The Proposition(75)

Aidan threw his head back and chuckled. “I cannot believe they were doing that.”

“You’re a good-looking older man, why wouldn’t they?” She wrapped her arms tighter around him. “Back in the day, I might have even put a little money on getting to dance with you.”

His lips nuzzled her neck. “Babe, I’m yours for free anytime, anywhere.”

“Hmm, I just might have to take you up on that,” she replied.

After swaying to another slow song, they returned to their seats as the band appeared to be taking break. The lead singer, who Emma had introduced as Dave, took the microphone. “I just want to take a moment while all my friends and family are here to make a big announcement. Yesterday, I asked Laurel, the love of my life, to marry me, and she said yes!” Dave said.

While the crowd erupted in bellowing cheers and whistles, Aidan felt Emma tense beside him. Although she plastered a beaming smile to her face, he could tell her cousin’s engagement bothered her. It didn’t take much for him to understand why. He knew that even though she was thrilled to be having the baby, she still wanted what Laurel had—love, commitment, and a sparkling diamond on her finger. Aidan wondered if he was the man who could give Emma that or if she was just wasting her time believing he could.

“Now, I’d like to take a break for a few minutes and dance with my lovely fiancée.” His gaze searched through the crowd until it honed in on their table. “Em, would you come up and do the honors?”

If Emma had tensed before, she went absolutely rigid at the prospect of singing. “No, no, no! I haven’t sung in so long.”

“That’s not true. You regaled Mason and me with your vocal stylings a few months ago,” Aidan argued.

Emma shot him a death glare. “I think there’s a hell of a lot of difference singing a baby to sleep in the privacy of my own bedroom than in a barn full of people!” she hissed under her breath. She then shook her head at Dave. “Really, I couldn’t.”

A tall, leggy blonde came bounding up behind them. It didn’t take Aidan long to deduce she was Laurel. “Oh please, Emma, sing Cowboy Take Me Away! You were singing that the night Dave and I met!”

Aidan brought his lips closer to Emma’s ear. “Go on. You know you could knock their socks off singing in the shower.”

She jerked away to stare at him, her mouth a perfect o of surprise. “Really?”

He nodded.

“Okay, okay, I’ll do it.”

Another cheer went through the crowd when Emma rose out of her seat. As she climbed onto the stage, Aidan leaned forward in his chair. He couldn’t wait to actually see her perform.

Emma’s shaking hand took the microphone off the stand. She cleared her throat a few times before speaking. “I think you all know I haven’t sung professionally in two years, so you have to believe me when I say that only pure and true love could get me on this stage. It’s the love I feel for Dave, who over the years has been like a brother to me, and it’s the love between him and his sweet, beautiful fiancée that makes me able to sing this song for you.” Her gaze went to Dave and Laurel who were already wrapped in each other’s arms, waiting expectantly on their song. “This one is for you.”

The twang of the rosin coming across a fiddle’s bow coupled with two guitars echoed through the barn. Aidan watched as Emma’s nervousness faded away the moment she heard the familiar chords. With complete confidence, she brought the microphone to her lips and began singing. The room filled with people melted away, and for Aidan, it became only the two of them. Pinching his eyes shut, he let her velvety voice wash over him. He didn’t care if the lyrics were about a cowboy sweeping a woman away from the big city into the wide-open spaces of the country. He just focused on the immense pride that filled him at her performance.

When she finished, applause and cheers roared through the room so loud they stung Aidan’s ears. Emma flushed a deep crimson, but a beaming smile filled her face. She curtsied prettily. “Thank you,” she murmured.

“Now sing Sweet Dreams, Emmie Lou!” Earl shouted.

Emma shook her head furiously as she started to put the microphone back on the stand. “No, Granddaddy, I’ve sung enough for one night.”

Earl stomped his foot on the sawdust floor. “Emma Katherine Harrison, your granddaddy wants to hear some Patsy Cline, so sing Sweet Dreams!”

Aidan couldn’t help chuckling at the stalemate between Emma and her grandfather. “Uh-oh, Em, he’s calling you by your full name. Better do what the man says,” he called.