“How did you like the wedding?” he asked as they walked hand-in-hand, following Watkins and Mary Lou down the hall to the reception.
“Loved it.”
“Me, too. Everything went off like clockwork. I was worried that Emmett wouldn’t throw himself into the occasion, but he was a stand-up guy in the end. He came through with flying colors.”
“He did! He looked so proud and handsome at the altar. Maybe he finally realized how special the moment was, and how important it was to experience that moment with family and friends. Vegas would have been so...impersonal.”
“Vegas would have been a disaster. Besides, Watkins said Pam would never have agreed to Vegas. He thinks she would have called off the wedding before she’d have agreed to get married there.”
Watkins glanced over his shoulder. “Did I hear my name mentioned?”
“I was just telling Elle your opinion about how Pam would have reacted if Emmett had insisted on Vegas.”
“Oh, he’s right.” Mary Lou paused and glanced back at them. “I talked to Sarah, who said that Pam was breathing fire over that suggestion. Good thing Trey changed Emmett’s mind.”
“Trey?” Elle glanced at him. “I didn’t realize you were the magician who made this come out okay.”
“It wasn’t just me. Watkins said some good things, too.”
“No, it was you.” Watkins and Mary Lou turned around, and Watkins lowered his voice. “You helped Emmett understand why Mary Lou wasn’t backing him up on the Vegas idea. That was the key.”
Mary Lou directed her comments to Elle. “Emmett expected my support because Watkins and I got married on a cruise instead of at the ranch.”
“Oh.” After seeing how much everyone enjoyed this wedding, Elle was surprised.
“Which was fine.” Watkins obviously wanted to demonstrate his loyalty to Mary Lou.
“It was fine,” she said. “I didn’t want a fuss, and it wasn’t like we were young folks, like you two, for example.”
Elle flinched. She hoped Mary Lou wasn’t making assumptions.
“However...” Mary Lou exchanged a meaningful glance with her husband. “We probably should have gotten married at the ranch, shared the occasion with everyone and then gone on the cruise.”
“Probably,” Watkins said.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are.” Mary Lou sighed. “People want to be there, and now I understand why. I would have been devastated if Pam and Emmett had run off somewhere to get married.”
“We could renew our vows,” Watkins said.
“Excellent idea,” Trey said. “I volunteer to play for it.”
Mary Lou brightened. “That does sound like fun. Except aren’t you supposed to do that for a significant anniversary? We haven’t been married that long.”
“Lou-Lou, every anniversary with you is significant.”
“Aw. You are so full of it.” But Mary Lou smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “We’ll do it next summer, then.” She turned to Elle. “And you should come.”
“I’d love to, but I’ll be in Argentina all summer.”
“Really? All summer?” Mary Lou looked over at Trey. “That’s a long way from Jackson Hole.”
“Yep.” Trey didn’t need anyone to tell him that. He wasn’t ready to accept the idea that Elle would go to Argentina in April. He wasn’t planning to accept it until he had no choice. “Hey, we’d better get in there and start playing before the natives get restless.”
Watkins nodded. “Right. We can plan our summer party later. Pam’s expecting music at this shindig, and we’re all she’s got, poor lady.”
“She’s got the best,” Mary Lou said. “Isn’t that so, Elle?”
“It certainly is.” Elle gave Trey a big smile. “Go on in there and do your stuff, cowboy. We’ll both be watching.”
He liked that big ol’ smile of hers. He just wished she hadn’t also reminded him that she intended to leave for Argentina as planned. He’d heard of relationships working out when the two people were separated for months at a time, but he’d never been a fan of the concept.
Once they entered the reception, Trey had to focus the bulk of his attention on entertaining the wedding guests. Dancing was a big deal at the Last Chance, and most everyone wanted danceable tunes. Trey and Watkins played and sang, joined every so often by Tyler.
While he was stuck on the makeshift bandstand, Trey had to put up with watching Elle dance with other guys. But he couldn’t expect her to sit on the sidelines and wait for him to take a break. She looked good out there, but he reacted to having anyone holding her besides him.
Then someone asked him to play the song he’d written for Elle. “I’ll have to ask the lady if it’s okay,” he said. “Don’t want to embarrass her.”
“Too late!” Elle called out.
That got a laugh, but he didn’t consider her comment to be permission. Looking at her, he held out his fist, thumb pointed sideways. He hoped she understood what he was asking.
She must have, because she mimicked his gesture and turned her thumb up. He was more pleased than she could imagine. Although he’d love to serenade her with this song, he wouldn’t have done it if she’d said no.
Settling down on the stool next to the microphone, he began strumming his guitar. The words had come to him so quickly the night he’d written them. No song had been this easy to write.
Holding her gaze, he sang to her about being lost and without hope. Then she’d come out of the darkness, his angel. He had to agree with her that the lyrics were sappy, but that was why he loved them. She’d saved his life, and if a guy couldn’t get sentimental because a beautiful woman had come to his rescue, then why write songs at all?
Even from this distance he could see her cheeks turn pink. She was embarrassed, but she hadn’t looked away. Not once. Instead, her attention had locked onto him as if they were connected by an invisible cord.
He milked the moment for all it was worth. If Amy was right, and Elle had a soft spot for country singers, then he’d work it. Her love of country music was another dead giveaway that she wasn’t the hard-boiled realist she pretended to be. Country music was full of schmaltz.
At the end of the song, the crowd seemed to be holding its breath, as if everyone needed a second or two to absorb the last notes. He liked that. It was the sign of a good tune. Standing, he gazed at Elle, who continued to stand as motionless as a carved statue.
He blew her a kiss, and the room erupted in applause, whistles and stomping feet. Finally, in the midst of the commotion, she broke eye contact with him and ducked her head. But not before he saw her smile.
He propped his guitar in its stand and glanced at Watkins. “Can you take it for the next number? And make it a waltz?”
Watkins winked at him and covered his mike. “You got it, Romeo.” Then he uncovered his mike again. “Tyler Keller, would you come on up and sing for us? At the request of my partner, I’m gonna treat you folks to a waltz, and Tyler sings a mighty pretty version of ‘If I Didn’t Have You in My World.’”
Perfect song, Trey thought as he climbed down from the temporary stage and moved through the crowd in search of Elle. Along the way people shook his hand and slapped him on the back. No doubt they thought he’d made a conquest by performing that tune of his, but he wasn’t taking any bets on that. Elle was a tough nut to crack.
He didn’t have to go far to find her. She was standing at the edge of the dance floor waiting for him. Her blue eyes sparkled as she stepped toward him. “I assume this is our dance?”
“If you’ll do me the honor.”
“I’ve been looking forward to it.”
“Me, too.” He drew her into his arms as Tyler began to sing. And the world slipped away. There was only Elle, moving with him as he’d known she would.
He breathed in her scent, a subtle flowery one that he didn’t recognize. Maybe it was something she put on her hair when she fixed it this way. He leaned down and brushed his lips over her exposed neck.
“You’d better be careful,” she murmured. “I’m a ticking time bomb.”
“Oh?” He nuzzled her again. He didn’t mind making her crazy. That seemed only fair, because holding her this close was making him crazy, too.
“I mean it, Trey. You are one sexy dude up on that stage. I keep watching you fingering your guitar strings. It gets me hot.”
He whirled her around, and she followed him perfectly. “You like the way I finger my strings?”
She gazed up at him. “You know I do.”
“Nice to hear. Do you have plans after this shindig is over?”
“I hope so. Do you?”
“I hope so.” He looked into her eyes and wondered if she was listening to the lyrics of “If I Didn’t Have You in My World.” “Nice tune.”
“Did you request it?”
“No.”
“I wouldn’t put it past you.”
“I didn’t think that far ahead. I just asked for a waltz. Watkins decided on that one, but I agree with his choice. It fits.”
“Tyler sings it well.”
“Mmm.” He spun her around again. “Argentina, huh?”
“That’s the plan.”
He didn’t comment on that, but he nuzzled her neck again, just because he could. Her small whimper made him smile. She might think she was going to Argentina, but that was because he hadn’t pulled out all the stops yet.
* * *
ELLE COULDN’T DENY that Trey was one virile cowboy. And she hadn’t even seen him on a horse yet. After their dance, which had added another sexy arrow to the guy’s quiver, he’d returned to the bandstand.
She’d spent more time than she’d like to admit surreptitiously observing his long fingers moving up and down the slender neck of his guitar. There was no better word for it—he fondled that instrument, using both quick and slow movements that brought back vivid memories of how he’d touched her.
The wedding guests enthusiastically applauded the guitarists. They loved the added dimension of Tyler’s vocals. They wanted more.
A buffet was laid out and the liquor flowed. Elle didn’t begrudge anyone this celebration, especially Pam and Emmett, who seemed to be having more fun than anyone. But she wanted to be alone with Trey.
He and Watkins finished a rousing tune that had everyone line dancing, and then Watkins spoke into his mike. “Folks, we’re going to take a break and get something to eat. Our former professional DJ, Alex Keller, has agreed to keep you company while we do that, and he’s taking requests. We’ll be back shortly.”
As Elle wondered what constituted “shortly,” Trey appeared by her side.
“Fill us a couple of plates while I get us something to drink. I’ll meet you out in the hall in five minutes.”
She didn’t have to be asked twice. Looping the short strap of her clutch purse over her wrist, she crossed to the buffet table. Finger food seemed like the best choice, so she went with that—chilled shrimp, tiny quiches and elaborate petits fours.
Once she had two plates piled high, she made her way through the crowd and used her hip to open one of the double doors. Trey was already there, leaning against the wall looking gorgeous as he held two flutes of champagne.
“I hope you like the bubbly stuff. It was the quickest to grab.”
“I like bubbly stuff. It fits the mood. Did you want to sit on the floor?”
“Hell, no. We’re going to my room. We can make it there in a couple of minutes if we move fast.”
“Okay, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” She fell into step beside him and walked as quickly as her stilettos would allow.
“Why not?”
“I’m liable to jump your bones.”
“God, I hope so.”
That made her laugh, which wasn’t the best way to get two loaded plates of food transported quickly down the hallway and through the lobby. Her little purse swung wildly from her wrist, and a couple of cherry tomatoes bounced onto the carpet. “I’m dropping food.”
“Ask me if I care.”
“You don’t want this food?”
“I’ll cram a little of it down my throat after I’ve done what I’ve wanted to do for hours.”
Her pulse hammered. “Lie down?”
“I don’t care. We can lie, or sit or stand up, just so my c*ck is securely inside you.”
She glanced around, but no one was in the hallway, thank goodness. “You might want to keep it down.”
“I’ve been trying to keep it down for quite some time, and the damned thing keeps rising up on me whenever I look at you in that dress.”
“This dress? There’s nothing particularly suggestive about it!”
“That’s what you think. There’s just enough cl**vage to remind me how much I love to suck on your—”
“Trey. We’re still in the hallway, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“I noticed, all right. Pick up the pace a little, will you, Masterson?”
“I’m walking as fast as I can in these shoes.”
“I can see that. Did you know that walking fast in those things makes you jiggle? That’s a bonus.”
She stared at him. She’d never seen him quite like this. “Have you been drinking?”
“Not yet, but I plan to. I should have had you take the shoes off, except I have an image of doing you when you’re wearing them.”
“Trey, you’re out of control.” And she loved it.
“Sweetheart, you have no idea. How easy does that slinky number come off, anyway?”
“It just pulls over my head.”