“She said he’d be asleep before the band finished their first song,” Karly commented as Tori carried the little boy inside the house.
Putting his arm around her shoulders, Blake pulled Karly to his side. “Are you having a good time?”
When she smiled up at him, it caused a hitch in his breathing. He suddenly wished they were back at the foreman’s cottage, where he could spend the rest of the evening making love to her.
“I’m having a wonderful time,” she said, sounding happy and relaxed. “I really like your friends. I’m just sorry I didn’t get to meet your brother. Tori said he was supposed to be here, but was called away on business.”
“Sean used to be a special agent with the FBI,” Blake said, nodding. “They still get in touch with him sometimes to act as an independent consultant on certain types of cases.”
“That sounds fascinating,” she said, sounding genuinely interested. “Is your brother still involved in law enforcement?”
“Yes and no,” he answered, setting his empty beer bottle on one of the patio tables to take her in his arms. “He’s a private investigator now. But when he was with the Bureau he was a crisis negotiator. He gets calls from law enforcement agencies all over Wyoming and the surrounding states when they have a situation that requires his expertise.” He leaned close to nibble kisses along the side of her neck. “But I don’t want to talk about Sean right now. I want to discuss when you think it would be acceptable for us to leave for home.”
She shivered against him and he knew she was anticipating the night ahead of them the same as he was. “I think we could leave after a couple of dances, since we have an hour-and-a-half drive to get back to the ranch.”
“I’ll be right back,” he said suddenly as he released her and started across the patio to where the band was getting ready to start playing. When he reached the frontman, Blake pulled his wallet from the hip pocket of his jeans and took out a couple of hundred dollars. He handed the money to the man. “I’d really appreciate it if you could make the first couple of songs slow ones.”
“Hey, for two hundred dollars we’ll make the whole first set slow ones,” the man answered as he pocketed the money.
“After the first two, you can play whatever you want,” Blake said, grinning. “Just make sure what you play is slow and good to dance to.”
The man nodded. “You got it.”
Blake walked back to where Karly stood and draped his arm across her shoulders. “Two slow dances and we’re out of here.”
“You didn’t,” she said, her voice filled with laughter.
“Yup, I sure did.” He brushed his lips over hers. “I wasn’t leaving anything to chance.”
When she rose up on tiptoes, she whispered, “Don’t tell anyone, but I’m not the least bit sorry.”
Ten minutes later, when the band broke into a popular slow country love song, Blake led Karly out to the section of the patio that had been designated as the dance floor. Taking her into his arms, he swayed her back and forth in time with the music. The feel of her body aligned with his and the sensual brushing of her lower stomach against his steadily growing arousal had him wishing it had been one and done, instead of the two dances they’d decided were socially acceptable.
His heart stalled when she put her arms around his neck and pressed herself closer. “You’re making me a little crazy, sweetheart,” he warned.
“Only a little?” Her sexy smile sent his blood pressure sky-high. “I guess I’ll just have to try a bit harder to make you a lot crazy.”
Blake swallowed around the cotton clogging his throat in order to get his vocal cords to work as he looked around to find the Laughlins. When he spotted them talking to some of their guests, he took her by the hand and started toward the couple.
“Where are we going?” Karly asked, sounding like she already knew.
“To thank Eli and Tori for having us over.” Giving her a quick kiss, Blake grinned. “Social conventions be damned, sweetheart. We’re heading back home where we can both be as crazy as we want to be.”