“I think we have a favorite! Let’s hear it for one of our own! Dallas Hayes, a bartender here at Lucky’s Pub, is competing tonight! Isn’t she killing it?”
The crowd roars with approval for Dallas. I notice the man she went out with, Scott, watching from the sidelines. He lifts his glass to me, nodding in a way that I fully interpret as him letting me know I’ve won some kind of prize.
Yeah, I know that, buddy.
Grady and Jo step up near us as the next song starts.
Grady winks at me. “You piss me off—you know that, Redford?”
“Why is that?” I ask.
“You barely ever practiced, and you’re about to win this shit.”
I throw my head back and laugh.
“Sorry I’m so damn talented at everything.”
Jo shakes her head, winking at Dallas. “Remember when I had to force you to dance with him?”
Dallas nuzzles my chest. “Yeah, I remember.”
“You got anything to say to me?” Jo asks, raising a brow before Grady spins her around.
“Uh, thanks, babe! I owe you one!” Dallas says.
“You can be in the wedding. How’s that?” I add.
Dallas’s eyes widen, and she gapes at me. “Um, what wedding, mister?”
I raise a brow. “Ours.”
She blinks at me, chewing on her lip. “When is that happening?”
“As soon as you’re ready, Mamas. I’d marry you tomorrow if you’d let me.”
She coughs suddenly, bending forward like she’s having trouble catching her breath. “I—we haven’t even been together for a month. We haven’t even saidI love youto each other.”
“I said it.”
She tilts her head. “You were drunk. That doesn’t count.”
“Well, for the record, I love you. And I want to spend the rest of my life loving you.”
I spin her around, dipping her back and pulling her underneath my body before lifting her to an upright position. She gasps, fluttering her lashes at me.
“Don’t you ever do that again, Duke Justin Redford! That was mean!”
I lick my lips, smirking. “How is telling youI love youmean?”
“Because you didn’t give me a chance to respond!”
“Well, here’s your chance.”
She shakes her curly blond hair, exhaling dramatically before settling her emerald eyes on mine.
“I love you too,” she whispers. Her voice is so soft that I can barely hear her over the crowd.
“Damn, I thought you’d never say it.” I can’t stop smiling.
