Dancing With Dalton (Fatherhood) Read online

  Anna took the mic. “Mr. Dalton? If you’re out there, would you please marry us? I really wanna go on vacation.”

  “Anna!” Rose, looking drop-dead gorgeous in a red satin dress, accidentally scolded for all to hear.

  All present roared with laughter and applause.

  “Sorry, Mr. Dalton. I was s’posed to say we love you, but I do wanna go on vacation. Oh—and I want you to be my new dad, too.”

  Striding through the crowd, Dalton found his way back onstage. He kissed Rose full on the lips, then bent down and gave Anna a bear hug. In Rose’s ear, he whispered, “I don’t know how you managed to turn my own surprise upside down, but you have to know I’m sorry, and that I love you so much. I was crazy to have ever doubted you—us. In fact, I—”

  “Oh, stop. Mi novio, I had a sneaking suspicion you’d come back to me. It was only a matter of time.”

  “Too much time,” he said on the heels of a moan, kissing her again. “If I haven’t mentioned it lately, I love you.”

  “Is that a yes to our proposal?” she asked, brown eyes shimmering.

  “Not just yes,” he growled for her ears only, lifting her, hugging her, spinning her around. “But hell yes.”

  “What about me?” Anna asked, jumping beside him in a shimmering hot-pink dress.

  “Of course I love you, too.”

  As a Congratulations Anna, Rose and Dalton banner dropped from the ceiling, so did white confetti and silver balloons.

  Hugging his girls close, Dalton happened to glance past Rose’s shoulder to his mom and dad.

  Grinning, crying, they held each other, clapping along with the rest of the crowd for all they were worth.

  The weight lifted from Dalton’s shoulders was immense. As was the depth of his love.

  From the contented looks in their eyes, he’d been the only one present not in on the fact that Alice had double-crossed him in a wonderful way. True to Alice’s nature, she’d planned and schemed behind his back. And he adored her for it!

  Later, while the band played on and the impromptu engagement party wound down, Anna sound asleep on his mother’s fur coat, Dalton tugged Rose into a private corner and kissed her hungrily. “Do you have any idea how much I missed you?”

  “Considering I missed you even more, yes.”

  “Mind my asking how you pulled this off?”

  “With the help of my fellow chamber members, it wasn’t a big deal.”

  “Right,” he said with a chuckle. “Who talked to my dad?”

  “Oddly enough, he came to Alice. Apparently, during your talks at the hospital, you weren’t quite as convincing as you thought.”

  “Great. He’s not on the verge of keeling over, is he?”

  “Does he look like it?”

  He glanced where Rose pointed. His parents embraced on the dance floor, barely moving, but clearly enjoying the evening.

  “See?” Rose teased. “They’re happy. We’re happy. Relax.”

  “I’m not sure I know how.”

  “I’ll teach you.”

  “Hot Pepper Dance Academy offers relaxation lessons?”

  “We’ll start.”

  When Dalton met Rose’s heated glance, she knew without him saying a word he wanted to tango. Slipping her hand in his, she accompanied him to an empty spot on the crowded floor.

  Her cheek against his solid chest, she smiled, content in the knowledge that once again dance had worked magic. Changed lives. Dalton’s, his parents’, Alice’s, and least expected of all, but most welcome, her daughter’s and her own.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-0592-9

  DANCING WITH DALTON

  Copyright © 2007 by Laura Marie Altom.

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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