Page 119 of Snowbound Surrender

“Well, there’s always someone,” Randall cautioned her. He stood straighter, searching through the crowd. “Which reminds me. Which one is the town reverend? I want to see if he has time to marry us tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Miranda exclaimed, a buzz of excitement filling her to her toes.

Randall chuckled. “Do you really want to wait to share a bed with me and enjoy my cooking in the morning?”

Miranda blinked, then tumbled into laughter. “No, no I don’t. I would miss your cooking far too much.”

Randall tipped to kiss her cheek. “If we weren’t in a church, I’d show you which of those two things you should give priority.”

Miranda gasped in fake shock, then hugged him sideways. “We’ll need to spend just a bit more time in the church before I can submit to your need to convince me.”

His answering chuckle made her want to skip the party and head back to the saloon. She had a feeling it would be a very warm winter, no matter what the weather was like.

“So you don’t think your father will mind?” she asked, strolling on with him toward a table of refreshments. “That you’ve gone and married a saloon owner and set down roots in the middle of Montana?”

“Of course he’ll mind.” Randall shrugged. “But he can go on minding all he wants. It won’t change how I feel about settling down, and it won’t change how I feel about you.”

“And how do you feel about me?” She stopped and glanced up at him with a coquettish sparkle in her eye.

Randall turned to her, taking her in his arms in spite of the crowd around them. “I love you, Randi. I don’t need months and years to know it. I think I started falling in love with you the moment you didn’t kick me out of your saloon. And I will continue to love you for the rest of my life and beyond.”

“What a fortunate thing.” She smiled, never happier. “Because I love you too.”