Page 27 of The Rancher's Cinderella Bride

“What about your folks?”

“My folks have already given up, I’m sure. My mom understands now and she’ll get the family in line. I’ve told Justin goodbye and—Actually, he told me goodbye. He said if I went out with you, we were through. Either way, I’m free,” she said, waving her arms in the air and then smiling at him.

“Suppose he’s burned and wants to back off from relationships and take his time, and doesn’t even date?”

“No. He’ll want to show everyone that losing me means nothing. That he can pick up and go on with his life. Which I hope he does. He won’t hang around waiting for me to change my mind, either. He’ll be angry and he’ll want to show everyone that I didn’t affect his life and he can get along fine without me.”

“So you want to get engaged tonight,” he said, wondering again how much more upheaval she would cause in his life. “Even when it’s pretend, it’s a big step that gives me sweaty palms.”

“That’s because we’re not in love. When you’re in love with someone, you won’t feel that way.”

“Thank you, for the reassuring engagement advice,” he remarked and she stuck her tongue out at him, making him grin.

He thought for a moment. “They saw us tonight at the club. Tomorrow is Sunday and we can go to my church. If we go to yours, I don’t think I would be welcome. Then—”

“Of course you’d be welcome at my church. Just not with my family.”

“Okay. We’ll go to your church and then let’s go to the ranch and come back to Dallas Tuesday. We’ll try to do something special then, and let’s get engaged then instead of tonight. If you’re going out with me and living in my house, you won’t have to date Justin.”

“True. I think that’s a good idea. My family will definitely not like it when they discover I’m staying with you.”

“Do I need to be on guard because of your dad and grandfathers?”

As she shook her head, she laughed. “What a thought. My grandfathers wouldn’t do anything to you. My dad wouldn’t, either.”

“I don’t agree, but we won’t argue about it,” he said. “If your dad does anything, it will be in the business world.” And he was ready for it.

As he sat across the table from her and listened to her make plans, he had to admit only half his attention was on what she was telling him. The other half—the lower half, to be exact—was studying her. She had changed into the plain clothes he had seen her wear hundreds of times before. And they had an entire table between them, so he was nowhere near her. None of that mattered. He still wanted to pick her up and sit with her on his lap and kiss her. He didn’t care what she did about the engagement or when. He just wanted her in his arms.

Despite all their differences, he knew they’d be compatible in bed. But he could never marry someone who didn’t like anything he did outside of the bedroom.

Marry?

What was he thinking? It was all pretend, he reminded himself. No one was getting married here!

He had to remember that.

He took a deep swig of his beer and tried focusing on what Meg was saying.

“Anyway, I’m so happy.” She was practically wriggling with glee. “My folks won’t push me to marry at all now. They certainly aren’t going to want me walking down the aisle with you. Sorry.” She shot him a sheepish look.

“I get it. It’s okay. But if I were you, I wouldn’t assume Justin is a done deal. The way you look now, he is not going to give up that easily.”

As if to emphasize what he was saying, her phone buzzed. Her eyes widened in a startled look and then she pulled her phone from her pocket, looked at the caller ID and glanced in surprise at him. “It’s Justin.”

“Told you so.” He stood up. “I’ll leave you so you can talk in private. Good luck.” Gabe picked up his beer and headed outside, closing the door behind him as he heard her quiet hello.

Gabe suspected Justin would put pressure on her to marry until they announced the engagement.

That would open up another can of worms, he realized. Her family would hate him more than ever and that was a sobering fact. He was unaccustomed to anyone actively disliking him, and he had respect for her parents and grandparents, and especially liked Mason Aldridge, her rancher grandparent. He wished she didn’t have to let anyone know about the engagement except Justin, but that wouldn’t ever fly. It had to be all her family, too, because they were the ones really worrying her, far more than Justin was. She would have been able to deal with Justin if all the parents had stayed out of it.

He heard the door and turned as she stepped outside and joined him.

“You’re right. He wants to see me and talk. He was very persistent. He said he would drop by my office next Tuesday. How do you say no to that one?”

“I guess you don’t. Want me to drop by at the same time?”

She laughed. “Indeed, I don’t. You two don’t need to get into it. I’m sure he doesn’t like you.”

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