Page 88 of Bailey

“Like, the whole town will be there,” she said. “And I was hoping that you’d come with me, and I’ve been putting together a presentation on why it would be okay for you to come to a mega-party.”

Reeves laughed, his heart opening even further to this amazing woman. “A presentation?”

Bailey grinned at him. “But now that we’re at Devil’s Tower, I can see that you’re actually trying to get out more, and maybe the party won’t be such a big deal.”

Reeves’s insides still squirmed at the thought of being at an event that the whole town would be invited to, but he nodded. “I’ll go with you, Bailey,” he said. “No presentation needed.”

She nodded and ducked her head, her hair falling down and creating a curtain along the side of her face. He wanted to tuck it back, if only to touch her, be closer to her.

“There’s one more thing I’ve been thinking about.”

Reeves knew Bailey had a lot going on in her mind at all times, and she was smart and beautiful, good in an emergency situation, and kind, and Reeves definitely felt himself falling more in love with her simply by sitting in a busy restaurant with her hand in his.

“For a while there, I thought I’d never want to get married,” she said. “Ever. It just wasn’t in the cards for me. I’d wanted to be a vet for a long time, and that was my path. But I’m different now, and I do want to get married, and I guess I’ve just been thinking about what will happen to my farm if you and I got married.”

A grin burst onto Reeves’s face. “That’s what you’ve been worried about? Your farm?”

Bailey gazed back at him. “It’s a legitimate concern.”

Reeves chuckled, the sound growing into full-blown laughter. “I think you just wanted to bring up marriage.” He raised his eyebrows and looked up as Tom arrived with their drinks.

“Appetizers are only about three minutes out,” he said. “Do you guys want to order?”

“Yes.” Bailey picked up the menu, and Reeves wondered if waiters knew how much they interrupted.

“Let’s see….” She trailed off, and Reeves looked up at the man. “I’ll take the twelve-ounce rib eye special, medium rare,” he said. “I want my baked potato loaded with tons of bacon, cheese, ranch dressing, sour cream, butter. Do you have all that?”

“Yeah, I can get it all,” Tom said, without writing a single thing down.

“And I get a second side with that, right?”

“Yep.”

“I’ll take the asparagus spears,” Reeves said. “And I want the house steak sauce, and I want to try that pesto Chimichurri.”

“You got it, brother,” he said, and he looked over to Bailey.

She gaped at him.

“What? You’ve seen my videos. You think I didn’t know how to order a steak?”

Tom sucked in a breath. “I knew you looked familiar,” he said. “You have a camping channel.”

Reeves looked up at him. “Sure do.”

“You’re the guy with the steak on the tip of the knife.”

He extended his hand. “Reeves Durham.”

Tom shook his hand. “It’s great to meet you. My younger brother told me about those videos, and we watch a few every time he comes over.”

Reeves did like hearing why people watched his videos, and with who, and he smiled over to Bailey. “Do you want me to order for you, sweetheart?”

She put down her menu and said, “Yes,” with plenty of challenge in her eyes.

Reeves tilted his head, accepting the silent gauntlet she’d just laid at his feet. “The ribeye might be a little bit too fatty for her,” he said. “She’s not much of a steak-eater.” Reeves forced himself to look away from his gorgeous girlfriend.

“Can you believe she doesn’t like steak?” Reeves grinned at their waiter. “It seems like a requirement for someone I’m dating to love steak.”