“That baby will get here before you find a venue,” Amanda said. “I’ve heard you have to plan a year out to get on venue schedules.”
“Seriously?” Kyla shook her head and rubbed her small, slightly rounded belly,
“You’re pregnant,” Liliana exclaimed.
“We are,” Stone confirmed.
Kyla laughed. “Though I’m carrying the baby, it took two to get this far. So, yes, we’re pregnant.”
“And still waiting for a wedding date,” Stone repeated with a cocked eyebrow.
“Don’t push it, buster,” Kyla warned with a narrow-eyed glare. “I accepted your proposal at a weak moment. Don’t make me regret it.”
Stone chuckled as he raised his hands. “Backing off. When you’re ready, you’ll let me know.”
Kyla sighed. “I will. This girl is only getting married once. I want to do it right.”
“Let me know what I can do to help,” Amanda offered.”
“Know a venue where we can tie the knot?” Kyla grimaced. “He’s due in six months. Seems like time is flying by. I haven’t even started getting ready for him.” She shoved a hand through her hair and looked around as if trying to find a carbon copy of herself to accomplish everything she needed to do.
“We have a community hall on the rez, but you have to be at least a quarter Shoshone or Arapaho to use it. Have you considered flying to Vegas and getting married in one of the chapels there?”
Kyla cocked an eyebrow. “How about it, big guy? We could have Elvis officiate.”
Stone’s brow dipped. “Hell no.”
Kyla pouted, the look so foreign on the former CIA agent Liliana had to smother a giggle. “Spoilsport,” Kyla muttered. “I always swore I couldn’t be with a guy who didn’t appreciate Elvis.”
“I’m a huge Elvis fan,” Stone argued. “Sadly, the king is dead, not out for a donut. The impersonators are a little creepy to me.”
Kyla shrugged. “Going to Vegas would get it done, as you so nicely put it. And our son wouldn’t be born a bastard.”
“We will be married before our daughter is born, come hell or high water.”
Kyla tilted her head. “Hell or high water…what does that even mean? I’ve heard that saying all my life, and it makes little sense to me.”
Moe nodded, his face straight, serious. “One of the great mysteries of life.”
Footsteps sounded across the wooden floor, and all gazes turned toward the man entering the room.
Liliana swiveled in her seat.
Dax strode into the dining room, his dark damp hair slicked back from his forehead. He wore a crisp white button-down, long-sleeved shirt, black trousers and brown dingo boots. He’d trimmed his beard neatly and scrubbed away all traces of dirt he’d accumulated during his earlier ride. To top it all off, he carried a black leather jacket over his shoulder. The result was an extremely, albeit ruggedly, handsome man who stole Liliana’s breath away.
She tore her glance away from Dax and looked toward Moe, the man she’d passed on.
Nope.
He didn’t steal her breath away and would likely have been the safer choice of the two men.
Her gaze slipped back to Dax, and those same warning bells clanged loudly in her head.
How would she function on the campaign trail with this bearded hunk at her side pretending to be her one true love? He didn’t even have to open his mouth, and Liliana was already halfway in love with him.
She closed her eyes and gave herself a stern, internal scolding.
Lust.
What you’re feeling is lust. Don’t mistake lust for love. You are a professional, soon to be a legislator, who has to walk a very narrow line of morality to keep your constituents from bailing on you.
Liliana squared her shoulders, opened her eyes and met his gaze. “Better.”
His lips quirked on the corner. “Glad you approve.” He glanced around the table.
Amanda jumped up from her seat. “You should sit here and get to know your fiancée better. Might as well start now.”
“Don’t—” Liliana grabbed Amanda’s arm, panic threatening to overwhelm her. She wasn’t ready for this. She wasn’t cut out for acting like she was in love with a man she barely knew.
Amanda smiled down at her and unhooked Liliana’s grip on her arm. “You’re in good hands. Dax will take care of you. However, if you want the charade to work, you have to get to know enough about each other to appear legit. The press will want to know all the details, including how he proposed.” Amanda grinned. “Make him do it right.”
“But he didn’t and isn’t,” Liliana protested.
Amanda patted her hand. “Of course, he didn’t and won’t propose. The press doesn’t have to know that. Give them what they want…a great story and make sure yours matches Dax’s. You don’t want to be called out on a lie.” She winked and rounded the chairs to the other side of the dining table, where she slipped into the seat beside Carter.
Liliana was glad Amanda was spending her time with Carter. Until he moved to Riverton, they’d have to split their time between West Yellowstone and the Wind River Indian Reservation. Amanda wouldn’t leave the rez when so many young people were unemployed and feeling hopeless. They needed her more than Carter needed her. That he understood her desire to give back to her people was more than most men would concede.
Yeah, Amanda was lucky she’d found Carter, and he was lucky to have Amanda’s love. She practically glowed with the emotion.
Liliana’s face heated as Dax dropped into the seat beside her and filled his plate with food from the platters.
Once he had something from every platter, he dug his fork in and ate every last bite, never uttering a word.
Liliana studied him out of the corner of her eye while the others at the table laughed and joked about past events, personalities and future assignments.
Dax laid down his fork and picked up the can of beer he’d been nursing through his meal. He downed the brew, drew a deep breath and glanced around the table, his gaze coming to rest on Liliana. “Are you ready to get started? We have a lot to cover in a short amount of time.”
Her heart skipped several beats. “What do you propose?” As soon as she uttered the word, she wished she hadn’t. Heat flamed in her cheeks, and she looked away.
“About that…” Dax dropped to one knee and held out his hand.
“Oh, he’s going to do it for real,” Amanda cried. “Smart. It will be easier to remember the action than just an empty script. Go, Dax!”
Dax smiled. “As Amanda so loudly proclaimed, action is much easier to remember than words. In front of our family and friends, I want to proclaim my devotion and ask this one question… Will you marry me? And by marry me, I mean, do you promise to pretend to be my fiancée for as long as we both shall live or need to pretend we’re engaged…whichever comes first?”
The heat in her face burned as she stared down at Dax’s serious face. The urge to run had never been greater. Yet she remained glued to the spot, imagining Dax’s proposal was the real thing.
Amanda cleared her throat. “Are you going to respond?”