“Hope! Hope,” called a voice. She couldn’t see its owner, or much of anything else, blinded as she still was by the camera flash. “What are you doing here? Are you here visiting with your father?” He turned to Chance. “Are the two of you back together? Did she leave Matt to get back with you?”

“Chance!” she cautioned him. He looked like he was about to punch the guy. “Don’t.” Her tone was enough to make him pause and look at her. It was a plea, not a command. “Please?”

Steve appeared behind the guy and put an arm around his neck. He dragged him away before he could ask any more questions or raise his camera again. When they’d gone, Hope closed her eyes and blew out a big sigh. That was the worst end to the most perfect evening.

Chance sat back down heavily in his chair. His jaw was clenched and his fists were balled tight. Hope was grateful that Steve had appeared when he did. She hated to think what Chance might have done otherwise.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

“It’s not your fault.” He ground the words out through clenched teeth.

She reached for his hand, but his fists were still clenched. She stroked his wrist until he started to relax a little. The wild look left his eyes and he seemed to come back to her. He met her gaze. “I’m sorry.”

“You did nothing wrong. You did well to hold back when he pounced on us like that.”

“You have no idea.”

Unfortunately, Hope felt like she did have some idea, and she didn’t like it.

Steve came hurrying back to the table. “I’m so sorry. Your dinner is on the house, of course. I’ve got him in the cold store. I’ll keep him there till you’re gone or call in the police—whatever you prefer we do with him.”

Chance shook his head. “I know what I’d like to do with him.”

Hope sighed. “I think it’d be best if we leave and you let him go once we’re out of here.” She met Steve’s gaze. “I don’t want you getting in trouble on my account.”

“I won’t be in any kind of trouble. We don’t stand for that kind of thing around here.”

Hope nodded. She had a feeling Chance wouldn’t be alone in his reaction to such an invasion of privacy. If the press was going to find its way here to Montana, they’d need to be careful.

“Do you want me to bring your truck around?” Steve pointed to an emergency exit just beyond the fireplace.

To her surprise, Chance nodded and handed over his keys.

They sat in silence for a few moments until they saw headlights flashing outside. They got up and went out. The truck was on the grass right outside the door.

Steve grasped Chance’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, bud.”

Hope was relieved to see the tension around Chance’s eyes ease a little. “It’s not your fault. Thanks for taking care of it.”

Steve nodded grimly. “You don’t need any trouble. You remember that if he shows up again.”

Chance nodded and opened the passenger door for Hope to get in. “Come on, honey; let’s go home.”

They drove back in silence. Hope felt as though the little bubble she’d been living in had burst. The press had left her alone since she’d been here and she’d started to believe that it would be permanent. How likely were they to come all the way up here? But they had. Or at least that one guy had.

Chance looked across at her as he drove down East River Road. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just sad. I thought the press might leave me alone. I should have known better.”

He nodded.

“How are you?”

He blew out a sigh. “Calming down a little. I wanted to …” He stopped himself and fixed his gaze back on the road ahead.

She touched his arm. “So did I, but it wouldn’t do any good. It’d only make things worse. Maybe he was just an opportunist. He might be a freelancer who’s here on vacation and just happened to spot us.”

Chance pursed his lips. “That’d be a hell of a coincidence.”

“I know, but it helps me to think that way.”

“If it helps, then you think it, but I’ve got a nasty feeling he’s just the first of many.”

She nodded her agreement. “Even if he is, it’ll blow over. We’ll be news for a little while and then they’ll move on. The media doesn’t have a very long attention span.”

“I guess.”

“Listen, we were having a great time until he showed up. We can’t let him spoil our evening.”

“He already did.” He said it with such finality that she almost shut up and let him brood, but she didn’t want their wonderful evening to end that way.

“He didn’t, though, not if we don’t let him. We can just pick up right where we were. You were about to ask me something.”

Chance turned off the road and drove the length of the driveway to the ranch with lips pressed together in a thin line. “I was.”

“So why don’t you ask me now?”

He shot a quick look at her and shook his head. “Nope.”

When he pulled up in front of the cabin, he got out of the truck and waited for her. She didn’t follow. She sat there and waited for him to come around to her. He opened the door and she smiled in the face of his irritation.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing. I just thought I’d sit here and wait to see if a sexy cowboy happens along. You never know. If one does, he might pick me up and carry me away to his bed.”

He pursed his lips, but she could see there was the hint of a smile lurking at the corners of his mouth.

“You don’t think I’m in luck?”

He shook his head. “The only cowboy around here is mighty pissed off right now.”

“That’s a shame. If there were a cowboy with an open mind around who wanted to carry me to his bed, I’d make it worth his while.” She waited. This time there was more than the hint of a smile.

“How?” he asked eventually.

She smirked. “Oh, he’d have to take me there to find that out. I don’t like to spoil surprises.”

He blew out a sigh. “I’m not in the mood for games.”

“That’s the best time to play them; they cheer you up and take your mind off your troubles. And I think you’ll like the game I have in mind.”

He finally smiled and wrapped one arm around her shoulders and slid the other under her legs. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on tight as he carried her out of the truck and into the cabin. He carried her through to the bedroom and went back to lock the front door—something she’d never known him do before.

She struck a sexy pose when he came back in, but he shook his head. “I love you, honey; thank you for making me smile again, but I am so not in the mood.”

She reached her arms up to him and he lay down on the bed beside her. They held each other close in a way that was all about caring and closeness and nothing about sex. She stroked his hair and planted a kiss on his cheek. “I’m not in the mood any more, either; I just wanted to see you smile again.”

He pulled back and planted a peck on her lips. “How do you do it? How do you manage to find the bright side so quickly? How do you let go of all the anger and choose to smile instead? I know your way is better than mine, but I have no idea how the hell you do it.”

She shrugged. “It’s a choice. I learned a long time ago that we don’t get to choose what happens to us. All we can choose is how we react to it, how we deal with it. I choose to find the bright side because it makes me feel better. I don’t like to feel angry, I don’t like to feel hopeless.” She shrugged. “You and I both know that sometimes life really is too short. I don’t want to waste any of it feeling bad.”

Chance hugged her to him. “I want to be more like that.”

“It’s a choice, it really is.”

He nodded. “I’m starting to understand that, thanks to you.”

~ ~ ~

They lay that way for a long time, holding each other close. Chance knew the moment she fell asleep. She gave a little sigh and he felt her body relax against him. He was glad she could drift off. He doubted he’d be getting any sleep tonight.

He blew out a sigh. The evening had been going so well; they’d had such a great time. Okay, so maybe he’d blown a couple of chances to ask her to marry him. He’d kept thinking he’d do it in a minute. Then dinner had been over. They were ready to leave, but he’d wanted to ask her before they did. Just when he’d been about to, that asshole with the camera had ruined everything. He unclenched his fist. He was proud of himself. He hadn’t let his instincts take over. He hadn’t floored the guy. He couldn’t take all the credit for that; he’d been about to when Hope had stopped him. She’d only said one word—Don’t. That was all it had taken for him to stop. His anger hadn’t magically disappeared, but it had receded enough for sense to prevail. Then Steve had appeared and dragged the guy away.

Wasn’t it just his luck that at the very moment he’d been about to ask Hope to marry him, a damned photographer had appeared out of nowhere? It was bad enough that they invaded her privacy at all, but this one had managed to spoil the most important moment of his life.

Hope stirred and smiled sleepily at him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, honey. Go back to sleep.”

Her eyes closed and she was gone again. He wasn’t sure she’d even been fully awake. He had to smile. It seemed that, even in her sleep, she could sense his anger and calm him down. She was good for him. He sighed. He wanted to be good for her. He didn’t want to be the guy who was always pissed off about something. He didn’t want to dampen her bright spirit. He thought back to her words before she’d gone to sleep. It’s a choice. She truly believed that. He’d never felt like it was a choice. He didn’t choose to get angry, he didn’t choose to dwell on the pain and the negatives. At least, he’d never thought he did. They were just natural reactions to things that happened. But, as Hope had said, even though you couldn’t choose what happened, you could choose how you reacted. His anger wasn’t necessarily a natural reaction, it was just an automatic one. If it was a conscious choice, then he wouldn’t react the way he did. He’d much rather choose the same path that Hope chose. He’d rather find the bright side and let things go. He nodded to himself as he lay there. He was going to try it. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, but if he could learn to do it, it would be well worth it.

He lay there a while longer thinking about how he could start making different choices. He hadn’t thought he’d be able to sleep at all, but as he considered the options for finding a bright side to what had happened this evening, he started to get drowsy. He turned on his shoulder and rested his arm across Hope’s waist. He’d hit on an idea—an idea that helped everything. He was going to ask her to marry him, and he knew she’d love it. He also knew that it’d be taking her advice and putting it into practice. It’d mean waking up early, though. He closed his eyes and smiled. He had no doubt that he’d be awake when he needed to be.

It was still dark when he opened his eyes again. He turned over to check the clock on the nightstand. Yep. He’d made it. There was still an hour before sunrise. He almost got out of bed to go and put the coffee on, but he hesitated and kissed Hope on the forehead before he did. That was a new superstition he’d hooked onto, but it was a good one. After the way he’d left her in Oregon, he didn’t like to get out of bed without letting her know where he was going.

“Hmm?” she muttered sleepily.

“Honey, I want you to think about waking up. I’m going to put the coffee on.”

“Hmm? Why? It’s not light yet.”

“I know, but I have a surprise for you. Trust me?”

“Mmm. You know I do. With my life, but I might need some of that coffee before I can unglue my eyelids.”

He smiled. “You snooze on for a few minutes; I’ll be back.”

While the coffee brewed, he ran outside to his truck with some supplies. He wanted this to be perfect. He stuffed everything into the box in the pickup bed and stepped back. Was he forgetting anything? Damn! Just the most important thing. He ran back inside to get it. Then poured two mugs of coffee. He smiled when he heard Hope in the bathroom, glad that she was up of her own accord.

She smiled at him blearily when she came into the kitchen. “What are we doing, Chancey bear? It’s Sunday morning. I thought I might get to keep you in bed for a while.”

He handed her the coffee mug and planted a kiss on her lips. “Trust me, this is going to be even better than that.”

She gave him a doubtful look. “Nothing is better than getting to stay in bed with you—on Sunday morning or any other time.”

He chuckled. “Thank you, but I’ll ask you if you still feel that way when we get back.”

She raised an eyebrow at him over the rim of her mug. “Okay, then. I’d better drink this and work on being awake. It’ll have to be something very special indeed to make me change my mind.”

He took her mug away from her again and laughed at the horrified look she gave him. “Don’t worry. I’m just putting it in here so you can bring it with you.” He poured it into a travel mug and did the same with his own. “There. Now we can go.”

“I don’t get to take a shower or get dressed?”

He shook his head. “No time and no need. And besides, you look cute.” She did, too. He loved the pajamas she wore around the cabin in the mornings. They were simple cotton things, but they clung to her breasts and her gorgeous rounded ass.

He took her by the arm and turned her around to march her out the door.

“Don’t I even need a jacket or anything?”

“Nope. I’ve got a couple in the truck if you get cold.”

“Okay, then, here we go.” She gave him a happy little smile and went out to the truck.

He loved that she was so willing to go along with him. There were no questions, no reluctance at all.

He kept his eyes peeled for deer as he drove down East River Road. They were always active in the early morning. When they were a few miles south of the ranch, he took a left onto Bridger Lane.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” asked Hope. She was looking more awake as the truck bumped along the rutted dirt road.

“Nope.” He smiled at her. “I don’t want to spoil the surprise.”

“Okay, then. I guess I’ll just sit here and drink my coffee.”

It took about fifteen minutes to get up to Overlook Point. Chance was glad that the road was clear. He hadn’t driven out this way in years.

Hope peered out the window into the darkness. “I’m guessing it’s really pretty out here?”

“If you ask me, it’s the most beautiful spot in the whole valley, and that’s saying something.”

She smiled. “It’s a pity we can’t see it then really, isn’t it?”

“We will. I know patience isn’t one of your virtues, but one thing I can guarantee you is that the sun is going to rise right over that ridge soon.”

“Ooh. I need more coffee. I’m obviously not awake yet. It hadn’t even registered that we’d come to see the sun rise.” She leaned across and kissed his cheek. “That is so sweet of you.”

He narrowed his eyes at her.

“Seriously! It is. I’m not just saying that to get a rise out of you,” she said with a smile.

He nodded grudgingly. “I know. You wouldn’t dare.”

Her smile faded. “Maybe I would. I used to think you’d never make a promise, but now I know I was wrong about that.”

“You have no idea how wrong we both were about that.” Chance held her gaze for a moment, tempted to ask her right here and now. He wanted her to know that when the two of them got married, that would be the most important promise of his life. And more than that, he wanted her to know that it was a promise he wanted to make.

She stared back at him, waiting for him to say more, but there was a doubt, or something in her eyes, that convinced him he should wait. He should do this the way he’d imagined. He wanted it to be special for her, and there were things he wanted to say. Things that would be best said when the sun rose.