“Day one?” Katie said, giving Alex a scalding look. “You told me you were coming up to see the goats give birth.”
He shook his head. “No, you assumed that - and I merely kept my mouth shut.” His eyes twinkled with humor. “If you’d been doing that for the last year, I wouldn’t have thought about coming up here. The picture was the last straw.”
Katie stared at him. “I thought you were determined to remain a bachelor.” Her gaze sifted to Carmen. “I hope you two have considered all the problems.”
Carmen shot Katie a warning look. “We still have a lot to discuss.” She glanced back at Alex. “After dinner.”
The soft chocolate gaze met hers and the smooth lips tipped up slightly at the corners.
“My place or yours?”
She blushed. “Yours. I want to see this house everybody else knew about. Do you give tours?”
His hand found hers under the table and he laced his fingers through hers.
“I think we could work out something.” He glanced around the table again. “I believe this dinner is for Josh and Lori.”
The attention shifted back where it belonged and stayed there for the rest of the dinner. Carmen ate with her left hand, unwilling to let lose of Alex for one second. When dinner was over, Alex escorted her out the door, leaving the rest of the party talking in low tones. His truck was in the parking lot, so he had been back to the house. Had he seen Josh pick her up? She smoothed the folds of her skirt nervously and waited for him to open the subject, but he was silent until they reached the log house.
He led her across the wide porch and unlocked the door, flipping on the light. Carmen gasped as they stepped into the empty living room. The room was large, with a hardwood floor and a huge fireplace. A large bay window sported a roomy window seat.
“I didn’t get any curtains or furniture yet. I thought those were things you might like to buy. “
She glanced up at him. Was that supposed to be a proposal? Surely Alex would come up with something better than that. Of course, a proposal of marriage was something that didn’t come easy for him.