“Ahem.” Axsel arched a brow.
Sin laughed. “And the hottest guys—sorry, Axsel.”
“No worries. With a body like that, you’re always forgiven.” Axsel dragged his eyes down Dash’s body. “And hello, gorgeous friend of Sin’s.” Axsel was the youngest of the Montgomery siblings and the lead guitarist in the infamous band Inferno. Much to the dismay of all the single women he encountered, he was gay.
Dash smiled, and Trixie swore his teeth were so white, they sparkled. “Hi, I’m Dash. Where do I know you from? Wait, you’re that rock star, right?”
“In and out of the bedroom,” Axsel said flirtatiously. “And you have a great name. Short for Dashing, I assume?”
Dash laughed and shook his head.
“Keep your trousers on, Axsel,” Sin said. “Dash is straight, and I brought him along tonight to meet Amber. Dash wrote a book and he’s doing a signing with her in a couple of weeks.”
Amber was still staring at Dash, starry-eyed. Trixie had never seen her like that before, but Dash appeared to be just as taken with her.
Sin motioned to Amber and said, “Dash, this is Amber Montgomery.”
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Amber.” Dash held out his hand. “My publicist, Shea Steele, had wonderful things to say about you.”
Morgyn bumped Amber with her elbow, startling her out of her trance. Amber blinked repeatedly and shook his hand. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I hear you own a great shop in town,” Dash said.
Amber continued shaking his hand. “I…yeah. Books…in the shop.”
Sable stifled a laugh. Morgyn nudged Amber again.
“Bookstore, sorry,” Amber said quickly, her cheeks pinking up as she dropped his hand. “I own a bookstore. But you already know that. Oh my gosh. I better…” She touched Reno’s head. “Nice to meet you. I have to…do that thing. Over there.” She pointed into the crowd. “Sorry. See you in the bookstore. Come, Reno.”
As Amber hurried away, Lindsay lowered her voice and said, “So much for flirting lessons.”
“You’ll have to excuse my sister. She’s had a long day,” Morgyn said.
Dash was watching Amber move through the crowd, and he said, “No excuse necessary. She makes quite the first impression.”
As they talked, Nick leaned closer to Trixie and whispered, “I think she made as big an impression on him as I made on you the first time we met.”
Trixie turned in his arms and tapped his chest. “You mean how big an impression I made on you.”
Nick pressed his lips to hers, his gaze sliding to her father, headed over to them.
“Excuse me for interrupting,” her father said.
Nick slipped his arm around Trixie. “Hi, Waylon.”
“Nick.” Her father nodded. “You don’t mind if I steal my daughter away for a dance, do you?”
“Not at all.”
Trixie whispered, “Try not to get your dance card filled up before I get back.” She went up on her toes and kissed his chin. “See you later, cowboy.” She giggled as he gave her that look that said she was a pain in his butt. She loved that look as much as she loved all his others.
She took her father’s arm and followed him onto the dance floor, passing Trace, who was talking with Beckett. They both looked over and smiled. As she began dancing with her father, she noticed Shane and JJ onstage setting up Shane’s drums, with a gaggle of girls waiting nearby.
“It’s good to see you so happy, sweetheart,” her father said as they slow danced.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Your brothers miss you.”
“They do, do they?” She knew her father missed her, too. He called her every other day with excuses about needing to know this or that about their customers. But she knew better. Her father could run the administrative end of their ranch in his sleep. But like with Nick, emotions didn’t come easily to him, and she doubted he’d tell her how he felt.
He nodded. “Your mother, too.”
“Mm-hm. I know she does. I miss everyone, too.”
“I want you to know that I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like you weren’t taken seriously. You’re my one and only daughter, Trixie, my little girl, and I guess it was hard for me to let that go and see you grow up.”
A lump lodged in her throat. “You’ve done a good job of supporting me, Dad. You never held me back.”
“Well, that’s good to know, but you’ve done an even better job of showing us all how strong, smart, and brave you are. Your mama and I couldn’t be prouder of you.”
“Thanks, Dad,” she said.
As the song came to an end, her father embraced her and said, “Everyone’s heart has a home, and you’ve known where yours has belonged for years. You made the right choice, sweetheart, no matter how much I miss you.”
“I love you, Dad,” she said as tears welled in her eyes.
The lights in the barn dimmed as they drew apart, and Trixie wiped her tears. A spotlight hit the stage. Nick stood centerstage, breathtakingly handsome in his black button-down shirt, jeans, and cowboy hat. Trace and JJ stood to his left, holding their guitars. Shane sat behind his drums, and Jeb was at the piano.
“What’s going on?” Trixie whispered.
Her father smiled and shrugged.
Nick’s eyes found hers as he lifted a microphone and said, “A wise old cowboy once told me not to sing unless it was to the woman I couldn’t live without. This one’s for you, Patricia Ann Jericho.” He winked, setting Trixie’s heart aflutter.
Her brothers began playing “Die a Happy Man” by Thomas Rhett, and with his eyes locked on Trixie, Nick sang about last night being one of their best nights and how her love was all he needed. Tears welled in her eyes. She couldn’t believe he was singing in front of everyone. His deep, raspy voice boomed through the barn, so damn sexy, she was mesmerized. When he reached the chorus, he changed the words and sang, “Baby, those Daisy Dukes bring me to my knees, but those tied shirts make it hard to breathe.”
Everyone laughed, and Trixie did, too, despite the tears tumbling down her cheeks.
Nick sang about dancing around the firepit and how spending time with her was all he needed to be happy. He sang as he came down off the stage, and the crowd parted for him. He blazed a path straight to her. His eyes remained trained on Trixie’s as he sang softer, handing her father the microphone, and took her hands in his. The last of the lyrics rolled off his tongue, but the music continued, and everyone applauded and cheered.
“You sang to me,” Trixie said incredulously, her face wet with tears.
“I love you, darlin’.”
He dropped to one knee, and Trixie gasped, more tears springing from her eyes. She couldn’t breathe, could barely see through the blur of tears as the music stopped and the crowd hushed, and Nick held up a gorgeous rose-gold, emerald-cut diamond ring with a halo of diamonds around it.
“Ohmygod” fell from her lips.
He gazed into her eyes and said, “Darlin’, you came into my life acting like you’d always been right there by my side, encroaching on my space, touching my things, and giving me hell.”