That was the gentlemanly thing. Too late. They were standing on the sidewalk.
She still had a hold on his arm. “Breathe, Nick. Get oxygen into your system.”
“Okay.” He took several deep breaths to please her.
“Better?”
“Actually, I feel a little light-headed.”
“Let’s go sit on the curb.”
“All right.” He let her take him over to a spot where nobody was parked. He managed to sit on the curb without falling over.
“How’s that?” She put a hand on his knee.
“Good. Listen, when I’m drunk, stuff just comes out of my mouth.”
“You’re going to throw up?”
“No, words come out. All kinds of words. No telling what I might say.”
She smiled. “Fiona’s like that, too.”
“Fiona wasn’t turned on by my sweat.”
“What?”
“On Sunday, when you were naked and I went downstairs. She wasn’t turned on.”
“Were you disappointed?”
“I was relieved. I don’t want anybody turned on but you.”
“Oh.”
“I made you smile again. I like it when you do that.”
“I like it when you smile, too.” Her voice was soft. “Nick, I’m sorry we can’t… that I’m not the right…”
“That’s what I wanted to say. They were terrible.”
“Who?”
“Your folks.”
“Water over the bridge.”
“It’s not. You remember.”
She went very still. When she said something, her voice was tiny. “I do.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “I remember stuff, too.”
Her grip on his knee tightened. “I’m sorry.”
“And I’ll never do that to my kids.”
“How do you know?” Her voice trembled.
“I just know. And you won’t either. I know you, Eva. I know you.”
She pressed against his side. “What if you’re wrong?”
“I’m not.” He swallowed. “Marry me, Eva.”
She started to cry.
Turning, he gathered her into his arms and rocked her back and forth. “Marry me. You know you want to.”
“I do! But I’m so scared!”
“It’ll get easier. I promise it will.”
“You’re drunk. How can I believe you?”
He tipped her wet face up to his. “I tell the truth when I’m drunk.”
“You said words just come out.”
“From my heart.”
“Oh.” She sniffed. “That’s… touching.”
He gazed into her green eyes, shimmering with tears. “I love you.”
“I know.”
“Can you love me back?”
She gulped. ‘I already do. It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever done.”
“Can you say it?”
Holding his gaze, she took a shaky breath. “I love you. And I’ll marry you.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
“I can. I danced hard. Got sweaty.”
She opened her eyes and gave him a watery smile. “And I do love your sweat.”
“Attagirl.” He leaned down and kissed her to seal the deal. He was a little hazy about how he’d accomplished this amazing feat in the face of impossible odds, but he had her, now, and he was never, ever letting her go.
Cowboy Rafe Banner receives an unexpected proposal from his heart’s desire, Kate Gifford, but with a catch as big as Montana in STRONG-WILLED COWBOY, book five in the Buckskin Brotherhood series!