“So, Sean Petty, what brings you to the IRS building dressed like—” Tylinn waved her hand toward his clothes.
His cheeks flushed red as he glanced around. “You said Pride and Prejudice was your favorite movie. Is this something Darcy would do?” He leaned closer to Christine.
She couldn’t quite find the right words to speak, so she just quirked an eyebrow.
He cursed under his breath as he straightened. “Emma made me do this,” he said.
Christine should’ve known. Emma was a sneaky girl. But the one word that stood out to her was made. Emma had sent him to apologize? He didn’t want to?
“Well, I’m not sure why she would do that. From my experience, you don’t do things you don’t want to.” She side stepped him and headed to the front doors. There was no way she wanted to stand here, listening to how it was his duty to say sorry. Or that his best friend’s pregnant wife had scared him into coming. If he didn’t want to be around her, then she’d make it easy. She’d leave and never look back.
Just as she stepped outside, her gaze fell on a horse-drawn carriage. She paused as she studied it. Wow, this was getting ridiculous. Dipping her head down, she pushed through the throng of people who had gathered around it. The need to leave grew stronger.
“Christine Jordan.”
Sean’s voice caused her to slow.
“Can someone stop that woman. Please?”
A hand tapped her on the shoulder. “I think that guy wants to talk to you.”
Realizing that there was probably no way she was going to be able to escape now, she turned to see Sean had climbed up onto the carriage and was staring at her.
“I was just honoring what you asked me to do. Leave.” Why was he doing this? It wasn’t fair.
“I’m an idiot,” he said. His expression turned serious as his gaze met hers. “Christine, I was wrong to send you away. I see that now. It had nothing to do with your job and everything to do with the fact that I was scared.”
Why had he been scared? He had to know that she would do everything in her power to help him. “I wasn’t going to throw your ranch under the bus.” Despite her best efforts, tears brimmed her lids. Why was she going to cry?
His forehead creased as he studied her. “I wasn’t scared because I was going to lose my ranch. I was scared because I had fallen in love with you.”
Her mind swam as his words rang in her ears. “What?” There was no way she’d heard what she thought she’d heard. What was with the universe today?
“I said, I love you. Why else would I dress up like this and come here? You are the girl for me. You challenge me, you make me laugh, and your kisses drive me mad.”
Whoops and hollers rose up from the crowd around them.
Heat burned Christine’s skin. All eyes had turned to her as if they were expecting her to say something.
Her heart pounded in her chest. She knew what she wanted to say, but she still needed to be sure. “How do I know once it gets hard again, you aren’t going to demand that I leave?”
A pained expression passed over Sean’s face. “I’m not going to say I’ll never be an idiot again, but I can promise you that no man will love you as much as I do. And I’ll spend the rest of my life proving that to you.”
“Come on, what do you say to that?” An elderly woman who was standing next to her asked.
Christine looked over at her.
“Honey, that man loves you. You’d be a fool to let him go.” She nodded her head toward the carriage. Her silver hair swishing from the movement.
Christine turned her attention back to Sean, who looked as if he was rapidly losing his confidence. She pushed through the crowd and stopped right in front of the carriage. She eyed him, taking note of his hopeful expression.
“Do you forgive me?” he asked.
She held onto the handle and climbed the steps. Once she was standing next to him, she peered up to meet his gaze. “On one condition.”
A smile played on his lips. “Anything.”
“Kiss me.”
His grin widened as he wrapped his arms around her and turned her to the side. As he cradled her head in his hand, he dipped her down. “Yes, ma’am.”
When his lips met hers, every broken piece of her heart melded back together. Her soul sang as she brought her hands up his shoulders and tangled her fingers in his hair.
Yells and congratulations could be heard from the crowd, but Christine didn’t care. As long as Sean was holding her, everything would be right in the world.
He pulled away and smiled down at her. “I love you, dragon lady.”
She swatted his shoulder, but then turned her expression serious. “I love you, irritating cowboy.”
Before she could say anything more, he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I’ll take it.” And then pressed his lips against hers once more.
At that moment, Christine knew, everything was right in the world. There was nothing more she wanted than to be here, held by Sean. An excited bubble rose up in her stomach as she thought about what he would do when she told him about her conversation with Parker.
Happiness spread from her head to her toes, and she basked in the feeling of completeness she felt. Her life now consisted of Sean and nothing felt more perfect.
Epilogue
The wind whipped around Christine as she rested her arm on the open window of Sean’s truck. Her dress was digging into her back so she shifted to lessen the twinge.
A hand came into her view and wrapped around her fingers.
“Are you okay?”
Christine turned to see Sean smiling over at her. He’d loosened the bowtie he was wearing and it hung around his neck. The top button of his shirt was undone, exposing his tanned chest.
Christine slipped over to him and laid her head on his shoulder. His arm wrapped around her and pulled her close.
She lifted up her hand to see the ring that was nestled on the fourth finger. She’d only been Mrs. Sean Petty for three hours now and it was amazing.
She felt him press his lips to her head.
“That was quite the reception,” he said.
Christine nodded. Emma sure did know how to throw a party. She just hoped Emma wouldn’t be offended that they’d slipped out of there early. Christine was ready to spend the evening with her husband. Alone.
She bumped and jostled on the road as he pulled up to the house. Their house. An excited feeling washed over her as she stared at it.
“Let me get the door for my bride,” he said, opening the door and running around to grab hers. Once it was open, he reached up and took her hand.
Now on the ground, Christine tried to keep her heels from digging into the dirt, but nothing helped. Suddenly, Sean’s arm encircled her waist and his other swept under her knee. He pulled her close to his chest.
Christine wrapped her arm around his shoulders and nuzzled his neck.
He smiled down at her. “Hang on, Mrs. Petty. Let’s get into the house first.”
She laughed but kept her head resting on his shoulder. When they got to the front door, Sean shifted her to free his hand. He turned the handle and kicked the door with his foot.
He paused, glancing down at her. “Are you ready for me to carry you over the threshold?”
Christine nodded and just before he took a step, she called out, “Wait!”
He stopped. “What?”
She giggled. “Just kidding. I’ve been ready for this for a long time.”
He shot her an exasperated look and then carried her into the house and up the stairs to his bedroom. “You and me both, babe.”
He laid her on the bed and shook off his suitcoat. She pulled her legs up as she watched him. A feeling washed over her. It was one of completeness. She had everything she wanted.
Parker had called a week after their conversation to talk about a plan that the IRS had implemented. It was called the Fresh Start program and it significantly decreased the amount Sean owed. All he neede
d to do was get on a payment plan and they’d get this whole mess fixed in a matter of a few years.
Sean pulled off his bowtie and unbuttoned his shirt. She stared at his chest, reveling in the fact that he was all hers.
He caught her staring and wiggled his eyebrows. She shrugged as he plopped down next to her, resting his body weight on an arm. “What are you thinking about?”
She reached out and ran her hand across his cheek. “That I’m one lucky woman.”
He turned his face and kissed her palm. “Not as lucky as I am.”
“I love you, Sean Petty.”
He grinned up at her. “Good.”
She scoffed and whacked his shoulder. His expression turned serious as he sat up and took her face in his hands.
“I love you so much, Christine Petty. And I will spend the rest of my life showing you that.”
She tipped her lips toward him and he complied by kissing them ever so gently.
“I can’t wait to spend my life with you.”
His gaze met hers, and in that one look, he told her everything she needed to know. Then he leaned forward and kissed her again. This time with more meaning. As if he wanted to show her, through that kiss, just how he felt about her.
Her heart pounded in her chest. This was all she wanted. And she was never going to leave. Ever.
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Marrying a Cowboy
A Fake Marriage Series
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Marrying an Athlete
A Fake Marriage Book 2
May 2018 Release Date
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to my wonderful husband who puts up with a wife who took on so many projects this year but made sure she didn’t lose focus on her goals.
Thank you to my five wonderful children. Your enthusiasm is contagious even though you drive me crazy sometimes.
Thank you to Victorine Lieske who created my fabulous covers! I’m so lucky to have such a talented writer friend!
Thank you to my writing group buddies, Michelle Pennington, Judy Corry, and Victorine Lieske. You helped whip my characters into shape!
Thank you to my beta readers, you’re never scared to tell me when something’s not working.
Thank you to my editor, Brooke Lewis and my proofer, Hanni Cluny.
Other Books by Anne-Marie Meyer
See the other books by her:
Forgetting the Billionaire
Book 1 of the Clean Billionaire Romance series
Forgiving the Billionaire
Book 2 of the Clean Billionaire Romance series
Finding Love with the Billionaire
Book 3 of the Clean Billionaire Romance series
Falling for the Billionaire
Book 4 of the Clean Billionaire Romance series
Fixing the Billionaire
Book 5 of the Clean Billionaire Romance series
Marrying a Cowboy
Book 1 of the Fake Marriage series
See other books by her pen name Amy Linnabary
The Fairytale Prophecies (a Young Adult series)
1. Cinder Heart
2. Fairest One
3. Peculiar Beauty
The Adventure Brothers (a middle grade series)
1. Save the Bats
2. Free the Dolphin
About the Author
Anne-Marie Meyer lives in MN with her husband, four boys, and baby girl. She loves romantic movies and believes that there is a FRIENDS quote for just about every aspect of life.
Connect with Anne-Marie on these platforms!
anne-mariemeyer.com
Fighting Love for the Cowboy (A Moose Falls Romance Book 1) Page 12
