Santa Fe Fortune & How to Marry a Matador

else would Dan assert immediately afterwards he only wanted to spend time with her?
    “I suppose tomorrow will be a busy day with the canvases coming in,” Gwen said, sorry to think Dan would be tied up at the gallery again, even though that work would ultimately benefit her.
    “Actually, I was just thinking the opposite. The shipment likely won’t come until late in the day, and I’ve already asked Megan to take care of signing for it. As long as we’re back by closing to double-check and unpack things, I think we’ll be fine.”
    As long as we’re back… “Are we going somewhere?” Gwen asked, unable to mask the hopeful anticipation in her voice.
    Dan leveled her a look with those sky-blue eyes. “As long as you’re taking in Santa Fe, I thought you might like to see Taos too. We can take the high road up through the mountains, then drive the low road back along the Rio Grande.”
    Gwen’s face warmed, a billion butterflies inside her taking flight. Perhaps she’d overanalyzed Dan’s encounter with Elena. That silly, overbaked, rail-thin woman clearly meant nothing to him at all. She could scarcely believe it. Was he finally going to ask her out? “Are you…?”
    “Yes, Gwen,” he said. “I’m asking you on a date. Not an engagement, or an arrangement, but a good, old-fashioned, day-long date.” Dan’s lips tugged into a smile smile so tenuous and vulnerable she hadn’t thought him capable of it. “Please tell me that you’ll go.”

Chapter Seven

    Taos Pueblo sat on a grassy plain between sharply angled mountains. Gwen stood by the gated archway of the old cemetery, viewing the flat-topped adobe houses currently in use. “Are you sure we’re allowed to go in here?” she whispered, feeling as if she were intruding on a ghost town. Though the reservation was actively inhabited, she barely saw signs of life, save the occasional stray dog shuffling by.
    “We paid for the privilege,” Dan whispered back. “Go on. I think I spot a tour group up ahead.”
    Gwen spied the referenced gaggle of tourists peering into an open doorway. They reverently followed their Native American guide through the maze of narrow pathways, taking a furtive photo here and there, careful not to use flash.
    “Aren’t people allowed to take pictures?” she asked him quietly.
    “Sure they are,” he said with a wink. “But you’re supposed to pay for that privilege too.” Dan motioned her around the corner, past more simple dwellings and a few vendors selling cold drinks and trinkets. “This way!”
    Dan led her into an open space facing two enormous multistoried buildings. Made entirely of red clay abode, the structures stood tall against the backdrop of the mountains, individual wooden ladders leading to the upper level openings that served as doors.
    “People have been living in these for more than a thousand years.”
    “Wow, this is amazing!”
    The haunting sound of a wooden flute rippled toward them on a steady breeze. Gwen turned to see an old man playing with his eyes closed. “I thought I heard one of those playing in the plaza,” she said to Dan.
    “It’s something to hear, especially in a place like this one.”
    Gwen’s senses were enlivened by the melancholy melody. “It’s magical, really. Almost like we’ve stepped back in time.”
    “If I were to go there, I’d certainly take you,” he said holding her hand.
    Gwen’s heart beat like a leather drum in time to the music.
    “Gwen,” he continued, “I know I’m not supposed to feel this way, not with you only being in New Mexico for such a short while, but I…” He turned his gaze on hers, cascading waves shimmering in the sunshine. “I want you to know how very special it is to me that you agreed to spend this time together.
    “This is probably more than you want, more than you’re ready for right now, and I don’t mean to push you. It’s just that, Gwen. I need to be with you. Even if it’s just for now and nothing more. Does that make sense?”
    She looked up at this beautiful man, standing radiant in the breeze, his brow knitted with uncertainty, and her heart did a million unexpected cartwheels.
    “It makes perfect sense to me,” she told him. “Everything you said I agree with, Dan. What I’m saying is, I feel the same way too. I can think of nothing better than spending time with you.”
    He took her other hand as well and spun her toward him with a wickedly handsome grin. “That settles it, then. We’ll