Page 28 of The Texan's Baby Proposal

“Not if you don’t. Dancing is fun and I haven’t done any in a long time,” she answered.

“Gabe and Meg are newlyweds. They want to be off to themselves. These guys we’re with will party all night.”

“I’m not for all night. Just another hour.”

“Sounds good to me,” he said. “Let’s dance.” He took her hand and moved to the dance floor to waltz around the room with her. Their feet flew and she loved dancing. As she enjoyed herself, she realized they danced together as if they had been doing so for years. He was easy to follow and she loved moving to the music, waltzing around the big ballroom and having a wonderful time in Marc’s arms.

Finally, over an hour later, he took her hand and leaned close. “Ready to go?”

“Yes, I am,” she said, standing when he did. They said goodbyes and waved, and finally left, stepping into the cool night air. The cars had thinned in the parking lot, but there was still a crowd. Marc walked with his arm around her waist and she had hers around him.

“That was so much fun,” she said, still thinking about dancing. “We do well together.”

“We’re perfect together,” he stated, stopping beside his pickup. “We have about four blocks to the hotel. We can walk and come back for my pickup tomorrow, if you want.”

“The hotel? I don’t think so.”

“Wait a minute,” he said, laughing. “You can have your very own room and I’ll have mine if that’s what you want.”

“It would be, but these are the only clothes I have with me.”

“I covered that, too. I have a few things in my pickup and you can get through the night if you can wear the same clothes home in the morning.”

Laughing, she shook her head. “I assume you have stuff in that box in your pickup. Walk to the hotel it is.”

“Good.” He turned to rummage in the back of his pickup and handed her a small backpack and got one for himself. “How’s that?”

“It works,” she said, glad to walk to their hotel, since it was a nice night and she could use the fresh air. “I’m glad you asked me tonight,” she said.

“Yeah. We needed an evening out. How’re the courses coming?”

“I’m doing way better than I expected, and faster. That’s really all I have to do right now.”

“I talked to my mom today. My grandpa wants to come home to the ranch. They can’t do anything more for him at the hospital, so we can either move him to a skilled nursing facility or to the ranch. He wants to come here and I can get it set up so he can have home health care and be fine. It’ll move Grandma home, too, of course, and that would be good for both of them. I know he’d be happier here, so that’s what I’m going to do. I just wanted you to know.”

“This is his home,” she replied with a nod. “Will that change anything as far as we’re concerned?”

“Not at all. They’ll be in their house and the only time we’ll see them is if we go there,” he explained. “I’ll have someone to take care of Grandma, too. She just needs someone to help her with little things.”

“That’s good, Marc.”

“I’ll go see them, but it won’t involve you.”

“Take me with you sometimes. Your grandfather wanted this marriage, so it should make him happy to see me. He thinks I’m in your life forever.”

He smiled down at her. “That’s nice, Lara.”

“Tonight was fun. I haven’t danced like that in a long time.”

“I haven’t either when I stop and think about it.”

“You work hard. You’ve told me how hard your mom works. Well, you do, too. You know, I think this year will be a break from all the traveling you’ve had to do. You fly to look at leases, at wells you have, to corporate meetings with companies where you plan to buy land or rights from them. This is a whole different way of life. I’m sure it’s hard, physical work, very different from what you’ve been doing. And now you’re home nights.”

“I like that corporate world and I don’t mind the travel. I’m not that locked into being home nights.”

She laughed. “I’m glad we don’t have a real marriage, then.”

He grinned and hugged her. “If you were in my bed every night, I wouldn’t want to leave the ranch. I wouldn’t want to leave the bedroom.”

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