Cowboy After Dark (16 page)

“It’s...different.”

“Diplomatic answer. Fear not. It’s only half done. Edie will finish it up for me.”

“Then I guess we’re set.” Herb went over and gave Rosie a quick kiss on the cheek. “Any idea what we should do while we wait out the storm?”

“Are you kidding?” Rosie lifted her eyebrows. “We should party, of course!”

Liam glanced at Hope. When she met his gaze, her eyes sparkled in triumph. She’d avoided a wedding disaster by thinking outside the box. Now if only she could do the same with their situation, this week wouldn’t have to end in misery.

Everything had to work out. After introducing him to a sexy, intelligent, creative woman with great taste in bathrobes, surely fate wouldn’t be so cruel as to snatch her away again.

17

H
OPE
HAD
COME
up with a plan, but she realized that it had one major flaw. When she returned to the bedroom and everyone started congratulating her, she looked at Phil. “There’s a problem. You’re not going to want to hide back here while everyone else parties in the living room.”

“You’re right.” She shrugged. “It’s okay. I’ll just go out there. No big deal. I don’t need a grand entrance.”

“Yes, you do.” Hope surveyed her friend’s confection of a dress, which mirrored the Victorian look of the others with its high collar, but the bodice had been designed with a cutout beneath the collar that dipped low enough to reveal a little cleavage. The dress was classy and sexy, just like the bride. “We can’t have you wander into the living room with the rest of us. You need to knock that cowboy’s socks off.”

“I know what to do,” Edie said. “We’ll make sure everyone’s gathered in the living room and facing the hallway, but we’ll station Damon where he gets the best view. We’ll put some music on and you can be the last one to walk out.”

Phil grinned. “Okay, I like that way better.”

Rosie zipped up her boots. “I’m ready. I’ll find a good tune.”

“Just don’t use the wedding march,” Phil said. “Damon insisted we play it at the actual wedding, so I don’t want to preempt that moment.”

“I agree. We want something else. I’ll come back to let you know when the men are gathered.”

Lexi glanced up from the hand mirror she’d been using to apply her makeup. “You know what? We should
all
make an entrance, one by one, and lead up to the grand finale, which will be Phil.”

Edie clapped her hands. “Yes! I like it!”

“And I know just the music.” Rosie’s blue eyes gleamed with excitement. “I’ll play Faith Hill’s ‘This Kiss.’”

Chelsea smiled. “You do realize a person can’t just walk sedately down the hall to the beat of that song.”

“I know.” Rosie grinned. “I thought we’d dance.”

Chelsea gave a little whoop of joy. “This is going to be so fun.” Then she glanced at Phil. “Not more fun than your actual wedding, of course.”

Phil laughed. “I don’t care if it is. I’ll love thinking back on how the storm turned my big day into a total riot. Just so you all know, I’m a crappy dancer. Hope can testify to that.”

“Uh, well...”

“Come on. I was terrible. I can sing but I can’t dance. Remember those slumber parties where everyone tried to teach me?”

“Yeah.” Hope smiled. “You were pretty bad.” Nostalgic images came flooding back—dancing in Phil’s bedroom in their pajamas, eating ice cream at two in the morning, pillow fights followed by pledges of undying friendship.

“Still am bad, but I don’t care. This will be epic. Thank
goodness
you came to my wedding. It’s like old times.”

Hit by a wave of emotion for the second time today, Hope could only nod.

“Are you okay?” Phil asked.

But Hope dashed out of the room. She took refuge in what was no longer her private bathroom, but thankfully it was empty. Dragging in several deep breaths, she dabbed at her eyes. This time she’d have to go back in and confess her real reason for bolting like that. An excuse that she had something in her eye wouldn’t wash.

Squaring her shoulders, she returned to the bedroom. Conversation immediately stopped, and everyone became very busy. It would be embarrassing enough to make the speech in front of the women she’d come to know in the past few days, but she didn’t know Whitney or Aria at all.

“Sorry. Small meltdown,” she said with a tiny smile. “I used to have great times like this with Phil and our other friends when we all lived in Cheyenne and I’ve...I’ve missed those times, and them, terribly.”

“Aw, sweetie.” Phil moved toward her, arms extended.

“No, Phil!” Her laughter was choked with unshed tears as she backed away. “You’ll wrinkle your dress.”

“I don’t care.”

“I do.” Edie stepped between them. “That dress wrinkles like you wouldn’t believe. And I give good hugs, too.” She wrapped Hope in her arms.

Somehow Hope kept from breaking down at that sweet and protective gesture. She hugged Edie back and sniffed as she eased away. “You do give good hugs. Thank you.”

“She really does,” Phil said. “The day we went dress shopping in Jackson, we weren’t finding anything, and I was beside myself. Edie gave me a big hug and convinced me to try one more place. That’s when we found this one.”

Edie swallowed. “Watch out. I’m liable to start bawling, too.”

“Buck up, ladies.” Chelsea came over and grabbed one of Edie’s hands and one of Hope’s. “Edie, you have to finish your job on this girl’s hair, and she needs to ditch Winnie-the-Pooh and put on that sexy green number hanging on the closet door. The show must go on.” She winked at Hope. “Got it, girlfriend?”

“Got it.” She had the feeling that of everyone in the room, Chelsea understood her best. A trip to Seattle to visit Chelsea and Finn might be a very good idea. But if she broke off her relationship with Liam, would she still be welcome?

Rosie left to get Faith Hill’s song ready to roll, and everyone else put final touches on hair and makeup. Edie finished Hope’s elaborate updo and gave her a mirror so she could see it from all sides.

“Gorgeous,” Lexi said as she came over to admire it. “Want to steal a couple of flowers from my maid of honor bouquet to tuck in your hair?”

“No!” Hope laughed. “My flower-stealing days are over, thank you very much.”

“You need some flowers in that hairdo,” Phil said. “Steal some from my bouquet.”

“Definitely not from the bride’s bouquet! Talk about a bridal etiquette fail.”

“Then let me give you some.” Lexi went over to the bed where the flower boxes lay.

“She can have a couple from mine, too,” Edie said as she added one more hairpin. “Great idea. Flowers will make this arrangement sing.”

“No, really.” Hope started to get up from the stool where she’d been sitting while Edie worked on her hair. “Don’t mess with your bouquets.”

“Sit down and let me do this.” Edie pushed gently on her shoulders. “It’s a work of art, and flowers will be the finishing touch.”

“It’s pointless to argue,” Phil said. “She made me hold perfectly still for this, and I’m a fidgeter.” She pointed to her hair. Although it was shorter than Hope’s, Edie had managed to weave white satin ribbons through it in an intricate design. “But it was worth every tortuous minute. She really is an artist.”

“You’d better believe it.” Edie chuckled. “Which means I get to be temperamental.”

“Okay.” Hope sat down and let Edie tuck flowers into her hair. “But I don’t hear any singing from either my hair or the flowers.”

“Then allow me,” Phil said.

“No, wait! I didn’t—” Too late. As Phil entertained Whitney and Aria with the flower-stealing story and song, Hope realized how she’d craved the company of funny, loving women whose gentle teasing let her know they cared. Tom had robbed her of that, too.

By the time Rosie returned with the news that the men were in the living room drinking beer and trading insults, the women had decided on the order for their entrances. Aria and Whitney drew straws to see who went first, and Aria got the lead position. Chelsea would be third, followed by Hope, Lexi, Rosie, Edie and Phil.

“Herb will start the music when I text him,” Rosie said, “but he doesn’t know what we’re up to. It’s turned up pretty loud, and I made sure Damon has a good view of the hallway.” She glanced around. “Ready?”

Phil nodded. “Let’s do it.”

Rosie texted Herb, and a moment later, Faith Hill began to sing. Aria went out, and the rest of them crowded into the doorway to see what she’d do.

“Nice,” Lexi said as Aria danced her way down the hall. “Okay, Whitney. Go.”

Whistles and cheers greeted Aria as Whitney followed a short distance behind.

“That girl has moves,” Edie said with an approving nod. “We have talent in this group. You’re up, Chelsea.”

“Don’t expect talent from me.” But Chelsea put a sexy wiggle and a shimmy into her routine that made the fringe on her dress vibrate seductively.

“Your turn, Hope.” Lexi gave her arm a squeeze. “Go get ’em, tiger.”

Hope didn’t think of herself as a terrific dancer, either, but they’d formed a team, and she couldn’t let them down. The cheers and applause that Chelsea had received were still going on as she began dancing down the hallway in her green sleeveless dress with a revealing slit up one side of the skirt. If no one noticed that slit, the dress was fairly conservative. If they did, then wowza.

She had seconds to decide which way to go. She thought of the effort Edie had put into her hair. She thought of the subtle challenge Chelsea had thrown out with her knowing wink. She thought of fun-loving Phil, who was ready to go for it despite her lack of skill.

She thought of Liam, but he definitely wasn’t the reason she would put her heart and soul into this hallway dance. She’d do it to demonstrate solidarity with the rowdy women who had committed to boogying their way into the living room. That was more than enough to make her hips move in time to the rapid beat.

The response from the men standing in the living room was gratifying, and she couldn’t help noticing Liam’s delighted grin. But Chelsea, Aria and Whitney went nuts, stomping and yelling out a whole chorus of woo-hoos. They quickly exchanged hugs and high fives before turning to give Lexi the same reception.

The five of them formed a cheering section for Rosie, who performed the cutest little dance step ever. Then Rosie joined the group. She yelled,
“You go, girl!”
when Edie pranced out with moves nobody had expected, except maybe her husband, Karl.

Then Phil appeared, and the throng of women outdid the guys with their shouts and whistles. Phil gyrated down the hall with enthusiasm and the wild hand movements of a nondancer. She hadn’t improved a lick since high school. At the entrance to the living room she paused, spread her arms, looked straight at Damon and belted out, “This is as good as it gets, cowboy!”

Everyone laughed except Damon, who walked toward her, cupped her face in both hands and murmured, “Nope. It gets better every damn day.” As he kissed her, the response from everyone watching was deafening. It nearly drowned out the crack of thunder, but everyone noticed when the lights went out. Good thing Rosie had plenty of candles on hand.

As the guys came over to offer their congratulations to the ladies, Liam approached, still grinning. “That was amazing.”

“Yeah,” Hope said, “amazing I didn’t fall down. It’s been a while since I danced, let alone in heels.”

“Ready to take a seat while I bring you a drink?”

She glanced around. Seating was in short supply. “I can stand.”

“We brought in some kitchen chairs. Maybe... Ah, there’s an empty one. I’ll snag it for you.”

“Okay.” She’d worn the sexy sandals, and they weren’t the most comfortable shoes in the world. She settled onto the chair with a sigh of relief. “Thanks.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Giving in to temptation, she unbuckled her shoes and slipped them off. Much better. She wiggled her toes and wondered how the trek to the meadow would go.

Herb whistled for attention. “I’m sure you’re all listening to the rain and thinking about mud.”

Bingo.

“I’ve been talking with a few of the guys, and we’ve decided that when the time comes, we’ll drive everyone to the meadow. Having everyone stroll down there was a nice idea until the storm came along.”

“Thank you!” Hope called out.

“The bride especially thanks you,” Phil added. “I may be wearing boots, but they’re wimpy ones.”

Liam came back holding a steaming mug in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other.

“Did you hear that?” Hope asked. “About driving to the meadow?”

“Much better.” He glanced down at her bare feet. “Although mud can be fun if you’re not wearing shoes.”

“I will be wearing shoes. This was for temporary relief.” She took the mug he handed her. “Thank you.”

“Rosie brewed the restaurant-sized pot, but without electricity it’ll be cooling off fast.” He settled on the floor at her feet. “I’m pretty good at giving foot massages.”

“But then you can’t drink your beer.”

“I can drink beer anytime.”

She gazed into his mesmerizing blue eyes, wondering if that was a subtle reference to the temporary nature of their relationship. She wouldn’t put it past him.

Setting down his beer, he took her right foot into his lap and began to knead her instep. She moaned softly.

“Better not do that,” he murmured. “It reminds me of when I recently heard that sound.”

“Sorry. It feels really good, though.”

“That’s the idea.” He nodded toward the mug she clutched in both hands. “Drink up. It could be a long night.”

She sipped the coffee and tasted Baileys. “You spiked my coffee.”

“I thought you’d want me to.”

“I did. Thank you.” He was doing a good job of anticipating her wishes. Drinking coffee laced with Baileys while getting a foot rub from a handsome cowboy didn’t suck. “Does the power go out often?”

“It does, actually.”

“Do they have a generator?” She put great effort into keeping her eyes open when she really wanted to relax against the chair and give herself up to Liam’s foot massage.

“They do, but they save it for emergencies, like when it’s forty below. This isn’t one of those times.”

“Sure isn’t.”

“If we need to, we can gather up the battery-operated lanterns from the barn and the cabins.”

“You could have used a couple of those last night.”

“I considered it.” He circled her heel with the pad of his thumb.

In her relaxed state, she immediately thought about where his thumb had been during last night’s sexual adventures. Then she wasn’t quite so relaxed. “I like candlelight better.”

“I figured you for a candlelight kind of woman.” He worked on the ball of her foot and slid his fingers through the spaces in her toes. “And a Winnie-the-Pooh fan.”

“I’ve had that bathrobe a long time. Since high school. I must have looked fetching in my Pooh bathrobe with my hair half-done.”