Page 22 of The Rancher's Cinderella Bride

“I don’t think so. I think he’d be afraid I’d say no and embarrass him.” She looked up at Gabe, smiling at him. “If he’s watching, I hope I look in love.”

“Meg, darlin’, if the way you look at me gets any hotter, I’ll want to check us into that hotel across the road.”

She wiggled with joy as her smile widened. “Oh, that makes my heart really flutter. I want to look so in love with you, no one will have a shred of doubt when we announce this engagement.”

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, nuzzling her neck. Gabe was everything she needed to pull this off. He was charming, fun and sexy, and she wondered how she would get through the month without falling in love with him. The more worrisome question for now was how would she get through the night without going to bed with him?

Five

She didn’t want to, either, because as charming and sexy and handsome as Gabe was, he still wasn’t her type. He was a wild man with a wild lifestyle like her younger brother had had, living life on the edge. And he wasn’t into serious relationships, wasn’t interested in commitment or marriage. She didn’t want to fall in love and then have her heart broken when they said goodbye and went their separate ways.

And she certainly had no intention of getting casually involved with Gabe, either. So she needed to guard her heart—and tonight was the night to start doing her best to try.

Right now, though, wrapped in Gabe’s arms, she was finding that difficult. They’d joined the others on the dance floor and hadn’t missed one slow song all evening. She was resting her cheek on his shoulder when he leaned close to whisper in her ear.

“I think we’ve spent enough time at this shindig. Want to go?”

“I’m ready to go. I’ve done what I came to do,” she said, turning. He was only inches away and she looked into the bluest eyes she had ever seen. Her heart drummed and she wanted his mouth on hers more than anything right then. But desire for Gabe’s kisses scared her. His kisses could lead to seduction and an even bigger threat—him stealing her heart away.

Go home. Tell him good-night.

She should listen to that inner voice, thank him and then stay away from him. Instead, she was going home with him. How much willpower did she have? She couldn’t even stop looking into his eyes right now.

She felt as if she had been caught in a spell and couldn’t escape. How could Gabe have this kind of effect on her? It was Gabe—friend, chum, pal, buddy. Where had all this sexual appeal and steaming desire come from? Could she cope with it or did she need to call off this engagement?

She wasn’t calling off the engagement. That she knew for sure. No, she’d just have to resist him. No matter what it took.

* * *

“I think tonight went well.”

Gabe’s comment was an understatement. In her opinion, it had gone as if she’d scripted it. Her parents had remained civil and even better was Justin’s reaction.

“Thanks to you,” she replied, looking at him as he drove them home, “it went even better than I had hoped. Justin certainly got the message, and so did my family. He wasn’t happy, but he’ll adjust and find someone who’ll suit his folks just as much. My parents aren’t their only friends with a daughter.”

“Just because your parents are friends is no reason for the two of you to marry.”

“Do I ever agree. I couldn’t make any of them see that and then Justin’s dad offered so many financial rewards that Justin absolutely wanted us to marry. Well, now I don’t have to. You were perfect tonight. Everyone will believe us when we announce our engagement. Besides, I had a good time tonight,” she said, sitting back and smiling happily at him.

“Thank you. So did I. It wasn’t the stuffy, boring evening I thought it might be. Events like that at the country club I usually avoid. This one was fun, though, and I had the prettiest woman in the club for my date.”

She smiled at him and patted his knee. “Thank you. We’re alone and you don’t have to say that.”

“I mean it. You look stunning tonight. Believe me, if we weren’t announcing this engagement, you would get calls, especially now that guys realize you’re not locked into going out with Justin.”

“I’m not interested in calls. I just want to be free and live my life my own way.”

“You’re on your way to your goal.”

“Thanks to you.”

“You can show me your gratitude when we get to my place,” he said, teasing her.

She laughed. “Oh, I intend to—up to a point.”

He flashed a smile at her and then focused on driving. She felt as if a mountain of worries had lifted off her shoulders. She regretted hurting her parents and Justin, but they would get over it and she couldn’t spend a lifetime married to someone she didn’t love. She glanced at Gabe and forgot Justin and the disagreement with her family. She’d had a wonderful evening with Gabe and his brothers and their wives. It was Gabe, though, who kept her heart racing. She was going home with him. She had told herself over and over as she spent the day getting ready for tonight that she should guard her heart and avoid falling in love with him—something she had never expected to have to worry this much about.

Gabe slowed the car and they entered a gated area and followed a tree-lined street with decorative lampposts as they wound toward his Dallas home. When it came into view, she felt surprised.

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