Page 36 of The Christmas Cowboy

“What if they do? We’re married. It shouldn’t shock anyone.”

“But then they’ll know I’m pregnant. Or suspect it, anyway.”

“So? They’ll have to find out sometime.”

“But not before we tell our parents.”

“Damn, you’re right. But I thought you wanted to wait to tell them.”

She shrugged. “I did. I do. We just got married. We haven’t even done it yet.”

His mouth kicked up at the corner. “We can fix that.”

“I didn’t mean…I wasn’t hinting…”

“You weren’t? That’s too bad.” Swear to God, she blushed.

“What if… What if Iwashinting?”

That was all the encouragement he needed. He climbed over the fence to stand close to her. She backed up a step and he followed. He put his hands on her arms and drew her against his chest. She wouldn’t look at him. He gazed at the top of her head. “You don’t need to be shy with me, Val.”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

He put his fingers under her chin and tipped her face up to his. She really was adorable. He kissed her. He meant to keep it short and sweet, but the moment their lips touched he forgot about that. Damn, he wanted to eat her alive. She’d wrapped her arms around his neck and melted against him.

“Uh, Boss?” Les cleared his throat and added, “We’ve got a problem.”

Shit. He ended the kiss but held on to Val, noting with satisfaction that her eyes were hazy and her lips wet from his kiss.

“What?”

“That new fencing you ordered?”

He released Val and turned to his foreman. “What about it?”

“They sent us the wrong thing.”

“Did you ask Melody about it?”

“She said she ordered the correct one.”

Damn it, she probably did. This wouldn’t be the first time this company got the order wrong. They’d make it right, but it was a pain in the ass to deal with.

“I’ll let you deal with that,” Val said. “If you want another supplier, the one Riley uses is good. I can ask Riley for the number.”

“I’m thinking about it. I’ll see you around three.”

“Just let me know if you can’t make it.” She walked off, headed to the house.

He watched her go, thinking that if he didn’t get to make love to her soon, he was going to lose his mind. Les cleared his throat, reminding him his foreman was waiting for his attention. “I need to take Val somewhere at three.”

“Don’t worry, Boss. I’m sure Melody can handle the supplier.”

“I’m sure she already has. But they might need a call from me too. This is the third time they’ve screwed up an order. Take Curly in for me and I’ll see what I can do. We were basically finished anyway.”

*

Liam and Valsat in an exam room waiting for the doctor to come in. It was a bit weird to Liam. It wasn’t as if he’d never been in a doctor’s office, of course. After all, Logan was a doctor. But he was healthy and hadn’t broken any bones since his rodeo days—and that was a while ago now. An OB/GYN’s office was totally outside his experience, however.

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