Texas glanced at Morgan, then at her, then back at Morgan, then down at his plate, which still had a few bites of food on it. “I don’t know, I may be laughing too hard to play anything, if I have to watch you dancing. A waltz?” He started laughing early.
Violet grinned at Morgan. “It will be fun. I’ll teach you if you don’t know how.” She stood up and held out her hand to him. “Come, I’ll show you the steps while Texas finishes his dinner.”
For a moment she didn’t think he’d leave his chair, but then he rose and she was reminded of how tall he was, of his magnificent physique. Forcing herself to focus on the dance, she positioned his right hand on her waist and clasped her right hand with his left. Lightly resting her other hand on his upper arm, she said, “The waltz is a lively formal dance in triple time. Follow my footsteps. One, two, three, then backward, one, two, three. We will turn rhythmically around as we progress around the dance—er, cabin floor. Now again.”
Texas had started playing his harmonica by then, a lovely tune she didn’t recognize. But when she demonstrated the rise and fall part of the dance, where they needed to briefly go up on their toes, Texas started laughing again and the music stopped.
He complained, “She should be teaching me. After all, I’m the one getting married soon and will have to dance at the wedding shindig.”
Morgan’s hand tightened a little on hers as he told his friend, “I’ll teach you once I learn. I’m already getting the hang of it. Stick to your harmonica playing.”
Violet laughed as the music started again, but Morgan did in fact seem to know what he was doing now. She liked the feeling of his hand on her waist, and he was surprisingly light on his feet for a big man. Smiling at her, he twirled her out onto the porch, lifted her down the stairs, and danced with her in the yard under the stars, where they had more room and didn’t have to worry about bumping into the table. His blue eyes gazed at her intently as they moved in time to the music. She was enchanted. It was almost what she’d imagined her first ball would be like—well, not the venue, but certainly the thrill of dancing with a tall, strapping, exciting man who was giving her his undivided attention.
“So this is how they dance at the balls you mentioned?” he asked. “It’s a lot different from our boisterous western dancing, though both seem to involve twirling about.”
“Maybe you can teach me a western dance later?”
“Maybe I will. But tell me more about your balls. What does a lady do if she’s asked to dance but doesn’t like the fella? Or does that proper etiquette you’ve mentioned require her to accept all offers?”
“No, she can simply say her dance card is full.”
“And what would she do if her partner holds her too close?”
He pulled her closer to him to demonstrate. Violet was startled to feel her breasts brushing against his chest. Giving him an admonishing look, she said, “A lady would tap his shoulder with her fan and remind him of proper decorum.” And she pretended to tap his shoulder, but he didn’t loosen his hold on her so she could step back.
Instead he lowered his head and said close to ear, “And what does a lady do if her partner does this?”
A little shiver ran down her spine, and all of a sudden he was kissing her. She’d expected it when he’d brought her outside, remembering all those warnings about gentlemen who might suggest a stroll on the terrace just so they could steal a kiss. But she hadn’t expected to want this particular kiss so much—yet she did, and responded with all the pent-up passion she felt for him. He’d lifted her off her feet with one arm tight around her waist and was still dancing with her held so close to him, not as quickly, yet they still seemed to be twirling. But one kiss turned into another more intense one that stirred her even more deeply. She’d already let go of his hand and put her arms around his neck, while his free hand now moved slowly up and down her back, exciting her further, until his fingers moved to the back of her neck to caress her there.
One moment she was sighing in pleasure, and then she was gasping as Morgan tripped over the flower fence, losing his footing, but quickly turning their bodies to cushion her fall as they tumbled into the bed of flowers. Breathless, Violet found herself lying on top of him, powerfully aware of the hard, masculine body beneath her. Impulsively, she turned her head to kiss him—but she couldn’t be that bold! So she immediately rolled off him, but he rolled as well toward her; thinking he meant to put himself on top of her, she rolled again, and landed smack in the stream.
She came up sputtering, wiping water from her eyes and face, and burst out laughing. She couldn’t stop, not when he started laughing, too. She didn’t think she’d ever laughed so hard in her life.
When he grabbed her hand to pull her out of the water, she grinned. “By the by, the lady would have slapped his face.”
“Is mine in danger?”
That just started another round of laughter.
Chapter Twenty-Six
VIOLET AWOKE EARLY THEnext morning and was surprised to see that she was alone in the cabin. Dressing quickly, she opened the door to let in more light and was even more surprised to find Morgan sleeping on the porch again. It couldn’t be comfortable, and she had her screen now. But after last night, maybe it was a good thing he had. Her charm offensive had certainly backfired. He’d ended up charming her!
What a fun night it had turned out to be, one she wasn’t likely to ever forget. Surely it had left him in a good mood, too. “Did you intend to sleep this late?” she asked loud enough to wake him.
He stirred, mumbled something as he stood, then walked into the cabin to start breakfast. She didn’t consider that mumble a setback, merely an expression of annoyance that he wasn’t the first one awake as usual. She expected him to tell her any moment now that he accepted her partnership proposal. He did realize she was still waiting for his answer, didn’t he?
But he didn’t get around to mentioning it while they ate. When he started to walk out the door still without addressing the issue, she was done waiting. “What’s your answer to the proposals I presented the other day?”
He turned, leaned casually against the doorframe, and asked, “Do you still want to borrow three thousand, or do you want to subtract the eighteen hundred from it and just borrow twelve hundred instead?”
He was going to give her the loan! She was thrilled and couldn’t help beaming at him before she answered, “My brothers have other creditors they need to pay. Daniel was even detained by one of them at the train station the day we were to come here together. I don’t want to take any chances that they might come up short and not be able to pay off the house loan completely. I’d still like them to get another three thousand.”
“Then I’ll send it.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
