Rance flashed him a grin. “Oh, so the man who’s responsible for putting confetti in my Jockeys wants a book? Fancy that.”
“I voted against the cannon.” Jess followed her husband over, Mav’s three-month old baby brother Drew cuddled against her chest in a sling. “Can I please have a book?”
“’Yes, ma’am.” Rance gave Mav a kiss on the cheek and set her on her feet. “Gotta pass out the books, sweetheart.”
“Can I help?”
“Don’t see why not.”
“Zach wants to help, too.” She turned around. “Zach! Come help!” Then she looked up at Rance as the little boy trotted over. “He needs his snake.”
“Oh, right. Here you go, buddy.” He took it off his shoulder and draped it around Zach’s neck. Then he relieved Lani of her stack. “Thank you for holding these.” His warm gaze met hers.
Her breath caught and she wobbled a bit. Even covered in confetti, he was the sexiest man she’d ever met. When he gave her that look, she went up in flames. And she’d do whatever it took to spend one more night lost in his arms.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Would Lani engineer a way to hitch a ride home with him? During the hours that followed, the question popped into Rance’s head every time he scanned the room to see what she was up to, who she was talking with, and whether that could be the conversation that did the trick.
By eight-thirty, the party was winding down. Even Sam was curled up on his bed in the corner. And still no sign that Lani had achieved her goal.
Currently she was on the far side of the room with his mom and Andy while they admired three-month-old Matthew McLintock. After sleeping through most of the festivities in his bassinet, Marsh and Ella’s son had decided to join the party.
From his vantage point Rance could only see tiny fists waving in the air, but judging from the smiles of the adults, Matty was putting on a good show. The other three-month-old, Mav’s baby brother Drew, had been whisked away when all the couples with toddlers had headed out nearly an hour ago.
Before she’d gone home, Mav had asked if he’d like to keep Squirt as a souvenir. She’d looked immensely relieved when he’d told her Squirt would be lonesome without his friends.
What a kid. He was nuts about her, nuts about all of them. Did Lani want kids? It wasn’t a good question to ask, all things considered.
But he hadn’t factored in an additional punch to the gut if she rejected him, as she was determined to do. Someday she might show up at Rowdy Ranch with a husband, which would be torture enough. But in years to come, she might also arrive with some adorable munchkins….
“Your turn, bro.” Lucky gave him a nudge.
“Right, right.” He brought his attention back to the three-way dart game in which Kieran was, as usual, kicking their butts. “Sorry.”
“No worries. Kieran’s over by the bar gabbing with Sara, Angie and Oksana. I seem to be the only one focused on this game.”
“Everybody’s getting tired.”
“Or crushing on their future editor.”
“Now that would be dumb, wouldn’t it?” He fired off his first dart. Didn’t land quite where he wanted it.
“It would, but sex can make us stupid. I’m thinking you had more than one motive for handing Lani your manuscript.”
“No comment.” His second dart hit the bullseye. That was more like it. Then he screwed up his third throw, which meant he had no chance unless Kieran suddenly forgot how to play. He retrieved his darts.
“It’s a helluva book, Rance.”
“You’ve finished it? How could you possibly?—”
“I’m fast, but not that fast. I’ve read enough to know it has the potential to be big.”
“That’s great news.” He gazed at his brother. “It’s not a sideline. I want to make a living at this.”
“You have the chops.”
“Good to hear. Especially from my favorite bookseller.”
