Reed walked closer, the plastic grocery bag swishing against the leg of his jeans. “He is. Or soon will be. I had Ben sent to the county jail. He’s receiving medical treatment for the gunshot wound to his leg, but after that, he’ll be going to the prison hospital.”
“Good.” And a moment later she repeated it.
Livvy might have been medicated, but the painkillers didn’t remove the emotion from her voice or face. She’d been through hell tonight, and Reed had taken that trip right along with her.
He sat down on the right side of the bed so he wouldn’t accidentally bump into her injury and, because he thought they both could use it, he leaned over and kissed Livvy. Reed intended to keep it short and sweet. Just a peck of reassurance. But Livvy slid her hand around the back of his neck and drew him closer. Even after she broke the kiss, she held him there with his forehead pressed against hers.
“I thought I’d lost you,” she whispered, taking the words right out of his mouth.
Reed settled for a “Yeah,” but it wasn’t a casual response. His voice had as much emotion as hers, and he eased back just a little so he could meet her eye to eye. “I’m sorry I let this happen to you.”
She pushed her fingers over his lips. “You didn’t ‘let’ this happen. You did everything to save me.”
He glanced down at the bandage and hated the thought that she was alive in part because they’d gotten lucky. Reed didn’t want luck playing into this.
“You can’t stay,” someone said from the doorway. It was the doctor.
“Give me five minutes,” Reed bargained. He didn’t pull away from Livvy, and he didn’t look back at the doctor.
“Five minutes,” he finally said, and Reed heard the doctor walking away.
“Not much time,” Livvy volunteered.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back after you’ve gotten some rest.” But first, he had something important to do.
He took out the candy bars from the bag and put them on the stand next to her bed.
Her face lit up. “You brought me Snickers?” She smiled and kissed him again. “You know, I could love a man who brings me chocolate.”
The realization of what she’d said caused her smile to freeze, and she got that deer-caught-in-the-headlights look.
“Don’t take it back,” Reed blurted out.
She blinked. “Wh-what?”
“Don’t take that love a man part back, because that’s what I want you to do.”
“You want me to love you?” She sounded as if he’d just requested that she hand him the moon.
And in a way, he had.
“Yeah. I do,” he assured her.
But Reed lifted his hand in a wait-a-second gesture so he could lay the groundwork for this. He took out a map from the bag and fanned it open. It took him a moment to find what he was looking for.
“This is Comanche Creek,” he said, pointing to the spot. “And this is Austin.” He pointed to the space in between. “I want to find a house or build one halfway between. That’d give us both a thirty-minute commute to work.”
And because he wanted her to think about that for several moments, and because he didn’t want her to say no, he kissed her. He didn’t keep it tame, either. But then, neither did Livvy. She might have been in the E.R., but it was crystal-clear that kissing was still on the agenda.
She pulled back, ran her tongue over his bottom lip and smiled. “You want us to live together. I’d like that.”
“Like?” he questioned.
Her forehead bunched up. “All right, I’d love to do that. You really have love on the brain tonight.” She winced. “Sorry, that didn’t come out right. Blame it on the pain meds.”
That had him hesitating. “How clearly are you thinking?”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I’m about to tell you that I’m in love with you, and I want to make sure you understand.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You’re in love with me?”
“Yeah.” And Reed held his breath again. He watched her face, staring at her and trying to interpret every little muscle flicker. Every blink. Every tremble of her mouth.
“You don’t love me?” he finally said.
The breath swooshed out of her and she grabbed him again and planted a very hard kiss on his mouth. “I love you. I’m in love with you. And I want to live with you in a house with a thirty-minute commute.”
She smiled. It was warm and gooey, and in all his life, Reed had never been happier to see warm and gooey.
“Good,” he let her know. Another kiss. Before he moved on to the next part.
“Your five minutes are up,” he heard the doctor say from the doorway.
“Then give me six,” Reed snarled. He tried not to snarl though when he looked down at Livvy.
“Whatever you’ve got to say to her, it can wait,” the doctor insisted.
“No. It can’t.” He looked into Livvy’s eyes. “I don’t want to just live with you.”
She shook her head. “But you said—”
“I want to marry you, and then I want us to live together.”
“You’re proposing?” the doctor grumbled, and Reed heard the man walk away.
“Yes, I’m proposing,” Reed verified to Livvy. “And now, I’m waiting for an answer.”
An answer she didn’t readily give. But she did make a show of tapping her chin as if in deep thought. “Let me see. I have a really hot sheriff that I love with all my heart. He buys me chocolate and jumps out in front of snakes and bullets for me. He’s also great in bed. And he wants to marry me.”
Reed smiled. “Does that mean you’re saying yes?”
She pulled him closer. “Yes. With one condition.”
Reed could have sworn his heart stopped. He didn’t want conditions. He wanted Livvy, and he wanted all of her. “What condition?” he managed to asked.
There were tears in her eyes now, but she was also still smiling.
Reed thought those might be good signs. He was sure the lusty kiss she gave him was a good sign, too.
“The condition is—this has to be forever,” Livvy whispered.
Well, that was a given. “It took me thirty-two years to find you, and I have no intentions of ever letting go.”
And to prove that, Reed pulled Livvy closer and kissed her.
* * * * *
SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM
Being a virgin over the age of 30 was something Mila Banchini had every intention of changing—especially when Roman Granger returns to town and starts stirring up trouble in all the right ways…
Read on to get a glimpse of BRANDED AS TROUBLE, part of the A Wrangler’s Creek Novel series by USA TODAY bestselling author Delores Fossen.
“I’m still a virgin.”
Roman mentally tested out a few ways to respond to that, and he decided silence was the way to go.
“Sometimes, I want that,” she continued. “Sex,” Mila corrected. “Not the commitment. Sometimes, I just don’t want to be me.” She paused. Laughed. But it wasn’t a funny ha-ha laugh. It was hollow and sad. “Turns out I’m not me so I guess I got what I wanted.”
He eased down on the desk, moved the bottle slightly out of her reach. If she was getting drunk, her eye-hand coordination might go first, and she might not be able to pour her another drink. Roman knew from experience that a drink or two could help a rotten situation, but six or seven drinks just made you more susceptible to doing something stupid.
Since they were talking about sex and were alone in her office, it wasn’t a good idea to toy with doing anything stupid.
“You’re still you,” he repeated, but Roman doubted she heard him. Or if she did, it didn’t sink in. The pain and shock were too close to the surface now, but maybe she’d remember this later.
And believe it.
“Think of all the good things,” he went on. “You have your own business. Your own house. And other than keeping a spare key in a potted plant, you make smart choices.”
Like not falling for Dylan.
But he didn’t mention that.
Instead, Roman tried again to help her put things in perspective. “Until you got that letter, you were happy. You’ll be happy again. You’ll see.”
She gave another of those laughs, and it sounded a little drunk. Or maybe that was a sugar high. “Right, happy.”
She smelled like dessert, felt like silk and looked like Christmas. Not a good combination.
If there was a highway to hell, then he was on it right now. Along with coming close to messing up things big time with Mila. Like that letter she’d just gotten, a kiss would change everything.
Sex would change everything times a thousand.
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BRANDED AS TROUBLE
by USA TODAY bestselling author
Delores Fossen,
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Copyright © 2017 by Delores Fossen
The Granger siblings thought they’d left their ranching days behind, until fate sends them home to Wrangler’s Creek, Texas—and into the passionate arms of those they’d least expect…
Don’t miss any of the stories in the irresistible Wrangler’s Creek series by USA TODAY bestselling author Delores Fossen.
Lone Star Cowboy (prequel novella)
Those Texas Nights
One Good Cowboy (novella)
No Getting Over a Cowboy
Just Like a Cowboy (novella)
Branded as Trouble
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“Clear off space on your keeper shelf, Fossen has arrived.”
—New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde
The McCord Brothers are the most eligible bachelors in Spring Hill, Texas. But these cowboys are about to get wrangled by the love of some very unique women—the kind who can melt hearts and lay it all on the line. Be sure to collect all of the titles in this series!
What Happens on the Ranch (digital prequel)
Texas on My Mind
Cowboy Trouble (novella)
Lone Star Nights
Cowboy Underneath It All (novella)
Blame It on the Cowboy
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“The perfect blend of sexy cowboys, humor and romance will rein you in from the first line.”
—New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels
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ISBN-13: 9781488084683
Shotgun Sheriff
First published as Shotgun Sheriff by Harlequin Intrigue in 2010
This edition published in 2017
Copyright © 2010 by Delores Fossen.
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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
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Shotgun Sheriff--A Western Sheriff Romance of Intrigue Page 17
