For once, at the mention of dancing, his bum leg was the last thing on his mind. His frantic gaze scanned her back, trying to find one single spot where he could put his hand on it in public without risking heart failure. Couldn’t be done, he concluded.
Maybe he could talk her out of dancing between soup and dessert, he decided, following her to the car. He held open the door and practically choked as that fancy slip of a dress slid up her thighs as she got in. He caught the quirk of her lips and realized then and there that she knew exactly the effect she was having. Most parts of his body were already hard, but that smug little smile stiffened his resolve.
Let the woman do her worst. He wasn’t going to back down or start running scared. In fact, this evening could get downright fascinating if he decided to call her on her game. Unless he counted the one and only time he’d taken Val into his bed, it had been a long time since he’d let a little casual flirting turn serious.
“Dancing it is,” he said, as he slid behind the wheel and gave her a slow, thorough once-over that could have melted steel. He almost chuckled at the alarm that flickered in her eyes, right before she blinked and looked away.
He’d been planning dinner in a casual restaurant that was popular with some of the ranch hands, followed by a movie. He’d counted on being able to slip an arm around her shoulders or maybe snuggle her hand in his own while they’d sat in the darkened theater. That dress and her desire to go dancing had thrown his plans into disarray. He wasn’t sure he knew of any place in Garden City that could withstand the shock value of that dress. He glanced over at her.
“Did you have someplace special in mind? I’m afraid my visits to Garden City haven’t taken me to the kind of place that dress belongs,” he admitted.
Amusement flashed in her eyes again. “And what kind of place do you think it belongs?” she inquired in a tone that challenged him to tred diplomatically.
“Someplace fancy. Elegant. You know, where they do the waltz, instead of the two-step.” He didn’t say he was afraid anything as energetic as the two-step would have her shimmying right out of that dress.
She grinned. “Good answer. Laurie mentioned that the Garden City Hotel has a new dining room that brings in a band on Saturdays.”
It would also have beds upstairs. How convenient, Slade thought, already well beyond the last dance in his imagination. Truth be told, he wasn’t sure he could hold out past the appetizers.
“Sounds good,” he said, his throat tight.
Those were the last words he managed to choke out until they reached the neighboring town and its quaint historic district. The Garden City Hotel was a very old, wooden structure that maintained its image as one of the city’s original buildings. It would have suited the set of a Western movie just fine.
Inside, however, was another story. The owners had updated and refurbished the interior to create an elegant ambiance. Slade figured the restaurant was guaranteed to blow his food budget for the month. Val was worth it, though. She was the kind of woman who belonged in a place like this. In fact, she’d probably grown accustomed to luxuries while she was on the road with Laurie. He wondered if she could accept that luxuries like this came along once in a blue moon on a ranch hand’s salary.
Heads turned as she sashayed across the lobby to the dining room. Slade credited the dress for the reaction, but the truth was Val in burlap could have made heads turn. She had a kind of presence that no other woman he’d dated had had. The Adams women had it. He’d always figured it came with money, but maybe it had more to do with self-confidence. Val exuded it. A pride and possessiveness he had no right to feel welled up inside him just the same.
The dining room was lit with candles on every table, setting a romantic mood—or trying to keep folks from seeing the prices on the menu, Slade thought cynically. A small band was tuning up on a raised platform at the far end of the room. The dance floor in front of them was large enough to accommodate a dozen couples and no more.