Her Montana Christmas Groom. Teresa Southwick
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saluted a thanks with his bottle and they walked across the open dance floor to find their table. Rose was frowning and clearly in a snit.
“What’s bugging you, Red?” he asked.
“Like you don’t know,” she grumbled.
“I’ve always looked older.” He shrugged. “It’s why I was able to get a tattoo when I was under age.”
“No way.”
“Yeah.” He took a sip of his beer. “It’s a beaut, too.”
“Where is it? Show me.”
“That would require undressing—”
She slid him a wry look and shook her head.
Too bad. He would very much like to undress her and see if she had more freckles on the curvy body under her lace and velvet dress. She was really stubborn about the age thing and if he was as smart as everyone thought, he’d throw in the towel. The problem was, he liked her. She was a real firecracker and it had nothing to do with the color of her hair.
Austin was inclined to hang in for a while and see if he could fire her up.
After dinner, Rose sat alone at the table watching couples on the dance floor. Until a few minutes ago she and Austin were one of them and she’d really liked the feel of his arms around her. Then his sister Angie had commandeered him for the chicken dance. What wedding was complete without that?
Everyone seemed to be having a great time. What was not to like? The whole event had lived up to its advance billing as the social affair of the year. It was completely enchanting. This room looked as magical as the resort’s transformed lobby with twinkling lights wrapped around bare white branches and the poinsettias added a touch of red. The brides were perfect and perfectly happy with their hunky, handsome grooms.
It was the ultimate romantic fantasy and Rose was having serious doubts about her own ever coming true. Of course her brother Jackson chose that moment to sit down beside her. His fiancée, Laila Cates, pulled out the chair next to his.
“Hey, sis.”
“Hey, yourself. Hi, Laila.”
“Hi, Rose.” The other woman smiled. “Love the dress.”
She appreciated the compliment, but it didn’t lift her spirits. How she longed to rest her head on her big brother’s strong shoulder, but he wouldn’t understand. Besides the fact that he was a guy’s guy, he’d found the love of his life. Blonde, blue-eyed and beautiful, Laila looked like she’d stepped off a page of People magazine. And handsome Jackson, with his dark hair and eyes, could be in the movies if he wasn’t doing community outreach and public relations work for Traub Oil Montana.
“You look really pretty tonight,” Laila added.
Rose smiled at the woman who would be her sister-in-law. “I might have had a shot at mildly attractive until you sat down.”
“Oh, please.” She waved off the compliment.
Jackson’s dark brown eyes glowed with pride and love when he looked at her. “My sister is right.”
“About what?” Rose demanded. “That I have to wear a bag over my head?”
“No, that the woman I plan to marry is as beautiful as she is sweet and caring.”
“Yeah.” Rose nodded grudgingly. “If she wasn’t, I could take great pleasure in hating her guts.”
Laila laughed and like everything about her, the sound was beautiful. The least she could do was snort. “That’s probably the highest praise and most sincere compliment I’ve ever received.”
“But true.” Rose sighed. “Darn it.”
“You’re not happy for me?” Jackson glanced at his fiancée. “For us?”
“Of course I am. Truly.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Everything’s fine.” If she pretended long and hard enough, maybe that wouldn’t be a lie.
“Look, Rosie, you ought to know by now that fooling me isn’t going to happen. So why won’t you tell me what’s up with you?”
“Because you really don’t want to know.”
“Yes, I do. We do,” Jackson said and Laila nodded her agreement.
Rose looked at the happy, perfect couple and loneliness sucked her in further. This room was filled with happy, perfect couples and that was hard to look at when you weren’t part of one. Especially when she’d worked so hard to make it happen. She’d dated a lot of guys, but not one of them was her prince and a happy ever after wasn’t looking hopeful.
“I think there’s something wrong with me,” she finally said.
Jackson frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“It would be easier if I could blame my singleness on a lack of men. But no one would buy that excuse because I’ve dated more than any girl in the history of Thunder Canyon.”
“We noticed.” Her brother’s tone was wry.
“Don’t start on me. The thing is, you’d think out of all those men there would be a spark, some chemistry, some hope, but not so much. There’s no magic. No zing. No lightning. No sizzle.”
Except with Austin Anderson.
It was proof that fate had a bizarre and warped sense of humor. From the moment he’d picked her up for this wedding, her skin had tingled. Being near him made her chest feel tight and don’t even get her started on the zing and sizzle when he’d held her in his arms on the dance floor.
Rose met her brother’s gaze. “The guys I’ve met are all great, so the only possible conclusion is that there’s something wrong with me. Maybe my standards are too high.”
“Maybe you’re afraid.” Jackson’s gaze never wavered.
“Of what?”
“Being hurt. You haven’t had a long-term relationship since the jerk in college.”
Rose was surprised that, not only had he been paying attention to her romantic life, but that he had also remembered. And the memory shouldn’t still sting, but it did. She wanted very much to change the subject, but blowing off the question gave the past more power than it should have.
She looked at Laila. “When I was in college there was this pre-med student. We were together over a year and I was in love with him. Graduation was coming up fast for both of us and it was time to fish or cut bait. He cut bait.”
“Why?” Laila glanced at Jackson who nodded.
“He fell into the poor-but-proud group. I believed that love was all we needed.” She shrugged. “He chose medical school over marriage.”
“That’s too bad.” Laila’s blue eyes brimmed with sympathy. “Sounds like the timing was just off.”
Apparently that was Rose’s fatal flaw—attraction to ill-timed men. The only one who interested her was born too late. Or she was too early. Either way that made him too wrong.
“Will you two excuse me?” Laila squeezed her fiancée’s hand. “I’m going to the ladies’ room.”
“I’ll be waiting.” There was love and longing in Jackson’s eyes as he watched her weave through the crowd to the door.
Rose felt equal parts of envy and pleasure that the two had found each other. She loved her brother and wanted him to be happy. “She’s a keeper.”
He nodded. “You and Austin Anderson looked pretty cozy out on the dance floor.”
The words snapped her back to attention even as she wondered if Jackson Traub had turned into a