The Maverick's Midnight Proposal by Brenda Harlen

Author:Brenda Harlen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-01-10T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Eva held her breath as she waited for Luke to respond to her confession.

“That would explain the glare,” he noted.

“He’s not really glaring,” she hastened to assure him. “He’s just trying to figure out who you are because he’s not wearing his glasses.”

Luke shook his head. “I can’t believe I didn’t make the connection between Eva Armstrong and Mr. Armstrong in the history department.”

“Armstrong isn’t an uncommon name,” she said. “And a lot of people try to forget about high school history.”

“It wasn’t so bad,” he said.

She just lifted a brow, making him laugh.

“Okay, it was awful,” he admitted. “But the truth is, I didn’t enjoy any of my subjects because the whole time that I was stuck inside a classroom, I only wanted to be helping my dad out on the ranch.”

“A cowboy through and through,” she noted.

“I guess so,” he acknowledged.

Thankfully, her parents had finished their meals and, after they’d paid their check, stood up to leave. But of course, they didn’t go without stopping by their daughter’s table first.

Luke automatically rose to his feet.

Ray Armstrong shook his hand. “Luke Stockton—I heard that you were back in town. From Wyoming?”

Luke confirmed with a nod.

“You plan on moving back to Rust Creek Falls?” his former teacher asked.

“No, sir. Just visiting for a while.”

“Obviously you know my dad,” Eva said, eager to cut off her father’s interrogation. “And this is my mom, Marion.”

Luke inclined his head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”

“And it’s nice to finally put a face to the name Eva has been—”

“Your message didn’t say where you’d gone for dinner,” Eva interjected before her mother could complete her sentence.

“I was hoping to talk your father into going somewhere else,” Marion confided. “He knows this isn’t one of my favorite places.”

“But nowhere else does a burger like the Ace,” Ray pointed out.

“Actually, the burgers you cook on the backyard grill are even better,” his wife noted.

“The backyard grill that’s currently under eighteen inches of snow?”

Marion sighed. “Which is why we’re here.”

“But now we’re going,” Ray said, and Eva sent him a quick smile of thanks.

Her father didn’t smile back, and Eva suspected that he would be watching the clock as he waited for her to return home after the movie.

“Was that as uncomfortable for you as it was for me?” she asked Luke when her parents had gone.

“Actually, it wasn’t as uncomfortable as I’d feared,” he said.

“At least that brief conversation confirmed that I hit the jackpot with their Christmas present,” she noted.

“What did you get them?” Luke asked after the waitress had delivered their drinks.

“An indoor grill.”

He studied her across the table. “Did you know that you get a sparkle in your eye whenever you talk about the holidays?”

“I love Christmas,” she said simply.

He picked up his glass and sipped.

“And you don’t,” she guessed, feeling disappointed for him that he wasn’t looking forward to the holiday.

“I don’t dislike it,” he denied. “I just don’t get all excited about it, like...”

“Like a kid at Christmas?” she finished for him.

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