Just fabulous.
At the horrified look on Selah’s face, Jenny giggled. “Good news sure travels fast in this town.”
“Selah, have we just heard correctly?” demanded her father.
Her mother’s forehead looked pinched. “Carol Bingley just called and said you were getting married.”
Not sure how to answer, Selah couldn’t have been happier when the ER doors swung open and out walked a man wearing scrubs and a stethoscope around his neck. She didn’t recognize him, but she hadn’t been to see a doctor in Marietta in over ten years.
“Are you all here for Levi Monroe?” he asked, surveying the small crowd.
Everyone nodded, including her parents, for some bizarre reason.
The doctor smiled warmly. “Levi has dislocated his shoulder. We’re going to do some X-rays to make sure nothing is broken, and he won’t be riding a bull or wrestling a steer for the next few months, but I’m confident he’ll make a full recovery.”
Selah let out a sigh of relief that his injuries weren’t more serious. “And what about the concussion?”
The doctor frowned. “What concussion?”
“His head. Didn’t he knock his head?”
“I can’t see any evidence of a head injury, even a mild one. Levi’s a lucky guy, but I’ll keep him for a few hours just for observation.”
“And the pain relief?” she asked desperately. “Would it cause him to say weird things?”
The doctor looked at her like she was the one in need of medication. “Not generally.”
“So he’s not delusional?”
This time, the doctor laughed. “Not that I know of.”
Her knees giving way beneath her, Selah finally flopped down onto one of the hard plastic chairs as hope sparked in her heart. Could she dare to hope that Levi had meant every word of his marriage proposal?
“Can we see him?” asked Em McCullough.
The doctor glanced between them. “Which one of you is Selah? I’d prefer we give Levi a chance to rest and limit visitors until after his X-rays, but he’s refusing to have them until he sees Selah.”
She couldn’t speak. Her eyes had filled with tears again. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d cried in Seattle, but over the last forty-eight hours she’d run the whole gauntlet of emotions and shed every kind of tear possible. All of them because of Levi.
Jenny nudged her in the side, and Em said, “You’re not going to keep the poor guy waiting, are you? Go and put him out of his misery.”
Not needing any further encouragement, Selah stood and followed the doctor into the ER. A nurse was filling out paperwork in the corner of the room, but Selah had eyes only for Levi.
“Hey there.” She risked a smile as she crossed the room to stand beside his bed.
“Hi.” With his good arm, he reached out, took her hand and looked right into her eyes. “Have you been crying?”
She sniffed and shrugged one shoulder. “You gave me a fright.”
“Yeah, I guess I’m not gonna win All-Around Cowboy this year.”
She laughed. “Possibly not the best way to go about it.”
“I don’t care, you know.” His voice was low, and the way he looked at her made her bones quiver.
“You don’t?”
He shook his head. “I came back to Marietta for the Copper Mountain Rodeo, hoping to win a few events and end my career on a high. I came back to set up a business and make some kind of life for myself. Two days ago, that dream didn’t include you, but now I can’t imagine doing any of it without you.”
A lump formed in Selah’s throat. No poetry could ever have been as beautiful as Levi’s raw declaration. She couldn’t speak, but he continued.
“Last night was beyond anything I could ever have fantasized. You blow my mind in every way, and there’s no one else in this world I’d rather spend my life with. I meant what I said back there at the rodeo. So what’s your answer?”
“You really want to marry me?”
He nodded. “It might seem hasty to some, but when something’s as right as we are together, you don’t question it. No way am I losing you a second time. Besides, I reckon you’d look pretty damn fine in a white, virginal wedding gown, and I’d enjoy myself immensely taking it off.”
At the thought of Levi undressing her, Selah shivered. “You know, for a rough-and-ready cowboy, you certainly have a way with words.”
“Are you falling for them?” He gave her his cocky cowboy grin, and her heart swelled even more.
“I reckon I might be.”
He drew her hand up to his chest. “Is that a yes, Selah Mary Davis?”
“You remember my middle name!”
“Selah,” he said, his tone and eyes serious, “I never forgot one thing about you. I don’t know if I’d ever have gotten through that year my mom had her stroke without you, and to be quite frank, I don’t want to go through anything ever again without you.”
To try to stop the tears barreling loose again, Selah leaned over the bed and kissed him. On the lips. With perhaps a little more passion than strictly appropriate for a pubic place like a hospital. She didn’t care. This was the best day of her life, and if she wanted to kiss her future husband, then just let anybody try to stop her.
“Is that a yes?” Levi asked with a chuckle when she finally pulled back.
She shook her head. “No, Levi Jonah Monroe. It’s a ‘hell, yes.’”
Epilogue
‡
Six Weeks Later
Selah was just putting the final touches on her very first edition of the Copper Mountain Courier when the door to her office opened. Glancing away from the birth announcement on her screen, she looked up to see Levi standing in her doorway. As usual, her heart danced a jig in her chest as she looked her fill of the sexiest cowboy to ever have graced God’s earth.
“Good afternoon, good-looking.” Grinning, he held up a very fine-looking bottle of sparkling wine and two crystal flutes as he stalked around her desk to get to her. He put the bottle and glasses down next to her computer, placed his hands on the arms of her swivel chair and spun her round to face him, before dragging her up and into his arms.
As was becoming a little bit of a habit—but not one she planned on trying to kick—she melted into his kiss. When things threatened to get more heated than they should in her place of employment, Selah pulled back and gestured to the bottle on her desk. “What are we celebrating?”
“Your first edition, of course.”
She laughed. “We still have to print it. It’s not out until tomorrow. Anything could go wrong.”
“As if.” He rolled his eyes, then reached for the bottle. “It’ll be the best paper this town has ever seen, and once it hits the stands, you’ll have every man and his dog wanting to offer you congratulations.”
She opened her mouth to object, but he raised an eyebrow at her as he popped the cork. “Don’t tell me Chelsea, Sage and Jenny haven’t already planned dinner and cocktails.”
And of course he was right. Her friends, who complained they hadn’t seen nearly enough of her since she’d moved back to town two weeks ago, had called that morning and told her they’d booked a table at The Graff for tomorrow night. Levi was invited as well, of course. Jasper, Dawson and Colton would also be in attendance, as would the McCulloughs and Selah’s parents, who’d quickly come round to the idea of Selah marrying a cowboy when they’d realized it meant she’d be moving back to Marietta. Apparently even Marly, Drake and their tiny, week-old baby girl, Violet, were planning on coming, and Selah wouldn’t be surprised if there were a few more additions between now and tomorrow night.
The locals had embraced her homecoming, her new job and her and Levi’s engagement in the same way they embraced the rodeo that had brought them together. And whatever happened down the track, whether there was a job for her on the paper once Marly returned from maternity leave or not, Selah knew two things.
She was glad she’d found Levi again
and proud Marietta was the place they called home.
Coming soon
The Copper Mountain Rodeo Series
If you enjoyed Tease Me, Cowboy, you’ll love the other Montana Born Rodeo series novellas!
Cherish Me, Cowboy by Alissa Callen
Coming September 2014
Kiss Me, Cowboy by Melissa McClone
Coming September 2014
Please Me, Cowboy by Megan Crane
Coming September 2014
Available Now
Did you miss last year’s rodeo? Check out the 2013 Copper Mountain Rodeo Series.
Tempt Me, Cowboy by Megan Crane
Buy now!
Marry Me, Cowboy by Lilian Darcy
Buy now!
Promise Me, Cowboy by C.J. Carmichael
Buy now!
Take Me, Cowboy by Jane Porter
Buy now!
About the Author
Rachael Johns is an English teacher by trade, a mum 24/7, a supermarket owner, a chronic arachnophobe, and a writer the rest of the time. She rarely sleeps and never irons. She writes contemporary romance and lives in rural Western Australia with her hyperactive husband, three mostly-gorgeous heroes-in-training, two fat cats, a cantankerous bird and a very naughty dog. Rachael loves to hear from readers and can be contacted through her website at www.rachaeljohns.com.
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Tease Me, Cowboy (Montana Born Rodeo Book 1) Page 11
