“I am. Please just wait there one minute. I’ll be right with you.” She hated that her hands were shaking as she pushed to her feet. She hobbled to the door, leaning on the dresser for support.

She took a deep breath before she turned the handle and opened the door. She made herself smile before stepping out into the hallway, keeping her hand on the door frame for support.

“Wow!” She forgot all about wanting to surprise Travis as she took in the sight of him. In her opinion, he was gorgeous no matter what he wore, but the sight of him in bright blue jeanspaired with a crisp, white shirt and black suit jacket took her breath away. She let her gaze travel over him appreciatively, and when she finally met his gaze, he was grinning right back at her.

“I could say the same thing myself! Just… Wow.” He let out a low whistle. “I thought you were beautiful from the moment I saw you, but damn… I am one lucky son of a gun.”

She held one arm out to the side, keeping hold of the door frame with her other hand. “You like?”

He came hurrying down the hallway and rested his hands on her hips when he reached her. “I more than like. Are you sure you want to go out? I think I might enjoy spending the evening peeling this dress back off of you.”

She ran her hands up his arms as he held her steady. “You can peel it off of me when we get home again later.” She chuckled. “You look so good in this get up that I can’t wait to get you out of it, either.” She met his gaze. “But yeah, I’m sure; I really want to go out. I’ve been looking forward to this.”

He chuckled. “I know. I’m only playing with you.” He waggled his eyebrows. “At least, I’m only playing since I know that I don’t stand a chance of talking you into staying home. If I thought I stood a snowball’s chance in hell…”

She shook her head at him. “I promise you we’ll both get what we want when we get home but…”

“That’ll do for me. I’m almost as excited about taking you out and showing you off as I am about bringing you home and having my way with you later.”

She laughed. “I could say the same thing.”

He looked her over again and shook his head in wonder. “Beautiful,” he breathed.

“You too, Trav. I thought you were a handsome devil the first time I saw you. Now, now that I know you, you’re even more handsome, and the best of it is, you’re all mine.”

He dropped a kiss on her lips. “I sure am. And I hate to spoil the moment, but do you think I should grab your crutches?”

She laughed. “Probably. I was just being a little bit vain; I wanted to make my entrance and have you see me as a woman rather than an invalid.”

He scowled at her. “I’ve never seen you as anything but a woman – the most beautiful woman in the world to me.”

“Aww. You just earned yourself some brownie points for later.”

He chuckled. “That wasn’t my intent, but you can bet I’ll put those points to good use if you’ll let me. I was just telling it like it is.”

“I hope you know that I see you the same way. I wouldn’t have said that a tattooed cowboy was my kind of guy – but I would have been wrong. You’re not just my kind of guy, not just the most handsome guy in the world to me – you’re the only guy in the world for me.”

His expression was so gentle as he looked down into her eyes. He tucked his fingers under her chin and pressed a kiss to her lips. “And you’re the only girl in the world for me. I love you, darlin’. Now, what do you say? Do you want to get this show on the road?”

She nodded eagerly. “I do. Let’s go.”

~ ~ ~

As he drove up the valley toward town, Travis debated with himself whether he should ask about who she’d been on thephone with when he came downstairs. He’d heard the tail end of what she was saying, and he needed to know what was going on. She’d told whoever it was that she had no interest in their husband, and that they needed to leave her alone. He was going to ask her as soon as she came out, but the way she looked had literally taken his breath away.

The moment they shared, seeing each other all dressed up for the first time, wasn’t one that he wanted to spoil by asking about her phone call. She didn’t seem upset, and he didn’t want to spoil the evening ahead of them by bringing it up, but curiosity might get the better of him.

She looked over at him and smiled. “How was your friend? Did he say when he’ll be here? I hope he’ll love the cabin – have you decided which one you want to put him in?”

“Yeah, Zeke’s great. He said that he should be here sometime next week – he’ll let me know when he has a better idea. I was thinking that we can put him in number nine.” He smiled over at her. “I love what you’ve done with all of them, but I think that one might be my favorite.”

“That’s the one I was thinking, too. I love all of them, but there’s something special about number nine.”

He decided that he’d test out the water. “What about you – did you have a call?”

She scowled. “I did. It was Jamie Hoffman.”

“Is that the woman…”