because she didn’t want to miss anything.
She wanted to take notes and get a live video of every single detail of this wedding. She wanted to pick it all apart and pull out the pieces she liked for her own wedding. She’d never considered Bluegrass Ranch as a possible wedding venue, but now that she’d seen how a back yard could be transformed into a wonderland, she’d definitely be adding it to her list the moment she got home.
A couple of hours later, Spur and Olli had said I-do, a beautiful and delicious dinner had been served by real waitstaff, and she currently stood in Blaine’s arms, dancing.
Pure happiness flowed through her, and while she and Blaine weren’t talking, they were still saying plenty. His fingers moved up and down her upper arm, and she had her arms wrapped around him inside his suit coat jacket, her pinky fingers caught through the belt loop on his waist.
“Tam?” he whispered.
“Hmm?” She didn’t lift her head from his chest, because this moment was perfect, and she wanted to hold onto it for a while.
“I’m ready to go.” He stopped swaying, forcing her to look up at him. “Can I take you home now?”
“All right,” she said, though she didn’t want to go home yet. “I just need my shoes.” She looked around for them, but the heels had disappeared.
“I gave them to…someone.” He turned too, searching.
“It’s fine,” she said. “I don’t really like them anyway.”
“We have to walk back up to the house,” he said.
“Maybe you can carry me,” she teased, giggling when he looked at her with surprise. “It’s fine, Blaine. It’s practically paved.”
The dinner and dancing had been in front of the house, near the road that ran around the ranch, under three of the largest tents Tam had ever seen.
“I’m sure someone will find them,” Blaine said.
“It’s okay if they don’t,” Tam said, taking her first step onto the dirt road.
They moved away from the party, the music muting the farther they went. The soft light from the tents got left behind, and Tam took a deep breath of the clean air.
“I love Kentucky,” she said.
“Me too,” Blaine said. He drew her closer to him by taking her hand and tugging her into his side. He paused and Tam slowed her steps too. “Tam, I’m falling in love with you.”
Everything stopped as Tam processed what he’d said.
He reached for her, cradling her face in both of his hands. “I’m dying to kiss you.”
“I’ve been dying for you to kiss me,” she whispered, her eyes drifting closed.
Blaine didn’t waste any time, and when his mouth met Tam’s, her joy was complete. She pulled in a breath through her nose and grabbed onto Blaine. She pushed her hands into his hair, dislodging his cowboy hat.
He didn’t complain, and while he’d kissed her before, neither of them were like this. This was a first kiss worth having and holding, and Tam never wanted to kiss anyone but him.
She pulled away, feeling slightly crazed and completely like she was falling. “I’m falling in love with you too.” He smiled, and Tam wanted to kiss him again, so she did.
12
Blaine kissed Tam in the darkness on the road leading to the homestead, the soft glow from the wedding casting their shadows up the lane. Her hair felt like silk, and she tasted like the chocolate cake Spur and Olli had served at their wedding.
He couldn’t get enough of her, and he couldn’t have timed a more perfect first kiss. He was definitely counting this as their first kiss, because they’d been dating for a couple of months now. He’d never waited this long to kiss a woman, and the wait was definitely worth it.
He’d told the truth when he’d said he was falling in love with her, and he believed her when she said it too.
“There is nothing fake about this,” he whispered, moving his lips to her neck.
“No,” she gasped. “Nothing.”
“Blaine, is that you?”
He pulled away from Tam quickly, the sound of Duke’s voice a real buzzkill. His pulse still pounded, though, and he was no longer even close to tired.
“Yeah,” he called back down the road to the shadowy figure coming toward him. “Just taking Tam home.” He stooped to pick up his cowboy hat so Duke wouldn’t wonder why it was lying on the ground.
“Cool,” he said, getting closer. “Will you be back for the sparkler send-off?”
Blaine did not want to come back to the wedding. He was ready to be