"Are you coming?" asked Travis and she took the hand he offered and let him pull her into the cab. "Take us to the Golden Nugget," he told the driver, then pulled her onto his lap and began to kiss her.
"Travis, don't," she objected when she felt one of his hands start to knead her thigh. She felt self conscious, and exposed, knowing that the driver might be able to see what was going on.
Travis laughed, "This is Vegas, baby, they've seen it all," but he removed his hand from her until they got out of the cab.
The Golden Nugget was built in 1946 and was one of the original hotel casinos in Las Vegas and one of the few originals still standing. Coralee looked around in wonder, wanting to get a drink and head to one of the gaming tables.
"Come on, she insisted, "Let's hit the gaming tables, this place is fantastic!"
Travis shook his head, "I want to check my messages and then go upstairs. It's been a long day and I'm tired. You can always come back here, the Nugget isn't going anywhere."
She tried to contain her impatience as she stood next to him while he checked his messages. She looked around wistfully, wishing they could head into the casino, even for only a little while. She had almost made up her mind to ask him again when she saw three women standing by the elevators, staring hard at Travis. She wondered what they were doing when she saw them starting to head in their direction.
He turned around and saw them too. "Oh shit," he muttered under his breath.
"Travis!" a leggy blond called out his name while two of her companions followed. "I didn't know that you were going to be in Vegas."
"Hello Regina, Sally, CeeZee," he said, and Coralee thought he sounded resigned and a little weary.
"Oh, and who do we have here?" said Regina, turning her attention to Coralee, a false smile pasted on her face.
She was about to answer when Travis squeezed her shoulder, hard. "This is Coralee Dutton, my fiancée," he answered.
"She's a pretty thing, Travis," Regina spoke as if she weren't there, "are you related to John Dutton?" the blond asked, and Coralee wondered just how many were aware of her uncle and his ranch.
To answer, she summoned her best Beth. With the sweetest and iciest tones she could muster, she replied, "Yes, I am. John Dutton is my uncle, I practically grew up on the Yellowstone. That's where I met Travis, I've known him for years." Take that you bitch, she thought but wondered if she'd given the right answer.
She must have, for Travis's grip on her shoulder relaxed. She looked at the women, wondering if they represented the type of women he had been attracted to in the past. She was nothing like them, no heavy makeup, and false eyelashes for her; she was a natural blond, and Regina's dark roots were showing.
"Well, goodnight, ladies, it's been a long day and I'm tired, nice seeing you again," Travis gave them the bright, toothy smile that he reserved for people he wanted to get away from.
Thankfully the elevator doors opened, and he hurried Coralee in. He punched his floor number, then turned to her saying, "I'm sorry about that, I must admit I wasn't ready for it."
"Well, at least your taste in women has improved, I'm no bottle blond with dark roots."
"Oh, so you think I haven't had fresh-faced country girls before?" There was an edge to his voice as he said it.
"Oh, and you think I haven't fucked cocksure cowboys before? I was a barrel racer, remember?" Take that, she thought.
Fortunately, the bell for their floor rang and they left the elevator, not sure if they should be mad at the other. He slid his room key through the card reader, and they entered the most beautiful hotel room Coralee had ever seen.
The beds were huge, and there were two of them. She couldn't tell how big the flatscreen TV hung on the wall was, but it was easily home theater size. She wouldn't be surprised if the bathroom had oversized tubs with jacuzzies.
Travis removed his hat, then plucked hers off and put it on the closet shelf. He removed his sport jacket and fished around in the pockets for something which he placed in one of his jean's pockets. He sat down on the bed and held out his arm, "Come here," he said, "I don't want to fight with you," and pulled her onto his lap.
She nestled against him, holding him always seemed so easy and now it was a way to end the fight they almost started. They began kissing and when Travis began to pull off his shirt, he realized he was still wearing his boots.
He smiled, and he knew how to use that smile as a weapon, "I guess we better get undressed," he said, and they removed their clothes and lay down on the part of the bed that the hotel maid had turned down.
"I am lucky I got you," he told her, "You're so young, so pretty, and I didn't think I'd stand a chance. You could be with someone young instead of an old cowboy like me."
She lay on top of him, "I've had boys my age, I'm with you because I want to be. You practically helped my dad and Uncle John raise me. You've taught me everything I know about horses and competing. I had a crush on you when I was twelve and never thought I'd stand a chance and now here we are."
"Yes, here we are," he answered, and they began to make love, taking in the taste and scent of the other. Here is where I want to be, she thought, this is the person I'm going to spend my life with.
When they finished, they lay in each other's arms, then Travis turned on the bedside lamp. "I want to do this before I fall asleep," he said and pulled something out of his jeans pocket.
He took her left hand, then slid a ring onto her finger. "Will you marry me, Coralee Dutton?"
She looked at the ring, not knowing what to say. The round center stone had two smaller diamonds on each side. She was no judge of diamonds, but she guessed the center stone was at least a carat or more. What she liked the most was that the ring looked old-fashioned, not the current style. But why had he given it to her?
"I thought we weren't going to do this for a year? You were supposed to ask me again on my twenty-fifth birthday."
He kissed the finger that wore the ring. "I didn't want to wait. I've been looking at this ring for a long time and I decided it was the ring I wanted to give you. I didn't want to hold onto it for a year, I wanted to see you wearing it. Do you want a long engagement? You've got it. I just want it official."
"Uhhhh," she moaned then lay her head on his chest while looking at her ring. "You cheated, Travis, you knew I would love the ring. I guess we were engaged anyway, I just didn't want to admit it. Okay, you win, but I pick the wedding date and you don't get a say in it." She looked up at him and smiled.
"Unless it competes with a horse show. Damn, I was going to head down to Texas to check on the ranch but now I've got to go to Montana and ask your dad for your hand in marriage."
"Little late for that," she grinned and waved her finger, "I've already got the ring."
"I'm still going to ask, and I'm going to ask John, too. I come from an old-fashioned family and that's the way we do things. At least they know that I can support you and give you a good life. And as for my women, you've led me a merry chase, I wasn't one hundred percent certain you'd say yes, or who my competition was." He reached over and turned off the light.
They made love when they woke up then took a bath in the most luxurious bathroom she'd ever seen. She wondered if this was normal for Travis, and it made her realize how little she knew about the man she intended to marry. She knew he was used to traveling around the country in a truck hauling a trailer full of horses, but that told her nothing about the man she intended to marry. She was glad that she had time to figure it out, but would it be enough she wondered.
She called Katie and told her she'd meet her at the arena to pick up their horses, she'd grab some clothes out of her suitcase and change at a rest stop. Travis insisted on taking her to breakfast at one of the "Nugget's" cafes before he had to check out of his room.
He put her in a cab and paid the driver to take her to the arena. "I'll see you after your show in Missoula," he told her, "I know you're tired but don't skip the show in Albuquerque, you're going to be spending a lot of time on the road and you need to get used to it. You'll have plenty of time to drive to Missoula after the show so you can take it easy. This is your initiation, Coralee, time to get used to what you've chosen. Oh, and I'm going to overlook the fourth place in Cheyenne, you probably had a bad case of nerves, and it happens to us all in the beginning. He kissed her and shut the cab door, watching while it sped off.
"Wow, you haven't even changed clothes," said Katie when she saw her, "I'd ask you how your night went but that hickey on your neck gives me an idea."
"Damn," said Coralee, "I didn't even notice, this I'm going to put a stop to. It's one thing to have spent the night fucking but this is another thing altogether. I'm not a horse, he doesn't need to brand me. And, by the way, how did your night go?"
"Bob's a dream, he'd be a real catch if I could count on him. You know those rodeo cowboys, they do love their cowgirls but do they love us enough to want to marry? Hey, what's that ring on your finger, tell me, sis."
"Okay, I think Travis was saving this as a surprise and was I ever surprised. He proposed and put the ring on my finger—isn't it gorgeous?"
Katie took her hand to examine the ring more closely, "I bet he paid a pretty penny for this. I love it, it's perfect, it's so different from the rings that are popular now, and it suits you. But I thought you were going to put off the marriage talk for a year."
"So did I, this was supposed to be the year I was taking for myself before the marriage talk came into the picture. If he wanted to catch me off guard, he did, but the ring is so beautiful, and the white gold setting is perfect. But Kate, when we were in the lobby of the Golden Nugget checking his messages these three women approached us, and one of them…"
"Don't tell me, let me guess. They must be women Travis has picked up at one time or another. You know who you're marrying, Coralee, he's not exactly been an angel. I wonder when it's going to hit him that he's got to give all that up. I know how infatuated he is with you, but how long will it take him to change his way? You deserve more than a husband who's going to run around on you behind your back."
Coralee sighed, "I know, I know, I don't know if I can ever trust him, and I don't want people talking behind my back about how my husband cheated on me. We were kind of wild ourselves in our barrel racing days but if I do marry him that's all going to be put behind me. Can I trust him? I don't know, Katie, but I've fallen for him, damn it."