Page 14 of Cowboy's Christmas Wife

The smile, while still pretty, faded a touch, and she dropped her eyes to the keyboard, busying herself with something that needed fixing. “I never had much of a purpose while Clark and I were married,” she admitted after a moment. “Clark wanted me to be available for his wants and needs all the time, which left me no time for a career. I was in love and naïve, so I was willing to oblige for so long, but none of it made me happy.” She glanced at him. “This I enjoy, though.” Her words were a soft reassurance that she wasn’t doing this solely for Daryl, but the tentative tone in her voice set off alarm bells for him. It was almost as if she expected him to get angry with her for finding work to do that she enjoyed. It was just another reminder of how much her marriage had hurt her—and how it still hung over her head, even though she had left Clark behind. Her eyes slid back to the laptop, and he nearly felt a physical wall coming back up between them.

He could practically see her curling back in on herself, and after they’d had such a lovely time this afternoon, Daryl couldn’t let that happen. “Laura—” He meant to thank her for all of her help and tell her how happy he was that she was enjoying herself, but when her eyes found his again, he couldn’t stop himself from leaning in and pressing his mouth to hers. At first, it was light, almost friendly. PG-rated, just like they had discussed outside of the courthouse. But then, she made a small sound, an acquiescing sigh, and her lips softened beneath his, welcoming him to kiss her deeper.

Daryl dipped his tongue into her mouth, exploring and tasting her, and she let out another one of those delicious sighs. His hand touched her face, and her skin was soft beneath his fingers.I wonder if she’d be that soft everywhere, he thought. He was seconds away from suggesting that they move over to the couch and get a little more comfortable when the front door opened, and someone called out, “Uncle Daryl! Uncle Kyle! Who’s home? I need to pee!” at the top of their lungs.

Laura ripped herself out of his grasp, eyes wide and a touch afraid. Like they were teenagers getting caught making out by their parents. “Relax,” he murmured, smiling at her adorably flustered expression. “It’s Georgina, her husband, and the kids.” Moments later, his older sister walked into the kitchen dressed in a one-piece leopard catsuit. Ears and tail included. “What are you supposed to be?” Daryl asked. “A stray?”

Georgina wasn’t amused. “When you see the kids, you’ll understand,” she said. “Why aren’t you dressed? We need to get this photo shoot going—the kids are itching to go trick-or-treating.”

Daryl stood. “I’m going, I’m going,” he said and turned to Laura. She looked surprised—like she had just remembered something. It took a second, but it clicked. “Forget about Halloween?” he asked.

She looked embarrassed.Way to go, dumbass, he thought, blaming himself for not thinking to bring it up earlier. The Rivers family—well, technically the Rivers and the Perry families—always did Halloween family photos at the ranch. It had started when Georgina’s twins were about a year and a half old. Georgina had dressed them as pumpkins, and Caitlin and Callie had held true toddler fits as they insisted on being brought out to the ranch to get their pictures taken with the pumpkins in his vegetable garden before going to the trunk-or-treat at Windy Creek High School. Daryl had thought it was a one-time thing, but the next year, when the girls were dressed as butterflies instead, they’d still insisted on coming and getting their pictures taken. The twins were six-and-a-half now, and their brother was four, and everyone treated the family photos as a routine that was so ingrained and automatic that it hadn’t even crossed Daryl’s mind that Laura would need to be clued in.

“It just slipped my mind,” she said, voice thick. Her eyes got a shiny, wet look to them. “It’s Lily’s first, and I didn’t—”

“Got you covered!” Georgina said as she held up a bag. “I brought a couple of different options and sizes from the girls’ infant clothes.” She smiled at Laura. “There’s something in there for you too,” she said. “I threw it in, just in case. If it’s too big, we’ll pin it or something, okay?”

Daryl would have laughed at Laura’s baffled expression if it didn’t make him so incredibly sad. “Why did you—” Laura gestured at the bag. “Why do this for me?”

“You’re a part of this family, aren’t you?” Georgina said, matter-of-factly, as if it was as simple as that.

Laura shrugged. “Y’all know that me and Daryl aren’t—” She floundered. “That we aren’t really—”

“I know,” Georgina cut her off. “But just because something is temporary doesn’t make it any less real. You’re a part of our family this year, and this family gets together on Halloween to take pictures in the pumpkin patch before we take the kids to the trunk-or-treat. You in?”

A smile blossomed across Laura’s face. “I’m in,” she said.

Georgina shooed them. “Y’all go ahead and get dressed then, and be quick about it.”

Laura took the bag from Georgina and disappeared up the hall. As soon as she disappeared into her and Lily’s room, Daryl’s big sister swatted at him. Her hit landed heavily on his shoulder, and he grunted at the flare of pain. “What?” he asked, even when he knew the answer.

“Go get dressed,” Georgina scolded, “and warn her about Thanksgivingbeforewe all show up here for dinner, okay?”

Daryl nodded. “I will,” he promised and then trailed up the hallway after Laura. He nearly knocked on her door, to check to see what she was wearing, but he could hear his nieces and nephew now. They must have tracked back into the kitchen after going to the bathroom; they were nearly bouncing off the walls with their want to get to trick-or-treating. His brother-in-law was in the kitchen with them, sounding exactly as weary as you would expect from a father of three who’d been dealing with Halloween excitement all day long. Daryl knew from experience that he’d best move quickly—Scott wouldn’t be able to hold back the little terrors for long.

Daryl opened his closet and pulled out the costume that Georgina had brought to him weeks ago. Daryl had told her a million times that he could get his own Halloween costume, but she liked digging through the old, musty costume shop in town. This year, Daryl was going to be dressed as a king, crown and frilled collar and all.Of course, she would pick something like this, he thought as he pulled out something that looked suspiciously close to tights.I’m going to kill her.

Daryl wrestled himself into the clothes and looked at himself in his mirror. He looked ridiculous, but he stuck the crown on his head and headed back to where his family waited. His nieces were dressed as cats, same as Georgina, and his nephew was dressed as a zombie quarterback. “Uncle Daryl!” Caitlin, who was a tiny bit taller than her twin, crowed when she saw him. Her blue eyes, a match for her sister and his own, twinkled with amusement. “You look silly!”

He smiled. “Your mama has a weird sense of humor,” he said.

“I don’t know.” It was Laura. Daryl turned, and he had to swallow hard. She was the queen to his king: her dress was long and flowing, but the bodice corseted in, emphasizing her curves. She was holding Lily, who was dressed like a little princess. “You look pretty handsome to me.”

He should have known that Georgina would orchestrate something like this, but he couldn’t find it in himself to be mad when Laura and Lily looked as beautiful as they did. He was the lucky man who got to stand by them in the pictures. “You look beautiful,” he told her.

Laura blushed, and she looked even more lovely. “Thank you.”

“Are you my uncle’s wife?” Callie asked. The little girl was absolutely adorable in her cat ears and curly hair, and Laura seemed to be entirely charmed.

“I am,” she said with a smile and a glance at Daryl.

“Do you love him?” Caitlin chimed in.

Daryl groaned, but Georgina hushed the girls and told everyone to head to the pumpkin patch. Scott and Kyle were already back there, setting up for the picture. They hustled out to the pumpkin patch.

Taking pictures with kids was always a toss-up. The pictures were always funny and sweet and triggered good memories, but that didn’t actually mean that the pictures themselves looked anything close to organized or professional. Some years, it was nearly impossible to get everyone to look at the camera. This year was a pretty big mess, but between all of the yelling and kids running back and forth—and one squashed pumpkin casualty—they ended up with a good family picture. Laura was a little misty-eyed afterward, and he wrapped an arm around her. “You okay?” he asked.

She nodded and leaned against him. “Yes,” she said. “I just…I never had anything like this before. This was great. Thank you so much for including Lily and me.”

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