Sinclair checked his watch and got up from the table. “I should probably get going. I know ranchers get up early in the morning, and I don’t want to keep you up too late.” His gaze held Dawson’s, and for a few seconds, he thought about seeing what those full lips tasted like and maybe asking if Sinclair wanted to stay. But that would open a whole kettle of worms that it would be best if Dawson just left closed.
“I’ll walk you out. Come on, Georgia,” he called, and the dog skittered out from under the table, racing toward the door. He let her outside and followed Sinclair. “I always have to watch her out here. She may think she’s fierce, but there are animals out at night that would try to attack her.” Ranches were one of those places where man and wild met, and it was best not to take any chances. “Thank you for dinner. It was really nice.”
“You’re welcome, and I’m glad we talked. It will make working on the wedding easier, and I promise to call you before I spring any more surprises.”
Dawson nodded, watching every move Sinclair made. The man was all sleek heat, and when he drew close, Dawson held his breath. He wasn’t sure what Sinclair had in mind and—oh, what the fuck? He was about to reach for him when Sinclair closed the distance between them, wrapping his hands around Dawson’s neck before kissing him hard and with enough energy to rival a thunderstorm. Sinclair tasted like spring and heat all mixed together, and man, it was hot. Dawson groaned deep in his throat and wound his arms around Sinclair to pull him to his chest, but Georgia started barking like crazy, so Dawson pulled away. Georgia ran over, and he picked her up to calm her.
“I’m sure I’ll be seeing you soon,” Sinclair said as he headed for his car.
Dawson stepped back up on the porch, watching as Sinclair got in his car, turned around, and headed out toward the road. He didn’t stick around and watch the taillights vanish from sight… at least that was what he told himself.
Chapter Four
“Pull your head out of your butt and let’s go,” Lilly told Sinclair. “I need to exercise the horses, and then Ben and I have lots of work to do. We’re reworking the barn to add more stalls to make room for the horses coming over from Rita’s.” She paced her small place.
“Then you go. I’m trying to figure out how we can put all the things you want for the wedding together. You’re expecting a hundred people, which means I have to figure out how to get that many seated in the barn, with tables, chairs, linens, and centerpieces. That is, unless you want to do all that.” Sinclair was starting to tire of all this detail.
“I already have the tables and chairs being delivered two days before the wedding. The church here is letting us use theirs, along with the chair covers so it dresses up the place.”
“Tablecloths?” he asked. “Since you want elegance, white might be best. I was thinking red and white checked, but that isn’t going to fit. If you want my opinion, we can use the centerpieces to convey more of the country feel, especially if we use multicolored flowers.”
“I agree. And we need the chandeliers and a way to dress up the barn. I don’t want this to look like a cheap television movie set either.”
“It won’t.” He was trying to come up with something more elegant than that. “It’s best if we use just white. Any other color is going to pull your attention. We can use the centerpieces as the pops of color.” He turned to her. “When are the invitations going out?”
“Already mailed six weeks ago,” she answered.
“What dress code did you specify?”
“Country dress. Nice clothes, cowboy hats, and boots,” she explained, and Sinclair nodded. That was perfect for the image that was forming in his mind.
“Great. You go on and ride for a while. I need to go over and pace out the space so I can figure everything out.” Yeah, that was as good an excuse to see Dawson again as he could come up with. The man kept intruding on his thoughts and cutting off his creativity with much more carnal ideas. “Does Ben have everything so he can build the dais?” That was the final piece of major infrastructure that needed to be done to both cover the pit and provide a place for the head table and a backdrop for the festivities.
“Yes. It’s all arrived, and he’ll start work on it next week. But he’s going to need help,” Lilly said as she headed out. “Ky and Brodie have already volunteered, and Rita is going to watch Emily. I’ll help, of course, and I told Ben you would too, even if it’s to keep everyone fed and watered.” She waved and headed out.
Sinclair sat at the table with all of his Post-it notes and quick sketches of how he thought things should work. After a while, he gave up, grabbed his notes, and headed over to the ranch.
The drive looked good as he pulled up close to the barn they were using. Dawson called it a shed, but to him, it looked like a barn, and that was what was needed for the wedding. Sinclair got out and glanced at the activity. What surprised him was that Dawson didn’t charge up to meet him. That’s what had happened the last times he’d visited. Instead, no one seemed to pay him any attention.
Sinclair grabbed his drawing and ideas, closed the car door, and pulled open the large sliding doors. The space was unencumbered and grand. He wandered over to the pit and paced out where the dais would go. Then he worked out where tables could be placed and how many guests could be easily accommodated. Lilly had said that a hundred were being invited, which meant about eighty would actually RSVP, and seventy to seventy-five would attend. Still, he needed to make sure he had room for ten eight-seat tables, and that seemed to work.
“What are you doing?” Dawson asked, his boots clomping on the concrete.
“Figuring out tables and decorations. Lilly has said she wants chandeliers, but I think that’s too much. Maybe we could hang groupings of candles from the rafters in jars or something like that. You know, if I placed the tables right, I could hang them above each one instead of placing them in the centers of the tables. I need to keep the arrangements low enough that people can see each other and talk, and it should work.”
Dawson wandered around the space with him. “What about the walls? How country do you want to get?”
Sinclair paused. “I don’t think Lilly is really sure. I think the tables should be country as far as the flowers and candles, but the room should have an elegance about it without hiding the rustic setting. Do you have any ideas?”
Dawson coughed hard. “Me?” he asked, coughing again like he had swallowed wrong. “I have no idea.” He looked upward. “But you want to use white, I think.”
“Maybe sprays of flowers with white draping down from the end of each of the rafter braces along both walls. It will break up the rusticity of the barn, but still look country and elegant.” Sinclair wrote that down to talk over with Lilly.
“What else?” Dawson asked.
“That’s it. I think we should keep it simple. Though the centerpieces are what’s bothering me.” Sinclair set down his notebook and just wandered the space before looking at Dawson, every inch the cowboy. “I want something that embodies the life you live here.”