Lone Star Holiday Proposal

“I get enough. In fact I get most Saturday evenings to myself when my dad is in Royal and takes JJ for a sleepover. That is plenty for me. I wouldn’t change anything in my life for something as ephemeral as time alone and definitely not at the expense of my son.”

“You sound like a woman who knows her own mind.”

“I like to think so. Now, at least. I wasn’t always this certain, but I guess when you’ve learned the hard way, you tend to take things a little more seriously.”

“The hard way?”

Raina finished wrapping his mother’s gift and swiftly tied a cheerful Christmas bow around the wrapping paper. “There you are. All done. Now, will that be cash or credit?”

She was avoiding answering him. That much was clear. He slid his platinum card from his card holder and passed it to her before placing both hands on the countertop and leaning toward her.

“Raina, I meant what I said last night. I really would like to see you, to get to know you better.”

She looked up at him, a little flustered and a lot startled. He realized how much he was encroaching on her space and straightened up from the counter again.

“I... I told you last night, Nolan. I don’t date. I just don’t have time.”

“What are you afraid of, hmm?” he coaxed.

Her eyes shone with what he suspected—hell, hoped—was yearning. He pressed forward with what he saw as his advantage.

“At least tell me why. You can’t let me go away with a complex. Just think of what that could do to a man like me.”

His deliberate foolishness earned its own reward when she laughed, openly and honestly and from the heart.

“Oh, I think your ego is completely safe from me,” she said, passing back his card. “But if you really must know, I haven’t exactly had the best taste in men. Take JJ’s father for example. I met him near where we lived, over in the next county. He swept me off my feet and dazzled me with his grand plans. We moved to Royal when he got work here as a ranch hand, but he never quite seemed to be able to hold down a job for more than a few months at a time. Then he left me broke after cleaning out my bank account. I promised myself, there and then, that no man would ever leave me that vulnerable again.”

Nolan sensed there was a great deal more behind her words than she was letting on.

“You never pressed charges?”

“He’s JJ’s father. Of course I didn’t. I just hoped that he’d taken enough money that he’d never need to come back. But—” she cut herself off abruptly and seemed to gather her thoughts back together “—but that’s all in the past,” she said with false brightness.

Nolan could read between the lines and he knew there was much more to her story than the potted history she’d just given him. But it could wait. Instead, he latched on to something she’d said a few minutes ago. “You mentioned your dad has JJ on Saturdays?”

She nodded slowly.

“Today?”

She nodded again. Nolan felt a glow of excitement light up in his chest.

“So, if I asked you if you could break your no-dating rule and have dinner with me tonight, could I persuade you to consider it?”

Raina pursed her lips and crossed her arms but even though her body language was all about the “no,” the yearning he’d seen in her eyes before was still very much in evidence. He held his breath while she took her time making her decision.

“Okay,” she said on what sounded like a long held sigh. “Yes, I’d like that. But just dinner.”

He smiled and fought the urge to fist pump the air in delight.

“Just dinner,” he agreed. “Where and when can I pick you up?”

Raina gave him her address and they agreed on the time he would pick her up. He knew the area. Not the worst in town, but not the best either. Still, after what she, and the rest of Royal, had been through just over a year ago, at least she and JJ had a secure roof over their heads.

He could do so much better for her. The thought hit him from nowhere and left him reeling. He pushed it back. Looking after Raina Patterson wasn’t his business; she’d made that abundantly clear. She was a strong and independent woman.

Which only made her all the more appealing.

Six

Nolan pulled up outside the address Raina had given him. The area was worse than Nolan remembered and he hit the automatic lock on his car key as he got out and walked up the path toward the house. Raina answered the door before he’d so much as lifted his finger to the doorbell. As excited to see him as he was to see her, perhaps? He certainly hoped so.