Texas Tango: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 2 (29 page)

“Of course. I adore Mary. I know you are close with the Montgomery clan. I’m surprised we haven’t met before now. Travis should be here any minute. He’s parking the car.”

Elsie Belle looked around. “Where is that old truck of his? I don’t see it. Or is he driving that new Porsche? I heard it’s been seen around town lately.”

Caroline exchanged glances with Elsie Belle’s date. He seemed more amused by Elsie Belle’s preoccupation with Travis’s location than jealous.

“Oh, we’re not in his truck.” She caught a glimpse of Travis walking down the parking lot. “Here he comes. Travis,” she said with a wave. “I’m over here.”

Travis picked up his pace as soon as he caught sight of her and he hurried to her side. Once there, he put his arm around her shoulders. “Sorry. Couldn’t find the right place to park,” he said as a way of explanation. He held out his hand. “Hey, stranger. I wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight. I thought all those co-eds at SMU would have you tied down with urgent questions about dinosaurs.”

Drake chuckled as he shook Travis’s hand. “Not yet. Still early in the semester. I believe you know my date, Elsie Belle?”

“Of course.” Travis nodded to her. “Nice to see you, Elsie Belle. Beautiful dress.”

“Why, thank you, Travis,” Elsie Belle cooed and stroked her hand along the front of the long skirt. “You are looking mighty fine in that suit tonight.”

Unfortunately for Elsie Belle, her Southern drawl woke the sleeping green-eyed monster inside Caroline. She snuggled closer to Travis then straightened his tie. “I agree, sugar,” Caroline responded, channeling her inner Scarlet O’Hara. “Good enough to eat.”

Travis laughed. “Good to see you both,” he said in dismissal of Elsie Belle. “We’d better head in. The rest of the family’s already inside.”

Caroline lifted the hem of her dress as they made their way up the stairs to the club’s ballroom. Travis’s hand at her back warmed her way beyond simple body temperature. First that dazzling kiss at the car earlier tonight and then his subtle contact at her back left her breathless and hungry for more of his touch, even if she knew that was probably a bad idea.

Behind her, she’d have sworn she felt the sharp points of daggers slicing into her back.

“So,” she whispered to Travis. “Is there a knife jutting from my back?”

“I’m not sure,” he whispered back. “I’m afraid to look.”

She chuckled. “She really had you on her radar, didn’t she?”

He shrugged. “I guess.”

“I’m guessing she had plans to be the next Mrs. Travis Montgomery.”

“Maybe, but trust me. I haven’t been out with her in months.”

She gave him a gentle nudge with her elbow. “How many other women am I going to have to fight off tonight?”

He looked at her with a wide grin. “Well, sugar,” he said in a dead-on imitation of Elsie Belle’s overdrawn Southern drawl. “I guess that remains to be seen.”

She was still laughing as they walked into the ornate ballroom. A large hardwood dance floor, packed with women in long gowns and men in suits, bisected the room. A stage at one end held a live band, currently playing an up-tempo country song about hometown girls and their loving ways. Large round tables had been set up on the other three sides of the dance area. Across the room in the most advantageous location for seeing and being seen were the designated Montgomery tables.

“I remember when all the Montgomerys could get around one or two tables,” Travis said as he led her around a couple moving to the music. “Now, with our family and Uncle Clint’s family, we have to have four. Have you met that side of the family?”

She shook her head. “Other than KC, no. They have a ranch around here too?”

“They do. A small one that my cousins, Darren and Reno, are trying to get going, if they don’t kill each other first. My uncle and aunt have a large cattle operation in Florida.”

Being that much of the beef produced in the US came out of Florida, Caroline wasn’t surprised to hear that the Montgomery family would have a toehold there.

“Are they here tonight?”

“Yup, and I can’t wait for you to meet them.”

As Travis had predicted, the Montgomery clan had commandeered four tables, and looking at how packed in everyone was, Caroline suspected they’d need at least five next year. Then she realized she’d never know. She wouldn’t be here. An odd sense of loss settled low in her gut.

“There they are,” Lane Montgomery announced in a loud voice. “Where you two been? Necking in the parking lot?”

Raucous laughter followed. Caroline was sure the heat to her face was more embarrassment than a response to the room temperature.

“Leave them alone, Lane,” his wife chastised.

“Hey, you two.” KC Montgomery hugged Caroline from behind. “I’m hearing interesting rumors.”

Caroline turned to KC with a grin. Her stomach did a backflip at the knowledge that their
marriage
had already leaked out. “I swear, this family cannot keep a secret.”

“Why would we want to keep something like you having an antique Rolls Royce a secret?”

Caroline stifled a giggle of relief. “I worry about car thieves driving off in my car, sort of like my date did tonight.” She reached out and pulled Travis over to where she and KC stood. “I think you know my date.”

KC pulled an exaggerated shocked look. “I really thought you could do better than this,” she said to Caroline in mock sympathy. “Next time you need a date, call me. I’m sure I can find someone much more handsome.”

Not likely,
Caroline thought as she laughed. “Well, it was last minute.”

Travis grinned at the women and Caroline’s heart dropped to her knees. She felt like she’d just walked off a Tilt-A-Whirl…off-balance, shook-up and a tad nauseous.

“Hey, Cuz.” He gave KC a hug. “Your ugly brothers here too, or have they killed each other yet?”

“Here. Can’t say much for their dates, however.” KC leaned in and Caroline and Travis mimicked her position. “Darren’s date is a stripper from Dallas, and Reno’s is a gal who’s way too old to still be rocking the Goth look. Now don’t say anything to my parents. They think the girls go to school in Austin.”

Caroline bit her lip to keep from laughing. Travis didn’t bother to hide his amusement, responding to KC’s descriptions with a loud, guttural laugh.

“Come on, hon,” he said taking Caroline’s arm. “I’ve got to meet these two ladies.”

They followed KC back to a table to where a younger version of Travis’s father sat. Beside him was an attractive dark-haired woman. Caroline assumed these were Travis’s uncle and aunt. Two young men stood as soon as Caroline stopped at the table.

“Caroline. These are my parents, Clint and Nadine. Over there—” KC indicated the standing men with a tilt of her head, “—are my brothers, Darren and Reno, and their dates, Candi, with an I, and Angel. Family, this is Dr. Caroline Graham.”

“Nice to meet you all,” Caroline said.

Travis greeted his uncle and cousins with handshakes while engulfing his aunt in a bear hug.

“It’s been too long since I’ve seen you,” he said to his uncle and aunt. “Everything okay in Florida? I’m hoping you’ll still be here for the barbeque and ranch rodeo.”

“Everything is going great,” his uncle replied. “And we’ll be there at the rodeo. Those two—” he pointed with his chin toward his sons, “—have entered the D&R cowboys this year.” Clint Montgomery grinned. “Gotta go root for their ranch.”

Travis nodded. “Great. Oh, and you’ll want to make sure you’re there on Friday night. Olivia and Mitch Landry are tying the knot…finally.”

“I know,” Nadine interjected. “I talked to Jackie today. She is so excited.”

Travis took Caroline’s hand, interrupting her conversation with KC’s brothers. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to get my date on the dance floor before she finds someone else to dance with.”

“Nice to meet all of you,” Caroline said with a wave. “Get me on the dance floor?” she whispered.

“If we don’t move on, we’ll be there talking to them for hours. I know my uncle. He’ll talk ranching until my ears fall off my head.”

“Got it. So are we really headed to dance?”

“Sure.” He swung her around and caught her with a hand at her waist.

She put both hands on his strong shoulders. No padding needed in his jacket. All man and all muscle. And for tonight—and the next four months—he was all hers. A dangerous trill raced through her. She slipped her hands up and around his neck. As though of a mind of their own, her fingers stroked the back of his neck. Up and down and then around in a circle.

He hissed out a long breath. He tightened his hands at her waist. Jerking her snug against him, he whispered, “You are the sexiest woman in this entire room. And if you don’t stay close, everybody else will know exactly the effect you are having on me.”

The hard evidence of his arousal pressed firmly into her stomach. His chest vibrated against hers as he hummed along with the song. She found herself perversely pleased by how comfortable she felt in his arms.

But on the other hand, maybe she needed to get a hold on her feelings. They had no future beyond this fall. She had to keep telling herself that.

As the song came to its closing note, Travis hugged her before ending the dance with a deep dip. She laughed with delight. Travis grinned and then brushed her mouth with a quick kiss.

Caroline touched up her lipstick in the ladies’ lounge. Her cheeks were rosy red with a flush. Whether that was from the Texas heat or from being kissed by Travis was unclear.

She pressed her hand against her chest. Her heart pounded and raced beneath her palm. Travis was sex with legs. How in the world would she be able to sleep in the same bed with him night after night for the next four months without attacking the poor man?

She pulled the wedding ring set from her purse and pushed it on her left hand. Holding that hand up in the mirror, she studied the rings. They looked good on her finger. Perfect shape and size.

No. Stop that.
She shouldn’t be thinking anything like that. This was a business deal, pure and simple. She had to remember that.
Don’t make this more than it is.

The bathroom door opened to admit a couple of women Caroline didn’t know. She dropped her hand down to her side and took one last swipe with her lipstick.

After replacing her lipstick in her purse and securing a couple of stray strands of hair—what was Travis thinking dipping her on the dance floor like that—she walked back to the country-club lobby. Through a pair of glass double doors, she could see Travis standing on the balcony that overlooked the eighteenth green. Standing next to him in a sparkling dress that matched his sapphire eyes was Elsie Belle Lambert. She was clutching Travis’s arm as her mouth ran non-stop. Travis shook his head and removed her hand from his forearm. When he started to walk away, she stopped him with another arm clutch.

“Looks like my date is trying to convince your date to swap partners.”

Caroline looked over her shoulders into Drake Gentry’s grinning face, amusement sparkling in his eyes.

“Aren’t you upset?” she asked.

“Of course not. Elsie Belle only asked me to come with her because she thought it would make Travis jealous. I could have told her it wouldn’t work but…” He shrugged. “I didn’t have a date and she wouldn’t have believed me anyway.”

“She asked you out?”

“Sure. I’ve known Elsie for years. She told me her date had to cancel tonight and she needed someone to take her. Since my love life is currently in the toilet, I figured why not.” Drake hitched a thumb toward the couple. “Do you want me to go out there and break that up?”

“No. Travis is a big boy. He can handle her.”

They watched the balcony action for a couple of more minutes.

“So why’s your love life in the tank?” Caroline asked.

“Thought I’d found the one, you know? But she dumped me like I had fleas.”

“Do I know this woman who obviously has such poor taste in men that she would let a prize like you get away?”

Drake laughed. “I’m sure you do, but I’m a gentleman. I don’t kiss and tell. Ah, looks like the talk is over. Oh dear. She looks pissed. You might want to step behind me for protection. I’m thinking he might have mentioned that set of rings on your hand.”

Reflexively, she put her right hand over her left. “You know about the rings?”

“I know about the wedding.”

“How?”

“Travis told me. Of course, that was only after I mentioned I’d heard about the new doctor and was thinking about getting to know her better.”

Caroline laughed softly. “I would love to have heard that conversation.”

“It went something like this. ‘Hey, Travis. What do you know about Dr. Graham? I’ve been giving some thought to asking her out. What do you think?’”

“And what did he say?”

“He said something like, ‘I think I’d mind. That’s my wife you’re wanting to date’.”

One of the glass doors flew open as Elsie Belle stormed back into the lobby. She saw Caroline and Drake standing together and marched over.

“I hear congratulations are in order,” she said with a forced smile. “Can I see the rings?”