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well before that. Love was a mystery he was not at all interested in unraveling. He’d watched his friends pair off and always wondered why they would possibly choose one woman when they could have many.
    Still, he couldn’t deny how he’d felt when Chelle had said she would marry him. For just one insane moment, he’d felt as if he weren’t alone.
    Until then, he hadn’t considered that he might not want to be.
    Chelle pushed back from him. “You really are a dog,” she said in a scathing tone and walked away.
    Mason simply stood there watching her go, wondering how one woman could have knocked him so off kilter.
    Charles cleared his throat loudly again. “I don’t want to know what any of that was about. Just promise me you’ll keep it out of the damn wedding reception.” With that, he also left.
    Mason returned to his pensive stance, looking out into the night. Trish Shugarts was very likely upset enough with him to say something nasty about him to her father. Suddenly, that possibility didn’t matter. He’d weather that storm as he’d weathered all the others in his career.
    No, the only problem in his life was a five-foot-two natural blonde.
    And the raging hard-on she’d left him with.

Chapter Four
    Chelle walked into the reception with her head held high. She couldn’t deny it had felt good to stand up to that woman. She wasn’t the least bit sorry about putting her in her place. Thought you could come here and look down your nose at us? Think again, sweetheart. There’s a reason people say you don’t mess with Texas. Even the sweetest of us can dole out an ass-whupping when we come across a person in need of one.
    She also didn’t regret telling Mason what she thought of him. Sure, he was gorgeous, but he had an ego the size of the state he represented. Chelle rolled her eyes skyward and reviewed her behavior over the past few hours. I can’t even imagine what Mason thinks of me. I chase him around like a horny teenager, I smack him, then pretty much propose to him. If I keep this up, I’m going to end up on some government watch list.
    Melanie spotted her and walked over with Charles. She looked Chelle over, then gave Charles a look. “Chelle, is everything okay? You sprinted out of here in such a hurry I thought you were upset.”
    Chelle looked into Charles’s carefully expressionless face, then back at Melanie. “Weddings are emotional, even when they aren’t your own. I lost my head for a minute there, but I’m fine now.”
    Melanie turned to her fiancé. “Charles, could you get me a soda water and lemon? Chelle, would you like something?”
    “No, thank you.”
    After Charles gave Melanie a quick kiss on the cheek and walked away, Melanie said softly, “Your turn will come, Chelle.”
    Knowing the trials Melanie had gone through and how her life had turned around gave Chelle hope in that moment. “I know it will. I just don’t know if I can find what I want in this town, Mel.”
    “I guess that depends on what you’re yearning for.”
    Chelle looked across the reception hall at her parents. “I’m twenty-five. Do you know how many times I’ve been out of Texas? Zero. I love my parents, but living on their ranch and helping them run it is all I know. Did you ever look at yourself in the mirror and think, I thought I’d be more than this?”
    “Yes, I did,” Melanie said quietly. “I remember that feeling too well.”
    “But you did something about it.”
    Melanie started to shake her head, then stopped herself. “I was about to say Charles did, but you’re right: it was me. I finished my degree, and even though I’m engaged, I’m still running my interior design business. My mother always said people should never be a destination, but rather a partner for the road. I like to think that’s what I am with Charles. Before I could invite him to be part of my journey, though, I had to find out for myself what my journey was. It sounds like that’s where you are. Where