Libby locked her cabin and left for the dance. By the time she arrived, the big wooden building was filled with people—adults and children—eating and drinking and being merry.
The decor was charmingly Western, with twinkling lights streaming from the rafters, red-and-white tablecloths and folding chairs upholstered in cowhide.
The band hadn’t taken the stage yet, but they would probably appear soon enough.
She looked around for Matt. He was nowhere to be seen. Keeping herself busy, she wandered over to the buffet and filled her plate. She took a seat at one of the tables, chatted with other guests and dived into her meal.
The fried chicken was to die for and the mashed potatoes were even better. She didn’t go back for dessert. She was already getting full.
An hour passed. By then the band was playing, and people were line dancing, laughing, clapping and missing steps. Of course some of them were right on the money. Libby was a good dancer, too. But at this point she was standing in a corner like a wallflower, watching the festivities.
Okay, so maybe Matt wasn’t coming. Maybe he didn’t find her, or her spunky personality, as irresistible as she assumed he would.
Served her right, she supposed. But suddenly something inside her felt far too alone, far too widowed. She didn’t like being here without a partner.
She toyed with her empty ring finger. She’d removed her wedding band about a year after Becker passed, but now she wished she’d kept it on.
Still, she knew better than to wallow in sadness. She’d worked hard to overcome her grief.
Should she get out there and dance? Should she join the party on her own? Or should she give Matt a little more time, in case he decided to materialize?
“Have you been waiting for me?” a raspy voice whispered in her ear from behind her.
Matt. It was him. Talk about materializing, and at the perfect moment, too. But she was reluctant to turn around, afraid that he would disappear as mysteriously as he’d arrived.
“I knew you’d come,” she said, lying through her teeth.
“Oh, yeah?” Still standing behind her, he gripped her waist. “Then let’s dance.” As quick as could be, he spun her around to face him.
Making her heart spin, too.
* * *
Matt and Libby danced for hours. They did fancy two-steps and three-steps. They country waltzed, line danced and did the push, the Cotton Eye Joe and the schottische.
The fast dances were easy for Matt. The slow ones, not so much. He had to hold Libby closer for those.
Like now. The band was doing a cover of Lady Antebellum’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” with lyrics about a woman’s devotion to her partner.
“I love this song,” Libby said, sounding a little dreamy.
Matt didn’t comment on the music. He was doing his damnedest not to press his body even closer to hers. This wasn’t a sexy setting, and he couldn’t misbehave, not here, not like this. Not at all, he warned himself.
Her hair, he noticed, smelled like lemons, and her cheeks were flushed with a healthy glow. Did she surf and swim and do all those California-girl-type things? Did she go to beach parties with her friends or walk barefoot through the sand at night? He was as curious about her as she was about him.
But he wasn’t writing a book that would damage her. He wasn’t doing anything except getting distracted by her nearness, lowering his guard with a woman who wanted to invade his privacy.
She looked up at him. “Things are starting to wind down.”
He slid his hand a bit lower on her back. “The parents usually take their little ones back to their cabins or rooms by now. But not everyone has kids. Some of the couples who come to the ranch are honeymooners. Some are long-married seniors, too.” He stopped and adjusted his hand, returning it to a more proper position. But it didn’t help. He was still struggling with her proximity. “We don’t get many single folks.”
“Like me?”
“You’re not a regular guest.”
She followed his lead, moving in sync with him. “No, but I’m still a real person.”
Too real, he thought, too warm and pliable in his arms. Now all he wanted was for the song to end. Finally, it did, leaving him with a knot in his chest. The last time he’d danced this close to a woman was with Sandy, when he’d still believed he could make his marriage work.
He hastily asked, “Do you want to go outside and catch a breath of air?”
“Why? Do you think it’s getting warm in here?”
“Warm enough.” He needed to stop holding Libby, to stop swaying to romantic songs. But more ballads were on the way. He knew the band’s set.
He escorted her onto the patio, where hay bales draped in blue gingham served as seats. They sat next to each other in a secluded spot. He glanced up at the starry sky, then shifted his gaze back to her. She was as bright as the night, with her silver boots and shimmery earrings.
As she settled onto the hay bale she adjusted the hem of her skirt, keeping it from riding farther up her thighs. It made Matt wonder what she had going on under that flouncy garment. Cute little bikini panties? A seductive thong? Whatever her undies were, they were none of his business.
None whatsoever.
“I almost stood you up,” he said. “I went to the local watering hole before I came here, and that’s where I was going to stay. But I changed my mind.” He hadn’t even finished his beer. He’d just tipped the gnarly old bartender and left. “I guess I wanted to see if you’d be waiting for me.”
“Truthfully?” She tugged at her hem again. “I started to worry that you might leave me hanging.”
“So you’re not as self-assured as you claim to be?” To him, she still seemed like a force to be reckoned with.
“Mostly I am. Only with you, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But it worked out nicely, I think.”
“What did? Us dancing together?”
“Yep.” She smiled, disarming him with her dimples.
He turned away, staring into the distance, the darkness. Sandy’s smile wasn’t as girlish as Libby’s. She didn’t have blue eyes, either. Hers were a brownish hazel. Aside from being blondes, they didn’t look that much alike. But they had other things in common, like the way they made him feel. That, and the fact that they were both widows.
He returned his gaze to hers. “You should have never come to my ranch, sneaking in, pretending to be a guest.”
“How else was I supposed to get to know you? If I would have called ahead and told you who I was and what my agenda was, you wouldn’t have agreed to see me.”
“You’re right. I wouldn’t have.” He paused, then asked, “Have you been to Kirby’s place? Or Kirbyville, as everyone calls it.”
“Yes. It’s a spectacular compound. That’s where I’ll be going when I leave here. He wants you to visit him there, too.”
“So he keeps saying.” Matt couldn’t stand the thought of her going back to his dad. “Now that you’re here, I’m not going to send you away. I considered it, but it didn’t seem right, somehow.”
“Thank you. You’re a fascinating man. You intrigued me from the start.”
“You wouldn’t be saying that if I wasn’t Kirby’s bastard.”
She frowned. “Why do you keep calling yourself that?”
“Because